Opening Dismay

What an awful day. To start off, the weather was terrible. The later forecasts indicated there might be a 30% chance of rain on Monday, and the underdog won out. There was a variety of mist-light downpour all day long in the suburbs and on the drive down. There were a couple innings where everything cleared up, but it was short lived. Fortunately, my seat was kind of underneath the second deck, so except for the brief periods when the wind was blowing right in my face, I was spared most of the soaking.

The real soaking came from the classy folks in row 16. Your spilled beer, which we knew nothing about until we picked up our bags after the final out. Sometimes I spill a little bit of my drink, and I clean it up. If it ends up on someone's property, I offer to help in whatever way I can. I apologize. Now, I'm stuck with a book that has warped pages, a disgusting t-shirt that can hopefully be washed and a damp program, media guide and baseball cards. This goes for people at my place of employment too. Honestly, how stupid can you get?

As for the action on the field, it wasn't much better. Things started off well; the reigning MVP led off the game with a double, and the Phillies played small ball to bring him home. Myers was cruising, and then some bad pitches and a miscue or two later, the Nationals were on top. The bullpen couldn't stop the bleeding either. Once again, the offense, led by Jimmy Rollins again, bailed the pitching staff out of a poor performance. This was a carbon copy of a typical game last season, when the Phillies led the league in comeback wins, due in large part to the lineup.

Unfortunately, the bullpen wasn't finished quite yet. Tom Gordon, the team's closer until Brad Lidge comes back, was brought into a tie game in the 9th inning. He got hit around in the worst way, and Clay Condrey had to finish his inning. Ryan Howard's body language said it all during the pitching change. With his hands on his hips staring into the dugout, he was displaying what all Phillies fans are thinking: "This again? How much will our pitching cost us? How many runs do we need to score?"

It was a bad start to the season, but this shouldn't be anything new to Phillies fans. It's just one game out of 162, but as we all know, every game counts. They can try again Wednesday night with Cole Hamels on the mound.

Game 1: Nationals at Phillies (1/3)

Washington Nationals: 1-0
Philadelphia Phillies: 0-0

Matt Chico v. Brett Myers

Predicted lineups and their career numbers against the starter:

Guzman SS 5/16, 1 RBI, .313/.313/.313
Milledge CF 1/3, 1 RBI, .333/.333/.333
Zimmerman 3B 9/20, 1 HR, 1 RBI, .450/.500/.850
Johnson 1B 3/19, 1 HR, 2 RBI, .158/.304/.421
Kearns RF 5/15, 2 RBI, .333/.450/.400
Lo Duca C 11/34, 2 HR, 2 RBI, .324/.361/.529
Harris LF 0/3, 1 RBI, .000/.250/.000
Belliard 2B 2/9, .222/.222/.222
Chico P

Rollins SS 1/6, .167/.167/.167
Victorino CF 2/3, .667/.667/1.000
Utley 2B 2/5, .400/.500/.400
Howard 1B 0/5, .000/.167/.000
Burrell LF 0/4, 1 RBI, .000/.333/.000
Feliz 3B 0/3
Werth RF 1/1, 1.000/1.000/2.000
Ruiz C 0/3, .000/.250/.000
Myers P

It's Opening Day, and it's time for the Phillies to lay another egg to start the season. Hopefully they don't this time, but Chico has looked good in the few at-bats he's faced our lineup. Those are only predicted lineups based on expected platoons (and in Washington's case, what they did last night,) but on most days, real lineups will probably be available before I do this.

The Nationals may be a bit hung over from last night's game and travel, so if the Phillies can jump on them quick, they have a very good shot at winning the game. It's kind of unfair to Washington, but I'll take it.

Game 79 and Hell Week Game 5: Flyers at Islanders

Philadelphia Flyers: 39-28-11, 89 points
New York Islanders: 34-37-7, 75 points

Antero Niittymaki v. Wade Dubielewicz

A night after being lucky to come away with a point against the Devils, the Flyers travel up the turnpike to take on the Islanders. Boston won earlier today, so the Flyers need to win to keep the pressure on everyone else. Boston will have a game in hand, so the Flyers can't give away any more points. I said they were lucky to get a point against New Jersey, but once they got to OT and the shootout, it's too bad they couldn't put the game away. They lost ground on New Jersey, and it's going to be tough to make it up.

Antero Niittymaki will get the start tonight. I don't know why Stevens didn't flip Biron and Niitty, but what are you going to do?

This will probably be pretty short because I honestly don't know what else to say. The Flyers have just dominated the Islanders all season, and they've gotten better and better against them as the season has gone on. The Islanders have gotten killed by the Flyers' PP, and if they continue to take bad penalties, they're going to keep losing games. They're banged up and very inexperienced.

If I have the time tonight, I'm going to try and talk about the Flyers' record in back to back games.

Bill Meltzer.

Game 78 and Hell Week Game 4: Flyers at Devils

Philadelphia Flyers: 39-28-10, 88 points
New Jersey Devils: 42-27-7, 91 points

Martin Biron v. Martin Brodeur

The Flyers have won their last four games, and they look to continue their hot streak against divisional opponents tonight against the Devils. After last night's almost disastrous scoreboard watching, here's where they stand. The Flyers are tied in points for the 7th seed with Boston, but they've had a lot of success against us this year, so they hold the tiebreaker. These two teams are three points behind New Jersey and New York, tied for the 5th-6th spots. Those two are one point behind Ottawa, who has played one more game than everyone else. At 86 points, Washington is still on everyone's tail.

Martin Biron will get a somewhat surprising start tonight. I know Stevens said it's likely he plays every game, but the Flyers are playing back to back, and if he was going to rest Biron, now would be the time considering how well he plays against the Islanders.

