Sunday, February 17, 2008

Loo-oo Serr-rrrs

I wonder, how does it feel to lose 7 games in a row?

I suppose we could just ask the Philadelphia Flyers, eh?

They just lost their 7th consecutive game tonight, against the Montreal Canadiens. I saw last night's game against the Habs, when the crowd at the Bell Centre was chanting "Carey, Carey, Carey" as rookie goaltender Carey Price earned a shutout against the Flyers. Tonight, it was another strong showing, and the Habs won 5-3.

Gotta love it when Atlantic Division teams lose and the Pens win (4-1 over Buffalo = sweet). The Habs are now tied for first with Ottawa, but the Senators have one game in hand. I guess the Senators have officially been put on notice that their stranglehold on the Eastern Conference has come to an end.

10 comments:

DaBich said...

"4-1 over Buffalo = sweet"
Girl, you can stay THAT again! Before the game even started, I couldn't see how we could compete, let alone WIN, with EC out and Taffe playing with a broken schnozz. This team has so much heart. They continue to amaze me!!

Stoosh said...

Amazing win last night for the Pens. Conks is playing out of his mind right now. I can't wait to see what Malkin is going to do when Sid gets back. And when does Shero start getting some credit for signing Sykora...and Conklin for that matter?

In the interests of infuriating either the hockey gods or the karma police (or both), this is me steadfastly refusing to say much of anything right now about the Flyers because this losing streak of theirs is just too damn funny.

(cue mock assuring tone of voice)
But take solace, Philly...Peter Forsberg will be back to fix evvvverything, right? What does it matter that his foot probably resembles jello and he can't find a skate that fits? He's Peter Forsberg!

I'm sorry...I'm sorry...My hatred for the Flyers has surpassed even that of my old hatred for the Rangers after they beat the Canucks in 1994 for the Cup.

And Carey Price scares me, especially with the Pens playing in Montreal this Thursday.

Ashley said...

Dabich - I can't believe the heart this team is showing, either. Overcoming this adversity is amazing. Let's hope that it only gets better as they get healthy.

Stoosh - I'm sure that I have angered the hockey gods and the karma police by my Flyers comments, but eh. Looks like Philly won't be getting a 'lift' by Forsberg this year! If his foot/ankle hasn't healed by now, then he should just hang up the skates for good. The longer this drags out, the more it tarnishes his legacy - makes him one of those 'washed up' athletes who just doesn't know when to stop.

The Rangers? I can't tell you how much I hate that Sean Avery. He ticks me off more than anyone else.

I like Carey Price (first saw him last year in the WJC in Leksand), and good on him for being the next Patrick Roy in Montreal. I loved hearing the fans chant his name as he shut out the Flyers. What I don't like, though, is how I picked up Huet for my CBC fantasy pool because he was doing so well...and now he's sitting on the bench. Ugh now I'll have to find a hot goalie with the right salary for my team.

Stoosh said...

Ash - Eklund was on XM 204 during the weekend of the All-Star break yammering about how Forsberg would be back and Sundin would be traded within 7-10 days tops. I would've been surprised to see Forsberg back at all. And I have to figure Toronto is going to wait Sundin out as long as possible to drive the price up. Demand gets higher as time runs out. Eklund = Philly-based clown.

I wasn't sure how much good Forsberg was going to be anyway. It wasn't like this was the Forsberg of 1998 or 2000 or so coming back.

Sean Avery. Would he even be relevant if he hadn't dated Elisha Cuthbert? Seriously, ask how many people remember where Avery really got his start. He was a fourth-liner for the Wings who knew his role and shut his mouth because he had people like Yzerman and Lidstrom (you know...genuine class acts) in the locker room. He was irrelevant.

Avery makes it easy to hate the Rangers again. I wasn't a big fan before they won the Cup in 1994. After Game Seven ended that year and seeing the Canucks come thisclose to winning it, I remember sitting in my basement, staring at NHL2Night and not moving for like three or four hours.

Hmmmm...fantasy hockey goalies. Can you afford either Backstrom or Harding from Minnesota? I've got them both on my squad and they've been pretty good. Backstrom plays twice for every game Harding plays, so I'm not sure if Backstrom's available. If not, maybe someone like Leclaire from Columbus?

Ashley said...

Stoosh - Avery = hoser. Wait...that's too nice a term for him. Avery = pond scum. That's better.

TSN uses the same stock photo for Avery, and it just makes my skin crawl. It looks like Avery is spitting at the camera, which is something he would do.

