Game 13, Preview and Open Thread: League's Best Offense vs League's Best Defense, Philadelphia Flyers at Buffalo Sabres
by Travis Hughes on Nov 6, 2009 4:15 PM EST
in 09-10 Game Threads
116 comments
Philadelphia Flyers (7-4-1, 15 pts) at Buffalo Sabres (9-2-1, 19 pts)
HSBC Arena - 7:30 PM ET - Buffalo, NY
TV: Comcast Network HD, MSG Buffalo HD
Radio: 610 WIP, XM 206
This is the open game thread.
Behind Enemy Lines: Die By The Blade
Riding a two-game winning streak into Buffalo tonight, the Philadelphia Flyers will put their potent offense to the test tonight as they take on the red-hot Sabres. Winners in five of their last six, they have surprised many with an excellent start that has propelled them to third place in the Eastern Conference, just five points behind first place Pittsburgh with four games in hand.
The Flyers haven't had nearly as impressive a first month of the season, but they have been on a roll lately, outscoring opponents 12-3 in their last two games. But those opponents were Carolina and Tampa Bay, and the Sabres are much, much better. It starts in net with Ryan Miller, and he's been a stone wall this season. In 11 games, he has a GAA of 1.69 and a save percentage of .941.
The defense is also just downright stingy, and the team has allowed just 24 goals all year long, a number that puts them at first place in the NHL by far. They score 1.7 goals for every goal against, a telling stat that shows you just how solid they are defensively. The Flyers, however, are the most potent offense in the league, averaging 3.67 goals per game. Those numbers are slightly inflated by the past two games, but nonetheless, they can score and will test Buffalo's blueline tonight.
Of course, they aren't fully up-to-speed. Danny Briere will miss tonight's game, still down from a "lower-body injury." Briere also suffered from the flu all week long, as did Matt Carle Arron Asham, Dan Carcillo, Jeff Carter, and Ian Laperriere. Laperriere and Carter practiced while the others did not, but everybody except for Briere is expected to play tonight. David Laliberte will again play in his place. Defenseman Ryan Parent is still out with a groin pull which means we will see Danny Syvret and Ole-Kristian Tollefsen yet again.
The Flyers will have to take it to the Sabres early if they have hopes of beating them. Will the flu bug hinder their efforts? We'll see this evening.
After the jump, a few questions to answer tonight.
116 comments | 0 recs |
Don't believe the rumors: Flyers not interested in Forsberg
by Travis Hughes on Nov 6, 2009 1:49 PM EST
in News
10 comments
Irresponsible journalism strikes again.
Despite numerous reports to the contrary, the Flyers are NOT interested in Swedish forward Peter Forsberg. Such rumors have shown up on Yahoo! Sports, XM Radio's NHL Home Ice, Eklund at Hockeybuzz, NHL Network's NHL Live program, and The Fourth Period.
These reports all say that Flyers scout Ilkka Sinisalo is in Finland for the Karjala Cup scouting Forsberg. The Daily News has reported on several occasions, however, that Sinisalo was planning on attending the tournament, which features national teams from Sweden, Finland, Czech Republic, and Russia, prior to Forsberg ever making it known he'd be taking part.
Here's an excerpt from the Daily News article...
As first reported in the Daily News in September, the Flyers have zero interest in Forsberg. That much has not changed, two different NHL sources confirmed on Tuesday. Reports surfaced this week that the Flyers sent European scout Ilkka Sinisalo to Helsinki to watch Forsberg. Instead, Sinisalo had planned to attend the tournament before Forsberg committed.
And as the Inquirer's Sam Carchidi reported on his blog on Tuesday, general manager Paul Holmgren himself said that "to say [Sinisalo] is scouting Peter is a stretch." So no matter how many media outlets ignore the facts and try to make a story out of nothing, do not believe that the Flyers want him back. It's simply not true. Let him go to the Rangers -- Forsberg will not be a Flyer again.
