Glad Hockey is Almost Back

After the bitter shot that was the Eagles game, this little video is the refreshing lime wedge to remind us that hockey is around the corner. The video is a great commercial for Versus featuring our own Braydon Coburn, reminding us of the abuse hockey players can take. Eat your heart out, Anquan Boldin....

Flyers Enter 2008 Exhibition Schedule

The Flyers started training camp last weekend and even had their 1st preseason game last night. I didn't watch it, because it wasn't on TV, but the Flyers did attempt to webcast it.

For whatever reason, I couldn't get it to work, but I applaud the idea and hope they can get the kinks worked out of televising NHL games over the internet.

Just off of the top of my head, here are 10 storylines to monitor as the Flyers progress through their camp and preseason schedule:

1.) How will Simon Gagne play as he gets back into the grind of the NHL schedule? Will he play tentatively, or will he come back as the 40+ goal scorer we've seen in the past?

2.) How will Mike Richards adjust to the burden of the captaincy?

3.) Will Jeff Carter earn his new contract? You can argue he is slightly overpaid right now, but might be a bargain by year 3 of his deal if his upside is what everyone believes it to be.

4.) Which young Flyer prospect will make the team out of camp? Steve Downie or Claude Giroux?

5.) Can Scott Upshall stay out of John Stevens' doghouse?

6.) Of the gaggle of defensemen that GM Paul Holmgren acquired during the off-season, which ones will make the team?

7.) Can Braydon Coburn build off of his success from last year?

8.) Which goaltender is Martin Biron? The one benched in favor of Antero Niittymaki during stretches of the regular season or the one that practically stole a playoff series from Montreal all by himself?

9.) How much will the Flyers miss assistant coach Terry Murray, who did a great job with the defensemen last year? Murray has moved on to become head coach of the LA Kings.

10.) This team could very easily have missed the playoffs last year and it would have probably resulted in John Stevens' firing. If the Flyers struggle in the first half of the year, will the Flyers fire Stevens?

One more important item: Tim Panaccio, formerly the Flyers beat writer for the Inquirer, is now blogging over at HockeyBuzz.com. According to what I read over there, Panaccio took a buyout from the Inky. Panaccio was always one of my favorite writers (even when he covered the Eagles beat for the Inky), so I'll look forward to checking out his work over at HockeyBuzz.

The Flyers 2008 Post-Mortem

If you have told me that the Flyers would be in the Eastern Conference Finals just one year removed from being the worst team in the NHL, I would probably have tried to buy a quantity of whatever it was you were smoking or taking. To go from a team that couldn't get out of it's own way to advance in the playoffs to the final 4 in the NHL was beyond the expectations of the most stepford of Flyers fans.

But as great as the turnaround was, if you look at the big picture, it still appears as if there is a talent gap between what the Flyers have now and what the two teams going to the Finals have on their rosters.

First and foremost, they need to find a way to build some depth along the blue line. When Timonen and Coburn went down, the Flyers' defense was woefully inadequate for a run at the Cup. Now, not a lot of teams would be well equipped to lose their top two defensemen, but the mobility and talent gap between their top two defensemen and their bottom 4 defensmen was exposed for all to see. Not every player has to be Kimmo Timonen (although that would be great), but you'd like your defensemen to be mobile and good passers such that they can move the puck to the forward moving with speed, rather than the forward standing around and waiting to receive a puck bounced off of the boards with no real purpose.

Secondly, the Flyers need to find out who can play with Danny Briere. Early in the year, Briere and Simon Gagne developed some good chemistry. When Gagne became enmeshed with his concussion issues, Briere struggled with various linemates until the Flyers acquired Vinny Prospal the day before the deadline. The Flyers cannot afford to have a guy like Briere, in whom a ton of money is invested, struggling to find linemates for long stretches of 5-on-5 play. The assumption is that Gagne will come back and be the same player, but after what we've seen after Eric Lindros and Keith Primeau got laid up with concussions, that is not a great assumption.

Finally, I would be more comfortable going forward with this team if they developed a more systemic identity with respect to how they play. Think about it....what is the identity of the Flyers? If you believe the National media and uninformed trolls on message boards, the Flyers are a bunch of untalented goons. While Flyer observers know that is incorrect, what is apparent is that the Flyers don't have an identity they can look to when things aren't going so well in order to baseline their play. Are the Flyers a forechecking attacking team? Are they a trapping team? Are they a counterpunching team? They've been all of those things at certain points of last season and I'm not certain they are good at any one of them such that they could lean on that particular style to get them over in difficult situations.

