The curse of Philly sports teams...

Finally, some GOOD NEWS

2005-11-20T11:26:00.001-05:00

So it seems as though the Flyer's may have found their groove...at least for now. Jeff Carter and Michal Handzus scored third period goals and Mike Knuble added an empty-netter, as the Flyers snapped their three-game losing streak with a 6-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins at Mellon Arena.YAYYYY!! Hopefully this is a start to a great winning streak...Philadelphia definitely needs it.

So, what does this all mean?? The Flyer's are 1st place in the Atlantic Division...And I will brag about this one...because it is something Philadelphia fans really need. I really hope we keep this standing for awhile. The Flyer's will play Tampa Bay on Tuesday...

On a side note, I know people are pretty upset about the Eagles recent performances. With all of the injuries, suspensions, and losses in general, the Philadelphia Fan morale is definitely down. That is why people need to get back into hockey if they weren't previously. The Flyer's are a very strong team - and after football is over people will realize this more and more. Give credit where it is deserved - and I think the Flyer's definitely deserve it. Bash on Philadelphia teams all you want, but this hopefully will be our year.

I wanted to add in some comments made by the head coach, just to see his perspective on how the team is doing. Enjoy:

After Saturday night's 6-3 win in Pittsburgh.“It was a strong second and third. We had the bus legs going in the first period but after that we were really good in the second and third. Our checking took the game over, which was nice to see.” On the penalty-killing, especially in the third period:“Yeah, we were good. Mario made a great play on Crosby’s goal, but overall we were really good. We look like we’ve got some real continuity going.” On Brian Savage:“Savage has a knee injury. We’ll evaluate him in the morning or by Monday for sure, to give you a further update.” On Simon Gagne:“I thought Gagne was absolutely dominant on the ice. His play was outstanding. Never mind the goals, but just his grit and determination, to me, carried the day today. It was good to see.” On Niittymaki:“Nitty was really good. He was really good when we needed him. We knew Pittsburgh was going to come out. You look at back-to-back games, they are hard to play when the other team is sitting there and waiting. For us to get three of four points this weekend, that is really good news.”

Now I feel as though I need to address something. I received a comment about how Philadelphia fans in general are "scum bags". I found this to be a little harsh - because I personally do not consider myself a "scum bag".

I can put a stereo type on every sports fan out there about their teams. I can sit here and talk about how cocky New York fans (and Jersey) for that matter are and how all they do is whine and complain and blame it on other teams when they lose. However, to each his own with how a fan reacts with their team. I know personally that some Philadelphia Fans can definitely be out of line - but that goes with all fans out there - I have witnessed Devil Fans using the worst language around a mom and her son who was really young after a game, basically they were drunk and taunting them. Now am I going to sit here and categorize all Devils fans as extremely crude and rude ***holes. No, because that is just one fan and I know that all are not as inappropriate. People really need to also take into account that that is what sports are all about - competition, so of COURSE there is going to be exchanging of words especially when it is a major rivalry. But don't sit here and call the Philadelphia fans out when most people who are TRULY into their sport are just as bad. I am so tired of people picking on the Philadelphia fans...it's just annoying and old. Get over it and go back to your own town.

On a happier note, I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving. Thanks for reading!

The curse may continue...

2005-11-16T19:32:00.000-05:00

So the whole point of this blog is to show how the Philadelphia sports teams - focusing on the Flyer's - have bad luck all around. I wanted to take a second and talk about the Eagle's. Now, if you are a Philadelphia sports fan, the Eagles are no exception to being affected by this curse. A prime example would be what happened on Monday night. This is just what happens to Philadephia sports teams - they will have a HUGE and I mean HUGE advantage or lead over the other team, yet they still find a way to end up losing the game. It just sucks to be a diehard fan of these teams and always be let down like that. I just don't get it - there really is a curse in Philly.

I am not even going to talk about the loss that the Flyer's encountered the other night, because honestly it doesn't matter compared to the rest of the season that they already have had thus far. Instead, I read an interesting artice about how the league is adjusting to all of the new rules, and new teams for that matter.