It's time to end the funk in and against New Jersey in general. The Flyers are 1-5-0 against them this year, and they haven't even been close games. For whatever reason, besides the year Philadelphia went to the Eastern Conference Finals, they just cannot beat the Devils. This goes back for years. No matter the players, captains, coaches, arenas, whatever, they just can't beat them. The only constant is Martin Brodeur.

Randy Jones says he'll be back tonight, and that'll help the defense. It would be great if Stevens would take Modry out of the lineup, but it's likely going to be Lasse Kukkonen, again. Kukkonen has been pretty good since the awful game against Pittsburgh, and against the Rangers, he showed toughness around the net and was hitting aggressively. Modry has been brutal since the trade, and there's absolutely no reason he should be in the lineup.

Here's Bill Meltzer, and apparently Ryan Parent is out of the lineup. Whatever.

Eagles Add TE Wilson

Former Chief Tight End Kris Wilson, of Lancaster, PA, signed a three year deal with the Eagles today. He was a puzzling second round choice by them a few years ago, and with the single back sets they run and Tony Gonzalez and Jason Dunn in front of him, he didn't have much of a chance to show what he can do. He's played TE and FB for the Chiefs, so it'll be interesting to see how the Eagles use him. It definitely helps that he can do more than one thing. He had a career high 180 receiving yards last season, and a career high of 3 TDs two years ago. At 250 pounds, he should be an okay blocker, and he can apparently play special teams.

Eagles Sign Rocky BalBoiman

No, he's not going to defeat communism in the boxing ring.

He's not going to run up the Art Museum steps with inspirational music playing in the background.

He doesn't have a statue at the bottom of those steps.

He probably won't embarrassingly come out of retirement twenty years from now.

He's just Rocky Boiman. A special teams Linebacker. He wasn't bad starting a few games for the Colts, and I guess this is a positive move for the Eagles. At the very least, it's nothing to complain about. They need to upgrade the special teams badly, and this is a good start. He's a pretty big guy that can fill in at all three Linebacker positions, so getting a veteran behind the kids is a good idea.

Game 77 and Hell Week Game 3: Flyers at Rangers

Philadelphia Flyers: 38-28-10, 86 points
New York Rangers: 39-26-10, 88 points

Martin Biron v. Henrik Lundqvist

The Flyers and Rangers will wrap up the season series tonight in New York. The Flyers won the last meeting less than a week ago in a shootout, and they'll look to keep up their momentum. As noted above, they're just two points behind the Rangers, who have a game in hand. If they can find a way to steal the 6th spot, the Flyers could have an easier chance at a playoff series win.

Martin Biron will get another start tonight. He was pretty good against the Rangers in the last game and very good against the Islanders as well.

I mentioned this in the last Rangers preview, but it remains true. The Flyers need to be able to finish off individual periods and games. This has been a huge problem as of late, and it's not only costing them points, they're allowing teams like the Rangers and Bruins to pick up that extra third point that no one likes. In the last game against the Rangers, they blew a two goal third period lead and a one goal lead minutes after that. The game should've been put away, but they started playing bad hockey and let the Rangers back in it. Jim Dowd's penalty against the Islanders almost let them get back into the game, but they're not good enough to take advantage, and you can also argue that a four goal deficit was too much anyway.

King Lundqvist will be back in goal for the Rangers tonight. Steve Valiquette has gotten most of the action against the Flyers this season due to a few good games. Last time Henrik was in goal against the Flyers, he struggled in the first period and got pulled for Valiquette, who ended up winning the game. Lundqvist runs hot and cold against the Flyers, so they'll obviously be hoping he's still cold. His career GAA and SV% against Philadelphia are not good, but he also has two shutouts to his credit, one this season.

Bill Meltzer has scratches.

Game 76 and Hell Week Game 2: Islanders at Flyers

New York Islanders: 33-35-7, 73 points
Philadelphia Flyers: 37-28-10, 84 points

Wade Dubielewicz v. Martin Biron

After an exciting yet aggravating win over the Rangers on Friday, the Flyers will try to make it two in a row in Hell Week. The Flyers are 5-1-0 against the Islanders this season, with the games gradually becoming more lopsided as the season wears on. The first three wins have been decided by one and two goal margins, and the last two have been won by three goals.

Martin Biron will be in net tonight, and according to those who attended the season ticket holding meeting, that's where he'll be the rest of the season.

Rick DiPietro has suffered yet another season ending injury, so Dubie will get the start. Normally this would be the kind of thing that gives the Flyers an edge, but DiPietro has never been that good against Philadelphia. His career GAA is just under 3 with a sub-.900 SV%. Those numbers have been much worse just in this season. Dubie is 2-0-1 against the Flyers in his career, with an outstanding 1.82 GAA and .938 SV%. If they start Joey MacDonald, we smoked him twice last year, and it won't be a problem.

The power play will need to come up big again tonight. In the last meeting, all four Flyer goals were scored on the power play. The PP has been great all season long, but it's been a source of frustration as well. You'd like to see them take advantage of more 5 on 3 and 4 on 3 situations when there's a lot of open ice. We have a ton of skilled players, and it really shouldn't be a problem.

Bill Meltzer has scratches.

Is Villanova A Cinderella?

They're a 12 seed, and they were the last team in, but are they really a cinderella? The 12 over 5 upset pick is popular every year, and Villanova was Yahoo's most popular 12 seed upset at 22%. They're also from one of the best conferences, so if they beat Siena tomorrow, I'm not sure what to consider them.

It wasn't easy to come back and beat Clemson. Yes, it took the Tigers to go extremely cold shooting, but Villanova really tightened up their defense. They challenged Clemson on the perimeter, prevented them from taking the three point shots they love so much. If they tried to pass the ball to the low post, the Wildcats defended it aggressively, knowing it wouldn't be a problem if the Clemson players went to the line. Scottie Reynolds carried the team on his back like everyone knows he can, and he came up big in the second half.

Jay Wright is going to have to continue to rotate his players and give a lot of guys minutes. Siena is a fast, athletic team and it takes a lot of energy to keep up with them. They play a perimeter game too, so contesting long shots has to be the key.