Breaking down the roster observations by position.....

Forwards:

- Mike Richards is going to be the captain of this team next year whether Jason Smith is here or not (which he probably won't be). Richards made a huge leap as a player and his work in the playoffs only served to further raise his profile. He is to this team what Chase Utley is to the Phillies.

- Jeff Carter will get a big raise as a restricted free agent and probably cemented it with a stretch of dominant games that he had when Mike Richards was out just before the playoff run.

- If Simon Gagne can come back, that would be great, but it would behoove Paul Holmgren to have a plan B in case Gagne gets scatterbrained. Before the playoffs, I was very much in favor of resigning Prospal as that Plan B. Unless the words "surgery" and "Vinny Prospal" appear in the same sentence this week, he will not be getting any faster this offseason, and his lack of speed is probably why he disappeared for long stretches in the playoffs.

- A lot of people believe that RJ Umberger is going to be a big time player, especially after the Montreal series. While I appreciate what Umberger did, I'd be VERY careful if I were Paul Holmgren to not break the bank for this guy. For one thing, he just turned 26; he's not some young kid just out of junior hockey. He doesn't really have a line to call home and I don't see him getting much better than he is right now. He scored 12 goals during the regular season last year; 6 against the Pens alone. If they can keep Umberger for a year or two for a reasonable number that won't kill their cap, I'd be happy with that. But if Umberger holds out for money befitting a top 6 forward, that will be a problem. If that is the case, maybe you think about shopping Umberger, whose value may never be higher.

- Another player who could be moved is Mike Knuble. He is going to be another year older and another year slower. They would be wise to make sure they can replace Knuble's power play prowess, however, before they consider moving him. Sami Kapanen, while slowing down some, can still be a valuable 4th liner and solid soldier in the lockerroom. I suspect the Flyers will leave it up to Kapanen to see if he has another year left. He may just retire and return to Finland as he has threatened to do in the past.

- Whatever problems John Stevens has with Scottie Upshall (healthy scratch at time during the season), hopefully Upshall's playoff performance has swung the coach. More Upshall in the lineup, please.

- Steve Downie needs to work on his skating as well as his self-discipline. He will also need the benefit of the doubt from Stevens to some extent; Downie will not improve by sitting in the press box.

- Will Claude Giroux (QMJHL MVP) make the team out of camp next year? Alot of folks are assuming this without figuring out where, exactly, he would play. You can't put this guy on the 4th line. A little time on the Phantoms wouldn't hurt.

Defensemen

- It was amazing to watch the development of Braydon Coburn over the course of the year. He has truly developed into a top notch NHL defenseman.

- I've written this before, but Kimmo Timonen is an absolute beast. He is better than was advertised when the Flyers signed him.

- Randy Jones probably made himself some money with a really solid playoff. He is a restricted free agent and I have no problem with the Flyers bringing him back in a role no better than the 4 or 5 defenseman.

- Don't be surprised to see Lasse Kukkonen traded. I just don't think Stevens likes him.

- Youngster Ryan Parent, obtained in the Peter Forsberg deal, probably earned himself a spot on the team starting out of camp with a stellar effort under fire in the playoffs. I still don't understand, though, how a guy that skates as well as Parent has absolutely no discernible offensive skills.

- Now this is where things get a little tougher. Jason Smith was the perfect captain for this team, but his injuries (from what I read today, BOTH shoulders were seperated) and lack of foot speed kept him from performing optimally. Derian Hatcher practically had his knee drained every day and is fighting age (he's 35) and lack of foot speed. I think the Flyers can afford to have one of these slower, more physical defensemen back, but NOT both.

The thing to be aware of is that you can't simply jettison both of these guys without replacing their physicality. Both can fight and both are a bitch to go up against in the corners and along the boards. There were rumors about Smith wanting to go back to New Jersey (where he originally was drafted) for reasons I cannot possibly fathom (who would want to live in North Jersey?). Hatcher? He may retire or get bought out (he makes about $3.5 million). Regardless of the outcome of the situation with these two similar defensemen, the Flyers will need to replace those skills that they did bring to the table.

