2010 Flyers Season Thread

[LBIggle]

carter 2nd goal. 3-2

[DH]

[ice grillin you]

i cant look at that without seeing that stupid puck going under leightons pad

[DH]

i still have a hard time knowing that the guy who ultimately beat them should have been a flyer if a coin bounced the farg differently.

[ice grillin you]

yeah that too

[PhillyGirl]

Flyers move start time for Saturday's game to 6PM to accommodate Game 1 of the NLCS

[Munson]

Zherdev gets his first Flyers goal

[Munson]

Watching Giroux stick handle and make moves towards the net is jizzworthy

[SD]

[Seabiscuit36]

Only good thing VS has done ever?  I say yes

[ice grillin you]

i guess i dont know anything about versus but why are they so bad....i only ever watch flyer games on it but their broadcasts seem uneventful to me...not much really good or bad i could say about them except that for being such a podunk network their hd picture is excellent

[Seabiscuit36]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmgT15PTUjA&feature=player_embedded

Richards had quite a few shots in there about the Pens. 

[Munson]

Part of that is whiney, but i love him calling out Cooke for ducking him and saying "well if crosby fights carcillo maybe i'll fight him"

[ice grillin you]

matt walker out 10 weeks and no one cares

[Seabiscuit36]

He's actually helping the team by not eating up salary cap.

some BOBS stuff

Bobrovsky adjusting on and off the ice

D150_tiny by Teemu H on Oct 15, 2010 9:58 AM EDT in Reports From Europe


Sergei Bobrovsky shares his first impressions of life in the NHL, on and off the ice. Even if facing a few problems, adjusting to new life has gone pretty smoothly for the young Russian.

So far he's been living alone because of visa issues.

"I'm living alone, waiting for my girlfriend. There are some problems with the American embassy. It's not so easy to get a visa in the US."

"My parents and sister will come to visit me after New Year."

Bobrovsky doesn't feel that the langauge barrier has been a big problem so far.

"I wouldn't say that I'm experiencing big problems because I don't understand the language. I understand what they want from me, but it's hard to speak."

"The whole team is a bunch of good guys and the atmosphere in general is terrific. I don't feel uncomfortable in this team for not speaking the same language."

"I came to camp three weeks earlier and I was given a tutor in English. I worked with the tutor almost every day."

"Now the games have started and I have almost no free time at all, so I'm starting to pick up the language on my own. Everyone speaks English everywhere I go."

It does help to have some Russian speakers on the team.

"Well, of course I talk more with Nikolay Zherdev because he's the only one I can discuss anything. There's also the Latvian Oskars Bartulis who speaks Russian."

"I can only use a couple of phrases with the rest of the guys, like 'Hi, how are you?' and 'Good, thanks!'."

Bobrovsky says he hasn't seen much of Philadelphia yet, but he likes what he has seen so far.

"I live in a hotel not far from where we train in Voorhees. So I haven't seen all the sights yet. But in general, about Philadelphia, you can say that this is a magnificent city. There's a lot of architecture, beautiful buildings, I put one in my mask. The arena is also great."

Bobrovsky also included the Kuznetsk fortress in his mask. But it wasn't easy to decide what to put in the mask in the first place.

"My dad helped with that", Bobrovsky admits. "I had to think about it for a long time, I'm not even sure how long it took to decide. Then, when I was asked, I said that I wanted this landmark of my hometown in there."

Bobrovsky says it didn't come as a surprise to him that he would get the start in the Flyers season opener.

"I was prepared for the season with the Flyers and I was ready to play. It didn't surprise me when I heard that I would play. Though maybe it was a surprise for many fans."

As Bobrovsky has said before, his NHL debut felt like any other game.

"I didn't feel anything new before the game. There was no time to waste on admiring the scenes or the organization. After the game, of course, I was very happy. I was glad that the team won and I played a pretty good game."

Bobrovsky received congratulations from a lot of people after the game.

"Honestly, there were so many I don't remember. But it was very nice."

Bobrovsky says he hasn't been homesick. He hasn't had time for that.

"Honestly, I don't have time to be bored. It's a completely different life here and I've jumped right into it."



