Email Chain

hahaha that was funny.

solid, didnt know u had this kind of NHL knowledge in u.  let me drop some knowledge on you now with my 5 key factors to watch out for:

1. Humungous Big Pressure: Let's start with the man around whom much attention, not to mention pucks, will swirl in the coming days: Ilya Bryzgalov. The star of the HBO reality series "24/7" has been sky-high and worm-low during this regular season. But Bryzgalov saved his best for the latter part of the season, going through a stretch in March in which he went 8-0-1 and recorded three shutouts. Bryzgalov suffered a foot injury shortly before the end of the regular season, but he returned to action and appears ready to embrace the role for which he was brought to Philadelphia: winning in the playoffs. The question of whether he has the mental toughness to win on this stage -- he was only ordinary in the past two playoff years with the Phoenix Coyotes -- stands as one of the key storylines of this series. One NHL executive told ESPN.com he thinks Bryzgalov has that kind of mental mettle.

 

 

"I wouldn't be surprised if Bryzgalov was the best player in the series," he said.

 

 

If Bryzgalov does falter, however, look for Laviolette to move quickly to Sergei Bobrovsky, who has played well against the Penguins.

 

 

2. The Health Factor: After enduring what seemed like nonstop injuries to key players over the past couple years, Penguins coach Dan Bylsma enters the playoffs with essentially a full complement of players at his disposal. James Neal and Steve Sullivan missed a couple games down the stretch but were expected to be ready for the postseason.

 

 

The Flyers, meanwhile, were in a much more precarious situation. Already without captain and former Hart Trophy winner Chris Pronger for much of the season, they are without defenseman Andrej Meszaros for at least a couple more weeks as he recovers from back surgery, and forward James van Riemsdyk (foot) is likewise at least a couple weeks away. Defenseman Nicklas Grossmann, who signed a new deal with the Flyers after being acquired from Dallas before the trade deadline, is day-to-day but should be in the lineup.

 

 

Most troublesome is the absence of forward Danny Briere, whose hit at the hands of Joe Vitale sparked the ugly brawl between the two teams. Briere, who is out indefinitely, has proven to be a key playoff leader and contributor. When the Flyers went to the Cup finals in 2010, Briere was outstanding with a league-best 30 points. If he cannot go in this series, it puts the Flyers at a distinct disadvantage, even if Briere has struggled at times during the regular season with just 49 points in 70 games.

 

 

3. The Fireworks: Never mind the off-ice stuff, these teams can light it up, as their standings atop the league's offensive categories suggest, and that firepower isn't focused on one or two players on each side. Both teams can roll three potent scoring units and both teams have skilled personnel who can grind it out or score off the rush.

 

 

The Flyers boasted four 20-goal scorers, two former Penguins, Jaromir Jagr and Maxime Talbot, at 19 and one at 18. They are led by Claude Giroux, who posted the best offensive numbers of any Flyers player in a dozen years.

 

 

The Pens, meanwhile, have five 20-goal men (with Malkin and Neal in the 40s) and renaissance man Matt Cooke at 19. Pascal Dupuis, a regular on Crosby's line, ended the season with a league-best 17-game point streak. Since Feb. 21, the Penguins have been averaging more than four goals per game.

 

 

"I think our depth at scoring has been better than some people have anticipated," Penguins GM Ray Shero told ESPN.com.

 

 

The Flyers and Penguins rank fourth and fifth respectively on the power play, which suggests a tremendous amount of pressure will be brought to bear on the respective blue lines and goaltending.

 

 

4. The Fine Line: The Flyers took by far the most minor penalties in the NHL this season, which suggests a team that plays as close to the edge as possible. Guys such as Scott Hartnell, having a career year with 37 goals, and Wayne Simmonds, who has likewise exceeded career totals with 28, spend a lot of time mucking about near opposing creases. Their task will be to make life miserable for Pittsburgh netminder Marc-Andre Fleury without taking penalties. In general, the Flyers will tread a fine line between agitation and (to steal a page from Toronto Maple Leafs GM Brian Burke) truculence and giving the Pens' potent power play room to move.

 

 

"Their big guys don't like to be touched," a scout said of the Penguins. "You can get in their heads a little bit."

 

 

Another executive said he thinks the Flyers represent the most difficult challenge in the conference for the powerful Penguins.

 

 

"They have confidence [against the Penguins]," he said.