- Young Flyers defensemen to look for next year? "Nasty" Nate Guenin could supply toughness from the blueline next year (146 PIMs for the Phantoms last year). Guenin is probably the first call-up in case of injury. Oskars Bartulis is a rangy, smooth skating defensemen with offensive skills. Michael Ratchuk is an offensive minded defenseman that played with the Phantoms in the Calder Cup playoffs for 5 games and should be a big time player on the Phantoms next year.

Goaltending

- Martin Biron is the undisputed starting goaltending on this team right now. Whether it was the right thing to do or not to shuffle him in and out of the lineup during the regular season, this is Biron's team now.

- Antero Niittymaki will probably be back. He will be under contract in the coming year, but at what point do you actually start grooming a young(er) successor to Marty Biron? Biron is 30 and is not the biggest guy in the world. Biron cannot play as many games as say, Martin Brodeur. Niitty will suffice next year as a safety net, but I wouldn't give Niitty another contract, unless it is understood that he is the backup.

- Dovetailing off of the previous point, the Flyers definitely need to identify a young, up and coming goaltender to foster in their system in the next year or two. Phantoms goalies Scott Munroe, Martin Houle, and Michael Teslak are middling prospects at best.

Coaching

- There is a big movement to give John Stevens a long term extension. Not so fast, in my opinion. Stevens is a good, young coach, but I worry about his ability to shape the identity of this team. He was almost fired back in March and was publicly called out by Paul Holmgren to step up. I would wait until December, to see how the team comes out of the gate before I start awarding Stevens with a long term deal. Stevens might be the right guy now, in that he is a young, player-empathetic coach, but this team may need more of a task master to get to the next level.

Available Free Agents Who Could Help

- The cap will go up a bit, and barring some huge move to free up a ton of cap space, I'm not sure the Flyers will be huge players in the free agent, unlike last year where they scored Briere, Timonen, and Hartnell.

The obvious free agent who would help immediately is Brian Campbell, former Sabre defenseman. There are other, cheaper options for a puck rushing/moving defenseman. Namely, Colorado's John Michael-Liles, Ottawa's Wade Redden, and Montreal's Mark Streit.

Flyers Beat Pens; Keep Season Alive!

The Flyers, apparently with no overwhelming desire to hit the golf course, enjoyed their best game of the series so far and beat the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 4 of their best of 7 series by a score of 4 - 2. They now trail by a count of 3 games to 1 as the series now swings back to Pittsburgh for a Game 5.

I'm not suggesting that the Flyers can definitely pull off the impossible, historical feat of coming back from a 3 - 0 deficit. I am suggesting, though, that if the Pens thought they could take their foot off the gas pedal and just put it back down again in Pittsburgh in Game 5 that they are making a mistake.

The Flyers have been hitting these guys pretty good, even in the games they lost. Last night looked like the first time that maybe the Pens' composure is breaking down a bit. Now, the Flyers will probably have Braydon Coburn back by Sunday for Game 5. You wonder if the Flyers planted the seeds of doubt amongst the Pens and now, they may be getting back their biggest, fastest, and tallest defenseman and change the dynamic of things.

Flyer goals last night were scored by Joffrey Lupul (two, including the empty netter), Jeff Carter, and Danny Briere. It's important to note that both Carter and Briere's goals were scored right in front of the net, where it is believed that the Penguin defense is weakest.

Martin Biron also enjoyed a strong game last night en route to the victory. He did not let up a bunch of cheap rebounds, but the Pens did enjoy another of their famous lucky bounce goals on their first goal. They have scored a goal deflected off of a Flyer player in every game of this series to date.

Did You Notice?

- I'm glad to see that Ryan Malone knows what Derian Hatcher's fist sweat tastes like. Malone picked a fight with Hatcher and got his ass handed to him.




- Wow, why did Pittsburgh have Crosby on the ice with 10 seconds left and 2 goals down? Richards did the right thing and scrummed with Crosby, getting in his face a bit. Doubt Penguin coach Michel Therrien will make that mistake again.

- Another strong game by Scottie Hartnell, who hit everything that moved and had 3 assists.

- The line change that Stevens made before this game seemed to work out well, although, I wish he had come to that conclusion during the course of Game 3, where it could have made a difference. Briere and Richards, with their speed and skill on one line, seemed to free up room for each other.

- Oh, by the way: The Flyers web site is touting that Kimmo Timonen is going to skate today.

Photo: (AP Photo/Tom Mihalek)

Flyers Down 2 Games to Pens

The Game 1 loss almost seemed like a Kimmo Timonen hangover.