"As well as the Flyers have played so far this season, the new NHL rules are proving that getting used to the “new” league is a process and teams will have to adjust quickly in order to keep up. One area in particular that Flyers Head Coach Ken Hitchcock would like to see his team improve upon is the way it handles pressure in its own zone and an aggressive forecheck, such as the one that caused the Flyers problems in Tampa Bay on Monday night."

Now obviously we cannot blame all of our losses on matters such as the above statement. But it is a true fact that the NHL is a brand new league and there definitely is some adjusting to get used too. However, I think that in the end it is a much better NHL and I look forward to continue to watch the games.

On another topic of interest, since the holiday season is coming - I just wanted to inform everyone that at tonight's game there will be a food drive that is teamed up with the Boy Scouts of America. I just think it is cool how the Flyer's events can really bring people together to help out some good causes.

Now on to tonight - big game against the Penguins. Pennsylvania teams HATE each other - remember Matthew Barnaby from earlier? Yea, was one of our most hated players in the NHL and he wore a yellow and black jersey. I am hoping for a win - the Flyer's are looking mighty good and I think we could have this one in the bag...let's hope, and as always "Let's Go Flyers!"

Flyer's Recap!

2005-11-13T15:24:00.000-05:00

Hello to all of my fellow hockey fans (or soon to be). Well, the season is definitely getting good. Since last week I didn't talk to much about how the Flyer's are currently doing, I will catch you up. Last night the Flyer's played against the Florida Panthers. It was Mike Knuble who scored a shorthanded goal with 3.2 seoconds remaining in regulation. This is their ninth home game win in a row, with a win of 5-4. The Flyer's acquired Mike Knuble just this year, and he has proven to be a great asset to this team. Robert Esche put on a pretty good perofrmance, however it was definitely a close one. It was Michal Handzus who assisted Knuble with the winning goal. Mike Knuble commented on his goal:

"I kind of scooped it up, and it was one of those where you just pound it on goal. I think it popped up a little bit as I was releasing it and it kind of took off on me and went right up in the [corner]. It was one of the timeliest goals of my NHL career.”

As of right now, Simon Gagne is the league-leading scorer with his 17th goal of the season last night. Simon has always been an asset to this team, even when he was only a rookie a few years ago. As young as he is, he has an excellent career awaiting him in the future.

So what is next up for the Flyer's? Tomorrow, November 14th, the Flyer's will be playing against the Florida Panthers, another rival. Hopefully, the Flyer's will continue their winning streak as they are one of the best hockey teams currently in the league. Until next time, "Let's go Flyers!"

Thought this was humorous...

2005-11-09T18:06:00.000-05:00

A little bit of history...

2005-11-06T10:45:00.000-05:00

Ok, so one of my avid blog readers is not as familiar with hockey as he could be. So, for his sake and others, I have decided to dedicate this post to some interesting facts about the Flyer's and hockey in general...

So, who is running the team? Ken Hitchcock is the Head Coach, Wayne Fleming is the Assistant Coach, Terry Murray is another Assistant Coach, while Reggie Lemelin is the Goaltending Coach. Currently, the Flyer's Captain is Keith Primeau. If you would like to find some more information on him, click here. There are currently 24 players on the team - to get to know each and everyone of them, click here. Currently, the Flyer's have not won a Stanley Cup (the ultimate hockey prize) in the 1974-1975 season. Yeah, it's been awhile. The Flyer's have definitely had a taste of it in 1997 when we were in the finals against the Detroit Red Wings, but, as always, they blew it. Right now the Flyer's are in second place in the Eastern Conference, following the N.Y. Rangers. If you wanna catch a game, usually they are on the comcast channel where they have constant coverage of Philadelphia sports teams. The goaltender right now is Esche - who is one of the best in the league. The Flyer's have also had quite a few people enter into the hall of fame, including legends such as Barry Ashbee, Gene Hart, and Bill Barber. All Phladelphia home games are held in the Wachovia Center located right of of I-95 in Philadelphia. The Flyer's are a well-established, loved team, with some of the most dedicated fans in the world.

Now, for a bit of hockey history, I've decided to update you on the rules, since within this past year a lot of rules have changed anyway. So next time you watch hockey, maybe some of the calls will make a little more sense:

Goal
A goal is awarded when the puck entirely crosses the red goal line between the goal posts. The player who shoots the puck into the net or who was the last player of the scoring team to touch the puck is credited with the goal. A goal is disallowed if the puck was thrown or otherwise intentionally directed into the net by an attacking player by any means other than his stick. The puck, however, can be deflected off a skate or the attacking player's body into the net if it was unintentional. A goal also is allowed if it is directed into the net by a defending player.