There are a lot of "connections" between the teams in this game. Whether it's coaches being on the same staff or players knowing each other, it's going to get annoying to listen to. If it wasn't almost 1:30, I would make up a bingo card for what Tim Brando is going to say during the game.

Game 75 and Hell Week Game 1: Rangers at Flyers

It's longer than a week because it's 8 games spread over several weeks, but we'll call it that anyway.

New York Rangers: 39-26-9, 87 points
Philadelphia Flyers: 36-28-10, 82 points

Steve Valiquette v. Martin Biron

The Flyers officially begin the home stretch tonight, when their final eight games are all against divisional opponents. First up are the New York Rangers, who have presented all kinds of problems to the Flyers this year. They're 1-3-2 against the Rangers this season, and those three regulation losses are all shutouts.

Philadelphia needs to find a way to beat the strong defensive system of the Rangers and beat Steve Valiquette. Valiquette has obviously played well against them this year, but one problem is the lack of quality scoring chances. They don't test him much, mostly because the rush has already been cut off by the Rangers' trap like system. The Flyers need to stay patient with the puck, have nice breakouts and find a way to generate some offense. Early.

If the Flyers manage to grab a lead, they need to do a better job of holding it than they've been doing lately. They've become prone to allowing goals late in periods or the game in general, and that's a mistake we were hoping was corrected between last season and this year. They blew the game against Florida, they blew a huge lead against Toronto, they blew the game against Boston and they nearly did it again against Atlanta. It was good to hear they practiced 6 on 5 situations in practice, but they need to execute it in a game.

Bill Meltzer posts lineups and scratches. No real surprises, although Jones may be back tonight.

This is it for the Flyers. 8 games, 4 divisional opponents. These are the guys you're chasing, and there's no better way to make up ground than by beating them. They've played poorly in the past month or so, but a good showing in the final couple of weeks can make people feel more confident.

Differences Between Michigan State And Temple

After being confident that Temple would prevail, the Spartans destroyed me. They were more athletic than I anticipated, and they played a team game on both ends of the court. Now I know why at least one person picked them for their final four.

Neither teams' leading scorers led the way. Drew Neitzel had just 5, and Dionte Christmas only scored 3. Here's the real catch: MSU's other players stepped up. In fact, Raymar Morgan stepped up so much, he's now their leading scorer.

Morgan 15 +1
Naymick 10 +6
Allen 12 +6
Walton 6 +2
Summers 8 +3

All five of those guys outperformed their season scoring averages. When you have a supporting cast like that rise to the occasion and fill in when the star gets into some foul trouble, you're going to steal some games. Now look at Temple:

Tyndale 16 +1
Allen 13 +5
Brooks 14 +5
Inge 4 +1

Only four guys outperformed their averages, and they did it by less than the MSU guys did. Some of the numbers might be skewed because MSU rotated in more players, but the point remains. The Spartans had more balanced scoring, and they shared the load when Neitzel couldn't carry them.

Defense was another big difference, and it became pretty obvious early on. When Christmas touched the ball, two players would converge, even out on the perimeter. Tom Izzo did a good job mixing up schemes and matchups. Christmas didn't get any good looks, and MSU did a great job of preventing Temple from running in the open floor, which they really wanted to do.

At times, it looked like the Owls weren't interested in playing defense. It seemed like they were lazy getting out to cover the corners, and they weren't able to make adjustments to what MSU was doing. Players weren't taking responsibility and just hoping a teammate would pick them up. That's not a way to win basketball games, or any sport for that matter.

Hopefully St Joe's and Villanova represent the city better tonight. Someone has to win, right?

NCAA Tournament Preview

The tournament kicks off in an hour, so let's get a last second preview up. I'll look at Philadelphia's representatives and make some tough final four picks.

12 Temple v. 5 Michigan State

When I was watching the selection show, I was hoping Temple got this 12 seed to match up with MSU. I think it's a good fit for the Owls. The Spartans are a very good team, and they're well coached. They had a big win over Texas earlier this season, and the Longhorns are a team I think very highly of. MSU dominated the Big 10, ultimately losing to conference champion Wisconsin in the semis. However, the conference had a down year, and it's tough to get a good read on them.

On the other hand, the Atlantic 10 was strong. They got three teams in, and one or two could've made okay cases to be on the bubble. Temple won the conference championship, and they match up well with the Spartans. The Owls have one of the best one-two punches in basketball, and no amount of preparation can help you stop what Christmas can do on the basketball court. Temple will wear Michigan State down with tough defense, and the duo of Christmas and Tyndale will provide enough offense to beat the low-powered Spartans.

11 St Joseph's v. 6 Oklahoma

I look at Oklahoma and try to figure out how they're a 6 seed. They played an okay out of conference schedule, and they won some good games. They play in a good conference, which is a plus. However, they got smoked by Texas three times. They couldn't come close to Kansas and they finished 9-7. Blake Griffin is a very good player, so the talent's still there. I'm not sure if they deserved a seed this high.

St Joe's finds themselves back in the tournament for the first time since the Nelson and West era. They're obviously not as good as that #1 seeded team, but Pat Calathes and Ahmad Nivins can play. Calathes can score from everywhere on the court and leads the team in rebounds. Oklahoma has a good frontcourt, which in previous years would present a problem for the Hawks, but it's a strength on this team too. I was picking Oklahoma in my brackets, but now that I've thought about it, I think I like St Joe's.

12 Villanova v. 5 Clemson

Everyone knows Clemson for their upset of Duke in the ACC semis, and that's probably how they got a seed this high. They played UNC close for a few games, which definitely counts for something. They were one of the better teams in a down year for the ACC, but I'm not sure if they deserved a 5 seed. The Tigers have balanced scoring, which bodes well if someone isn't having a very good game. Their inside presence of Trevor Booker could be their best weapon against the Wildcats, but they're going to have to learn how to close out games like they did against Duke consistently.