The Game 2 loss is a little more vexing, only because I feel like if the Flyers got as many breaks as the Pens got last night, the series could be even. And while they did lose 4 - 2 and are down 2 games to none in this best of 7 series, I certainly do not believe that the Flyers are out of this series by any stretch of the imagination.

Losing Braydon Coburn in the opening minutes of the game last night was just a crushing loss to a team already missing their best defenseman. It really impeded any sort of momentum the team had in terms of how they had planned to come at the Pens. I don't know what the hit totals were, but I did feel that the Flyers were doing a good job at taking a more physical approach to the game. If this were the regular season, I wouldn't bat an eye at how the team played last night, because I thought they played well. They just didn't play well enough and certainly did not get any bounces offensively. I think if they can keep up this level of play, they Pens can almost certainly be had.

As for the particulars of the games from the weekend, what more can be said of Mike Richards? He scored both goals on Friday night and scored on a beautiful shorthanded breakaway that tied the game for the Flyers near the end of the 2nd period and gave them momentum. He's been hitting, winning faceoffs (63% last night) and I wouldn't be surprised if it was Richards that actually sewed up Braydon Coburn in the dressing room after he got hit in the eye.

The one thing that has concerned me in the two playoff games so far is that Danny Briere and Vinny Prospal have almost been non-entities in this series. We cannot have Danny Briere get outplayed by Jordan Staal (the line Briere seems to be matched up against) and have any expectation of success

Did you notice?

- Happy that Steve Downie got in the game last night. Sad that he gave up the turnover on the game winner. This is not the last we'll hear of Steve Downie.

- Huge hit, by the way, from Downie on Kris Letang.

- For all of Tyler Kennedy's wild flailing, I'm not sure he made contact with Scottie Upshall's face once. While Kennedy was the busier fighter, Upshall landed a couple solid ones in their first period fight. What a bunch of fake tough guys on the Pens. The Pens are better off when they shy away from the rough stuff.

- The two penalties that were called on Derian Hatcher were two of the most bogus calls I had seen in all of the playoffs. The alleged hooking call, where Hatcher made was simply a real good defensive play on Malkin, was just the worst call of the playoffs. If they made that call both ways, the Flyers would have had far more power play time than they had.

(Picture: (AFP/Getty Images/Jim Mcisaac))

Flyers-Pens Eastern Conference Finals Preview

The Eastern Conference Finals begin tonite with two Atlantic Division foes that have already squared off in 7 nasty, brutal contests during the regular season and 1 game at the end of the season that you may or may not think was a bit fishy.

The Pittsburgh Penguins, the winner of the Atlantic Division during the regular season, have fashioned themselves into quite a rival for their downstate rivals. After years of the Flyers just stomping all over the Penguins historically (including 3 playoff series), the Penguins came through the Atlantic Division in 2006-2007 and handed the Flyers their lunch, winning all 8 contests last year. The first of these contests is etched in the minds of a lot of Flyer and Pen fans in that it was the game that Derian Hatcher smacked Sidney Crosby up high and did some impromptu dental work on the young face of the NHL. After that game, Crosby seemed to make it his personal mission to make the Flyers pay, playing with a lot of passion and grit in the remaining games of that season.

On the other hand, alot of teams had their way with the Flyers last year....not just the Pens.

Entering into this season, with much of the same young nucleus still intact from the beatings the Flyers took the year before, the Flyers opened the season series with the Pens winning 4 straight, including an 8 - 2 asskicking complete with one of our players (Ben Eager, no longer with the Flyers) calling Penguin coach Michel Therrien a "joke". All of these games seemed like blood feuds with all sorts of fights and penalties of aggression. This all seemed appropriate payback to a team that had revelled in it's domination of the Flyers the year before.

The tide turned as the calender flipped to February of this year, as the Penguins began to warm to the task of playing their brethern from the Southeastern part of the state on a more level ice surface. The Pens won the following 3 games that featured just as much bad blood as the previous games. The Pens even paid the Flyers back for their earlier blowout win, by humiliating the Flyers by a score of 7 -1 on a nationally televised game. Reports were starting to come out of the media that Flyer coach John Stevens was going to be fired as a result of the Flyers' poor effort in that particular game.