Icing
Icing occurs when a team shoots the puck from its half of the ice (behind the center red line) across the opponent's goal line without the puck passing through any part of the goal crease. Icing is not called (it is "waived off") when a team is shorthanded, when the opposition could have made a play on the puck before it went over the goal line, or when a player of the team shooting the puck touches it before an opposing player. After the puck is iced, play stops and and a face-off is held in the defensive zone of the team that committed icing.

Offside
Offside occurs when an offensive player crosses the blue line into the attacking zone before the puck. The determining criteria for offsides is the positioning of the skates. They must be entirely over the blue line ahead of the puck for a player to be called for offside. Play is stopped and a face-off is held. Offside also is called when a player accepts a two-line pass.

"The Tag-up Rule" has been reinstituted for the 2005-06 season. This rule will permit play to continue if offensive players who preceded the puck into the zone return to the blue line and "tag" it.

If you would like to see some of the more detailed new rules, just click here - there have been quite a few changes, so I would check it out!

Alrighty, well if you have any more questions about the Flyer's or hockey in general, I would check out www.phiadelphiaflyers.com or www.nhl.com. There are great resources out there to find out about one of the greatest sports around...until next time!

A Hurricane knocks down Flyers...

2005-10-29T14:12:00.000-05:00

Well, lately there have been a lot of hurricane's occuring here in the US. We can't leave out Philadelphia. Friday the Philadelphia Flyers were affected directly by a hurricane - the Carolina Hurricane's that is. This is one of the newer teams of the NHL - only has been around for not even a decade. However, they are proving themselves worthy of cup worthiness. The Flyers had a hard loss, 8-6 on Friday night. However, it was a close game, and entertaining to watch none the less. It was Eric Staal from the Carlonia Hurricanes that had a hat trick to "seal the deal". It is the worst feeling to lose especially after having a leading score at the beginning of the game. Oh well, I guess you can't beat them all. We'll just put this loss behind us...

So what is coming up in the world of Flyers? We have quite the schedule coming up, including great games to watch against the Washington Capitals, (one team I have a personal hatred towards), with Boston and Atlanta quickly following that game.

I have a quick question for all you who actually care about hockey / the Flyers in general. Someone on my blog commented about the length of hockey season - since it is extremely long. I was wondering, what are people's thoughts about the length? Do you think it should be a cut a little shorter? Or do you enjoy having hockey around for that long length of time? Let me know, I'm curious....

Well that's all for this week - next week we'll see how the Flyers come out against some great other NHL teams.....

What the guys are up too...

2005-10-20T16:22:00.000-05:00

Before I get into the hot details about the Flyers, I found something that you may be interested. On the Philadelphia Flyers website, I found a "Player Blog" section where every month a different Flyer will chat about what is going on in his life/hockey life. Right now it is Turner Stevenson who is giving insight to what is going on...you can find his blog here: Turner Stevenson. It's pretty cool - check it out!

Now back to the important stuff, FLYERS. Speaking of Turner Stevenson, he is actually out with an injury. He will undergo surgery on a torn labrum in his right hip on Tuesday, October 18 in Nashville, Tennessee. A sad hit for the Flyers, but hopefully he will bounce back in no time.

For the past few days the Flyers have actually been up at West Point. The reason for this visit was team bonding - but they were able to work out with the cadets. This even included using what they call "rubber duckies" - fake guns, along with their workouts. Team unity is huge right now, especially for hockey since after a year of being off and a lot of trades they need to bond together.

So when's the next game?? It's actually Saturday against the Toronto Maple Leafs. If you have been a hockey fan for sometime, you can't forget about a little man by the name of DOMI. Back in the day, we had a guy on the team named Stevenson - about 6'6, 280lbs. Domi, about 5'5, 180 lbs. They loved to fight, it was quite the site.

Anyway, I will keep you posted with the upcoming results from the games. This is a good season so far, I hope you're enjoying it too!!

How bout them Flyers...

