Well, the great news is it took just five games for the Flyers to shockingly polish off the New Jersey Devils. With the series ending last Thursday, the euphoria from the entire series has kind of wore off for now, but considering past issues against the Devils in the postseason, the series win was oh so sweet.
Now, we start all over again, against an opponent that is STILL to be determined. It was practically assumed that the next opponent would be the Capitals, but as I will elaborate more on in the Playoff Puck Primer below, Washington is on the verge of one of the worst playoff blowups in history against the eight seeded Canadiens. As a matter of fact, a Montreal win tonight in game seven could mean the Flyers play....sixth-seeded Boston, yeah a six versus a seven, in the second round. It could also mean that all three division champions will be knocked out an the fourth seeded Penguins, (of course), would be the top remaining East team.
Minus Pittsburgh out of the equation, and all of a sudden the Capitals losing tonight could put the Flyers in a good position opponent wise.
As far as the Flyers being in danger coming out slow this weekend, the extra rest is probably better than nothing. It gives extra time for Simon Gagne to heal his foot and though the Flyers have lost Jeff Carter and Ian Laperriere for the season, it also gives time for the team to reorganize its forward lines and get settled.
That being said, I'm not asking too much more from this team. They are beat up and will have characters such as David Lalibetere and Ville Leino dressing every game. Another forward will be joining them to replace Laperriere, one of Jon Kalinski, Andreas Nodl, or Riley Cote (God help us all if we get down to Cote dressing every game). At goalie, Boucher has been hot, but if he falls to the injury bug, than your down to Sebastian Caron (who STILL hasn't played a minute this season) and Jeremy Duchene (Wheeling Nailers of the ECHL anyone).
Both Boston and Washington would be very tough opponents and it's hard seeing the Flyers beating either of them. The Bruins they might have a chance against since Boston struggles offensively, but if they get Marc Savard back, then watch out. The Capitals, yeah they beat them two years ago, but trust me when I say Washington is much improved from then.
It'll be a fun second round series regardless of the opponent and I hit the point of the Flyers season where any ahcievements beyond what they've done so far is an added bonus. This team has persevered big time as of late, but I fear they are running out of steam. Don't take what this team has doen in the month of April for granted. It was really something special.
Studs and Duds This Week
Philadelphia 3, New Jersey 0
Stud: Claude Giroux- He needs to step up with Gagne and Carter goen and boy did he veer on Thursday. Two goals, one assist, lots of shots, lots of hustle, and suddenly this former 1st round pick is really making an impression.
Dud: Martin Brodeur- This series proved one thing to me, that Brodeur was again fatigued coem playoff time. Will New Jersey coaches ever learn?
My Flyers Picks This Week
Well, the opponent is still to be determined for round one, so things are kind of conditional here. We know the Flyers are playing the Bruins or Capitals so I'll do picks for the first three games for both opponents.
For the Bruins, make it a loss, win , win. Boston is an unheralded team with a dynamite goalie in net in Tuukka Rask. The games will be low scoring, close and physical. I think the Flyers will have a slight advanatge early in this series, but the Bruins storm back from behind.
On the flip side, the Capitals are a whole different ballgame and will be big problems for the Flyers. If they win tonight and advance, they'll do it with flare and will be mighty angry coming into the secodn round. Losses straight through in that case.
Last Week 0-1
Final Season Record 31-26
Playoffs 3-2
vs. Washington
Game One at Washington LOSS
Game Two at Washington LOSS
Game Three vs Washington LOSS
vs. Boston
Game One at Boston LOSS
Game Two at Boston WIN
Game Three vs Boston WIN
It's Happy Time!!!
Happy 40th Birthday Niklas Lidstrom- Lidstrom officially joisn the active players at age 40 group today as his Red Wings moved on to the second round after beating the Coyotes last night. The long-tiem Norris Trophy winner and current Detroit defenseman is a future hall of famer who is more than deserving of oen mroe Cup.