10 comments | 0 recs |
Friday Morning Fly By: The Vice President is a Flyers fan
by Travis Hughes on Nov 6, 2009 1:05 AM EST
in Morning Fly By
11 comments
Your daily dose of Philadelphia Flyers news...
- Last night's NHL scores... MTL 2, BOS 1 (SO) - CBJ 4, ATL 3 - OTT 3, TBL 2 (OT) - DET 2, SJS 1 - VAN 5, MIN 2 - CGY 2, STL 1 (OT) - PHX 3, CHI 1 - NYR 4, EDM 2 - ANA 4, NSH 0 - LAK 5, PIT 2
- Previews of tonight's game versus the Buffalo Sabres from CSN Philly, Yahoo!, NHL.com, Phila.Bright, and The Buffalo News (once and twice).
- The Sabres have the best fourth line in the league according to SBN's Die By The Blade. [DBTB]
- Some in Buffalo want Martin Biron back, saying a "reunion would fit like a glove." [Buffalo News]
- Peter Forsberg is currently taking part in the Karjala Cup, playing for Team Sweden. [Bill Meltzer]
- The Rangers are interested in his services. Seriously. It's not a rumor. It's fact. [NY Post]
- Breaking down the first month of the season by the numbers. [Flying P Blog]
- The second family of the United States, Vice President Joe Biden and his wife Dr. Jill Biden, are well-documented Phillies fans. As Capitals' owner Ted Leonsis learned recently, the veep is also a Flyers fan. [Ted's Take]
- Early Calder Trophy candidates... JVR doesn't get his own bullet point, but he does get a name drop. [Puck Prospectus]
- George Parros is the most atypical Princeton grad you'll ever meet. [LA Times]
11 comments | 0 recs |
Spectrum seats up for sale beginning Monday
by Travis Hughes on Nov 5, 2009 5:57 PM EST
in News
8 comments
Comcast-Spectacor will begin taking orders for fans wishing to own souvenir seats from the Spectrum on Monday, Nov. 9 at 10 a.m., exclusively through RememberTheSpectrum.com or by phone at 215-952-5691.
A pair of seats can be reserved for $395 while a single seat can be reserved for $295. The Spectrum folding chairs will also be available for $195. A portion of the proceeds benefits the Comcast-Spectacor Foundation.
We all kind of assumed this would happen, and just in time for the Holidays, we can purchase Spectrum seats. What a perfect addition to any sports room, or Terminal D of Philadelphia International Airport, where a few seats from the Vet call home today.
While we look forward to having these awesome artifacts in our homes, the news that the seats are now for sale, bring to reality the fact that the Spectrum is officially closed. Just last week, the last event was held in the building, a Pearl Jam concert, and the building will presumably be taken apart slowly from here on out. Demolition is expected to begin in the spring, although there is no official word on when the final pillar will fall.
8 comments | 0 recs |
High Tide in the Atlantic
by Ben Rothenberg on Nov 5, 2009 1:41 PM EST
in Features
16 comments
For the last several days, all five Atlantic Division teams--the Penguins, Rangers, Devils, Flyers, and Islanders--have been in the top seven of the standings in the Eastern conference, their supremacy interrupted only by the respective division leaders of the Southeast and Northeast Divisions.
It's probably not reasonable to expect all five Atlantic teams to make it into the playoffs this year. Based on their starts, Ottawa, Buffalo, and Boston should all have a pretty good chance of making it into the playoffs out of the Northeast, as will Carolina from the Southeast if they can turn things around. And though they are currently in the #7 slot, the Islanders have still only won five of their first fifteen games.
But even if five Atlantic teams in to the playoffs, there's a pretty good chance there will be four. Since divisional realignment began in the 1998-1999 season, the Atlantic Division has never sent fewer than three teams to the playoffs, a mark to which no other division comes close.