2005-10-09T18:56:00.000-05:00

So this week has been a huge week for the Flyers. Hopefully you all caught at least one of the games. If you did not, I'm going to have to catch you up. Well last week we had two games. The first was against the NY Rangers. Now as disapointing as it was, the Flyers certainly put up a good fight. We were winning for quite a bit, then out of nowhere the Rangers came back and scored 2 goals within a few minutes of each other. A loss is never fun, but it was not as we like to call it a "pathetic loss". Now enough about that game. Let's go to Friday's game against the extremely hated New Jersey Devils. Now if you are an avid hockey watcher you will know that this is one of the biggest rivalries in the NHL. We ABSOLUTELY DISPISE each other, hardcore. Seriously, I found out that my beloved former Flyer Dan Mcgillis is now on that team. Unfortunately my screen name had been dedicated to him, this needs to change asap. Anyway, so it started off as a tied game for quite some time. Then the Flyers stepped it up and dominated the Devils. Goals were being scored left and right, it was quite a beautiful site. We won with an overall score of 5-2. In one of my previous posts, I mentioned some of the new players and lines, including a guy by the name of Sim. Wow, if he is not an asset to this team I'm not sure what is. Another man by the name of Hanzous also had an awesome game against the Devils (and so did his hair). These players are definite keepers with a great amount of potential. I'll keep you updated with the upcoming games...ahhh it's great to have hockey back.

Can you feel it??

2005-10-04T18:32:00.000-05:00

Alright children, the time has come. Yes, that is right. Tomorrow, October 5th, 2005, there will be a dropping of the puck. 7pm, you better be there (or in front of the TV). That's right, it will be the Flyers vs. the Rangers. (Yuck). If you are any sort of hockey fan, whether being Flyers (which you should be) or a fan of any other team, you have been waiting for this day for, oh I would say about a year. I forgot the rush that hockey brings me. It is such a great sport, I encourage anyone reading this to just watch one game, and I promise, you will be hooked. From the banging against the boards, to the "pulling of the jesery" fights in the middle of the rink, it is one action filled sport. So, like I said earlier, the time has come. The boys are back in town, and they are ready to stomp on ANYONE in their paths, especially the hated New Jersey Devils (that will be Friday nights game :)). It is time for this stupid curse to be broken. It is our year. It is our time. We have one of the best, if not THE best, lineup in NHL this year. With Forsberg on our side and rookies who are top picked, we will be unstoppable. You can take my word for it. The Flyers have ALWAYS been a strong hockey team, but for some reason the cup would be inches away from their hands. This year will be different. I truly do though encourage all that don't watch hockey much to at least give it a go. You never know, you might become obsessed like me, and boy is it fun to rant on all the other teams. Go Flyers! And go here to see the latest score. Until Friday...

Preseason has begun...

2005-09-26T14:52:00.000-05:00

If you read my last post, you will have noticed that I mentioned a man by the name of Jon Sim. Hoping that he and his new trio might be the next big thing, he was put into action last night at the Flyers first preseason game against the Washington Capitals. Not only did this man perform, but he ended up scoring a hat-trick. For those who aren't familiar with sports lingo, that means he scored three goals last night, with an overall 5-2 victory over the Washington Capitals. Personally, being from this area, I absolutey despise the Capitals. That is just because my 8th grade teacher was their "biggest" fan, and every time the Caps would play against the Flyers, he would have some comment to say to me, usually really mean, even though he knew that the Flyers were a better hockey club then the Caps any day. He was also a terrible teacher, couldn't even spell Coffee.......Aaannnyway, Ken Hitchcock was noted saying: “Jon knows what it takes to stay in the lineup and play in the National Hockey League now, and I think he is willing to do all of the things that the coach wants him to do so he can have success.” This is good news for the Flyers. To learn a little more about Jon Sim, click here. This is the way we needed to start off the preseason. We need to bring back that Flyers confidence we once had back in 1997. We all know it is there, it's just utilizing it along with the fans energy. This is a great hockey club, noted as being one of the strongest out there after the long lockout. It's time we claim our victory...

Lookin good...or just good lookin..

2005-09-21T17:20:00.000-05:00

The Flyers may have found a threesome that could generate some offense for the club once the regular season begins.