This report was based off of a Russian-language story released by the Metallurg Novokuznetsk.

Bobrovsky gaining a foothold

D150_tiny by Teemu H on Oct 19, 2010 7:52 AM EDT in Reports From Europe

Sergei Bobrovsky is settling in on the Flyers and the NHL better and better each day. He calls the way the Flyers found him an "accident", talks about the endless amount of nicknames he gets, what's on the menu this week, what he thinks of fighting in hockey and why he's not the next Ron Hextall and takes a wild guess on who the Flyers fans hate the most.

He also has big goals set for this season and isn't worried about his durability.

He says he was playing in the junior playoffs last spring, when the Flyers approached him.

"It was at the end of the season. I was playing for the Metallurg junior team in the MHL playoffs. I was approached by a Flyers scout. He explained to me that the club is interested in me."

"I thought about it for a while. The NHL has always been my goal. Then I just decided that I would give it a try."

It wasn't all that simple.

"No, of course not! I was surprised the scout had any interest in me. We hadn't even spoken on the phone before."

"The whole meeting was an accident. I was in Moscow, but missed the game that day. We had lost the previous game where I got pulled."

Star-divide

Off ice adjustments

Bobrovsky says he doesn't have much free time to look around the city.

"I live in a hotel, five minutes from the Flyers training rink. I don't have time to walk around the city. After games, I rest, sleep. Then do some exercise and rest again, eat in the evening and go back to sleep."

But next game won't be until Thursday against the Ducks, so the players have more time to break the routines this week. Bobrovsky also has some plans.

"Now we have four days without a game. I go out somewhere with Zherdev and Bartulis. Well, the guys on the team who speak Russian."

"I already do know some places here. I found two restaurants."

But not Russian ones.

"Nope. One Brazilian and the other has some even more exotic cuisine. But good food."

"This is basically my first time in the US. I first came here in July for the rookie camp. And now I'm just learning everything."

Despite a lot of adjusting to do, Bobrovsky says nothing has really surprised him so far.

"Nothing. I came here only thinking about hockey and I don't pay attention to details of everyday life. I spent all summer preparing myself mentally for this and preparing for it to be hard and I felt I was ready for it."

"It's a completely different life in America. Different rules and laws."

"I spent my whole life playing Novokuznetsk. I used to walk to the rink from home. I knew everyone, everyone knew me."

No more walking. It's time to buy a car.

"I already talked about this with my agent. I'll buy one this week. You can't do anything without a car in America."

Bobrovsky says he's also making progress with his English.

"I was given a teacher. When I came to Philadelphia in the summer, I had a lot of free time to do something every day. The teacher doesn't speak any Russian. She wrote these lists and if I didn't know some words we just googled them on the internet. It helps the grammar, but the emphasis was on spoken language."

Bobrovsky says he's starting to understand the coaches.

"I actually understand it all. But for me to speak, that's harder."

Bobrovsky says he couldn't get lost in the city, but that's not because of his linguistic skills...

"No problem! I always carry the business card of my hotel in my pocket. [laughs]"

Nicknames

The media interest towards the players is bigger on the Flyers than it was on Metallurg, but Bobrovsky doesn't mind the attention.

"I don't get hung up on it. I'm fine if the media finds me interesting. If they don't, it doesn't matter. I don't find it annoying to talk with the press. I understand that it can help you to build your career. It's a form of advertising."

Bobrovsky has always been the man with a thousand nicknames. Metallurg fans called him Bobyor ("Beaver" in English) and Flyers fans and media have already come up with a bunch of other names. Bobrovsky is a little amused by all the names and doesn't mind what people call him. "Bobs" reading in his goalie gear makes him smile.

"I don't mind what people call me. I have Bobs written everywhere in my equipment, including the mask."

"When I came here I was asked: 'What's your nickname?' and I told them: 'Bob!'."

So Bob wasn't given to him by someone on the Flyers.

"No, it was me. I was called that on Metallurg."

In addition to "Bobs", there's all kinds of other stuff painted in Bobrovsky's mask. He says he wanted the Flyers theme in there with the fighters.

