Posted: Saturday, February 20, 2010, 8:45 PM | 22 comments |
 

Richards moves up
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In advance of Canada's marquee preliminary game against the U.S. tomorrow, versatile Flyers captain Mike Richards has been moved up from the Canadians' third line to the first line, where he will skate with Sidney Crosby and Rick Nash.

Richards, promoted for his versatility, effort and physical play, replaces Jarome Iginla, whose health has been in question. Iginla netted a hat trick in an 8-0, opening win over Norway, but he did not get off a shot against the Swiss on Thursday, when Canada's nemesis forced a shootout before falling. Iginla appears headed for the third line.

Richards came into the Games as a possible game-to-game scratch possibility, but his goal in the first game and his two shots and strong play aainst the Swiss has made him worth a shakeup gamble.

The Canadians, like the Americans, were off Friday and practiced yesterday.
Posted by m h @ 8:45 PM  Permalink | File Under: Hockey | 22 comments
22
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  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 9:36 PM, 02/20/2010
    give crybaby a pass leading him into an open ice monster check richards!
    — Stanley Cup
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 12:01 AM, 02/21/2010
    Watching those two on the same line trying to put aside their hatred for each other could be more entertaining that the game itself. Go USA!
    — Kanayd
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 2:25 AM, 02/21/2010
    i thought richards was better and crosby sucked? why was michele on the forth line and crosby was wearing the A on the first line? oh that's right cause crosby sucks. richards will not be on the olympic team next time around while crosby will be the captain. give it up philly you would kill to have someone as good as him on your team. keep getting worked up about who wins the most fights, it's worked great for your team. carter richards pronger vs malkin crosby gonchar? no contest, pens win easily.
    — Pensrockcryers
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 3:18 AM, 02/21/2010
    Hmmm... Crosby and Nash together. Can Stephen Stills be far away? lol
    — phillyflyer58
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 3:26 AM, 02/21/2010
    I'm sorry to those that care but, seriously, what does that mean to the Flyers? Nothing. when he comes back the best we can hope for is that he learned something and can be a better capt. But then again Pronger has been there (you know, to the Olympics) more than once, we have him and that XP hasn't meant much more than when he wasn't here so really, what are we getting excited about again? This is NOT a shot at Pronger but it IS a shot at this whole Olympic experience. I'm not a buyer on the whole "experience" thing. "Hey everybody, play 2 weeks of thrown together all star hockey and you'll get a mountain full of game time XP to share with your less fortunate teammates" mmm hmmm, yeah, I'll bet that's a crash course of awesome that you can bestow upon your teammates in a usual fashion when you get back from break. yeah, right
    — Flyers in 5
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 9:44 AM, 02/21/2010
    You have a point, Pensrockcryers. Congrats on being so bad for so long that you had enough early picks to get two of the best three offensive draftees of the decade. Super Mario and Bettman got things worked out so the team would stay in Pittsburgh in a nice new building and that people might actually come, since there were superstars to see. Pittsburgh has been below league average in attendance in every season since 1997-1998. Surprisingly, that even includes last year's Cup season. That puts you up there with other recent winners no one cares about, like Carolina, Tampa Bay, and Anaheim. Wow, how embarrassing. Even with Crosby and Malkin, below average attendance. I wonder how long it will before the money catches up with Mario and he's forced to choose between Crosby and Malkin. We'll take Malkin over here in Philly, but you can keep Crosby. Even his Team Canada mates have had to talk to him about all the crying to officials. Whining superstars in Bettman's league get results, but the IIHF doesn't care for that sort of thing. And yeah, keep ragging on us by saying that all we like is fighting, but it's not true. We want goal-scoring champions just like everyone else. It's that we require more from our athletes, things like toughness. But you have given me something to think about, because apparently, Stanley Cups can be won by players who lack that quality. I need look no further than last year's Cup-winning captain.
    — Raggamonkey
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 9:44 AM, 02/21/2010
    I would not kill to have someone as good as Crosby on the Flyers. I would kill to have someone as good as Ovechkin.
    — AreaMan
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 10:48 AM, 02/21/2010
    Penquins are a sissy team led by a sissy capt and represent everything I dislike about Bettman's new NHL. How long until they ban all hitting? I can just hear Mario "Hey I'm better than everyone, you need to change the rules so I can score more goals and its not nice getting hit....do it or I'll quit" Penquins suck, Bettman sucks
    — motorhead
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 11:03 AM, 02/21/2010
    Give me Ovie any day of the week over Cindy...that guy loves to hit as well.
    — kjuggs77
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 11:13 AM, 02/21/2010
    Raggamonkey - I hate the Divesburgh crosbys as much as anyone, but you have to look at their attendance by percentage, not by total. Selling out a 16,000 seat arena is different than drawing 16k to a 19k building. Their lack of fan support did nearly get them moved to KC while they tanked for draft picks, NBA style, but since then they have been selling out, both their building and their dignity. Getting back to the topic at hand, this shows what a lot of commentators have been saying, that despite a lack of playing time, Canada's fourth line players had been showing more heart and leadership than any of the prima donnas on the first line for name recognition.
    — Pelti
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 11:32 AM, 02/21/2010
    The loser Flyers fans are out in full force this morning. You would think Crosby is a fourth-line plumber, kind of like the reincarnation of Turner Stevenson, who made a living by banging pucks around the endboards with his cement hands. The truth is that he's shown that at 22, he's the best player on Team Canada. He'll likely light up USA like he lights up the Flyers.
    — St.Patrick33
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 12:21 PM, 02/21/2010
    He's not a fourth liner, but he's basically Matt Barnaby with a lot of natural talent and no sportsmanship whatsoever. And Danny Heatley has been Canada's best player
    — Pelti
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 12:31 PM, 02/21/2010
    Wow. This is big. It means that Babcock actually realized he had other players on the bench. I'll weigh in on Cindy. Talent like that does not need to cry and whine and dive. But he does, and he gets a pass on a lot of things that would warrent a unsportsmanship minor on other players. The Pouty Poster Boy. By the way; The best PLAYER on Team Canada is Martin Brodeur.
    — 9th Street is Gone
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 12:33 PM, 02/21/2010
    Ovie over Sissy any day.
    — motorhead
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 1:01 PM, 02/21/2010
    Richie and Crys-by together? I just gagged
    — TommyGun


