April 29, 2006

Forsberg looks lost? Forsberg is invisible?: I'm posting this because of the talk on another thread where the majority stated the Buffalo/Philly series was all but over. However, it has only just begun. When it comes to playoff hockey, Peter Forsberg is a man among boys.

posted by Bishop to hockey at 03:28 AM - 40 comments

Thank God for Peter Forsberg one of the best ever. That was one of the weirdest greatest games I've ever seen. I liked how Gauthier set himself up to take the big check from behind. Perhaps he felt bad about a few of his earlier "questionable" hits and was trying to make amends. And he drew a penalty. All Flyered-up baby!!

posted by GoBirds at 04:55 AM on April 29, 2006

Well, I for one shall stand corrected. I did not expect Forsberg to be anywhere close to 100%, either in body or in mind. When he is, he's as good as anyone alive. Of course he's a difference maker. And if Ryan Miller doesn't stone the Flyers, then they've got a shot again. Apparently. My only excuse for saying what I said is that three days ago, neither of those things was anywhere near coming to pass. Forsberg was lost. He was invisible. But yeah, it's a dogfight again. I'm pulling for Buffalo, but this is going seven.

posted by chicobangs at 05:01 AM on April 29, 2006

I expected Forsberg to be quiet or non-existant in the beginning of this series. He'd been sitting to rest his groin. I figured that he would have to get a couple of games under his belt before he kicked it up a notch.

posted by wingnut4life at 07:27 AM on April 29, 2006

Remember one thing: The home team gets last change, meaning for the most part the Flyers got to pick the match-ups in games 3 and 4. Won't have that luxury Sunday in Buffalo, where the Sabres have shut him down. Also, I'm not going to say Ryan Miller is over-rated, but i will say he isn't the immortal people make him out to be. He's above average but benefits from a good system in front of him.

posted by SummersEve at 07:39 AM on April 29, 2006

WHAT'S WITH THE SABRES FANS CHANTING U-S-A THE FLYERS CAPTAIN AND STARTING GOLTENDER ARE AMERICANS. THE LAST TIME I CHECKED PHILADELPHIA HAS MORE THAN A LITTLE TO DO WITH OUR NATIONS HISTORY THAN BUFFALO(ALTHOUGH I DO LIKE WINGS) ANYWAY THE FLYERS ARE BACK IN IT AND I'M ALL FLYER'D UP!

posted by RONSKIJR at 08:59 AM on April 29, 2006

THE LAST TIME I CHECKED PHILADELPHIA HAS MORE THAN A LITTLE TO DO WITH OUR NATIONS HISTORY THAN BUFFALO Christ, I'm Canadian when I say this, but go read a history book of any kind.

posted by dfleming at 10:21 AM on April 29, 2006

Ronskijr, they're chanting U-S-A for a whole nother reason that has nothing to do with which city is more patriotic. Esche got chosen for the US National team, and Miller got left off, and he made the mistake of mentioning how pissed off he was about it. That was what the Flyers fans going on about. Did you just wake up out of a coma or something?

posted by chicobangs at 03:58 PM on April 29, 2006

I expected this thread to get fewer posts than the other thread I made mention to. I'm sure the others are reading it, but they have little to say. Kudos to you Chicobangs for being a stand up guy and admitting that you may have jumped the gun a little. I'm hardly suggesting that the series is over as some did when Buffalo won the first 2 games. I am merely pointing out that the Philly haters are quick to wish playoff death on any Philly team. Also if Philly does pull this out, the others should man-up like Chico did and take their share of crow, just has i will be forced to if Buffalo pulls it out. Again i'm not counting Buffalo out, I'm just making sure that the following people understand that it certainly will not be a cake walk as some indicated. But if I'm Ken Hitchcock and Bobby Clarke, I have to worry that my team is just a big pile of shit. They're D-U-N done. Woefully slow and totally weak in net. I didn't predict a first round sweep by anyone - but this is the series that looks like it could. posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 1:11 PM CDT on April 25 The Flyers look their age. Old and slow. There is no need to go to cheap shots, even when you are getting stomped. posted by Stealth_72 at 1:56 PM CDT on April 25 The Flyers are lucky to be in the post season posted by garfield at 2:09 PM CDT on April 25 I'm not surprised by the results of this series posted by grum@work at 4:25 PM CDT on April 25 The "big pile of OLD and SLOW shit that is DONE" just tied it up at 2 games all. Are you surprised by the results now? Or are they "lucky"?

