I'm not gonna lie...

The Pronger makes me swoon!

Wow, two western conference games in one week! I got to see Kopitar on Tuesday, and I am pretty sure my crush on him is over. His raccoon eyes were just as bad in person as I was hoping they wouldn't be. Oh well.

I was excited to see the Ducks, because they are one of my other teams. I have always liked Pronger, since he is a bit of a douche and is 6 foot 6. You know how I can't resist tall assholes!

Well I had no idea of the bizarre hypnotic properties of The Pronger. I was unable to take pictures of any other player on the ice! (Were there other players on the ice?) Honestly, it was very weird. He is so tall. And he is all legs! And so slick with that hair! And that gap toothed mouth! By the end of warmups, I decided I was rooting for the Ducks! Really! It was weird. And when I got home, I couldn't even delete any of the crappy pictures of The Pronger! Even if they were out of focus and all you could see was the 25!

Lucky for me, The Pronger gets about 300 minutes of ice time per game, so I got to see a lot of him.

Oh yeah, wait, there was a game too! Oh, um, hmm, let's see...the Flyers won with a hat trick from Knuble and a shut out from Marty. Wooooooohooooo!

I have yet to watch the replay, so I can't tell you how well the boys actually played. In person, it seemed like the power play sucked (except for Knuble's third goal) and the boys still seemed to be shaking off some of the crappiness from Thursday's suckfest.

Oh, and Riley got his ass handed to him by Parros. Don't mess with the stache, Riley!

no gator pics today...

I was having some technical difficulties during warmups on Saturday, and by the time I fixed them, Gator was pretty much done warming up. (He leaves the ice early to leave personalized notes for each player in their stall...)

So, all I got were some lame Biron and Hartnell shots. Great, just great.

I am fascinated by this picture of Randy Jones blowing a bubble during warmups. A few of the guys appeared to be chewing gum before the game. Weird.


Two great games this weekend...the loss on Saturday was a tough one, but it was still a great game. (how many times have I said that after a home game this year? Let me count...)

Gator needs a haircut! During his fight on Sunday, he lost his bucket, and damn is he furry! I may just tell him that this week if I see him at the STH meet the team party (yep, I'm going!)

Got my ticket for the Pittsburgh game...sitting in the same seats as the Boston game. There were some awesome fans there, and I hope to see them again! (I just hope they don't mind all the swearing I will be doing...)

hmmm...I think that's all for now....

Me: disgusted

Well, we won, but we sure didn't deserve to.

Sloppy play, not getting the puck out of our own zone, and six shots on goal in the first period and seven in the third? Not a great game by any stretch of the imagination. Not sure how they pulled it off, but a win is a win I guess.

Next up, a sure loss against my nemesis Olli Jokinen. God I hate that guy and his forehead.

Fun Fact: I own a game worn Joel Kwiatkowski Florida Panthers Jersey. Why? Why not? I mean, if I ever move to South Florida, I will have the coolest jersey around. It ain't easy fitting the name Kwiatkowski on the back of one of those jerseys! And I have a decoy jersey if I ever want to attend a Rangers/Flyers game at MSG...the Rags fans will be so confused they won't know how to heckle me!

Gatorsmile!

Hey All,

Sorry for the noticeable lack of posting lately, but work has been, er, challenging. Oh, who am I kidding, it has been insane there and even hockey has hardly been able to keep me sane!

I went to the Sabres game on Saturday. A crushing loss...maybe the most crushing one (yet) this season. When the Sabres tied it up late in the third, that was it, the Flyers were mentally out of the game from that point on.

Anyhow, I won't bore you with too much info, but here are some things you should know from the Sabres game:

The new guy, Jim Vandermeer, looks similar Ben Eager. Similar enough that you might not notice Eager is gone. In addition, Vandermeer's play is similar to Ben Eager's. He looked slow and confused out on the ice. Not looking like a great trade so far. Seems like we may have picked up another Rory Fitzpatrick....

