Metal mania and card crazy!

ha! he looks like a little baby!

Yeah, so Metal Mania was pretty lame last night. Or maybe I just wasn't in the mood for it, since I spent all day with my mom and sister and was totally exhausted. We spent the day trekking around outside (a place I try not to go). I even got a little sunburnt! My poor skin!

Anyhow, I was so tired that I just couldn't get into the metal. Also, apparently VH1 Classic heard me complaining about how lame last week was, and they put the Scorpions on at 12:30! Sheesh! I'm barely home yet at that point. This week's Scorp video was "Still Loving You," which I thought we had covered before but we haven't. It is a boring video, but such a great song. Wow.



Also, even though I was tired, I was still able to scour ebay for hockey cards. I would just like to thank Jess for my current obsession. (Thanks in a sarcastic way, that is!) Now I spend every waking moment looking for cards online!

Last week, I procured two Braydon Coburn rookie cards. Pretty cool, right? Even cooler, when the seller sent my cards, he sent a whole bunch of other current Flyers cards! Wooooooohooooo! I got Lupul, Carter, Richie, Timonen, Upshall, and Marty. Woo! There may have also been a Robert Esche card in there, but we'll be burning that one.

Have a great Sunday!

Carter!!!

The Gator days of summer...

Well, here we are, headed into the last weekend before free agency. There have been rumors of Smith not being a Flyer this year since back at the trade deadline. But really, who would want Gator for their team? I mean sure, he's all brooding single dad and whatnot, but he plays like crap when he has two bum shoulders. If I were a GM and I had seen him play in the playoffs, I would give a hearty "no thanks" if given the chance to sign him.

Anyhow, he will probably be a Devil next year, and then I will have to hate him. Right? There's no way I could possibly love a bedeviled Gator. Is there?

I'll be posting Gator pictures and videos over the next few days to determine whether or not we can love a Devil Gator.

Below, we have our first introduction to Gator...his press conference/jersey putting on day. At the time, I was underwhelmed. Here is what I had to say at the time:

Let me digress here for one second. I watched the Hartnell, Smith and Briere press conferences. Hartnell was very articulate. Smith was very boring. Briere was very skittish. Of the three, if I were a GM, I would only want Hartnell talking to the press.

Oh man, I called Gator boring. Wow. I will have to look back and see where it was that he finally stole my hockey heart. Anyhow, enjoy the video. You get to see Gator's little smile and hear him say "obviously" a lot. (you can fast forward to the 3:40 mark to see both...)

I'm kind of excited about Eminger!

Eminger does not look excited at all though...probably the Caps uniform!

Ya know, it's strange, but I hardly ever read news about the Flyers. I usually just read blogs. But I've been reading news the past few days, hence the more newsy focus over here. Anyhow, all that aside, I gotta say I am pretty excited about Eminger after reading what he had to say to the press.

You can read the full interview/articles here and here. They are good, I promise.

Basically, it sounds like the Caps were deep on d-men, and just kinda didn't need him. He was a healthy scratch most of the year and never really got to develop. He also didn't get much feedback on what he needed to improve.

From Chuck Gormley at the Courier Post:

Eminger said he simply wants to establish his identity as an NHL defenseman. In Washington, Eminger said he was asked to be a defensive defenseman under Cassidy, an offensive defenseman under Glen Hanlon, and he didn't play much at all under Bruce Boudreau, who replaced Hanlon early last season as Capitals coach and used Eminger in just 20 regular season games.

"I'm not a one dimensional offensive guy," Eminger said. "There were a lot of different signals, and that led to not having my own identity. I think a player should be his own player.

"The frustrating thing is I really didn't know what the reason was (for being benched). I was pretty much a depth player and at 23 or 24 years old, I didn't think I was a depth player. I knew I wasn't a depth player."

Okay, so it sounds like we just need to define his role and play him in 82 games. I think we can do that. He sounds like he has a good attitude, and that can go a long way:

“I was really honored to be traded for a first-round pick,'' the 6-2, 217-pound Eminger said. “Now everything is up to me. I have to prove myself. I'm looking ahead to the challenge.''

Sounds good to me!

