What went wrong: Philadelphia Flyers

Since Nemmy no longer owns a home computer he's asked guest writers to fill in for his blogging duties.

Today's guest blogger is the kid who was drinking beer at the Phillies game.



Yo, bitches! Even though Nemmy asked me to write what went wrong with the Flyers this postseason I can't really complain about the team. Leighton sucked a few times but that jawn was diiiirtty against the Bruins. I could have stopped Kane's GWG with my fucking Speak and Spell but it was a nasty move to get some space from Kimmo. I guess I blame Mike Richards and that monkey-looking Simon Gagne. They needed to blow some shit up in the final and 6 points in 6 games is bullshit. I found a yellow Chinese Checker in my diaper that got it done harder than that prick Jeff Carter. When Hartnell's done with his wife I'm thinking about giving her my angry inch.

Also, Pronger wasn't nasty enough in the final but he's good people because he got wasted with me and my boys last summer. We were doing shots of Jameson and Pedialyte and Pronger bought like 4 rounds. That night I nearly drove my big wheel through the 15th street bus stop - it was sick! I think the Flyers needed Upshall because Carcillo didn't bring enough to the fucking table. Back in the day when I was hardcore nursing me and Scotty would be downtown with a nipple in our mouths and a Yuengling in our hands. That's Philly hockey, mufu!

I hope the Flyers trade for that LEGO-headed mufu Tim Thomas and we roll in the Final again next season. Peace!

Weekend Wrap Up OR Q just used a video game to change his lines

So I was in Philly Friday night to watch game 4. Did you follow along on twitter?

Heres a picture of me with John Bucigross:He's a really friendly guy and we talked about how sick of a pass Timonen made on this play:


I also met Pierre Maguire and one of the blondes from Versus.

It was crazy to read the next day how out of the series everyone assumed Chicago was (seems even crazier now), but Philly just capitalized on mistakes while Chicago dominated but didn't score. Richards' goal might be my favorite of the play-offs:




Anyway, we all know what happened last night. Joe Quenville put together a sniper, grinder, and passer on each of the top 3 lines. Surprise Surprise it worked. The real surprise was how much it destroyed ex-Conn Smythe candidate, Chris Pronger.
There weren't many pretty goals, unless you count Timonen just barely decapitating Harntell, until this PP goal



I know we all loved this hit, but thats interference, right?



Tell me what I missed

bress

What you missed last night because you watched the other game

The Canadiens beat the Pens 5-2, move onto the ECF

Can someone remind the Canadiens that they are the 16th seed and shouldn't be chopping down trees like this? Halak is awesome but the Habs' success isn't all him. Gionta and Cammalleri are playing inspired hockey and that ragtag group of defensemen got it done vs Crosby and Co.

Montreal was up 2-0 by the end of the first and I thought Twitter was going to explode. When Montreal went up 4-0 you could practically hear restaurants on Ste. Catherine street boarding up windows. How does Travis Moen skate past Serge Gonchar for that shorty? What is this world coming to? Credit to the Pens for getting back to 4-2 after Fleury was yanked but they never had their car in this one. Someone pointed out that Montreal won the first and final games at the Igloo. Last one out hit the lights.

Long summer for Crosby & Malkin who wont get passes for falling down in the 2nd round. Can anyone explain what happened to Fleury? It can't be all about Scuderi and Gill. Nothing is ever about Hal Gill.

Philly beats Boston 2-1, forces Game 7

Let me tell you something about the Flyers: they get it. When facing elimination and with a backup's backup in net they blocked everything put toward the net, outskated and outworked the Bruins and dictated the pace. The Bruins needed to step on some throats but instead gave up pucks, played uninspired hockey and only showed a sense of urgency in the 3rd period.

Mike Richards is no longer trying to kill guys at the expense of goals. He's picking his spots and the team is rallying around him. The first goal was all about his line having bigger balls than the Bruins. Briere's goal was another second effort type goal where he just had too much man button for the Boston D. I can't really fault Tuukka on the shot.

Lucic brought the Bruins to within 1 with 1:00 left in the game. Leighton struggled with the puck at times and Wideman's knuckle curve gave him rebound trouble.

I've gotten multiple calls and texts from friends checking up on me. My favorite was my buddy telling me that if I haven't jumped out the window yet he has a place for me to sleep in Beantown on Friday. Thank you. I'm good, everyone.