Paul Gaustad is, um....wow. I guess I have a type, and apparently he is it. It is weird that he is not a defenseman, because he is built like one. I know this is not relevant, but I thought y'all needed to know.

My seats were awesome....second row and across from the locker room. Watching the boys walk down the hallway at the beginning of the game gave me chills. If I ever get season tickets for real, I would try to get those.

WHY oh WHY did Stevens put Briere in for the shootout? Did he not see Danny blow it against the Canes the previous Saturday? Cmon John, you and I are usually on the same page here, but this time you disappointed me. Plus, I bet a guy 5 bucks that you wouldn't put Briere in. I feel like you owe me 5 dollars, sir!

Um, I think that is all for now. Hope everyone had a great holiday!

Me: delusional

For some reason, I really thought the Flyers were going to beat the Devils yesterday. I had to catch the game on Tivo, and when I was at work, someone nearly told me what the outcome was. Luckily, she is a sports fan who tivos and stopped as soon as she saw my hands fly up to cover my ears.

So as I was watching the game, I kept thinking, "well, we must have won, because she was talking about how the eagles won, and then she said 'and the Flyers are...' "

It was kind of nice to watch the game through rose colored glasses. I thought to myself, "Yeah, Nitty is looking good! Look, he's in position. Wow, the puck seems to be finding him." Even Coatesy and Jim Jackson commented on Nitty's fine form. That should have been my first clue that we didn't stand a chance, because the announcers are an even bigger jinx than I am!

Even when we were down 2-1 and 3-1, I kept thinking, "well, this must be about the time we stage the comeback." It was so blissful to think we were gonna win. I mean, after all, why would my friend even mention the Flyers game to me unless they had won? Of course we were gonna win.

I decided to fast forward through the third period, because frankly I was tired and it was late. Oooh...looks like we're staging the comeback, as I see the score 3-2 flash by. And then I see the Devils players all hugging. Hmm, that's weird, I guess they must be happy we won. Oh, wait. I better go back and check that out. Oh, they are hugging because they won. Hmm. I feel surprised, yet not. All is right with the world, as we continue to suck against the Devils.

I hate you Devils and I hate Broduer.

And...WTF happened, Gator? I have been waiting all season for you to put that little pansy Clarkson into the ground. You did not fare well, and I implore you to take that bitch out on Friday January 4th. I have been waiting for this rematch since you two went in preseason at Trenton, but so far, I am underwhelmed. It'd be great if you could take him out and get a 3 game suspension doing it. That'd make up for last night!

hell yeah and oof...

So yesterday around noon I decided to get tickets for the Bruins game. Rod kinda wanted to get a Briere bobblehead, and I felt kinda guilty for never taking him to any games. I went online to see what tickets they had, and lo and behold, ended up in the second row of section 115. I love when that happens.

The rain and fog made my drive their particularly slow, so by the time we got there, it was 6:20! My precious gameday routine of get there early and get drunk was in jeopardy of being ruined! Only 10 minutes until they come out for warmups! Luckily for me, section 115 is right outside the bar. Really, you walk out of the bar, and there is 115. This would prove to be bad for me.

We head down to the seats for warmups. Section 115 is where most of the kids congregate with their "briere give me a puck please pretty please" signs and since we got there so late, the first row is pretty packed. Rod takes out his camera, and realizes he has left his long lens at home. So he is now at the Flyers game in the second row with a fisheye lens and a 17-35. Great. I take a few shots with my camera, and then give him my lens to use. I say, "You can use it, but you have to take lots of pictures of Gator." Now that I have his tiny lens on my camera, I pretty much give up on shooting, and can focus on drinking. This would prove to be bad for me.

By 7:15, I have 4 margaritas. And sadly, because the barkeeps at the bar are starting to recognize me, they are not your standard fare margaritas. I end up having 6, which is probably the equivalent of 8, and man am I feeling it today. One good thing about not bringing Rod to the games is that I know I have to pace myself and cut myself off. With him there, I can just keep drinking and hand him the keys. (This time and time again proves to be bad for me and my liver).