The game that is on some people's minds, however, is the 2 - 0 Flyers win that closed out the regular season for both teams. While the game had some bite to it, it was hardly the two-sided blood feud that previous games had been. The Pens had decided to rest Sidney Crosby, who had played in the Pens' previous game, which also happened to be against the Flyers. The Flyers huffed and puffed their way to the win despite giving the Penguins 8 power plays. It was also a game that had many fans believing that maybe Martin Biron can be the goaltender the franchise has been missing as the Pens did have some great opportunities to score.

It was a game where many believed that the Penguins tanked the game so that they didn't have to face the Flyers early in the playoffs such that they would possibly incur injuries in a long, hard playoff series against a well-known foe.

Well, one thing I do know is that last game can say only one of two things, but not both:

1.) The Pens are scared of the Flyers.

2.) The Flyers are plenty good enough to compete with the Pens when they are diligent defensively.

I don't believe that the Pens are scared of the Flyers, but I also believe that the Pens thought they had nothing to gain by playing Crosby in that particular game. I also believed that the Pens did not play recklessly in that particular game because they were perhaps concerned with getting injured going into the playoffs (very valid concern). So the answer I'm going to give for that imfamous 8th game is that the Flyers are good enough to compete with and beat the Pens when they play the right way.

The real question is: Can the Flyers play the "right way" in a 7-game series against the Pens?

Forwards:

The forwards for the Pens will combine the offensive styles that the Flyers had seen in the previous two rounds. The Pens have the offensive-minded bull analagous to Alexander Ovechkin in MVP-candidate Evgeni Malkin. They also have the player, whom many pundits consider the face of the new NHL in Sidney Crosby. Crosby, since he was a kid, has been compared to Wayne Gretzky for his playmaking ability and vision on the ice. It's been amazing to see how Crosby has practically flown under the radar of folks since he incurred that high ankle injury and Malkin just exploded through the NHL. Most of the talk you see about Crosby now is about how he dives to draw penalties.

I would consider Malkin the bigger concern as the Flyers had no answer for him at all during the regular season. As mentioned previously, Crosby has been hobbled by a high ankle sprain for most of the 2nd half of the season, and I believe it has been partially limiting his explosiveness (much like has been the case for the Flyers' Joffrey Lupul).

In addition to having two of the premier forwards in the game, the Pens have snipers Marian Hossa and Petr Sykora. Sykora has been a Flyer-killer his whole career, dating back to his days with the New Jersey Devils. These two "second-tier" players can kill you if the Pens' frontline players don't. Follow these players up with Ryan Malone (27 goals), penalty killer Jordan Staal, and pest Jarko Ruutu, and it's obvious that the Pens have a very imposing set of forwards.

The Flyers have been led in the playoffs by Danny Briere, who has 14 points in 12 games. RJ Umberger had a "Keith Primeau"-like run through the Montreal series as he scored an astounding 8 goals in 5 games. Umberger also happened to score half of his regular season goal total (12) against the Pens, the team he grew up rooting for (BTW: I am SO tired of hearing and typing that Umberger was a Pens fan growing up). Mike Richards and Jeff Carter both have 4 goals in the playoffs, with Carter sporting a +6 rating, which is best amongst Flyer forwards. It will be the job of Carter and Richards to clamp down on Malkin and Crosby defensively; it remains to be seen if they can handle the assignment on this stage. Edge: Pittsburgh

Defensemen:

The Pens have some pretty mobile defensemen, led by Sergei Gonchar (12 goals) and Ryan Whitney (12 goals), both of whom scored double-digit goals this year from the blueline. Defensively, however, I don't believe either Gonchar or Whitney would win a Norris trophy for play in their own zone. Smooth skating Kris Letang also provides offensive punch from the blue line, but whose defensive skills are similar to Whitney's. While Whitney and Letang are relative neophytes to playoff hockey, Gonchar has over 60 playoff games of experience under his belt.

The Pens also have a few big, physical defensemen in the form of Hal Gill and Brooks Orpik. Gill has a long reach, but skates like Derian Hatcher. Brooks Orpik has been bad at points during this season on the blueline, such that he was a healthy scratch. He got back into the lineup when Mark Eaton went down for the year. Michel Therrien has also used him as a 4th line winger. Stay-at-home defenseman Rob Scuderi rounds out a unit that I believe is top heavy in offensive talent and is very average in their own zone. As a matter of fact, in Pen games I've watched since the beginning of the season until now, it looks to me like they are playing a more defensive style as a team to mask some of the weaknesses they have on their blueline.