 

 

The Flyers can afford to play on the edge because they possess the maturity to stay in games. They have compiled a 20-22-4 record when the opposing team scores first and have come from behind to secure wins against the Penguins this season. The Flyers managed to score first in just eight of 32 games since Feb. 1.

 

 

5. The Kid And His Buddies: Clipping along at almost two points a game (25 points in 14 games) in his latest return from concussion issues, Crosby has proven yet again he is the rarest of the rare. In his 22 games total this season, the Penguins captain had collected 37 points. He has brushed aside the recent criticism from the Flyers and New York Rangers as "garbage" and seems none the worse for wear for having missed such a significant amount of time to injury. At the heart of the matter for the Flyers is that the return of Crosby and the beast-like season had by Malkin, along with the continued strong play of Jordan Staal, reinforce the Penguins as Stanley Cup favorites this spring.

 

 

"They're the most talented team in the league down the middle one through three," one scout said, "which makes it very difficult for your coach to match up against them."

 

 

That was why home-ice advantage could be a significant issue for the Flyers, as Laviolette will try to get size out against Malkin's line (he has been playing with Chris Kunitz and Neal) and speed out against Crosby's unit (which includes Dupuis and Sullivan on the wings).

 

 

In short, and at the risk of overstating the obvious, having the best player in the world parachute back into your lineup always tilts the scales in your favor.

hahaha oh man this was awesome. the best post on the forum in a looooooooooooong time haha.

im down for all of this, but we will need a referee to make sure equal shots are being accounted for, stop any fights that may break out between this huge penguin fan watching the game at a flyers bar, making sure both participants make it home safely at the end of the night, and most importantly a wingman for when nick inevitably stumbles into mad river looking for one of his favorite 2 bartenders.

i assign this position to none other than the consulting firm known as Mark Fisher Inc.

got my Pens fitted for this situation duhhhhhh

sorry bossman, but even your source is picking the pens to win it all

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=7798596&categoryid=2378529

and in a tight battle that went down to the end nick outlasted motz in the epic "who can last longer" game last night!  motz gave it his best shot but once the 3rd period ended in a tie n headed to unlimited overtime he knew he wasn't going to last and threw in the towel. final score:

nick: 10:30pm (2.5 beers)

motz: 9:45pm (0 beers)

yes, epic wendsday indeed! in other news, motz ended his BBER (blackout on birthday efficenty rating) STREAK AT 9.  yes, even ledgens get old and can't hang anymore and apparently 25 is the age for motz to end that streak.  it was a good run my man, maybe we can start a new streak next year that will last until your mid 30's.

nick, while last night u got the win i know u are not happy since my flyers out grinding your soft birds that can't fly in a great come from behind win that left the home crowd wondering if its already over.  good news is, u get some potential revenge tonight in BULLS HEAT! u better bring ur A game tonight, cuz ur boy isn't gonna be going to bed at 930pm i can promise u that!

-- Edited by MFisH on Thursday 12th of April 2012 01:21:33 PM

Rangers beat the caps with 4 minutes left in the THIRD OT last night, meaning they essentially played two consecutive hockey games

****ing watched the whole thing at 'my boy steves.' kept saying one more OT then im out one more OT then im out

too bad im not a rangers fan.

Least I got the Giants to keep me warm at night


Mets

Islanders

Knicks

 

GIANTS 

 pirates

 bulls

pengiuns

stillers

 

made em myself using the draw something app duh

dammit. haters = lebron 1,000,000,000 crosby 999,999,999 BOOM ROASTED

pengiuns are all talk.  wake me up when they actually back it up- like the heat!

championships: 1-1

% of games played: lebron 95% sidney 20% 

Hey they Islanders are still a team right!

 

 

And Bron won a Gold Medal in 2008

ohh yea crosby signs a 12 year $104 mill extention!!

i dont.  but ur lucky i dont really care either.

i hear nhl's cba is coming to an end soon, and u no how well the last one turned out.  apparently the players get like 57% and every other league is closer to 50% now after there lockouts.  have fun NHL!

fish i was just getting ready to award you LVP (least valuable player) of the forum this month but youre making a strong comeback with 4 new posts since i last checked!

you guys prolly dont care but HOCKEYS BACK!!! Games start Dec 26th this is great news

i wouldnt be so optimistic just yet, even the front page of NHL.com the lead story is "NEGOTIATIONS ONGOING"