Let me ask this: Elisha Cuthbert 'looks' to be an intelligent person, so how on earth did she go out with him for that long?

As far as fantasy goalies, the way the CBC pool goes, I can have anybody in the NHL that I want, as long as my 10-man team has a maximum salary of $150. I can make changes once a week, and the new team 'kicks in' on Saturday morning. The big prize is a brand new car, but I am definitely out of the running for that (I'm in 10,601th place with 248.2 points - the leader has 363). However, there are weekly HNIC prizes.

My current team looks like this:
Hartnell ($11)
Ovechkin ($18)
Geno ($18)
Ribeiro ($14)
Heatley ($19)
Alfie ($18)
Lidstrom ($15)
Gonchar ($16)
Mike Green ($7)
Huet ($14)
------------
$150

Leclaire and Backstrom are both $14 a piece, so they may be good options. I would try Conklin, who is only $9, but I'm scared of messing with the karma police.

Stoosh said...

Leclaire would be my first choice. He's got 20 wins, but he's 2nd in the league in goals against, 3rd in save percentage and he's tops in shutouts.

Only drawback is that he plays for Columbus, but they're in the playoff race right now (3 points back).

How the hell did you end up Ovie, Malkin, Alfie, Heatley AND Lidstrom? Did anyone else in your league by a draft guide?

I had the fifth pick in our draft this year. Sid went first, naturally. Brodeur went second and then Luongo. Ovie went fourth. That left me Joe Thornton, Jagr and Malkin as my own personal remaining choices. I took Geno. Got ripped for it, too. Maybe it was a little bit of partiality, but I've never been a Thornton fan and for as much as I like Jags, I can't cheer for the Rangers. I just can't. So if I'm going to get a second-line center, I might as well get the best one in the league, right?

I thought he'd have a big year. I didn't expect this.

Not that I'm complaining.

Stoosh said...

That was supposed to read "buy a draft guide". The dumbassery continues!

I like how you pointed out that you're team is in 10,601th place.

More dumbassery on my par...It just occurred to me that the league I'm in is the Faceoff Factor league. Are you in that league as well?

Ashley said...

Nah, I started writing for FF in mid-late October, which was after you guys started the FF league. Maybe next year, eh?

As for the "How the hell did you end up Ovie, Malkin, Alfie, Heatley AND Lidstrom?" comment, I can add anyone I want to play for my team, as long as the team salary is less than $150. There are 30,000+ people who play CBC fantasy hockey. You can create leagues of your own with your friends, but everyone competes against each other for the car. It's not like other pools, like Yahoo, where there's an actual draft.

So, if I'm 10,601th in the league, and there are over 30,000 people playing, then I can't be doing that poorly, right? Top third...sure, I was in the 8,000s just last week, but 10,601 isn't the 18,000 that I was 3 weeks ago. I still suck at this fantasy hockey thing, though.

So you took Geno over Thornton, eh? In September, I probably would have taken Thornton, but Geno is turning out to be a fine choice indeed. I did a live draft for one of my Yahoo leagues and had the second overall pick, which I used on Marty Brodeur. I, too, got ripped for my choice and they all said that Marty was too old and that Jersey's defense now sucks without Rafalski...Luongo was the much better choice. Well, right now Marty is tied for most wins and the team is tied with Ottawa and Montreal for first in the conference. Luongo and the Canucks, I'm sad to say, aren't doing so well.

Stoosh said...

Ash - I had a feeling that's how yours worked, but I wasn't sure. I thought it may have been a draft with cap restrictions on it or something like that. I figured if you walked out of a draft with a lineup like that, maybe you could start advising the Pens on their drafts or something. :)

But yeah, top 30% is really good for a league like that. Having those scorers up front would definitely help. Hopefully the goaltending works out. What kind of car are they giving away?

I did get really lucky with the Geno pick. I couldn't really rationalize when I made the pick because Thornton is probably going to get his 100 points. It was difficult to envision a scenario where Malkin would outscore Thornton, simply because Geno's got Sid in front of him. Even if Sid got hurt, I didn't envision this. It was a chance I took that's panned out so far.

Tough to go wrong with Brodeur. I don't know how he manages to hang in there with that defense in front of him. And he's getting no real offensive support, either. I agree with you...I would've taken him over Luongo as well.

DaBich said...

"Avery = hoser. Wait...that's too nice a term for him. Avery = pond scum. That's better."
Make that GREEN SLIMY POND SCUM!
lol