The analysis of the Flyers' defensemen was a little rosier when it was thought that Kimmo Timonen would participate in the playoffs. The news of Kimmo Timonen's blood clot seared through Flyer Nation and the tone amongst fans is grim. Before the Timonen injury, I thought that the underrated story for the Flyers this playoff season has been the play of their defensemen. If Kimmo Timonen and Braydon Coburn haven't been the best defensive pairing in the playoffs so far, then I'd like to see who has been the best. Taking Timonen's place with be either veteran Jaroslav Modry or rookie Ryan Parent. Neither of those player can replicate Timonen's contributions.

Jason Smith had a rough go of things in the Washington series, but looked much better against Montreal. On the other hand, Derian Hatcher looked great against Washington, but less so against Montreal. It is vitally important for Hatcher to be on his game as he and the (surprisingly good ) Randy Jones will be matched against Crosby's line.

One real good thing about the layoff between the Montreal series and this one is the rest it gives to vets like Hatcher and Jason Smith. Both Hatcher and Smith have been injured during the season, so a week or so off can't possibly hurt. Both play physical and have a ton of playoff experience (Hatcher has about 120+ games of playoff experience) that will serve them well.

Edge: Pens (only because of the Timonen injury)

Goaltender:

Pittsburgh's Marc-Andre Fleury is one of the several very high draft picks that Pittsburgh has garnered over the years because of how bad they were. As a matter of fact, he was the first pick of the entire draft in 2003. His lateral movement is lightning quick, but he languished behind crappy Penguins defensive schemes early in his career, possibly hurting his confidence somewhat. He has been playing very well of late.

What else can be said about Martin Biron? He made all of the big saves in the series against Montreal and has been publicly credited by coach John Stevens for stealing a game or two.

While Fleury has played well, he hasn't been tested the way Biron has been tested. Can't give the Flyers the advantage here, because of Fleury's pedigree, but I could make a case for the Flyers having a small advantage in goal because of Biron's play under fire in the previous rounds. Even.

Coaching

Pens coach Michel Therrien had coached in the NHL before the Penguin job, coaching the Montreal Canadiens to a playoff berth in 2001-2002, but was mostly disliked by his players. He was so beloved for his work in Montreal, he was fired 46 games into the next season. There have been rumblings from hockey writers that Therrien is probably not the right coach for this team right now because of the defensive style he coaches and his abrasive nature, but the fact is, the Pens have improved under Therrien, like it or not.

John Stevens was a whisker away from losing his job after a blow out loss to Pittsburgh earlier this year. He probably would have been fired if the team didn't make the playoffs. But Stevens' players seem to like him, for the most part. He has used some dopey (changing around the lockerroom during a losing streak) and clever (making players create their own scouting reports of a player) motivational techniques to drive his players. The team has also gained a bit of a counter-punching identity over the past 6 weeks that they hadn't had previously. He doesn't appear to get emotional and remains steady under fire. Even.

Intangibles/Conspiracy theories:

Don't think for a second the league wouldn't want a Detroit - Pittsburgh final. The Pens are known divers, so expect them to get most of the calls in this series. Can any of the Flyer defensemen step up in Timonen's absence? Or better yet, can the Flyers get a short term emotional life knowing their best defenseman is out? Sometimes, when a key player is hurt, the team steps up it's play emotionally.

How will Pittsburgh react if faced with a little adversity? Pressure in this series is really on the Pens, who finished higher and have higher expectations; the Flyers are almost playing with house money at this point. Even.

The Prediction:

Even before the news of Timonen's injury hit, I had Pittsburgh winning this series, if only because I'm worried about the ability of the Flyers to stay out of the penalty box as much as I am worried about the ability of the officials to know a dive when they see one. But with the news of Timonen's injury, the Flyers will be hardpressed to win this series.

The key for the Flyers will be Martin Biron maintaining his level of play that he acheived against Montreal and Timonen's replacement stepping up and giving the Flyers a heroic effort. They almost need something along the lines of Andy Delmore's hat-trick from back in 2000, where a defenseman came out of nowhere and became a hero. They need to stay out of the penalty box. If they get all of these things, they do have a shot to pull off the upset.

The action in this series will be intense. Pittsburgh may come out of this series, but it won't be without having lost a little blood. Pittsburgh in Six.