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About Sam Donnellon and Marcus Hayes

SAM DONNELLON's career began in Biddeford, Me., in 1981, and has included stops in Wilkes-Barre, Norfolk, and New York, where he worked as a national writer for the short-lived but highly acclaimed National Sports Daily. He has received state and national awards at each stop and since joining the Daily News in 1992 has been honored by the Associated Press Sports Editors, the National Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association, the National Association of Black Journalists, the Associated Press Managing Editors of Pennsylvania and the Keystone Awards. He and his wife have raised three fine children, none of whom are even the least bit impressed with the above. Sam is veteran of Olympics coverage for the Daily News, including the Games in Sydney and Turin, among others.

MARCUS HAYES grew up on a small farm outside of Hermon, NY., a small town near the Canadian border about the size of Reading Terminal Market. In high school he played three varsity sports and aspired to be faster, or more skilled, or taller. Having failed in those aspirations and seeking a warmer climate, Marcus attended Syracuse University's S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and eventually graduated with a degree in Magazine Writing. He also earned a degree in English from the College of Arts and Sciences. To date he has written for no magazines. His English is spotty at best. Upon graduation in 1990, with Jim Boeheim's talent-leaden SU basketball teams having won no titles, Marcus spent 4½ years working for the now-absorbed Syracuse Herald-Journal covering high school sports, local small college sports and non-revenue sports at SU. Marcus joined the Daily News as a feature story writer in 1995. Among other assignments he has covered the Eagles and Phillies beats for most of his tenure. Still, the paper soldiers on.

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