Villanova is a wildly inconsistent team, but for some reason, I like them to make the Sweet 16. On one hand, you see a team that at one point lost five of six games and was really struggling, but you also look at their wins over Pitt, UConn and their non-loss against Georgetown, and you can't figure out which team you're going to get. Someone besides Reynolds is going to have to score, and the forwards are going to have to work hard for rebounds today. I think they can do it.

My final four is UNC, Georgetown, Texas and UCLA. UNC will defeat the Bruins to make them the Buffalo Bills of college hoops.

Return Of The JedAI

That was the worst headline in history.

Allen Iverson is back in Philadelphia for the first time since last December's trade which brought the Sixers Andre Miller, Joe Smith and two first round draft picks. The Sixers and Nuggets have actually played twice since then, but both of those meetings were in Denver.

It's sure to be an emotional night. He obviously had some incidents here, but even his biggest detractors can acknowledge what he did for the team and city. He's one of the greatest of all time, and he's still playing at a high level. He carried this team on his back for a decade, and it's too bad the organization couldn't deliver the help he needed and win a championship.

I hope the 20,000 Sixers fans attending tonight's game give him the respect he deserves. When the ball's thrown up in the air and the game starts, the crowd should obviously be pro-Sixers, but during introductions, every fan should be on their feet cheering for the guy that gave everyone so many memories.

As for the actual game, the Sixers defense has to play strong. Denver is a great team, and as their 168 point night against Seattle indicates, they have a pretty high powered offense. That game wasn't even all AI and Anthony either. They have a bunch of other players to chip in, and Philadelphia needs to maintain their very good defense to come away with a win.

If They Get There, How Will They Do?

It's obvious that the Flyers are struggling right now, but do the last 10 games of the regular season have any bearing on playoff success/failures? Let's look at all of the post lockout champions and first round sweeps to see.

06/07 Champion- Anaheim Ducks
L 5-3
L 2-1
W 3-2
L 1-0
W 3-1
W 5-2
W 3-2
L 3-2
L 2-1
W 4-3

So they won five of their last ten. That's obviously worse than their season winning percentage, so they really didn't go into the playoffs very hot. Their goal differential was also only +1, so if there is a correlation between being hot in the last 10 games and winning in the playoffs, the Ducks don't show it.

06/07 Sweep Victim- Atlanta Thrashers
W 2-1
W 4-3
L 5-1
L 2-1
L 3-2
W 3-2
W 3-2
L 3-2
W 4-1
W 3-2

The Thrashers, who went down to the Rangers in four easy games, actually played better than Anaheim in their last 10. They won 6 games with a goal differential of +1. This was the first time they ever made the playoffs, so their defeat was kind of embarrassing. Like the Ducks, the Thrashers show no connection between the end of the regular season and playoff results.

05/06 Champion- Carolina Hurricanes
W 3-2
L 5-2
W 6-5
W 4-3
W 4-3
L 5-2
L 4-3
W 5-4
L 3-2
L 4-0

Another team whose playoff run did not mirror their final 10 games. They too only won 5 of their last 10, and it wasn't pretty with a goal differential of -4. They were playing poor hockey, but when push came to shove, they were able to win the 16 they needed to win the Cup.

05/06 Sweep Victim- New York Rangers
W 5-1
L 4-1
W 3-2
W 3-1
W 4-3
L 3-2
L 3-2
L 5-3
L 4-1
L 5-1

Here we go. The Rangers won 4 of their last 10, but they finished on a five game losing streak with a goal differential of -6. Of the four teams we've looked at, they're really the only ones whose finish helped people predict their playoff run, or lack thereof.

So Flyers fans, if they make the playoffs, it's not a lock that they're four and done. Not because of their poor finish, anyway. If the Flyers are out quickly, it's because they're not good enough. It's a small sample size, but from what we saw, the last 10 games of the regular season don't tell you what a team is going to do in the playoffs.

Game 74: Thrashers at Flyers

Atlanta Thrashers: 31-35-8, 70 points
Philadelphia Flyers: 35-28-10, 80 points

Kari Lehtonen v. Antero Niittymaki

In desperate need of a win, the Flyers host the Thrashers in their first game since the humiliating 7-1 defeat in Pittsburgh. At the moment, they sit one point ahead of Buffalo and two ahead of Washington and Florida. The Flyers, Sabres and Caps all have one game in hand over Florida. Washington is in Nashville tonight, and the other two teams don't play.

Antero Niittymaki will get his first start in a while tonight. He owns Atlanta, so it makes sense.

If the Flyers don't win this game, they will not make the playoffs. There is absolutely no excuse for losing to Atlanta at this point. We all know about how the Flyers own the Thrashers in their history, so I'm not going to waste too much time talking about it. What you have to consider is how bad the Thrashers are right now. They traded Marian Hossa, and one of the players they got in return, Erik Christensen, is out for the season. They've dropped to 14th in the conference, and they're 2-4-4 in their last 10.

Without R.J. Umberger and Derian Hatcher, some players are going to have to step up. Scottie Upshall will be back in the lineup tonight, and you know you can count on him to bring intensity. Hopefully the chemistry on the Briere line isn't disrupted. Playing with Mike Richards, Scott Hartnell has to start playing better again. He was a -4 last calendar week, and my fantasy team suffered because of it.

Bill Meltzer posts his lines and scratches.

Game 72: Flyers at Bruins Commentary

It's an early game, and I didn't have the chance to get a preview up. Let's cover a few things.

Downie is still out of the lineup, and it's disappointing. He adds more than Thoresen does, and after the last couple games, they need the energy and intensity. Modry is in over Kukkonen, obviously.

Hatcher blocked a shot with his ankle early in the game and needed to be helped off the ice. That's a tough loss if he's out of the game again. He's a warrior and a great leader. He might be at the end of the road in his hockey career.