You can't think of it as the Flyers streaking toward Game 7 or Boston stumbling to the first tee. This is a new series now. Tortorella says that momentum doesn't carry over in playoff games. I believe it. The slate is wiped clean in Game 7 and nothing else matters. Scored a sick goal in Game 1? So what. Had 45 saves in Game 3? Whatever. Game 7 is the playoff's playoff. Game 1 heroics don't get you pussy if you bow in Game 7.

It comes down to Friday night. The bully has now backed you into a corner. There is no getting around him. Your 2 options are to lie down or power through. Either way someone is hitting the floor. Don't let it be you.

- Nemmy

2 Things

Brad May scored last night by the way. I can't even believe....I can't BELIEVE they did not call that a goal. Now obviously I'm a little salty because I started Howard last night in one league but looking through the lens of truth at what happened it was totally a goal. May throws a whimmy back-hand at the net in case you missed it...in live play you didn't see anything and than the whistle blows and one of the wings throws his hands up. We watch the replay several times with the announcers with sound so you could clearly see the puck in the net..1..2..3..4..5 secs pass and than the whistle blows. The ref initially says no goal so you need evidence to overturn which if it went up to Toronto there would be. The ref wants to continue play and TORONTO not the ref TORONTO which I have never seen actually calls for it to go up-stairs for review. They wave it off. What the hell did you want another look for than. It went in...five seconds later the whistle blows. I'm missing the point totally I guess.

Secondly...James Van Riemsdyk is 16 million right now. Lets look at his game-log as of late because he has done something that in fantasy I have NEVER ever seen adn you probably won't see for a very long time.

First off, 6 goals, 11 assists in 15 games. Yes! American born...6'3" 205lbs. From Old Bridge, New Jersey...scored my first ever away travel goal against that team...the Old Bridge Wings. Making a case for an olympic spot. He'll most likely have to wait four years but 1000.

3 games without a point in his rookie campaign. But most impressive...truly unbelievable is in the last 5 games, he has 4 goals...ALL of which are the GWG. Carrying fantasy teams right now...just carrying them. 2 out of the 4 games were big wins so it was by chance obviously however the last 2 games were 3-2 wins...yes!!!! I like Philly...i really do...I did last year...they need to just validate me and make it far this year. Ton of upside on that squad. Carter, Richards, Gagne, Briere, Hartnell, Pronger, Coburn, Van Riemsdyk, Giroux, Emery, Boucher backing up. Good stuff there.



I don't know why I find this funny but this is me and Nemmy in our minds all day everyday...yours truly at the 2man.


- Claude Giroux

Vociferous on a Wednesday

Nemy sent me this but it has to be on the blog....what a celebration. This is right up there when NYU played Columbia our freshmen year and Todd jumped on the boards, skates on top of the railing that separates the boards from the glass to celebrate his hat trick. At least this goal was nasty enough to merit a celebration finish like this one.



This is Nest the day before he left on his South American vacation. He is attending a place near Antarctica so he came over to borrow some of my skii wear. Ess looks like a Japanese ninja...all you see is his eyes...its like the Geico dollar stack went ninja on us!

Here is an awesome glossy finished hockey card of the power I, Miguel Richards in shorthanded goal format written on the top. Sick! Nemy got this in a pack of Opee-chee hockey cards he bought wasted with me at Models on Saturday. Bruno and Arnott were also in that deck. Juice!

A summation of great celebrations

When and if it gets cold enough people!

The Secret of Mike Richards

What makes this guys so good? What makes him different than the rest. Yes, the power 'I' can lead a team...they like this guy. Why do I call him Mike the power 'I' Richards...I don't quite know but I know that I visualize the football I form spread when the tailbacks line up behind the quarterback when I hear Miek Richards. He isn't dirty but he plays a mean and fiesty game. Yes he will get 70-90 points a season which is mightier than the sword obviously but what are the really separating factors. I noticed something last night versus the Caps.

See if you can follow this.


