I try not to complain about two things when I post about hockey on this site—"weak" penalties and the schedule. I try, but I fail. Miserably.
Lately it seems like there's a week between brief spurts of action for the Flyers, two games around a weekend, off for three, four, five days. Coming off of the massive bender that is a 162-game Phillies season, followed by the insanity of a playoff run, it seems like the Flyers play about as often as the Eagles. In the end though, all the NHL teams play the same number of games, and with the Phillies in the playoffs, I didn't mind it much anyway.
But that run is done, so let's get down to the nitty gritty... Let's get this show on the road.
The Flyers better be ready, because starting tonight in Buffalo at 7:30, they'll have a lot more of the Philly sports world's attention.
They've been up and down this season, but after back-to-back losses, they've kicked the **** out of two struggling southeastern clubs, scoring six times in each of them. We were all a little distracted right about then, so hopefully they can reprise those performances tonight.
It won't be easy though—the Sabres are no Lightning. Led by the always steady backstop Ryan Miller, Buffalo is off to a hot 9-2-1 start. They're not scoring a whole lot, but they've only allowed 24 goals, so it hasn't much mattered. The Flyers have found their scoring touch, even with some injuries to their forwards. As they always seem to do, they're pulling goals from every line. A veteran like Simon Gagne goes down, and it could be a disaster, but so far it hasn't been.
Guys like rookie James VanRiemsdyk are picking up the slack lately, with JVR leading freshmen in points (T-13) and assists (11). Yep, kid has three more points than he has games played, and he's only a rook. He's come a long way since fans and the brass wondered if he was getting soft at UNH, rather than toughening up with the Phantoms. So far, no worries, and JVR has a legit shot at a Calder Trophy. Did I mention he's a plus-6 too? Gotdamn, I shoulda.
One key tonight (yeah, I know, keys to the game are always hella lame) is that the Flyers can't get caught up in their past two showings. They can't just expect that the goals will come as easily as they did then, they need to remember what it was like to have the Caps come back and steal one from them, and the feeling of playing a solid game against the Sharks and still losing 4-1. Any one of those things could happen tonight, and the Flyers scoring 6 goals is the least likely of them. It'll probably be pretty close, and most likely a low-scoring game.
Oh one last thing I try not to complain about, because it always happens—every year, the Flyers get the flu. This year, everyone everywhere has it, and there's definitely a strain in the locker room. Don't be surprised if a few of the guys look a little pale(r than usual).
Welcome back, Flyers hockey. We missed ya.
Original Story:
http://www.the700level.com/2009/11/so...