Once again, the Flyers are getting outplayed. Cote fought early to try and light a fire under their asses but it didn't seem to do anything. Boston scored a goal and they just look overmatched right now. Chara's out, and without their toughest player, they should be able to control the physical play, but things aren't working right now. This is as close to a must win as you can get, so it's a shame they're not coming out fired up and ready to play.

I'm not going to be around the next couple days, so no Penguins preview either. I'll just say it's good that Crosby is out because he kills the Flyers. Hossa's going to be back, so it's not like they're short of weapons though.

Flyers Lineup

John Stevens has been criticized for his lineups a little bit throughout the season, particularly his treatment of Lasse Kukkonen. I'm also a Kukkonen fan, and I wouldn't mind it if he was active more. He's a tough player that blocks a lot of shots, and he can bring more to the table than guys like Vandermeer and Modry. However, a lot of fans became absolutely irate Wednesday night with some of his choices. In the lineup was Dennis Tolpeko. Out were Steve Downie and Riley Cote.

I don't get it. Against a team like the Leafs, you play physical. They don't want to hit you, so you hit them. In front of your home fans, after humiliating yourselves the night before, you hit them hard and make them quit. Toronto is back in the playoff hunt and feeling good about themselves right now. You dictate the game to them, not the other way around. Set the tone early and make them look over their shoulders. I can kind of see why Cote wasn't in because without anyone to fight, he doesn't bring much to the table, but what's the point in scratching Downie? Even when he plays, he'll get less than five minutes of ice time. If he's not going to play, let the Phantoms have him to get ready for a Calder run. He'll learn a lot more by playing than sitting in the press box.

With Richards set to come back, what do you do with the lineup? I get back to using 12 forwards and 6 defensemen. I think Hatcher's ready to go full time again. I send Thoresen to the AHL if possible or just scratch him if not. I don't think he brings much at all.

Prospal-Briere-Umberger
Hartnell-Richards-Lupul
Upshall-Carter-Knuble
Kapanen-Dowd-Cote

Timonen-Coburn
Hatcher-Parent
Smith-Kukkonen

That third pair might have trouble moving the puck a bit, but what can you do? I like Kukkonen over Modry, even though we'll never see him again. Stevens is absolutely determined to keep him out of the lineup.

Some Eagles Notes

Earlier this week, Larry Fitzgerald signed a pretty hefty extension with Arizona, obviously ending any trade speculation. The fact is I don't think it was very likely Fitz got traded in the first place. Sure, he was going to have a gigantic cap hit for the next two seasons, but he's a great player. The Cardinals spend the 4th overall pick on him. Why would they just give him away? He wasn't holding out or demanding a trade. Why would he? It was a situation where if they were blown away by an offer, they would take it. Lito Sheppard and some picks isn't worth one of the best receivers in football.

Adam Schein (who is he? He doesn't have a Wikipedia page, so I'm not really sure.) says the Eagles were one of the teams LB Danny Clark was considering signing with. He ended up with the Giants because he has a better chance of playing there than he does here. It looks like they want a veteran Linebacker, which probably isn't a bad idea. Our three starters have a combined five years of experience, and Gocong was injured for one of those years.

Finally, the Eagles signed DT/LB/utility guy Dan Klecko... to play Fullback. This is an interesting move. He's a pretty big dude, so hopefully he can improve the Eagles' short yardage game. If he doesn't work out at FB, he'll provide depth on defense, and he can probably play special teams.

Inexcusable

I know I wrote a big paragraph on how the Leafs have been playing well lately, but they're not that good. This is a team that's 13th in the conference. They're not physical. They literally played a period without hitting. Explain to me how a tough team like the Flyers get outplayed by them? Frankly, they were lucky to ever be leading the game, much less by three goals at one point. I'm glad they salvaged a point.

Tonight, things need to be different. The Flyers need to come out and dictate the action tonight. Something a lot of people observed last night was that the Flyers were waiting for things to come to them. That shouldn't be the case against Toronto. The Flyers are more physical than they are and typically bring a lot more energy to the ice. In front of the home fans, they need to make up for last night's awful collapse. No more getting outshot 55-25. That's embarrassing. Hit them hard and often and make them forget about the playoffs.

Antero Niittymaki should be in goal tonight. Biron was busy last night, and Niitty needs to get a little work, right? Joffrey Lupul is supposed to be back in the lineup tonight. He should spark the Flyers offensively and help get the goal scoring back to the level it was prior to Gagne going out and Lupul and Richards going down.

Games 70 and 71: Flyers at Maple Leafs and Vice Versa

Like the Montreal home and home, I'm doing this all as one. It's easier.

Philadelphia Flyers: 35-26-8, 78 points
Toronto Maple Leafs: 30-30-10, 70 points

Martin Biron v. Vesa Toskala

A few weeks ago, it looked like these games might be irrelevant in the playoff race, but all of a sudden, this home and home is very important. Tonight in Toronto, the Flyers/Leafs rivalry will be renewed as these two teams fight for the playoffs in the last two meetings of the season. The Flyers are trying to catch the Bruins and Rangers in front of them, while the Leafs are trying to catch the Flyers and make the playoffs.

Martin Biron will get the start in the first game, but it's definitely possible that Niittymaki starts in Philadelphia tomorrow.

Toronto has made a very nice turnaround since the last meeting on January 5th. Back then, things were not going well north of the border. They were really struggling, talking about high draft picks and trading key players such as Mats Sundin. After the trade deadline, things have been different. Since the deadline came and went and the trade rumors stopped, the Leafs are 3-2-1 and 6-3-1 in their last 10. They're still 13th in the conference, but things are definitely better than they were at this time last month. Two guys that were involved in a lot of rumors in particular were Mats Sundin and Tomas Kaberle. They were both asked to waive their no trade clauses and said no. Now, Sundin has 7 goals and 14 points in the last 8 games and Kaberle has 12 points in the last 12.