Flyers building team around Richards...

Is it just me, or do the last two Flyers acquisitions have something in common?

Both have a connection with future captain Mike Richards.

Now look, I understand that in the hockey world, pretty much everyone has played on a team with everyone at some point. It's just how the system works. However, the two latest pickups, Danny Syvret and Steve Eminger, have both played with Richards before. And the fact that they have played with Richards was highlighted by Homer.

Here's what Homer had to say about Eminger:

"Steve is a player we’ve always liked," said Holmgren. "He’s a former teammate of Mike Richards in Kitchener, so those two have a connection. He’s still just 25 years old. I don’t believe he’s reached his peak yet and still has a ways to go. We think he’s going to be a nice fit."

And of Syvret, he says:

"Danny is a puck-moving defenseman that sees the ice well and will improve our depth,” said Holmgren in making the announcement. “He had some success playing with Jeff Carter and Mike Richards at the 2005 World Junior Championship as a member of the Team Canada."

So look out, anyone who has ever played with Richards! The Flyers are looking for you!

Hossa to Penguins: "Up yours!"

heh. Hossa has decided to see what free agency can bring him. Hopefully, teams will be lining up for him, thereby crushing the hopes and dreams of Pens fans.

In other news, last night was metal mania on VH1 Classic. Mostly, they seem to play the same crappy videos every week. Like how many times can I see Firehouse's "Don't treat me bad"? It is terrible. I mean, they even have bad metal hair. Too frizzy!

However, I stuck around for the 2 o'clock hour, and was treated to "Rock You Like a Hurricane," Poison's "Nothing But a Good Time," and "Living on a Prayer."

Now of course, the Hurricanes video is old school and not embeddable. If you want to watch it, you'll have to click here. It's worth the click, just to see some of the faces the guys make while playing to the crowd. Also, the video makes absolutely no sense at all.

The Poison video shows why metal is now dead. Heh. It's a terrible song and a terribly funny video. CC plays his guitar solo with no fewer than 5 different gaudy guitars. And several more make appearances throughout the rest of the video. Really bad, but you can't help but watch it:


Living on a Prayer....Bon Jovi is not one of my favorites, but I had to watch this because it was their first big hit. It's kinda cute, since they just sorta clown around for the camera. But man, those clothes they are wearing...ouch. Click here for a good quality video. The embed-able one was crappy quality.

That's all for now. Have a great Sunday!

The Richards Connection

Hmm. If you are a player who has played with Mike Richards before, the Flyers are looking for you.

Bye Bye...Flyers trade Umberger

Wow. Now I feel bad for snubbing him back in January.

Well that was certainly an interesting first round. I'm sad to say I watched the whole thing. It was a little slow going at first, since you pretty much knew who was going to be picked, but then heated up as the trades started flying.

I was a little disappointed that we only moved up to the 19th pick, and then traded away the 27th pick. I was really disappointed that we didn't take Carlson...not because I think he is any big thing, but because I really wanted to be right about who we picked.

Luca Sbisa seems like a good pick. The name rolls easily off the tongue, and he looks like he could be a good choice for us a few years down the road. Picking up Steve Eminger seems like a decent move for the immediate future while we wait for other d-men to develop. Just please don't give him number 26.

Um, I guess that's all for now...

Flyers Draft Day rumors and excitement!

this is who we should have drafted last year!

Last year's draft was like *yawn*, since we were picking second. I mean, it was pretty much one of the top three guys for sure, and although I'm sure the Reamer will be great for us someday, what has he done for me lately?

This year, I'm kinda more excited. We have the 27th pick, and I think that makes Homer kinda itchy. No way he wants to wait until number 27 to pick John Carlson. Homer loves to play the game, and I am sure he will be wheeling and dealing all day to make things exciting for me.

The best rumor I heard so far, and I am pretty sure it was from Ek, had the Flyers trading up to get the first draft pick so they could get Stamkos. Wha?!?! Now, that is a wild rumor!

Best other rumor of the day is that Carter's deal is locked up but has yet to be announced. We'll see. I don't know how we can trade him to the Leafs for their first round pick if he is locked up for 3 years.

Check back later for more fun and excitement!