Notice where Mike is positioned to make this hit on Black Booth. He attempted to do this to Ovy last night but Ovy always is watching...Ovy is 230 pounds...Ovy is dirtier than sword but in all seriousness, Richards in his back-check shades away on the far side of the ice..he loves using his left shoulder and waits for the forward coming in on the far side wing to cut into the middle, making a move on the D and he is ready to come flying in. This is a set play that he runs...that is his back-check. A clean...100% attempt to lay someone out and swing momentum there way. He does this almost every shift. Like a tiger shark swarming on an opportunity. This type of play separates himself above everyone else. Not to mention this ridiculous pass to Hartnall last night. Needlepoint.com.

16,000 Power I juicing.

I think Matty was out this night and broke Richards' and Jeff Carters' bottle of Goose. I wish I was there to see that. I think they must have seen his genuine enthusiasm for seeing them out and maybe even felt that he was a native hockey legend of Philly. This guy is Awesome! Mike Awesome as well works. Remember that guy.

- Zoni

What you missed last night while you were watching the Twins win

For this season, Wednesday recaps will be known as Mid-week Monsters. I'll pick the best player from each game and tell you why.

Senators beat the Maple Leafs, 2-1: Alfie - he got the game winner with a nice move in during a penalty shot. He didn't draw it, but finished it nicely, with a move that froze the new bad Leafs goalie and then roofed the backhand.

Flyers win over the Capitals in OT, 6-5: Capt. Mike - Richards had a 2nd period hat-trick. Enough said. His first goals was a bad angle snipe off a great slap-pass. The second was a little luck on a wrister and the third was him going hard to the net and roofing Varlemov's goof.

Flames beat the Canadiens, 4-3: Eric Nystrom - 2 goals and a fight. None of it was pretty, but it all looks the same on a scoresheet.

Oilers beat the Stars in the shoot-out, 5-4: This wasn't a pretty game. I guess I'll say Khabibulin, because he got the win.

Kings win over the Sharks, 6-4: Jack Johnson - His goal was special. Handzus gave me an awful waist high saucer pass and some how JJ batted it in. But when you're up 4-0 and give away the lead, its tough to give the MwM award to a d-man, but that goal was sneaky special.

Wild beat the Ducks in OT, 4-3: John Scott - How does Minnesota have another huge fighter besides Boogard. Anyway, Scott dominated his fight agains t2MA! favorite George Parros

Crib Notes - Philadelphia Flyers

I'm going cover all 30 teams. Aggressive? Not really. No information in these crib notes is new or useful.



Philidelphia Flyers
Last season - 3rd in the Atlantic, Lost to eventual Cup winner, Pittsburgh in round 1of the playoffs
Lost steady winger, Mike Knuble to Washington via free agency
Lost Andrew Alberts to Carolina via free agency - whatever
Lost goalies Marty Biron and Antero Niittymaki to NYI and Tampa, respectively, via free agency - this must have felt like finally passing a kidney stone
Acquired oft-injured O-K Tollefsen from Columbus via free agency
Signed Ray Emery from some garbage squad in the KHL
Traded Joffrey Lupul, Luca Sbisa and 2 1st round draft picks for 6'6 215 lbs. of pure aggression in Chris Pronger

Questions going into 2009-2010:
Is the Brian Boucher and Ray Emery combo really an improvement from the Biron and Niittymaki duo?
How long before Ray Emery fights in and/or shows up late to practice?
Will Daniel Briere stay healthy enough to help this squad past the first round?
Is Simon Gagne's groin tweak at the Canadian Olympic camp anything to worry about?
Will Scott Hartnell cut that ridiculous head of hair?
How many suspensions will this team accrue with full seasons from Pronger and Carcillo?
How long can Philly go without striking gold with a goalie prospect? Hasn't every other NHL team drafted and developed a strong netminder except Philly?
On paper doesn't this roster look like a serious contender?

Questions after 2008-2009:
Didn't it feel like Biron and Niittymaki were always good at the same time or bad at the same time?

Poised for a breakout season:
Claude Giroux. Young guy was strong against Pittsburgh last playoffs.

Dodgy math:
Coming up with Scott Hartnell



If you had to buy one Philly sweater:
Mike Richards is the obvious choice. I'm not tough enough to wear a Cote or a Laperriere and I can't wear a Briere because I have a set of balls.
If you want to get a throwback go with a Kjell Samuelsson.

Player whose game you sneaky like:
I've said it before but if Scott Hartnell is on your favorite team he automatically becomes your boy.

Player on the Philadelphia Eagles roster with no soul:
Mike Vick - tortured and killed animals.