This may not be considered a rivalry like Leafs/Senators or Red Wings/Avalanche, but it's always a lot of fun when these two teams meet. Last meeting, big hits were being thrown all around the ice, and that unfortunately included Hatcher accidentally injuring Joffrey Lupul. The most memorable moment may have been when Steve Downie socked Jason Blake while being held back by an official. Blake absolutely deserved it after the ridiculous comments he made about Downie in September, even though it kind of was a cheap shot. John Stevens has talked to Downie about this, and he understands that this feud cannot carry over and cause him to make a mistake in the next two games.

Bill Meltzer posts scratches.

Eaton's Back Is Messed Up

Despite what the Phillies.com headline says.

I don't care if it's not touching the nerve yet or whatever, the dude has some serious problems. He's hurt. He can't pitch. He probably can't pitch when he's healthy. He needs to be shut down until he's pain free. Even then, I still might not want him back.

Phillies Assign Several To Minor League Camp

According to The Daily News and probably just about everyone else who covers the team.

"Righthanders Joe Bisenius and Scott Mathieson, lefthander J.A. Happ and Australian infielder Brad Harman were optioned.

Re-assigned to minor league camp were righthanders Ron Chiavacci and Zack Segovia; lefthanders Brian Mazone and first-round pick Joe Savery; catchers Tuffy Gosewisch and Lou Marson; infielders Jason Donald, Mike Cervenak and Andy Tracy; and outfielder Valentino Pascucci."

I'm assuming the difference between being optioned and re-assigned has to do with being on the 40 man roster or not. Here's who remains in big league camp:

Pitchers:
Kris Benson
Travis Blackley
Carlos Carrasco
Fabio Castro
Clay Condrey
Vic Darensbourg
Chad Durbin
J.D. Durbin
Adam Eaton
Tom Gordon
Cole Hamels
Lincoln Holdzkom
Kyle Kendrick
Gary Knotts
Brad Lidge
Ryan Madson
Jamie Moyer
Brett Myers
Josh Outman
J.C. Romero
Francisco Rosario
Matt Smith
Shane Youman
Mike Zagurski

Catchers:
Chris Coste
Tim Gradoville
Jason Jaramillo
Pete Laforest
Carlos Ruiz

Infielders:
Eric Bruntlett
Greg Dobbs
Pedro Feliz
Wes Helms
Ryan Howard
Brennan King
Ray Olmedo
Jimmy Rollins
Casey Smith
Chase Utley

Outfielders:
T.J. Bohn
Pat Burrell
Greg Golson
Geoff Jenkins
Chris Snelling
So Taguchi
Shane Victorino
Brandon Watson
Jayson Werth

That leaves 48 guys still vying for 25 roster spots. Obviously, some of those guys are injured and haven't even appeared in games yet. A few of those guys have no shot at all. Nevertheless, that's where the Phillies stand in big league camp right now.

Eagles Release Spikes

This happened two days ago, so no source is necessary. It happened.

I'm kind of surprised. By all accounts, they already have plenty of cap room, so cost cutting wasn't really necessary at this point. He was due to be paid 5 million, and it's definitely arguable whether or not he deserved it, which is why the Eagles wanted him to restructure. I still would've taken him back at 5 million. He was solid, not great, last year, and he pretty much met my expectations. He brought veteran leadership and secured the Linebacker position for us. He made the team better. Stewart Bradley looks like he could become a very good player, but having four good Linebackers is better than having three.

Does this mean another move with large cap ramifications is in the works? They were apparently trying to restructure with him since the beginning of free agency, so the timing of this makes it hard to figure out what's going to happen next. Maybe they just did it because they knew Samuel was going to take a lot of money. Maybe they did it because they were trying to work something out with Moss. We'll see what happens in the next few weeks. They'll probably add another Linebacker through the draft, maybe in the 3rd or 4th rounds. It puts more pressure on Omar Gaither to switch positions again.

Game 69: Islanders at Flyers

New York Islanders: 32-30-7, 71 points
Philadelphia Flyers: 34-26-8, 76 points

Rick DiPietro v. Martin Biron

One week after the Flyers won 4-1 on the Island, these two teams will get back at it, this time in Philadelphia. The Flyers are still hanging onto the 8 seed, while the Islanders are chasing at just 5 points behind. They are one of five teams within six points of the final playoff spot, so competition will be fierce coming down this home stretch.

Rick DiPietro v. Martin Biron

Martin Biron will get another start tonight after again being solid against Tampa on Thursday. He's going to be the guy in the playoffs, so he better get used to playing a lot.

It's important for the Flyers to put a lot of pressure on the Islanders early. DiPietro hasn't played since last Saturday against the Flyers due to a death in the family and Ted Nolan's decision in their last game. He's practiced recently, but he could still be rusty. If they can get to him early, they might be able to score some goals before he gets back into the flow of the game.

The Flyers are 3-1-1 in the last 5 games after ending the terrible losing streak. They're three points ahead of the 9th seed, so they're starting to build some breathing room and even potentially catch the Bruins or Rangers. This resurgence can almost directly be attributed to Jeff Carter, who has 4 goals, 1 assist and 1 shootout goal during that span. He's not just scoring, he's taking over games. He's winning battles, getting a ton of ice time and carrying the team. The game winner against Tampa was incredible. It reminded me a lot of that Buffalo playoff series where Peter Forsberg skated around in a giant circle until he found Desjardins wide open.

Bill Melzter has scratches. Derian Hatcher is expected back tonight.

Game 68: Lightning at Flyers

Tampa Bay Lightning: 26-33-7, 59 points
Philadelphia Flyers: 33-26-8, 74 points

Mike Smith v. Martin Biron

After the difficult blow out loss against Buffalo, the Flyers will try again to create some distance between themselves and the non playoff teams tonight. However, the Lightning have provided a lot of trouble for the Flyers as of late, no matter where they are in the standings. Tampa is 2-1-0 against the Flyers this year, and those wins were by margins of 2 and 3 goals.