Update: Umberger to Blue Jackets? Dag, for the life of me I can't remember where I saw this one either. Maybe I am just hallucinating today. Okay, nevermind, found it.

Homer gets things started with Prospal

TSN reports Vinny back to Tampa Bay...

totally random

Seen at the Rush show here this weekend:


There are so many reasons this picture is funny...

Hockey Bloggers Conference Call

Well that was an interesting way to spend a Sunday night. After Teebz suggested a Hockey Bloggers Round Table, Bethany and I headed over to talkshoe to test it out. After some initial technical difficulties, we got things going. Sadly, our conversation turned to Rick Nash in a towel and Bethany's cousin's myspace page. Not exactly what we were going for. But hey, we were just testing out talkshoe to see if it worked!

After I hung up, Teebz jumped in on the conversation. He said he had been listening in for awhile, which made me hope that I hadn't badmouthed too many people while he was eavesdropping. Thank goodness I usually play both sides of the fence and hadn't said too much. Bethany on the other hand....

Anyhow, it turned out to be a pretty cool thing, listening to hockey bloggers talk about the sport they are so passionate about. It was really great when Teebz made fun of Bethany. Over and over and over again.

So tune in tonight, as we take it out of test mode and try it for real.

Flyers trade Briere!

Heh. Just kidding. Just trying to freak you out and drive a little traffic to the site.

Man, I got nothing. Absolutely nothing. I mean, if Puck Daddy can only scare up 2 posts in a 24 hour period, and he is covering the entire NHL, how the hell am I supposed to come up with anything on the Flyers?

One thing that is helping to pass the time in the offseason...I joined a keeper fantasy league. I inherited a team and I am currently in the process of trying to make some trades. Here is my team:

Zetterberg - Hejduk - Upshall
Modano - Willsie - Zajac
Linden - J. William (CHI) - Radivojevik
Talbot - Fiddler - Brodziak
(B. Sutter - Laich - Van Riemsdyk)

Bieksa - Poti
Klee - B. Clark
(Coburn - Parent)

Kiprusoff
(Raycroft)

I got waaaaaay into my fantasy team last year, and I highly recommend it. It's a great way to learn more about teams and players that you might not usually follow.

Um...I guess that is all for now. It's Saturday night, and that means it is time for metal mania on VH1 Classic!

Good news for Leighton lovers!

Now I'll have the chance to see Leighton four times this year. I guess I'd prefer if they benched him for the Flyers home games, so I can stare at him on the bench...

Round and Round

Yeah, so I was stuck watching VH1 Classic again. My Tivo didn't record as many episodes of Family Guy as I thought it was going to, so it was that or Throwdown with Bobby Flay. This off season might just take away my will to live.

Anyhow, they had the 100 Best Songs of the 80s on, and that couldn't be a bad thing, right? After slogging through "Mickey" and "Bust a Move", they got to one of my all time favorite songs: Round and Round, by Ratt. (You're going to start to notice a glam metal edge to my musical tastes...sorry!)

Without further ado, here it is. Great song, great cheesy video. Maybe later in the week we'll get to some Duran Duran instead!

a boring saturday night...

How come there is nothing on TV on Saturday nights? I was forced to watch Metal Mania on VH1 Classic. Pretty bad, eh? But then they played this awesome Scorpions video for "No One Like You." Unfortunately, it is not embed-able, so you will just have to click on the link. It's worth it, seriously, for all its 80s metal cheesiness. Honest!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCmCXoLieC8

Stop the presses! Here is the original version, which is pretty great too. It doesn't have a million Japanese teenagers rocking out, but it is sweet nonetheless!

Best Goal Ever

(AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

I really did think the Pens were gonna take this to seven games and then win. I really did.



It's great to be wrong!

right on schedule!

I was worried about my last post about the Flyers messenger bag. I remembered that I had a similar post last year about some custom Converse in orange and black. I was concerned that my off season activities were way ahead of last year...however, as you can see from the screen shot below, the Flyers gear posts were almost exactly one year apart. Weird.

I'm not sure what it all means, other than that I am a bored Flyers-less hockey blogger. When is rookie camp?