A call for help?

From Shelly Anderson at the Pittsburgh Post Gazette:

A call for help

Flyers winger Scott Hartnell was particularly aggressive Wednesday, specifically against Penguins captain Sidney Crosby, who has a cut on his lip.

Therrien put out a call for the officials to take charge should things get rough again tomorrow -- especially if Philadelphia has no playoff spot or seeding on the line.

"We want to make sure that the referees will call the right penalties," Therrien said, citing concern over situations like one that arose Thursday, when Ottawa captain Daniel Alfredsson got a head injury on a hit from Toronto's Mark Bell. The Maple Leafs had been eliminated from the playoffs.

"You don't want to see that happen just before the playoffs by a team that's out of the playoffs with nothing to lose," Therrien said. "They've got a responsibility not only to protect the Crosbys, the [Evgeni] Malkins, the [Marian] Hossas, but the rest of the players. They're important."

It's possible the Penguins won't have positioning on the line, either. If Montreal fails to get at least a point tonight against Toronto, the Penguins will clinch the Eastern Conference title.

Therrien declined to say whether he might rest some of his regulars.

Um, okay Crosby has a cut on his lip. Have you seen Hartnell's nose? It was practically hanging off his face!

I can't wait for tomorrow!

phew!

1. Thank you Florida. You owed us for the game on February 23rd.

2. Where the hell has the team that played tonight been hiding all season? Jesus Christ, these guys were unbelievable.

Stranger in a Strange Land. Flyers Lose.

(paying homage to my favorite blog with the post title..)

First of all, let me just say that everyone should see a game in enemy territory at least once. One tip though: don't choose their last regular home season game on the night they clinch the division. The word uncomfortable doesn't even begin to describe the experience.

Secondly, I want to say that Pens fans were a classy group, and only engaged in good natured ribbing with me. The fact that I have an unknown player on my jersey and I am a non-threatening girl probably helped a little, but still, they were pretty much nice. If I was a drunken asshole walking around with a Hartnell jersey, I may have gotten my throat cut, but since I wasn't it was all good...

I won't say much about the game here (I usually don't say much about the games in my posts anyhow) except wow, the officiating was, as Nadine would say, creative. It's funny to see the opposing fans act indignant when the refs finally call something questionable on their guys. I think there was a hooking call on the Pens in the 2nd or 3rd, and the folks around me were astonished! One guy behind me who had been ribbing me earlier said to me "even you're laughing at that one." I said, "that's what you call a makeup call, guy!"

It was, in Pens/Flyers game tradition, a physical battle. There was blood everywhere! Hartnell's nose looked like it was falling off, and Umberger had blood all over his jersey and chin and I have no idea why! I still haven't watched the game on Tivo. Pens fans say the Flyers were going after Crosby, but from where I sat, I didn't really get that. I would imagine though that in general, opposing teams "go after" Crosby when he has the puck. It's my understanding that that is the nature of the game...

A few other notes:

*I didn't win the Gary Roberts jersey!

*I only saw about 4 other Flyers fans in the entire place. WTF people?

*Therrien better sit Crosby on Sunday or I'll take him out myself!

*Iceburgh is the cutest mascot ever. The little stuffed one I bought won't stop smiling no matter how many times I drop kick it!

*The Pens store is waaaaaaaaaaaay better than the Flyers store. They have every single player tshirt! They even had Gill and Dupuis! It's a good thing I am not a Pens fan, or I would have spent about 300 dollars in there!

*Pittsburgh is slightly dumpier than it was when I was there 10 years ago. Especially downtown. I guess I have been in the suburbs too long!

Big game tonight. Let's go Flyers!

In line in enemy territory!

Nice!

Nice!