Picture of Briere: (AP Photo/Tom Mihalek)

Flyers, Biron Best Habs in Game 3

For all of those years, I saw the New Jersey Devils come into Philadelphia and kick the Flyers' asses with a French Canadian goaltender named "Martin", I always wondered what it would be like to have our dominant French Canadian goaltender named "Martin".

Well, last night, I found out, as the best player on the ice for both teams was none other than Flyers goaltender Martin Biron, as the Flyers beat the Habs 3 - 2 to take a 2 games to 1 lead in their best of 7 series.

Biron's performance could not have been more timely. The Flyers gave up 8 power plays, including a solid 2 minutes of 5 on 3 power play time and a full 5 minute power play assessed to Derian Hatcher for boarding.

At the other end of the rink, Habs rookie goalie Carey Price was shaky to say the least. Scottie Upshall beat him pretty clean on his goal, but the Mike Richards shorthanded goal was one Price should have had and the goal seemed to suck the life right out of the Canadiens. When a fat rebound kicked out to RJ Umberger for the 3rd goal of the game, you had a feeling that maybe the Canadiens were considering pulling Price, which they eventually would do.

Let's be clear: This was, by far, not a perfect game by the Flyers. I thought the officiating was a bit one-sided, but the Flyers need to play a little smarter. The Derian Hatcher play is a perfect example. While I don't believe the play warranted a full 5 minute major (should have been a double minor for boarding), Hatcher should have never put himself in that position to begin with. Lasse Kukkonen took two bad penalties in the latter stages of the 2nd and 3rd period. Because of all the penalties, the penalty killers saw a lot of ice time and you can never get into an offensive rhythm when you're killing penalties the whole game.

Did you notice?

- The play where Steve Downie allegedly tripped goaltender Carey Price was a good example of how Downie cannot catch a break of any sort from the officials. Price clearly flopped and threw his own mask off in embellishing the call and it should have been called a dive. The penalty calls should have been evened out on that play, but it was just another example of shaky officiating.

- Montreal definitely had a territorial advantage as the game wore on. The Flyers were outshot 17 - 2 in the 3rd period. Yikes. They need to tighten that up going into Game 4.

- Has any Flyer been the recipient of more good bounces in the first 3 games of this series than RJ Umberger? That second period rebound, after a Jeff Carter shot, came right onto his stick for the eventual goal. Carter couldn't have passed it to him that well.

- Another strong game from Braydon Coburn.

At the game:

- Don't know how it sounded on TV, but the "Marty! Marty!" chants were real loud in the arena. After Upshall scored, you couldn't hear Lou Nolan announce who scored it was so loud.

- Not a ton of Montreal fans, but a few. A couple of idiots in my section brought a sign with them all the way from Montreal, which was in French, so none of us knew what it said. To bring a sign down to a hockey game in another country, it had better say something pretty damned profound. After they put their sign up a couple of times, the fans behind them (most of which are regulars in that section) yelled for them to keep the sign down.

- Saw a good number of Montreal fans leave before the end of the game. Weak!

- The heavy rains before the game put a damper on the pregame tent activities, which was a shame.

- PLEASE stop booing the Canadian national anthem! The Flyers anticipated this, and had Danny Briere record a message asking the fans to respect both anthems, but a bunch of knuckleheads booed anyway. It makes no sense to boo that anthem, considering the majority of the Flyers are, in fact, Canadian. Also -- the "USA, USA" chant when the officials were sorting out the penalties when Price flopped like a fish was sort of infantile. We aren't fighting WWIII our there. This isn't the Iranian national team. You want jingoism? Go rent "Miracle".

- They did the "God Bless America" thing with Lauren Hart and Kate Smith again last night. They are in danger of making it not so special.

- Harkening back to the last series, where a Washington Post reporter said the orange clad Flyer fans all looked like security at a Megadeth concert, the Flyers got Megadeth's Dave Mustaine to record a little speech to rile up the crowd. It worked...and you can probably expect to see it again in Game 4 if you're going.

(AP Photo/Tom Mihalek)

Lupul Scores! Flyers Win!

Joffrey Lupul, seen recently on the side of milk cartons for his lack of offense in this series, potted the game winner in OT (on the PP, no less) as the Flyers beat the Washington Capitals by a score of 3 - 2.

In a game that featured an ebb and flow similar to Game 6, where the Flyers got the better of the early going and the Caps pressed the action late, Martin Biron stood tall for the Flyers. He made 16 saves in a tightly-contested 3rd period, where there were no penalties called, despite several infractions committed. As the Caps were coming at the Flyers in waves, the Flyers managed only 5 mostly ineffectual shots on goal. This team was clearly gassed going into the overtime period.