So that's it. I guess there was a game, although sadly I was either in the bar or the ladies room for most of the time.

I gotta stop drinking so many margaritas. It is really interfering with my hockey!

Oh and Nadine, they listened to you....they gave us the bobbleheads on the way out!!!

(and then I went to fangear and did some drunk shopping. there is a funny picture of me accosting the Smith jersey. If Rod ever lets me have it, I will post it here...)

Hell Yeah, and consistently inconsistent

Well, I decided to watch the game. I really only half watched it, as I was making dinner for the first period, and shopping online for another new lens for the Stalkercam 80000000. All I can say is that I wish the team that played tonight would show up more often. They are, to use one of my favorite phrases, consistenly inconsistent.

Notes from the game:

During the pregame, we learn that the Sens had an optional skate today...and nobody skated!!! See, I told you they don't take (perceived) basement dwellers seriously! I also learn that Gerber is in goal. Oh well, I guess we don't stand a chance now, even if nobody skated today.

Also, Nitty is in goal, which doesn't even scare me. Hmm. Weird.

Ack! I see that Gator shaved! I hate when he does that. Luckily, he has so much testosterone that by the end of the first period he has a five o'clock shadow, and by the end of the game he is sufficiently scruffed up again. Honest, I am not exaggerating here, check the tape!

Heatley takes revenge on me for all the trash talking I do about him by scoring a crazy sick goal...

Holy shit! The shot count at the end of period one is 16-9 in favor of the Flyers. Whoa. Something is wrong here, since 16 is usually our total for the entire game. What happened to get the goalie cold guys?

Wait, they're pulling Gerber? Aw, cmon. This guy has been outstanding. Actually, goaltending from both teams was amazing.

Umberger has a weird goal celebration technique.

Um, that's pretty much it. A pretty great, fast paced game. Stevens must have really chewed these guys out on Saturday!!!

Hell yeah I'll take the point!

So I don't want to say the reason the Flyers lost tonight was because Nadine wasn't there, but...it was the first home game she didn't attend! Coincidence? We'll see on Saturday. We'll also see if Nadine's non jinx powers can overcome my severe Devils game jinxing powers. Keep your fingers crossed.

Other than the suckfest which was the first half of the second period, last night's game was pretty great. These guys stayed in the game, and didn't give up like they sometimes do. Shot count through the second period was a little disturbing, but they made up for it a little in the third. I also love that scoring continues to come from unexpected guys...

Congrats to Tolpeko on his first NHL goal. I got to see Denis a lot last year during my stint in the minors, and he is a fantastic player, and funny too. Those crazy Russians!

I don't have much more to say...I'm in the thick of things at work and that is consuming most of my brainpower.

I gotta stop drinking so many margaritas!

Carts: Dude, Richie is totally going to lead the team in points after tonight.
Lupes: OMG, be quiet...tiny!briere is right there!

Great game yesterday. Nadine was entertaining and informative as usual. I am worried about Thursday's game vs. the Rangers, since this will be the first home game Nadine is going to miss. Hopefully she will save all of her lucky energy to combat my Devils jinx for Saturday night. We will be in row 1 right behind the net, so be sure to look for us. I will be the one heckling Broduer. (Just kidding!) (Well, not really...)

For me, the best part of the game was during the warmups when a puck got stuck in the net and was unable to be dislodged. Pure gold. Poor Kooky on netbitch duty...


That's all I got, the rita haze has clouded everything else! Check out Nadine's blog if you want an actual recap...

Hell yeah, and the funniest blog you're not reading

Okay, good game tonight (I think...it is hard to tell with 3 margaritas in you and Teka sitting next to you). The Cingular Wireless Pavillion at the Wachovia Center has the greatest, most efficient bartenders. I didn't miss a minute of the action tonight thanks to them.