posted by Bishop at 04:46 PM on April 29, 2006

"I’ve seen that hit enough. So, you guys can stop showing that and show the goal over and over now." - R.J. Umberger, 4/28, on the hit he took in Game One and his goal in Game Four Thats my boys.

posted by GoBirds at 05:52 PM on April 29, 2006

Bishop, bud. Illadelph has Rocky, Bobby Clarke, Reggie White's Ghost, etc. You don't have to defend it too.

posted by yerfatma at 06:00 PM on April 29, 2006

He wasn't? That's news to me.

posted by mkn at 07:42 PM on April 29, 2006

Forsberg played well to be sure, but I thought Esche kept them in the game toward the end. (Of course I had been drinking for a couple of hours at that point: can't resist the "Free shot when Flyers score" kind of bar) Anyway, the Flyers Have to win this: Both of my daughters grew up in Buffalo, are Huge hockey fans (my youngest went to Niagra University when they went to the NCAA tournament; I still have lots of extra Purple Eagle t-shirts if anyone wants one...) and they listened to me pester their mother when they were growing up about how the Flyers won the Stanley Cup IN Buffalo.

posted by thaumielx72 at 09:41 PM on April 29, 2006

If I may editorialize briefly: Holy hell, this is a terrible excuse for a post. "I was right and you were wrong, so I'm wasting space on the front page to tell you so."

posted by DrJohnEvans at 12:59 AM on April 30, 2006

Doc you're killing me!!!!!!!! What is a good post for hockey? The 1 I included a link to? Hitch said a cuss word post? The flyers got skunked post? Holy hell who told you to post here? You're right, Hitch said a cuss word post was much better. This post indicates that a few of the og's here at spofi were wrong and the Flyers evening things up is huge to some of us hockey fans. So sorry you didn't approve. I heard a few of the regulars here like to shoot down the new guys. Sorry I didn't live up to your expectations but, It's a 3 game series now, and that is huge. Thank you to the 1 person who man'd up and admited that they rushed to judgement. Well I have to rush off now. I'm late posting to the Ten most Iconic hairdos of All Time thread. The pinnacle of sports debate. You're on a roll this week Johnboy, Ken Hitchcock does this every year. That guy really rubs me the wrong way. I don't like his attitude, I don't like his style of play, I don't like the kind of players he ices. I've learned to ignore his media rants. So I don't really have anything meaningful to contribute to this thread. posted by DrJohnEvans at 1:33 PM CDT on April 25 Talk about wasting space, you're 2 for 2.

posted by Bishop at 02:50 AM on April 30, 2006

Doc? Just 1 more thing. Did you even take time to read the link? There was a truck load of stats and info in it concerning the series. Twice as much info vs. the link in the other thread. I guess you just "hate hitch" and needed to make sure all 10k plus members here knew it.

posted by Bishop at 03:04 AM on April 30, 2006

I'm not surprised by the results of this series posted by grum@work at 4:25 PM CDT on April 25 I'm not surprised by the the results of the series. I picked Buffalo to win and I stand behind that prediction. I thought Buffalo's speed and skill would overwhelm Philadelphia, and I was right about that in the first two games. However, Philly has hung in there and they've avoided an embarrassing first round, mainly because of their "speed and skill" guys, Gagne and Forsberg. That said, game 5 will be a very good indication if it's for real.

posted by grum@work at 09:03 AM on April 30, 2006

Bishop, continuing to argue about a thread's worthiness is my second-ranked pet peeve right behind indulgent homer threads, so I'll keep this short(ish). You know what? You're right. Both this post and this one are IMO borderline. They both deal with run-of-the-mill developments in the NHL playoffs that don't need to be reported on the SpoFi front page. But they were, and they're not that offensive, so they're still there. But that doesn't give you an excuse to come right back and retaliate to crap with crap. A bucketload of stats doth not a good post make. At its core, this is only a "my team did better than you guys thought ha ha!" post, and I'd rather have a SpoFi full of Hockey Gladiators cancellation posts than this. It seems that homerism around here has been getting out of hand. When did this turn into such a me versus you place? At what point will I have to start adding "GO SENS" at the end of each post just to fit in? I heard a few of the regulars here like to shoot down the new guys. Sorry I didn't live up to your expectations but, It's a 3 game series now, and that is huge. If my posting record doesn't do much for you, I apologize. But yours sure hasn't done much for me yet, and the fact that one of the eight first-round playoffs series happens to be at 2-2 does nothing to change that. Book an appointment, I'll prescribe for you a little perspective.