Old guys:
Ian Laperriere is 35 but still plays like Rambo
Pronger and Timonen are 34

Young guys:
Carter, Carcillo, Richards, Powe, Coburn and Carle are 24.
Claude Giroux is only 21.

Tough guys:
Pretty much everyone other than Briere and Gagne.
Cote is the heavyweight but takes more headshots than John Kennedy Jr.

Interesting:
Arron Asham once spent a total of 15 minutes at an Ace Bailey Children's Foundation function in Brooklyn. He signed 3 autographs and ducked an interview request by the 2Man while Adam graves spent 2 hours on the ice handing out trophies. Not our first snub but come, Aaron.

Nostalgia:
Seeing a skater with the name "Parent" on the Flyers throwback 3rd jersey in 2009.

NHL 94 players:
Lindros, Recchi and Rod the Bod started up front. Hard to believe that the one guy not still playing is Lindros.
Dmitri Yushkevich on D and Tommy Soderstrom in net. Dave Brown was rated a 35.

YouTube:
Dave Poulin rips one top shelf on Mario Gosselin shorthanded. Is that Tim Kerr coming over for a hug? What a crowd.



- Nemmy

What you missed last night while you were at work because of the awful "late email"

A lot of games, so I've just picked out THE highlight you should be sure to catch. If I missed the right one, tell me in the comments.

Canadiens beat the Oilers in OT, 4-3: The game winning goal - Montreal on the power play move the puck around to awesome acquisition Mathieu Schnieder. He puts the puck on net and great tip by Saku Koivu gets the win.

Devils beat the Flames, 3-2: Flames first goal - I have no idea how players get the puck up so quickly when they are so close, but don't over look the great pass to Olli Jokinen.

Maple Leafs win over the Islanders in OT, 3-2: Jeff Finger's big hit. This game wasn't great on any level, but Jeff Finger absolutely laid off Tim Jackman. Bruno Gervais fought, and according to Nemmy, "looked like a natural," but not the top highlight.

Red Wing beat the Coyotes in OT, 3-2: Shane Doan's tip to tie the game.

Penguins beat the Panthers in the shoot-out, 4-3: Malkin's goal - Back to the net, D-man on him and he roofs a backhand. Its so good its stupid.

Sharks beat the Wild in OT, 4-3: Owen Nolan's 400th - How'd he get it? Going to the net with a great tip. He got 401 to tie the game, but the side of the net tip was so great.

Thrashers shut-out the Avalanche, 3-0: no highligt - this game sucked

Flyers beat the Sabres, 5-2: Hartnell's first - side of the net and somehow got his stick on the laser pass from Mike Richards. The Flyers went back and forth cutting up the Sabre's PK and eventually a super pass to back post found Hartnell for the goal.

Blue Jackets shut out the Bruins, 2-0: STEVE MASON

Blues beat the Stars, 5-2: Neal's goal - James Neal, side of the net, fakes the pass across, and when the keeper went down, he put the puck top shelf from no angle.

Capitals win over the Predators in OT, 2-1: The Fights - Belak knocks out Brashear, Bradley owns up to his from behind and fought Tootoo (and got bloody), Erskine fighting Belak. All good boughts.

Weekend Wrap Up OR Frost/Nixon was robbed!

Friday night I was back at my folks house, so forgetting that there was a free preview of the Center Ice Package, I got all my updates via a DVRed NHL: On the Fly on Saturday.

Zetterberg really did the most damage to the Ducks Friday night, but I really love the cherry on top (appropriate because Draper has read hair) that Kris put on the game by beating Giguere with the slap shot on a breakaway.


Am I the only one surprised by Joe Corvos cannon? He had 2. Heres the final one versus the Lightning



Saturday was Hockey Day in Canada. So for me it was Hockey Day on my Couch watching the NHL Network.
Chris Campoli and Mike Comrie were traded to the Senators on Friday and both were in uniform on Saturday afternoon. The Comrie addition gives the Senators a dynamic duo of girlfriends with Duff and Underwood. Can't wait for that CD.
Anyway, Comrie probably felt good being back and Campoli must enjoy dishing passes out to guys that can finish. However, Mr. Kovalev was back and killed penalties well and also dished:


Other Saturday games included Marty Biron dropping the ball (or puck) with this mistake that lead to Penguins win

There were Flyers highlights, like this so subtle, so sweet move from Mike "I love being shorthanded" Richards.