"On the other side, there's a Russian fighter flying over the Kremlin. I really love Russia and want to show it to the world. Everyone recognizes the Kremlin and knows it's in Russia. There's also the Kuznetsk fortress representing my hometown."

"On the other side, there's an American fighter. It's all because the team is called the Flyers. There's also the bell and a local building on that side."

Rivalries and history

The season is only a few games old and the Flyers and Bobrovsky have already faced the Penguins twice. Bobrovsky doesn't have to think for long who is the most hated player around.

"Crosby?"

Bobrovsky doesn't mind the goon image that was stamped on the Flyers a long time ago and still seems to stick around.

"Fighting is a part of hockey. It provides a pshychological advantage when your player beats his opponent in a fight. It energizes your team."

"And it looks spectacular."

"Of course I was aware that the Flyers were known for physical game. But last season when they changed the coach the team started playing more."

Bobrovsky has heard of Ron Hextall, too.

"Yes, of course. A famous goalie. The crowd loved him because he fought sometimes."

We might not see Bobrovsky doing that.

"It's too much. Why should I fight? I need to stop the puck."

"I've been studying the Flyers history in general. There are many great moments there!"

Bobrovsky hasn't met Bobby Clarke yet.

"Not yet. But I talked with Ed Snider, who brought the NHL to Philadelphia in 1967, And they won two Stanley Cups in 1974 and 1975."

On ice adjustments

So far Bobrovsky has been able to make his transition pretty smoothly. Switching from the KHL to NHL doesn't look a like huge leap. Is it?

"You could say that. I played on a weak team, so I had a lot of game practice. Every team was stronger than us. There were tons of shots on my goal. And I'm a fast learner."

"Coming here, the biggest difference is the size of the rink. The goal is very close to the corners. So it's necessary to change your style of play."

"But it is for the better. I like the smaller rink the best. You're always involved in the game."

Bobrovsky isn't used to playing a season with 82 games in the schedule, but isn't worried about his own durability or the fact that there's a lot more shooting in the NHL.

"I don't play all the 82 games. I'd be fine with even half of them. We have a great gym here. It's all about work, nothing complicated."

"It's the same thing on the ice. I'm not there to dodge the shots. I'm there to catch them. It's my duty."

Despite being a good skater, Bobrovsky says he never wanted to be a forward.

"I always wanted to be a goalie as a kid. When I went to school I played a couple of months as a defenseman. And then I went in goal."

"I looked up to Vadim Tarasov who returned to Metallurg for that season. I watched a lot of his games, and picked up some things from him. I didn't have much goalie coaching."

Goals

Bobrovsky says his goals for this season are simple but big.

"I really want to gain a foothold in Philadelphia. And help the Flyers get to the playoffs. It's even possible to get to the Stanley Cup finals. I have very big goals."

Even the Calder Trophy could be a possibility.

"It's secondary. I'd rather help the team."

Bobrovsky was mentally prepared to play the season in the AHL and knows that it's still a strong possibility even if he tries not to think about it. He is on a two-way contract.

"Yes. If the coaches aren't happy with my game, it's not excluded that they can send me to the Phantoms. But I don't think about that scenario. I got a chance. And I have to hold onto it the best I can. The competition is huge. We all have to work hard."

"Although when I came here, I prepared myself mentally to the fact that I can end up in the AHL."

The rhythm in the NHL is demanding, but Bobrovsky says it doesn't feel too overwhelming.

"I'm not complaining. Last game was a while ago now, so I have time to recover. Eat well and sleep. Normally you still feel it the next day."

Bobrovsky says he has already started scouting other players in the league.

"In principle, yes. I remember who they are and what to expect from them. Though I have no time to watch other games."

"There's still so much to be learned about this league."

The Penguins have the most experience from Bobrovsky by now and Evgeny Malkin admits he didn't know much about his countryman before these two games.

"I knew pretty much nothing about this guy. Just that he had played well for Metallurg. I've seen him two times in my life now, two games in the last ten days."

Malkin offered a few compliments for the rookie.

"He looks calm and confident. Not every young goalie can do it in the NHL."



This report was based off of a Russian-language story in the publication Sovietsky Sport.