posted by DrJohnEvans at 11:03 AM on April 30, 2006

I heard a few of the regulars here like to shoot down the new guys. Sorry I didn't live up to your expectations A. Bullshit B. You're right, you don't. Some of us are regulars here precisely because the posts aren't links to a box score. It's the difference between a 5-minute feature on ESPN vs. something on the crawl line. If you're linking to a box score for a game that happened last night, you might as well not link to anything at all. Moreover, linking to one solely to crow about how ther Flyers didn't get swept as though that meant there were a single good thing about the city of Philadelphia (Southwest ads to one side), is a joke. Cry poormouth some other time.

posted by yerfatma at 11:56 AM on April 30, 2006

Buffalo is up 3-0 in the 3rd period. The Flyers just had a powerplay but the Sabres had more scoring chances on it than the Flyers did. Apparently NBC thought the end wouldn't be worth watching and switched me to the Dallas/Colorado game, which is tied 2-2.

posted by njsk8r20 at 03:41 PM on April 30, 2006

Even OnDemand didn't switch over. Holy Karate Elvis in a Sundial Jumpsuit, guys, I was watching that!

posted by chicobangs at 03:47 PM on April 30, 2006

A. As if i truly give a fuck. B. I knew you'd be one of the few to crawl out of the woodwork paTROLLing threads in your usual manner. Just waiting for some type of disagreement, so you can add your 1 cent worth of bullshit that has nothing to do with anything. Who linked to a box score? My intent was to showcase a hockey great going from 1pt pg to 3 pts pg on home ice. I apologize for turning the attention to that rather than continue the cry baby BS about the coaches cussing at each other. the best way to show that you don't like a thread is to not post in it. Anything other than that is argumentative at best. What is it about reading something by CHOICE, then disagreeing with so much, that instead of ignoring it, you have the unconTROLLable urge to post; That guy really rubs me the wrong way. I don't like his attitude, I don't like his style of play, I don't like the kind of players he ices. I've learned to ignore his media rants. So I don't really have anything meaningful to contribute to this thread. How many people asked you not to waste space after this post? If you can ignore big ass Hitch, you can ignore little ole me. Njsk8 don't get ahead of yourself as others did. This series will be decided in game 7. Now the people I called out will start posting. Ah the convenience of waiting to see if you're right. Which is all I suggested in the first place. But the smart ones should wait until it's over, none of you og's will make the same mistake twice will you? Cool og's 1 New guys 0

posted by Bishop at 03:57 PM on April 30, 2006

Bishop: this site and its patrons are not all about you, you know.

posted by qbert72 at 04:03 PM on April 30, 2006

Guys, this is becoming a personal conversation. Bishop, if you feel the urge to rub someone's face in something, take it to email. The front page is not the place for that. I hoped this thread would become at least a decent "state of the late first round" thread, but between the micromanagement and personal attacks, there's too much shit on the walls to do that anymore. (Maybe the guidelines should be rewritten.)

posted by chicobangs at 04:19 PM on April 30, 2006

I'd love a "state of the first round" thread, but given how this one starts, I can't really see it turning into that. But good call, chico. I'm done. Sorry about the mess. My email's in my profile is anyone is compelled to use it.

posted by DrJohnEvans at 07:15 PM on April 30, 2006

When did this turn into such a me versus you place? Well back during the weeks before the Super Bowl things got a little troll happy. I've always thought Forsberg is an incredible player, but his injury problems make him more of a waste of cap money. When he is on the ice he is a game changer, but those moments are so few and far between it doesn't matter.

posted by Ying Yang Mafia at 07:34 PM on April 30, 2006

Now the people I called out will start posting. Well, what do you expect when you "call them out"? Isn't that the purpose of the "call out"? And I'm not really sure what I was "called out" about. The Sabers had a 2-0 lead in the series. Then the Flyers win 2 games and that means the series is going to go at least 6 games. Considering my prediction, your "calling out" seems more in SUPPORT of me, than attacking me. Thanks!