Quite possibly the worst D-to-D pass ever.

Is the Nashville/St. Louis "Rivalry" the lowest scoring rivalry in history. God, even the "highlights" from the game are boring: Kick save from Rinne... Onto the 2nd period, great breakout pass to Tckachuk... and a goal... Onto other action from Saturday.

Jimmy Howard is NOT NHL ready. How much more "rest" does Osgood need?
At least t2MA! man crush Owen Nolan scored by simply crashing the net.


Johnny Toews and the Snake Bitten Weekend:




NBC could have renamed "Game of the Week" to "The Ovechkin Show"
Enjoy:







What did I miss?

-Bress

What you missed last night while you were getting ready for the trade deadline

Canucks beat the Senators, 5-2:
So Henrik is the
passer and Daniel is the
scorer. What about Alex?

Flames beat the Wild in OT, 3-2:
Gaborik would help,
at least, score in the third. He
can rest the first 2.

Stars win over the Oilers, 4-2:
The Stars ascent to
play-off position, is a
remarkable feat.

Blue Jackets beat the Maple Leafs in the shoot-out, 4-3:
Justin Pogge just is
not that good. He's no Carey
Price. That once made sense

Sharks win over the Kings, 4-2:
The underrated
players on the Sharks are studs.
Pavelski and more.

Coyotes beat the Thrashers in the shoot-out, 4-3:
So does Carcillo's
winning shoot-out goal complete
the Gordie hat trick?

Flyers beat the Sabres, 6-2:
Mike Richards equals
fantasy stud with PIMs, goals
and assists. Nice night!

Blackhawks shut-out the Panthers, 4-0:
The only upside
for the Panthers is that a
West team took the points.

Blues beat the Predators in OT, 2-1:
Tkachuk is a huge
fat rock in front of the net
that wont move, but scores

Devils beat the Lightning in the shoot-out, 3-2:
Parise is an
American beauty.
The new Modano?

Hurricanes beat the Islanders, 6-2:
The score says it all
You didn't want to watch this
one. No energy.

Penguins win over the Canadiens, 5-4:
This game had it all
High scoring third and called by
video game guy.

Skiing and thinking hockey

So Nemy is over his max games played in the center position in one fantasy league we are in so he dished out Malkin to me for a hot Ilya Kovalchuk. It's a good move for him but hey in the end we are all in an all out race to the bottom of the cauldron. People keep getting fired from the Islanders TV team and I can't help thinking about the insane dream I had with Jessica Alba last night that got cut off because someone screamed outside. Yea, thanks outside drunk screaming guy at 4 am.

So I am in Vail, Colorado and I am testing a phat pair of Demo powder skiis and tearing up the mountain. Today, the weather was so fantastic. I had a backwards Mets fitted cap on with Nemy's blueblockers that I am happy to say are still intact. Yesterday was brutal windy cold. It got so bad toward the end of the day that my mom was crying down the mountain and bleeding a little from her face from the wind burn. Never seen that in Vail but hey we are back on track with good weather. The real cool thing about being here is that I get to watch Altitude, the Avs network. Nice overtime winning goal connection between Wolski and Svatos the other night. I love their announcer. We also got to here the Jaffster doing color which was even better.

Turned on the tv this morning to see OVY's goal and than it went to commercial. I don't even know what channel it was. Hallmark was on the bottom of the screen and I looked at my brother and said...what???? My dad is sitting next to me with a screwdriver saying he can beat all the fighters in the UFC...I said, "I can't write this if your talking to me but than I said out of curiosity to here how he conjured this up, "How may I ask would you complete this task?" He goes, "I would just shoot 'em with a tommy gun, old school style!"

Fantasy update:

Matheiu Schneider - traded to Montreal...great powerplay action and he actually just scored on the powerplay so Juice if you need a D-man.

Richard Zednik - Some interesting volume over there right now. Take a look.

Matt Cullen - Involvement...good volume

By the way, as I type this Mike Richards is putting up just a bullet blast fantasy evening. A shorthanded goal, 3 assists, two on the powerplay, +3 and 2 Pims. How the hell did he do this and get in the box too. Uhhh...I love this game.

This video is Mike Richards night.

- Zell