Martin Biron will be back in net tonight. He struggled against the Sabres, allowing 5 goals on 18 shots before being pulled in favor of Antero Niittymaki.

The Lightning have a different look since we've seen them last. One of their top players, Vinny Prospal, obviously plays with the Flyers again. They also traded Brad Richards, one of their better forwards. In both trades, the Lightning didn't want to wait around for some young hot shot to rise through the system. They acquired NHL talent. Captain Picard, picked up for Prospal, has already scored a goal with the team. From Dallas, they got goalie Mike Smith, who we'll see tonight, as well as Jeff Halpern and Jussi Jokinen. They may have lost two of their top line players, but in return, they got depth and a new guy in goal.

Right now, the line of Upshall-Carter-Knuble is probably the hottest. Carter has scored a bunch of goals lately, and Upshall and Knuble have been chipping in as well. There's a reason these guys are playing so well. They're physical players who can get in on the forecheck and grind things out against the opponent. When things aren't going well, it's up to players like this to work hard and score some tough goals to get the team out of the slump. This line did it, and it's time for other lines to get in on the action as well.

Bill Meltzer has scratches, including Danny Briere.

The big story after the Sabres game is the too many men on the ice no-call that led to the eventual game winning goal. I hate hearing about this just as much as everyone else, but what do you expect? It's par for the course for officials in the league now. These are the same guys who take two seconds between thinking about blowing the whistle and doing it, raise their arms when players fart on goalies and jump in between when two players look at each other during stoppages. They just can't do the job, and it's a shame they cost teams goals. I don't know how much of a difference it made. the Flyers were outplayed completely in that third period.

Game 67: Sabres at Flyers

Buffalo Sabres: 31-26-9, 71 points
Philadelphia Flyers: 33-25-8, 74 points

Ryan Miller v. Martin Biron

One week after beating the Sabres to end the long losing streak, they'll get one more shot at them, this time without Brian Campbell. They dealt him to the Sharks at the deadline and added high potential forward Steve Bernier and a draft pick.

After Niittymaki's disastrous Sunday start, Biron will be back in net. He played most of the game against the Rangers anyway.

It was nice to get a win against Buffalo last week, but it's time to start stringing some together. After the trade of Campbell, this should be a team on the decline. Even though Bernier got off to a pretty hot start with his new team, the Sabres should not be as good as they were in the weeks leading up to the deadline. However, that does not mean there's an opportunity for the Flyers to take a game lightly. If the Sabres win in regulation, all of a sudden, they're just one point behind again, and it's time to create some breathing room from the rest of the pack.

Steve Downie said he'll be back in the lineup tonight, which means 100% less Jesse Boulerice. I know a lot of fans wanted him in the lineup once his suspension ended because we were losing and needed a spark, but the guy just doesn't bring anything to the team. He has no offensive ability, he's not good defensively, and he takes stupid penalties. I don't care if he fights. Riley Cote fights. Jason Smith and Mike Richards can fight. We have guys that can do that. Boulerice is not an NHL player, and the Flyers are in a tough spot if we ever have to play him again.

Bill Meltzer has scratches and our giant IR list.

He also reports that Lupul and Hatcher could be back as soon as this weekend. That would be a huge boost. Lupul never really got going after returning from his neck injury, and Hatcher's leadership is very important to the team.

Steve Downie Out Due To Conditioning, As Per Steve Downie

I was at the autograph signing tonight, and he was nice enough to tell me he was a scratch against the Rangers because the coaches thought he needed to get into better shape. It's a real shame because even in the apparent poor shape that he's in, he's twice the player Boulerice is. He'll be back against Buffalo, fortunately.

Downie is a really nice guy, despite what a lot of people think and what some of his on ice actions indicate. He's really humble, and he's not a guy like Laraque who's an idiot off the ice about the things he does on it.

Eagles Notes: Some Good, Some Bad

Obviously, free agency kicked off on Friday, and the Eagles made the huge splash of the offseason, when they signed Asante Samuel to a big contract. Samuel was the best free agent on the market, and the Eagles needed to do something to upgrade the secondary.

I like the move because Samuel is a very good corner. Not great, but he's also not as mediocre as some New England fans are trying to make him out to be. He's an aggressive player, and he has a big play mentality, for better or worse. There are times where he'll get burned trying to make an interception, but his gambles do pay off a lot, and that's what this defense needs. They were last in the league with only 11 interceptions, which is absolutely pathetic for a defense as aggressive as Jim Johnson's.

Where does that leave the corners we already have? It would be great to have all three, but the reality is that just can't happen. One thing a lot of people would like to do is move Sheldon Brown to safety. He's a good tackler and a good athlete, so he should be able to play the position, but in the end, it probably won't happen. This means Lito Sheppard could get traded. There were already grumblings about how he's not happy with his contract, which may be true. If it is true, he's definitely not happy after seeing the money Samuel got. Lito can be used as a real asset in a trade for either a receiver or a better draft pick. However, once you get rid of him, I still think you need to get a better 3rd corner than Joselio Hanson.

The other signing was DE/LB Chris Clemons from Oakland. He had 8 sacks last season, by far a career high, and also the biggest number in free agency. He's played quite a bit of Linebacker, but it's assumed he'll line up with his hand down for the Eagles. I honestly have no idea how they'll use him. His LB experience will be great for bringing him in on 3rd down if they choose to do that. People are complaining about it because he's not an every down guy, but look at the Giants. They did have tow every down ends, but they also got a ton out of their backups because they knew how to use them. Jim Johnson knows how to use his players. This was also a relatively cheap signing. Considering he might've been the best pass rusher out there, he signed for 10 million less than Antwan Odom.