Teka got some great pictures. Me, not so much. I got a lot of pictures, but only about 5 of them are decent. So my percentage is increasing...by the end of the season I may get 10 pictures out of 200. The worst part was when I was going through them tonight with Rod as my critic...my obvious *ahem* attention to Jason Smith was a tad uncomfortable. I would say 60 percent of the pictures include him in some way. Including the ones of Gator stretching, which were supposed to be for my eyes only. Oops! Oh well.

Some other highlights:

• "Crozzzzzzzzzzz-beeeeeee, Crozzzzzzzzzzzzzz-beeeeee, Crozzzzzzzzzzzzz-beeee" after number 87 embellished a bit while looking to (unsuccessfully) draw a penalty. We decided that in Sid's RBK commercial, he should say, "In this jersey, I pledge: to whine and cry every chance I get." Man, I knew he had a rep as an embellisher/whiner, but sheesh, tonight was bad. He should get an academy award.

• A big eff you to the guy in front of me who lost his camera and then commandeered Teka's camera to take pics of his kid on the ice during the anthem. Really? Get yer damn paws off her camera! Also, get yer head out of all my damn pictures!

• Teka almost dropping the gloves with a girl who checked her in the ladies room. Yikes!

On a non-game related note: please check out the funniest blog out there...Flyers Goal Scored By... Ryan is either really funny or really sick (or I am really dense...I am a Flyers fan, so it sorta goes without saying...)

Also, this is an open invitation to Ryan...Nadine and I will be at Saturday's game vs. the Diablos. Get yourself a ticket and come on down...we'll even let you sit in row 1 right behind the net...you can heckle Brodeur!!!
Look, you could be this close to the net!!!

Four down, four to go....

(or, Briere, you made the right choice)

Well this road trip so far has proved to be quite a test for the boys. They have been outshot 3571 to 122 and have lost Hatcher for 4 weeks and Jones for two games.

Last night's game was shades of the Panthers game, except instead of the panther roaring sound effect, we got the booing Briere sound effect. Really Montreal? He was a free agent who didn't sign with you. That's it. There was no offer sheet, no contract...just talk that you were one of his potential teams. Every single time he touches the puck he gets booed? Wow. You really are a bunch of douchebags. I have to give you points for sticking with it for the entire game...

During the first period, the guys tried using the "get him cold" strategy by getting two shots on goal in the first 11 minutes. Hey, it worked against Brodeur, why not try it on this Huet guy? They were able to maintain this strategy with a total of 19 SOG to Montreal's 541. I am sure Marty was trilled about that.

Some other observations:

• When Hartnell breaks his Flyers scoring cherry, he is going to be a force to be reckoned with. You heard it here first.

• Nice tripping call on Briere! Get some glasses ref!

• The Flyers looked sooooooooo sloooooooow tonight. Lead skates again.

• My new in game rallying cry is "What this game needs is a dirty hit." This replaces the ever popular, "score, bitches!"

Oooh, I almost forgot about Smith and the stick to his face. First, yikes....not fun to see him laid out on the ice hyperventilating and trying not to cry. Second, thank goodness it wasn't his eye (although it was close enough to cause his eye to look scary). Third, cmon, that dude is amazing...he didn't even miss a shift! He deserves extra bacon for breakfast this week!

Not hopeful for tonight's game...

let the downward spiral begin

Okay, okay, it's not that bad. Except that I totally remember last October's game against the Panthers. For me, that game marked the beginning of the end for last season. Sure, we already sucked by that point (we had only won one of our first seven games) but this was the turning point of the season...the one game that summed up how the rest of the season would go.

And it was all Jokinen's fault. Him and that stupid forehead of his.

Anyhow, enough about the season that shall not be named. I took a page out of Nadine's book (almost literally) and made a few notes. Well, at least for the first period and part of the second. After that, I gave up and started reading photography books. Gah!

First Period

• The roaring Panther sound effect. Really?

• Lupul is up on the first line again. Cmon Stevens, I thought we were on the same page about Knuble here. Well...moving Mike to the 2nd line got him a +2 for the night, which helps with my fantasy team, but still...don't even think about making this permanent.

• First period...guys have their lead skates on again. And apparently, blindfolds now too.

