2009-10 Flyers Season Thread

[Seabiscuit36]

my normal connects have sold theirs or are already going, so it's looking like we'll be watching here.  We went out thursday to Buffalo Wild wings, what a shteinhole.  Their screens dont have HD, and i nearly slugged two rags fans who were cheering for the Canadians. 

[Seabiscuit36]

(Deadspin):

Something — be it sand, grit, or poisonous acid worms — was spilled in the hallway outside the visitor's locker room at the Bell Centre yesterday. The Flyers aren't crying sabotage; but we will!

Various sources, from an unnamed Flyer, to the excitable Pierre McGuire, to Philly's skate sharpener, said something was up early in the game yesterday afternoon. Some kind of granular substance was spilled in the only passageway from their dressing room to the ice. Now, I don't know if you've ever tried to play beach hockey on ice skates, but sand is not good for skate blades.

Sure enough, Mike Richards had to leave the ice three times with skate problems, and Kimmo Timonen twice. A handful of other Flyers also missed shifts to get their skates re-sharpened.

So, some kind of conspiracy reaching the highest levels of the Molson family, to give the Habs an edge (pun definitely intended)? Or simply P.K. Subban sneaking over to the Flyers' locker room, sprinkling his bag of pixie dust as he went? We'd love for this to be a full-blown controversy, but sadly, it won't be until the actual players make a big deal about it. And they're not.

Peter Laviolette says, "I'm not familiar with the rumors, but we certainly had some skate issues."

Mike Richards says. "I'm not sure [what happened]. I didn't check the carpet for [sand]."

No! That's not how you start SandGate! You make a big stink about it, and your fans all bring bags of sand to game 5, and one of two of them throw it on the ice after a hat trick, and somehow this whole non-story becomes about how unruly Philly fans are. That's how hockey works!

and from a Gargano article http://nhl.fanhouse.com/2010/05/23/flyers-hold-team-tradition-history-close-during-cup-run/

The critics whined, there they go again. Everything with this team has to do with beating someone up.

"We're going to impose our will," said sniper Danny Briere. "We're going to crash and bang and create chances. That's how we play."

On the big screen during Game 2, the infamous pregame playoff brawl between the Flyers and Canadiens played to a thunderous applause.

The crowd then began to mock the Canadien chant of "Ole" -- and way up in the balcony, a Montreal player who had been scratched from the game shook his head.

"True a**holes," he said. "Just like their team." 

Somewhere in that balcony, a Bully grinned with pride.

[PhillyGirl]

Canadiens sharpen stories about Flyers' skate issues

By FRANK SERAVALLI
Philadelphia Daily News

seravaf@phillynews.com

Canadiens defenseman Jaroslav Spacek said he didn't do it.

In fact, when informed yesterday that sand might have been poured in the hallway that leads from the Flyers' locker room to the ice at the Bell Centre in Montreal before Game 4, Spacek said he was curious why so many Flyers needed to leave the ice.

"I was worried," Spacek said. "I thought they had diarrhea or something. Like they were going back and forth from the locker room. I steer away from the sand traps and the golf season. It wasn't me."

A full day after Game 4, no new light had been shed on the incident.

However, the Flyers made it clear after their 3-0 shutout win on Saturday afternoon that there was indeed something wreaking havoc on their skates.

"I think it was five times that I had to get my skates sharpened, which is obviously a bit much," Mike Richards said after the game. "I'm not sure [what happened]. I didn't check the carpet [for sand]."

Richards, Kimmo Timonen, Scott Hartnell, Darroll Powe and Claude Giroux all missed multiple chunks of Saturday's game to have their skates sharpened.

During the second period, NBC broadcaster Pierre McGuire reported that "sand or some other foreign substance" had been spilled in the hallway. Hard sand can grind away at the edges on hockey skates, causing players to slip and fall unexpectedly.

To eliminate further damage, the Flyers laid towels in the hallway during the game.

Richards said Flyers assistant equipment manager Harry Bricker, the man in charge of skate sharpening, told him the substance on the floor was "a little too big for being sand pellets."

It is clear some substance - bigger than sand but smaller than the Rock of Gibraltar - was on the floor. Taking the high road, no Flyers player or coach has been willing to scream sabotage or point the finger at anyone in Montreal.

Then again, no one was willing to deny that it happened.

"We'll be ready," Flyers coach Peter Laviolette said. "We've got one of the best skate sharpeners in the league, so we're good to go."

Canadiens forward Scott Gomez said yesterday he had hoped when the Flyers were leaving the ice that they doing so because they were injured.

"They had some big names going," Gomez said. "You're kind of hoping they don't come back. I saw Richards go over, and, yeah, you're kind of hoping in the back of your mind, hoping it's an injury."

Gomez said the Flyers were "stretching" and "searching for stories," but, if it was him that sprinkled the sand, he "wouldn't tell."

Always thinking, Spacek offered a solution for the Flyers' problem, too.

"If they have a problem, maybe they can wear those skate protectors like the figure skaters and they can go and jump on the ice and it will never happen again," Spacek said.

Off-ice gamesmanship is nothing new in the Stanley Cup playoffs for road teams. Players have long complained about having the hot water turned off for postgame showers or even about between-period stat sheets not being made available.

It's just rare that an off-ice issue has an on-ice impact.

That leaves just one more thing to watch for tonight in Game 5. Gomez said he will be ready for any possible retaliation.

"If there are [repercussions], good for them," Gomez said. "I mean, it's the playoffs, and, hey, do whatever you can."

[Seabiscuit36]

Best part is the flyers arent even trying to give this story life, it happened, and they still won. 

[Rome]

"True a**holes," he said. "Just like their team."

Best quote ever.

[LBIggle]

I wonder if rocket launchering their locker room would be too much?

[DH]

I'll be at either C&P's or McFaddens watching this thing if any of you clowns want to get crazy..

[PhillyGirl]

Pelle Lindbergh would have been 51 years old today.

[smeags]

 

[Seabiscuit36]

Win it for Pelle

[rjs246]

farg that. Win it for rjs246.

[smeags]

farg that. Win it for rjs246.

you have to die first sunshine.

[rjs246]

In that case, win it for everyone!

Humanity can suck it.

[Rome]

farg that. Win it for rjs246.

you have to die first sunshine.

so two things to cheer for tonight!

[smeags]

calm down there gramps.