Mike Richards, Mike Knuble and Jon Sim have all never played a game wearing the orange and black. None of them had ever played together on the same team before, either, but so far in training camp, a good chemistry is developing between the trio. On Saturday night in London, they comprised the most productive line of the night. Richards posted three assists, Sim scored twice and Knuble added a goal and an assist of his own. ~ Philadelphiaflyers.com

We all remember the old trio, yea, that was a LONG time ago. What were they called? Oh yea, that's right, the Legion of "Doom". Granted, for a short while they were the Flyers light, then it call came to an end. What doom they were, as they blew it everytime we ever came close to anything. We won't even start about Eric Lindros, I threw a party the day I learned he was going to hang up his orange and black jersey. LeClair, overpaid to do nothing, who was older him or Eric Desjardins, I guess it doesn't matter much as lesat LeClair still has his original teeth. Oh, let us not forget about Renberg. Wait he left, then came back, then was quickly released after that...good riddens.

I love the Flyers, but once we find something that works we all get SO hyped up about it, overrate them, and then they never end up performing when they NEED to perform. I hope this time it might be different....*HOPE*

Go here to reminisce about the LEGION OF DOOM

Practice begins...

2005-09-13T14:04:00.000-05:00

Well the time has come...the Flyers are on the ice getting in their practice for the upcoming 2005-2006 season. If you're not a hockey fan in general, then you won't understand how ecstatic we all are. With a whole year off from the lockout, we are ready for NHL to come back to life. Monday, September 12th, the Flyers have taken to the ice. Training camp has begun. The Flyers practices are actually located at the Sovereign Bank Flyers Skate Zone in Voorhees, New Jersey. I have had the opportunity to see a practice before, and it's definitely worth while if you're a fan. After the skate session is over, the Flyers will then come out one by one after their showers and some may even come up to the fans waiting outside. Definitely worth the experience since it's about as close as you'll ever get.

Another thing the NHL is doing right now is having the official game puck make 50 stops in the 50 days leading up to the first game of the season. The Flyer's will actually be the first to use the puck opening day - maybe this is the luck of the puck the Flyers will need. Let's hope so.

Some other exciting news about the Flyers, Peter Forsberg, mentioned in the previous post, actually went under some surgery recently. However, it was a success! As taken from the FLYERS website:

"McCrossin: “Peter had a bursa sac removed from his right ankle at Pennsylvania Hospital [Monday]. The 15-minute procedure was performed by Dr. Keith Wapner and was a success. Peter is back at the place he is staying and is resting very comfortably."

Great news all around for the Flyer's. Maybe this curse will actually be broken!

We have a chance to win! Oop, there it goes...

2005-09-01T13:23:00.000-05:00

If you're a Philadelphia sports fan, then you've had the heartache of coming SO close to a championship with it quickly vanishing soon after. Call it a curse, call it bad luck, call it choking, it has been a sad fact of life for many, many years. As a diehard Flyers fan for as long as I can remember, I have felt the blow of coming SO close to a championship, and then losing many, many, many times. However, it's just not the Flyers fans that have had their hearts broken. Alan Iverson couldn't bring the 76er's to victory, and lets not even talk about the Superbowl last year with the Eagles. So is it just the Philly Curse? Most non-Philly fans just say the teams can't handle the pressure. It's not unknown that Philly fans are pretty hardcore. Sometimes crude, loud, and drunk, the fact that these fans have not given up on their continuously losing teams shows how much the Philly sports fans truly care about their teams. So is this year going to be full of "The Philly Curse"? Let's hope not. This year looks promising, but then again, it always does, until the end of the season of course.

As a FLYERS fan, we were all excited to see Peter Forsberg in the orange and black, but that meant saying goodbye to a flyer favorite, Jeremey Roenick. Was this a move towards the ultimate goal: The Stanley Cup? Or, was it good replacing good, not making much of a difference. I was able to read up about it and here is what another Flyer favorite player had to say:

“Jeremy was a good player for us for the three years that he was here. He was always colorful and was always quotable. He’ll be missed, but at the same time we all know Peter’s track record and just exactly what he brings to the table. As much as J.R. will be missed, Peter will replace that and bring a lot to the locker room.” - Keith Primeau

So is this what it takes to break the Philly curse? Let's hope so!