The Men Who Stare At Goals. PENS WIN.
Greg M. saw this from the PG and sent it along:
"The Penguins often end practice with a shootout, which serves a purpose as a drill but also usually provides some fun. Goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, who sometimes gets a little silly, really put on a show with unconventional moves as players bore down on him. A few times, he did a spin. He stopped defenseman Sergei Gonchar after one of those. Other times, he did a couple of quick pushups. Once, he turned his back to defenseman Mark Eaton and, looking over his shoulder, still made a stick save."
Fast-forward to last night.
Claude Giroux comes flying down in the shootout all pumped up.
MAF fakes a poke-check. Giroux shits himself.
MAF faked a friggin poke-check. When Giroux was in the high slot.
Goalies don't do that. That is where MAF is at right now.
Look for that poke-check when he faces Yomoshimi Tokagura on a breakaway during mop-up duty against Japan in February.
Maybe.
How demoralizing is this for the Flyers?
They probably played their best game in a while.
They controlled Bing and Geno to an extent.
They slowed down the Pens offensive game enough.
But they couldn't solve Marc-Andre Fleury.
And so another wrinkle to the world champs is shown.
In, really, his first steal of the season, MAF was all business.
Three years ago, the Pens lose this game in the third period.
Last night, MAF stands his ground and basically owns the game.
Pens get 4 out of 4 points against the Flyers in a home-and-home.
Take that any day of the week.
And now a big time game in Buffalo on Saturday night against the Sabres.
It may not feel like a rivalry game, but it changes once the puck drops at HSBC.
It always does.
GAMEDAY 35 - FLYERS
7:00 PM
Wachovia Center
Listen to the game at [WXDX]
If you have any questions for Mike Lange, Phil Bourque or Bob Grove join the Penguins Radio Network Facebook page.
You can submit questions via the discussion tab for the Crash the Net segments or Penguins Hotline after the game.
Chant along everyone!
"Crosby Sucks!"
"Crosby Sucks!"
"Crosby Sucks!"
It only makes him stronger.
Welcome to the Wachovia Center where it doesn't matter who wins, as long as someone gets hurt.
"I'm ready. I have a helmet."
-- Evgeni Malkin
Cheering for fights and chanting "Crosby Sucks" are the only two constants that the Flyers organization has experienced this year.
Everything else has been a mixture of disappointment, anger and failing to live up to expectations.
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Alternative Uses for the Civic Arena
After the Penguins jump over to the Con next season, Mellon Arena will lay behind them, cowering in fear, knowing that its end is near. It's not the type of ending Disney would have written for such an iconic building.
But...news flash: Walt Disney had lung cancer and died.
They are going to tear down the Mellon Arena. No petition is going to change that.
The guy that designed it is all jammed up. We don't blame him.
Let's face it. Making the Mellon Arena a parking lot is a tough pill to swallow.
But we reckon you've swallowed worse.
Like throwing down 70 bucks for a Milan Kraft jersey.
Not to mention there is nowhere to park as it is. Screw that parking garage they are building. Great, now instead of sitting in traffic in the parking lot, you can sit in the parking garage.
So, in theory, leveling the Mellon Arena for more parking is the right thing to do. Communism works in theory, as well.
And since it's Pittsburgh, this whole thing will be screwed up somehow.
So we've taken it upon ourselves to come up with alternative uses for the Mellon. Under our many proposals, the Mellon Arena would be saved, the city of Pittsburgh would have unlimited money, and the economy of the United States would be righted.
But...news flash: Walt Disney had lung cancer and died.
They are going to tear down the Mellon Arena. No petition is going to change that.
The guy that designed it is all jammed up. We don't blame him.
Let's face it. Making the Mellon Arena a parking lot is a tough pill to swallow.
But we reckon you've swallowed worse.
Like throwing down 70 bucks for a Milan Kraft jersey.
Not to mention there is nowhere to park as it is. Screw that parking garage they are building. Great, now instead of sitting in traffic in the parking lot, you can sit in the parking garage.
So, in theory, leveling the Mellon Arena for more parking is the right thing to do. Communism works in theory, as well.
And since it's Pittsburgh, this whole thing will be screwed up somehow.
So we've taken it upon ourselves to come up with alternative uses for the Mellon. Under our many proposals, the Mellon Arena would be saved, the city of Pittsburgh would have unlimited money, and the economy of the United States would be righted.
After the jump, we detail numerous plans, totaling in revenue streams upwards of $82 billion, that can save the Mellon Arena.
Finish Him. PENS WIN.
Beating the Flyers always puts a hop in your step.