As OT began, it was obvious that the Flyers had regained some jump and, after a couple of incidents where a Flyer was pulled down by a Cap (the Sami Kapanen play was a pull down in plain sight), one of them was finally called (against Cap Tom Poti) giving the Flyers a rare OT man advantage.

It was incredibly important for the Flyers to score on that power play. The "make up" call giving the Caps the power play was going to occur; it was just a matter of time. Fortunately, Lupul put in his first goal of the series such that the Flyers didn't need to worry about the make up call.

Did you notice?

- Holy Crap, was that Steve Downie on the ice in a Game 7? He committed two minors and looked a little lost, but I blame none of that on Downie. Stevens saw fit to play Downie, a 20 year old who never played in a playoff game, on Mike Richards' line. Sure, he saw some success with Richards during the regular season, but that was before Stevens buried the guy. He should have been in the Riley Cote role, where he wouldn't have seen nearly as much ice time as he would playing on Richards' line. Eventually, Kapanen took Downie's place on that line.

- I don't know how many shot Lasse Kukkonen blocked, but I'd bet it was alot.

- Despite Alex Ovechkin finding his stride somewhat in this series, kudos must be given to Kimmo Timonen. If you noticed, Ovechkin's points were not coming because he simply overpowered or juked and jived the puck around some hapless d-man (see the goal he had in game 1 versus Lasse Kukkonen). The goals were coming off of home run passes, broken plays, and being set up on the power play. All those goals count, but Timonen sublimated some of his offensive game to contain Ovechkin and it worked. The same goes for Braydon Coburn, who is making himself into a star in this league.

- All of the Washington pub is about Ovechkin and rightly so, but Nicklas Backstrom is an emerging player. In a year where Chicago's Patrick Kane got all of the rookie publicity, maybe some folks better get a look at Backstrom, who some hockey writers compared to a young Forsberg.

- Finally, the Flyers' second goal, where Patrick Thoresen knocked a Caps d-man into Huet, enabling Sami Kapanen to score into an empty net was controversial, but the fact that Huet was out of his crease and was bowled over by his own guy, who was back checking hard, was just an unfortunate circumstance. That said, I thought for sure they would review that and it would magically get overturned. Once in a while, maybe the Flyers do get a break from the refs.

Flyers Face Game 7

I missed a ton of stuff to talk about over the past few days as we threw a party for my son, who turned two, and I had to play Mr. Mom yesterday and didn't have time to post anything.

But today, let's stick with the Flyers, who put themselves in just a brutal hole by dropping a 4 - 2 decision in front of their home crowd in one of the most frustrating games of the year. This was after they got up 2 - 0 on the strength of their seemingly rejuvenated power play.

At about the midway point of the game, it was as if the Flyers stopped skating and hoped the Capitals would simply quit. Not only did the Caps not quit, but I wonder if that game gave Alexander Ovechkin the confidence he may have been missing and would possibly propel him to carry his team to a Game 7 win tonite. Ovechkin finished with 2 goals, including the backbreaking goal on a breakaway near the start of the third period. This was the same segment that saw the Flyers put a ton of pressure on the Caps, to no avail, and included Braydon Coburn solidly ringing one off of the post.

I'm not so sure about how the Flyers will even come out tonite and to be honest, I'm not feeling terribly optimistic. There is much to be concerned about with this team right now. Specifically:

1.) Can Martin Biron handle back-to-back starts? He has not done well with these situations through the regular season.

2.) Can John Stevens make the necessary adjustments? Last night marked the second time this series his team coughed up a lead.

3.) Will any of the Flyers secondary scoring show up? Hartnell, Upshall, and Lupul have 1 goal combined. Last night, Lupul finally posted an assist to give him 1 point for the series, which is only one more than I have. Also, the Flyers d-men currently have 1 goal in this series and that belongs to Derian Hatcher, of all people. I can't call out Kimmo Timonen here, as his task has been to keep an eye on Ovie, but the rest of the guys on the blueline (*cough*Randy Jones*cough*) need to pick up the slack offensively.

4.) Can the Flyers sufficiently hide Jason Smith? He's a -6 in this series so far. Love his heart and grit, but he is not getting any faster in this series.

The puck drops at 7 tonite down in DC.