• What on earth is up with this broadcast....there is an eerie fluorescent blue cast to the entire screen. It is making my eyes annoyed. Maybe that is why the Flyers are blindfolded.

• I hate Jokinen. He really is the one person in the NHL that I would punch.

• They should have pulled Marty 10 minutes in...

2nd period...

• insane PK work by Richards, Smith and Kapenen to kill off the four minute Eager penalty.

• The pass from Richards to Lupul was incredible...Lupul positioned himself perfectly

• The Carter/Umberger goal was totally insane too...

• What the heck is Bernie Parent doing in the crowd?

Third period:

• The photographic triangle is fascinating...is that where all my good pictures go?

• I wonder how my fantasy team is doing....oh good, Brind'Amour is having a good night

• If Jim Jackson says "here come the Panthers" one more time, I am going to punch someone.

I think maybe Marty lost this one on purpose, in order to build Nitty's confidence for tomorrow. Whaddya think?

oh, the things you'll learn! (and hell yeah)

Oh readers, Saturday's game was a wonderful one. A few margaritas always make the game more enjoyable.

I met up with Nadine before the game...by the time she found me in the AT&T wireless pavilion, I was halfway through my first margarita. I encouraged her to catch up (good luck) and we each grabbed a margarita and headed down for warmups.

I decided to break out the StalkerCam 800000000 (totally copied Teka on this) so I could get some pictures for the blog that don't involve me giving credit to Bruce Bennett/Getty Images, but alas, buying the StalkerCam does not make me a better photographer. I guess I will have to go to practice on Monday to get some practice with the StalkerCam. *sigh*

Luckily, while I was "taking pictures" Nadine was schooling me on the last 85 years of hockey. I have a lot of catching up to do.

I don't have much to report on the actual game, since I was so busy switching seats and getting margaritas. I do know that it ended with a great OT goal which resulted in high fiving, jumping up and down and hugging. The entire third period was great, with me actually on the edge of my seat like one of those annoying people who gets ready to jump up at every shot on net. Look, there were a ton of scoring chances...just watch the replay!

Here are some other highlights of the night:

• Nadine has an interesting way of "watching" warmups at the glass

• Various texts and calls to Teka about dustbunnies and that lame ass Cocoa

• I sprained my ankle poaching some seats. (karma is a bitch, and I love saying poaching some seats. That might be the new name of this blog...)

• I was right to think that Brodeur is a douche.

• Nadine is a saint for putting up with me...how many times did I say "these seats are great!"? You would have thought I had never sat so close before!

Also, I learned post game that Stevens tweaked the lines a bit, putting Lupul up with Briere and Gagne. Interesting.

That's all for now, maybe I will post some of the sad sorry pictures later...

Wow

From yahoo sports:

The Flyers shut out New Jersey for the first time in the 11-year history of the Wachovia Center. It was the first home shutout against the Devils since they played at the Spectrum in 1987.

Thank you, Marty!

Home opener recap

Whew, what a game. The opener was great and I love the new graphics for the team. Reminiscent of something, but I can't put my finger on it. I want to say an early 80s pop band album cover, but I don't know why. If anyone saw the graphics and knows what I am thinking, please feel free to help me out here.

I will skip the introductions, since they were long and overdone and everyone was just waiting to cheer for Briere.

The first few minutes of the first period were eerily quiet. It's like the crowd was afraid of what could happen. After last season, I can totally understand. Turns out, not much would happen, except for the Flyers turning it over like 5000 times. The period ended scoreless, which was good enough for me with how poorly they played. They were lucky to escape with no score.

The second period started, and it seemed like the players had laced up concrete skates. They were sooooooo slooooooow. I will have to watch the replay to see if they were as slow as I think they were, but damn. Again, the crowd was eerily quiet. (Except of course for the seven boneheads sitting in front of me who ALL got up to get beer every five minutes.)