Happy 9th Anniversary Patrick Roy- On this day in 2001, Roy broke the playoff record for most career shutouts with his 16th agaisnt the Los Angeles Kings. Roy broke a VERY old record formerly held by 1920's goalie Clint Benedict. That's pretty impressive.
Happy Trails Jacques Lemaire- Lemaire retired on Monday from coaching after his Devils were upset in round one of the playoffs. Lemaire had a good career as a player with Montreal and then was a fantasticly brillaint coach who's advent of the trap changed hockey in the 1990's and brought championship hockey to the Meadowlands. So long, Lemaire.
Playoff Puck Primer
Washington and Montreal tied 3-3
You HAVE to be kidding me here. The Capitals are in danger of blowing this series after coming out lookign dominating in games 2-4. Now, Montreal has the oppurtunity to shock the world and knock out the king Capitals. This series has been a ridiculous roller coaster ride and has the chance to be history making if Montreal DOES pull off the unthinkable in D.C. no less. If the Capitals win, then I guess it was all just a big tease. But it was a really fun tease at that.
Boston defeats Buffalo 4-2
When you have two teams that play defense first and don't score a lot of goals, this type of series breaks out. Tuukka Rask beat Ryan Miller and in hindsight, the Bruins beat the Sabres. I did not think Buffalo would be outplayed, as I thought they had mroe talent and played better team hockey under Lindy Ruff, but exactly the opposite of what I thought took place. Now, the Bruins take their physical, gritty hockey to the East semifinals.
Pittsburgh defeats Ottawa 4-2
The Penguins don't need Marc-Andre Fleury to win. They're offense was dynamite in round oen and aside from a few defensive hiccups, this series wasn't even close. Ottawa didn't play the system needed to stop the Penguins. Now Pittsburgh will have a more difficult challenge in round two, either Montreal or Boston. Either team will present a much tougher defensive front and the Penguins will be tested for real this time around.
San Jose defeats Colorado 4-2
Phew. Even though all the critics nad pundits thought the Sharks would blow it again, they managed to survive and dominate the Avalanche in games five and six to finish the series. Now that San Jose has FINALLY beaten that first round hump, it'll be interesting to see if they becoem instant Cup contender or retreat back into their shell. Playing a seasoned playoff experienced team in the Red Wings in round two will answer that question real fast.
Chicago defeats Nashville 4-2
Again, close call. The Predators looked like they were outhustling the Blackhawks through four games, then all of a suddne the Chicago offense woke up in games five and six, finishing the series. Chicago will live and die by how well they play offensively, they don't have the consistent goaltending or stay at home defense to steal series like other teams do. Trying to win a Cup with offense as the center is very hard to do, but Pittsburgh did it last year, so why not the Hawks?
Vancouver defeats Los Angeles 4-2
Offense anyone? The goals were off the board in this series and it spells bad news for the Canucks moving into round two. They're running into a suddenly hot offense in Chicago and if they couldn't shut down the Kings socre juggernaut, well then Luongo's goign to be in trouble this time around. Honestly, I was very disappointed by Vancouver in the series, they won games sloppily are were outplayed frequently by the Kings. The Blackhawks are a much better team going forward.
Detroit defeats Phoenix 4-3
Everyone and their mom wanted to see the two-time defending West champs fall to the Cinderella Coyotes. Alas, it was not to be as the Red Wings made a resounding statement in game seven last night. Regardless of how good Detroit is in the regular season, every postseason they seem to be a team to watch jsut because their the Red Wings. The Sharks are favorites moving to round two in my mind, but be careful. Detroit as played great hockey late this season and if they hit a hot streak again, nothing will eb able to stop them. A Chicago-Detroit West Final rematch isn't out of the question.
What to Watch This Week
Duh! It's game seven and the winner moves on to the secodn round, while the loser goes to the golf course. It doesn't get much better than this.
The rest of the week- the second round schedule should be out by tomorrow, so check it out.
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