The bad news is the recent report that the Eagles believed they had Randy Moss "locked up" before he backed out of a deal to go back to New England. That's very disappointing. Randy Moss is an incredible talent, and he would've obviously been a huge upgrade to the receivers. Despite not being able to finish the job, there are some positives to be taken away from this. The Eagles see there's a need to be addressed and are aggressively trying to deal with the problem. They don't want a marginal upgrade; they want the receivers to be a position of strength and they'll do what it takes to get it done.

With that being said, who's out there? Larry Fitzgerald? Maybe. Roy Williams? Chad Johnson? Probably not. However, I'm sure this front office will find a guy to upgrade the offense.

Some Russian Politics; Islanders Trip

Today, Russia held an election to choose a successor to President Vladimir Putin. Putin has been in office since 1999, and over the course of his term, relations with the U.S. have been deteriorating. However, to the likely dismay of U.S. leaders, Putin essentially named a replacement who was expected to win the election and become the next President, but then the unexpected happened. A Villanova/Georgetown level upset: Stefan Valiquettov shocked the world and won the vote.

Valiquettov is a bit of an unknown in the realm of politics. He's bounced around from place to place a lot, and he's always been the second guy behind some more well known leaders. Despite his relatively obscurity, President Bush couldn't be happier.

"Obviously... we're pretty pleased with the election. As you know, here in America, we love democracy. And democracy has spoken today. Stefan- I call him Stefan, has great leadership skills. And if you ask the uh, that ice league, he has great five hole coverage."

Reaction from Russia has been decidedly mixed. Dmitry Medvedev, who was expected to become the next President, was obviously disappointed. Vladimir Putin, who claimed to not even know who Valiquettov is, vowed to take the opposite stance of whatever the United States said about him.

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On an actual note, as my reader knows, I went on a bus trip to the Islanders game on Saturday. The game was great. The food was great. Nassau was okay. The people sucked, and as surprising as it might sound, the New York fans were better behaved than Philadelphia fans on that day.

In the emails I've been getting about the trip, drinking was permitted, but responsibility was demanded. That wasn't quite the case. Some people chose to get around that by getting completely drunk before the trip began... at 9 in the morning. Some chose to just completely bypass it and bring on giant coolers or cases that they had no intention of sharing. There were two coolers that completely blocked the aisle, and one guy couldn't even fit his case into one of those overhang compartments they have on coach buses and planes. This one woman was the most obnoxiously loud person I've ever seen. She screams incoherent things at other passengers and the television screen, almost starts a fight with someone else and then starts crying about it for half an hour. People were saying, "Man, she's the coolest chick I've ever met! She knows her sports! Awesome!" I couldn't believe it. I'm still a young dude and haven't met many people, but I'd prefer to never see her again. She didn't know a thing about sports. She would probably rather have a team of 20 Donald Brashears than a team of 20 Ovechkins. We were the movie Youngblood on the way back, and at times, she would scream "Yeah! That's hockey, yeah! Real hockey!" Well, no. That's a bad movie. Real hockey is big hits and skilled players making me feel like a dumbass sitting here at night writing a blog.

Once we got up to Nassau, it was pretty cool. The concourse got a bit packed because it's only one level. However, on that concourse, they have some great food. Sorry, Philly. They made a better cheesesteak there than I can get at Flyers games. The fries I had weren't too bad either. The Stanley Cup was there for you to take pictures with until the game started, and even though we were some of the first people through the gates, the line was too long.

The seats were okay. It's an older arena, so despite being in the 3rd to last row, it was still pretty close to the ice. The only problem was the large overhand that prevents most of the upper level from seeing the scoreboard. They had TV's on the overhand so you could still see what was on the scoreboard, but it was an inconvenience anyway. The best part about my seat? Winning an Islanders fan appreciation giveaway. It was an Islanders history DVD while some people were getting autographed sticks and tickets, so I gave it to the guy sitting next to me.

The atmosphere was pretty good. For the bad attendance they get, their fans can make some noise in the upper levels. It was weird not cheering when the goal horn came on, but it was an easy win and it didn't take long to get comfortable.

On the ride home, some other guys emerged as the most obnoxious people ever, but it still wasn't as bad as the way up. Overall, it was a fun time, and it was cool to enjoy a Flyers victory somewhere else.

Game 66: Flyers at Rangers

Philadelphia Flyers: 33-25-7, 73 points
New York Rangers: 33-24-8, 74 points

Antero Niittymaki v. Henrik Lundqvist

After a relatively easy win over the Islanders, the Flyers wrap up their Big Apple Weekend at Madison Cubed Garden this afternoon. This game has pretty big playoff implications. The games in hand are gone, so the Flyers have no room for error if they want to pass the Rangers. They're one point behind now, so a win would get them the 7 seed in the East and then only one point behind Boston.

Antero Niittymaki should be in goal today. Stevens usually likes using both guys in back to backs.

The story of this game will be the goaltenders. The Rangers are 4-1-0 against the Flyers this year, and three of those wins have been shutouts, including the last two meetings, featuring backup goalie Steve Valiquette. Lundqvist is expected to be in the lineup this time, which will come as a relief to Flyers fans. He's a great goalie, but the Flyers have had some success against him.

On the flip side, despite getting hot and building some momentum, Martin Biron will likely get the day off. Antero Niittymaki is going to get his first start in over a week. His career GAA against the Rangers is over 3, but his SV% is also over .900, which I consider to be a little benchmark for competent goaltending. However, this season, he has gotten killed by the Rangers. His GAA is well over 4 in two starts, and he needs to have a better effort than that today.

The Rangers are a very good defensive team from the net out. It starts with Lundqvist, but they have some very good defensemen and many of their forwards are very responsible. Fortunately, the Flyers' goal scoring is starting to wake up again, and they're going to need to work hard today to get a win here.

I beat Meltzer for the second game in a row. Check out his page for the scratches and lines closer to game time.

I'll try and get an entry up about my day in New York later.