Things get fuzzy for me when the scoring starts. Even though I was looking at the net, I didn't see either goal go in and both times I could have sworn they didn't. My vantage point was pretty bad, as I was nosebleed and also had the up/down people in front of me. The rest of the second period is a blur to me, since I was happy again to just get out of it without the Isles scoring.

What I remember from the third period (at least the last 10 minutes or so) is the amazing defensive play by pretty much the whole team, but especially Kapanen. This team was fighting to hang onto this lead, and did a pretty good job as a team of doing so.

The last minute and a half were so intense that I nearly passed out. First off, the crowd started clapping like we had won. Gah! Don't do that unless you are up 8-2, people! A little hockey etiquette please! The Isles had the extra attacker and both teams were passing, giving it away, and basically skating around like crazy. It was really insane!!!! And when Gator cleared the puck (was he down on the ice?) and got the empty netter, I really did almost pass out! I'm not trying to speak in hyperbole here folks, I had some physiological problems!

That's pretty much it, I will add more after I watch the replay if I see anything that bears mentioning.

A few other notes:

I don't really know how many times I can say it, but Smith is truly amazing. He blocked some key shots in the first period. His skate, stick, leg, arm or whatever always seems to be in position to stop the puck. He is so subtle about it that you don't even realize he is doing it (unless of course you are me and you are mesmerized by his every move). It looks like the puck is magnetically drawn to him just so he can deflect it. It is weird.

Biron was magical again. The best part about him is how he doesn't get rattled.

Gagne and Witt...what was going on there? Nice to see Simon getting scrappy.

Hope Eager is okay. At first I was scared when he was laying there, then I was scared he was going to get called for diving. We'll see what happens.

Cote and Simon....really, that's all ya got? Lame, and looks like Cote didn't even land a punch.

Somebody should have kicked Bootland's ass, but I can't remember why.

I hate going to games with people, next time I am going alone (except next time I will meet up with Nadine first....sorry it didn't work out this time).

Hell yeah and Jesse why did you do that?

Weird game. Weird because they won and scored a LOT of goals. A weird feeling for a Flyers fan.

And why oh why Jesse did you cross check that dude in the face? We already have a big enough PR problem on our hands with the Downie thing. Sheeesh!

Hell Yeah, part 2

Yeah, we lost, but it was seriously a great game. Pardon the typos, as I have had an entire bottle of Malbec during tonight's tivo'd broadcast.

A few things:

1) Smith is so amazing that it brings tears to my eyes. Fer real.

2) Briere is seriously gifted, keep it up lil fella!

3) This team has a good D

4) Biron is freaking sick. Really!



That is all for now...more after I sober up!

Hell yeah!

First off, let me just say how weird it feels to watch a Flyers game where they have the lead for the entire game. Secondly, it is weird to feel that they deserved to win due to the way the played.

Last season was really so terrible that it has programmed me to not get comfortable with any sort of lead/positive play/good goaltending. I know this was just the first game, but it was truly a pleasure to watch the guys play. I would have been disappointed if they lost, because they played better and deserved to win, but even a loss would have been okay because of the potential they showed.

Way to go boys!

Oh Briere, you make it so easy!

Mike Stobe Getty Images

This photo is just screaming for a caption...it practically writes itself...have at it y'all.

Hello? Did you not hear me say that I hate shootouts?

It should come as no surprise that the Flyers lost last night since the Devils have taken the last 7 from the Flyers. It was a tough loss though, because it was a decent game and the Flyers played with a lot of energy. I watched the game on demand when I got home from work, but only had enough energy to watch until the halfway thru the third period.

There was a crappy call on Forsberg for diving, I guess the official felt he embellished on the way down. I love when Forsberg gets called because it gets his ire up and then he gets a little scrappy and plays like he should.

Anyhow, the game went to a shootout and if I have the stomach for it, I will watch it later.

EDIT: Okay I decided to finish watching the game and man was it depressing. They should not have lost that game! Poor Nitty, the look on his face said it all as he just laid there on the ice after getting scored on with 20 seconds left in regulation!!! I am not sure if I should be sad, or mad, or just indifferent. *sigh*