posted by grum@work at 09:11 PM on April 30, 2006

Holy Karate Elvis in a Sundial Jumpsuit, guys, I was watching that! I know, wtf? I have Center Ice, if I wanted to watch the other game I would of had it on. At least I got to see the whole Nashville/SJ game. Nice seat eh?

posted by njsk8r20 at 07:56 AM on May 01, 2006

Oh that is freaking awesome njsk8er. What a groovy time you must have had - unless you're a pred's fan.

posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 08:47 AM on May 01, 2006

Oh and Bishop - sorry but two home game victories do not a Cup contender make - Forsberg and the Flyers just don't look good enough to beat Buffalo. That may change, true, it does not pay to doubt the Forsbergian one, but you're taking all of this way too personally. I think it goes seven, too - but I also think it's clear which is the superior team.

posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 08:49 AM on May 01, 2006

Or are they "lucky"? Lucky to have found their home-ice form? With a regular season home record of 22-19, you could argue winning two straight against a superior opponent has been lucky. Forsberg's groin holding up could also be considered lucky. Who knows how long that luck will last? I say until tomorrow.

posted by garfield at 11:02 AM on May 01, 2006

Well, I must admit the Predators have really grown on me, and since relocating, Nashville is the closest hockey city to me. I felt a little saddened as I left the arena, but I still had a great time. The place exploded when the Preds scored to cut the Sharks lead down to 2-1. It seemed like the Predators responded and really turned it on at the end. Too bad it was too little, too late. And btw, Joe Thornton looks a lot bigger in person. And about this Philly/Buffalo series, for the record I also picked it to go 7 games. But not to put all my eggs in one basket I gave the series to the Sabres in the pick'em but placed the Flyers higher in the confidence points.

posted by njsk8r20 at 01:02 PM on May 01, 2006

Whoah! That's a kick ass seat sk8r. My seat for the Hurricanes is on the blue line, closer to the net that the home team shoots at twice. I'm in the upper section of the arena, but they are excellent seats as they have a great view. I'm just beneath the press boxes. I'd still kill for a seat like the one you had though.

posted by NoMich at 01:16 PM on May 01, 2006

He got that seat on a day's notice, too.

posted by qbert72 at 01:55 PM on May 01, 2006

Yes, the Pred's fan base has been disappearing to the point where they're threatening to black out the home playoff games. That's fucking bush league. Nashville may not be the hockey hotbed that Gary thought. Move it to the Peg! (maybe in a couple years) I also think Toronto could use another team. We could support it. And then it could beat the Leafs in the playoffs and the resulting confusion will cause MLSEL to ritually kill each other in orgy of blaming and finger pointing.

posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 03:17 PM on May 01, 2006

I used to think that Toronto would support two NHL teams, Weedy, until I went to the Marlies game last Friday. A playoff game in a series in which they were down 3-1, and they couldn't even fill half of Ricoh. Of course it's the AHL, but it's not like it was a roster full of no-namers: Aubin was between the pipes, and skating were other Leafs call-ups like White, Ondrus, and Bell. Going to that game lent a little more credibility to the "Toronto isn't a hockey town, it's a Leafs town" argument in my eyes.

posted by DrJohnEvans at 03:30 PM on May 01, 2006

I don't normally watch hockey, or follow it as closely as my SpoFi brethren, but if the Flyers losing means the homers will go back to their hovels, I'm all for it.

posted by lilnemo at 03:55 PM on May 01, 2006

So, where's Bishop now?

posted by qbert72 at 10:59 AM on May 03, 2006

I just wanna end this now, the Flyers just sucked in every way in games 5 and 6. In game 5 the Sabres just completely out skated them and the Flyers were just not there. In 6 they just didn't seem interested and didn't really try. They made a run because the Sabres weren't playing their best and they had a shot but let it all slip. Have fun golfing Hatcher and friends, we have a cup to win.

posted by buffalo will never win at 05:54 PM on May 03, 2006

You've got that straight. And Dany Heatley should remove his frigging visor when he wants to fight. How about those Wings, eh posted by qbert72 at How bout those wings? Wheres Bishop? Sitting right next to you in the what the hell was i thinking department dumbass.

posted by Bishop at 03:45 PM on May 06, 2006

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