And this wasn't just a beating.
It was a dismantling.
If you're not going into back-to-back games with the World Champs with the intent of seeing how you stack up, you might as well pack up your season right now. For any other team, Carcillo's goal that cut the deficit would've woken up the entire bench. Instead, nothing happened.
What most people overlook about the Flyers is that their defense is incredibly bad. If this was 1999, people might be intimidated by Chris Pronger. But now he is so slow, he can't even take cheap shots. And people wonder why we think the Flyers are done? Chris Pronger is all you got? Malkin made him look like a midget.
Jordan Staal was out of his mind. You're top three centers combine for seven points, it is a good night.
But now the beauty begins. Enjoy this one for 24 hours. The pride of the Philadelphia Flyers is on the line Thursday night. After losing like this on the road, they get a chance to immediately to redeem themselves...in front of their "home crowd." Should be good times.
Stay tuned till after the recap for one of the worst columns in journalism history.
It involves Ron Cook, fighting, and little boys.
GAMEDAY 34 - FLYERS
7:00 PM
Mellon Arena
Listen to the game at [WXDX]
If you have any questions for Mike Lange, Phil Bourque or Bob Grove join the Penguins Radio Network Facebook page.
You can submit questions via the discussion tab for the Crash the Net segments or Penguins Hotline after the game.
No Penguins fan needs to be given a reason to hate the Flyers.
And no one needs any motivation to get up for a game against them.
The fingers are being secured as we speak.
There's a rumor going around that the Flyers have been starving Scott Hartnell for two weeks so that he'll be hungry for this game.
Of course Hartnell is the only professional athlete that takes the phrase "hungry for a game" literally and tries to eat someone.
It will definitely be tough out there, but the Pens are up to it.
The Flyers will no doubt be looking at this game as a chance to prove themselves.
It's the first time the Flyers will be in Mellon Arena this year.
Also, remember that tonight's game is on Versus, not FSN.
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A Time To Hate
[Another sick job by Benson]
Playing the Florida Panthers was nice and all. But now the fun begins.
Until 2010, the Pens play some of the most annoying teams, with the most annoying fan bases. In short, this is what it is all about.
And it all starts with the Flyers.
If you haven't track the Flyers this year, you're missing one of the great meltdowns of the season. They fired John Stevens, and hired Peter Laviolette. But that hasn't done shit.
As our fellow bloguin blog [Flyers Goal Scored By] states, there is some major issues in the locker room:
I would never think to challenge all the hard work that these guys talk about putting in. There's no doubt they work their bodies into incredible shape. But when does a player that is highly touted from the time he is 12 years old ever find the time to put in the mental work that turns you into an adult? When do they ever face adversity? On Saturday night the Flyers dressed 12 players that were drafted in the first 2 rounds of the NHL Draft. Meaning that year, and in fact all of their formative years, they were one of the best 50 hockey players in the world. The WORLD. They've always been the best. When faced with problems they don't know how to handle they skate harder, ride the bike longer, and study the opposition closer.
And he even makes some valid points. A Flyers blogger? Whaaaat?
This is where people like us get to make fun of Mike Richards, and quite honestly it feels great.
The Matrix of Leadership, god almighty himself, has failed. Isn't funny that where Flyer fans and Certain NHL announcers proclaim Mike Richards the leadership king of the world, he can't even control his own locker room.
And then there is this from some rumor site. [The philly four]
According to the source Jeff Carter had an affair with Scott Hartnell's wife and the entire locker room is split over the situation. If this is true the question must be asked, could a trade of one of the two players be the only remedy for such a problem? Also in other Flyers Wives gossip, Danny Brierre is rumored to be close to getting a divorce with his wife.
What a mess. This is what losing does when you have high expectations. It just snowballs into one thing after another.
With all that said, the Flyers could save their season this week. Two games against the Pens, and two wins would spark them.
And the exact opposite is true for the Pens. We've become accustom to ending the Flyers season, but doing it in December? Yea, that would be something.
And that is why these next two games, the hate will flow.
It is good to be back. If you think Chris Pronger is about to do something stupid, you're not alone.
After the jump:
- a Christmas song by Alyonka.
- Pens changing their powerplay
- Semin's nickname is jizz
Buries It.
Best piece of the season by Danny Potash.
Mario coaching his son, Austin and jobbing some ref.
via Ghostwalker:
Favor
Could someone put the FSN segment with 66 coaching his son on youtube?
His jobbing of the ref needs to be seen by the whole world. What a coach.
Email us pleasssssseeeee
Go Pens.