There have been four Atlantic Division representatives in the playoffs each of the last three years. No division had ever sent four teams to the playoffs on three separate occasions, much less in a consecutive, back-to-back-to-back fashion as the Atlantic did in 2007, 2008, and 2009.
Here are some more things you may not know about the illustrious Atlantic:
- The Atlantic is by far the most compact of the league's six divisions. The two most distant locales in the division, Mellon Arena and Nassau Colliseum, are a mere 336 miles apart.
- The Atlantic is the only division in which all five teams have won a Stanley Cup, with no other division having more than three previous Cup winners. Not only has every team in the division won a Stanley Cup, every team has done it at least twice.
- In the 2008 Playoffs, the none of the four Atlantic Division teams lost to a non-Atlantic foe until the Stanley Cup Finals, when Pittsburgh lost to Detroit.
After the jump, a highlight reel of each Atlantic Division team beating another Atlantic Division team in the first month of the season. Because not only do we have some good teams here in the Atlantic Division, we've also got some semblance of parity.
16 comments | 0 recs |
Thursday Morning Fly By: Skate at Fenway for the low, low price of your first born!
by Travis Hughes on Nov 5, 2009 6:15 AM EST
in Morning Fly By
14 comments
Your daily dose of Philadelphia Flyers news...
- Last night's NHL scores... BUF 3, NYI 0 - NJD 3, WSH 2 - SJS 3, CBJ 2 (SO) - FLA 3, CAR 0 - CGY 3, DAL 2 (OT) - COL 4, PHX 1
- Frank Seravalli chronicles David Laliberte's climb from the depths of the ECHL to the Flyers. He's the 413th player to do so. [Daily News]
- The Flyers are the best power play team in the NHL. [CSN]
- More Olympic talk: "Team USA is definitely in the throes of a youth movement, and [James] van Riemsdyk is one of the best young Americans out there right now. [The Hockey Writers]
- Wanna skate on the Winter Classic ice at Fenway Park next month? You can, if you sell your house... [Boston Globe]
- Meanwhile, tickets for the New Years Day game in Boston are available on StubHub. Bleacher and standing room tickets can be had for about $300 a piece, while the best seats, behind home plate in the grandstand and loge, are a bit pricier. [StubHub]
- Can't afford tickets? Try your luck at a sweepstakes... [The Ultimate Fan on Facebook]
- Combining those two subjects, USA Hockey will announce their 2010 Olympic roster during NBC's broadcast of the Winter Classic on January 1. [USA Hockey]
- Attendance is down across the NHL, but just slightly here in Philadelphia. Phillies related, for sure. [FanHouse]
- While on the subject, congrats to the Phillies on an excellent season. [The Good Phight]
- The Phantoms beat Bridgeport last night 4-2. Joey Mormina, Jon Matsumoto, Stefan Legein, and Andreas Nodl scored for Adirondack. [Post-Star]
- Peter Forsberg, Russian hockey star? [Slap Shot]
- The Islanders sure did make a run, but their four game win streak has come to and end. Better luck in 2010, guys. [Lighthouse Hockey]
- Mommy, the big mean Flames stole all the swine flu vaccine! [Hockey Or Die!]
- It's been two days, but what are your thoughts on the new look here at BSH (and across SB Nation)?
14 comments | 0 recs |
"Sec. 3. The Council of the District of Columbia declares November 3rd as "Washington Capitals Day" in the District of Columbia in celebration of the Washington Capitals winning season."
--The District of Columbia's City Council unanimously decides that a "winning season" is justification for creating a holiday in the Capital of the Free World.
H/T to Puck Daddy for picking up on this legislative bandwagoning.
3 days ago
Ben Rothenberg
7 comments
0 recs
Flyers Terminate Lukas Kaspar's Contract
Tim McManus reports that the Flyers have allowed Lukas Kaspar to leave the team and play in Europe. While not a huge move, this does leave one less depth player in the organization - as well as one less contract to worry about.
3 days ago
Geoff Detweiler
5 comments
0 recs
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