Game Face
Ok, red meat time. Thought I'd post a bit of clever artwork from our friends on the Buffalo fans' user board.
Was happy to see Blinq became some sort of way station for Sabre-rattling over the past couple of days. But what was with those upstate trolls? 426 comments on a post-game post! There was some insightful analysis and some inventive spelling. Nice to hear that Pelle and Clubber Lang are still around and cared to write. Umberger and Eager, too.
Is that really a goat that Buffalo players wear on their jerseys?
I'm going to watch the game and keep this post live tonight after I come back from the Wachovia Center, where I've been trucking in sand to keep the game at speed that better suits the Flyers. Beer's on ice. Pizza's ordered.
There's plenty of hockey left in the season.
At least that's what they're telling themselves in the land of record snow and hot wings. A question What is a Flyer? on the message board brought this response:
fli·er also fly·er ( P ) Pronunciation Key (flr)
n.
1) An inanimate object used to deter movement (see traffic cone)
2) A sloth-like creature once popular in the 1970's for it's ability to defend a caged object and inflict limited offensive harm.
Freddy Meyer is keeping a player's blog on the Flyers site. It doesn't seem to be keeping him from ice time, because he's posting lightly.
From Monday, the day of the awful game:
Yesterday I woke up around 9:30 or 10:00, and Joni and I went down and had some breakfast. After that we just went back up to the room and hung out. I have my computer so I just messed around online for a little bit. About 1:00 I went over to the mall they have here by our hotel with Jeff Carter and Niko. We just did a little mall walk to get some exercise, since we didn't skate yesterday. I just wanted to get the legs going a little bit. We had a team meeting at 5:00 at the hotel and another team dinner at 6:00 and that was pretty much it.
Would have loved it he'd live blogged the locker room afterward, or the trip home.
Got to go to R.J. Umberger's Rookie Blog at The Courier-Post for that insight:
The plane ride home was what you would expect it to be. It was very quiet. Not much talking going on, guys pretty much keeping to themselves and reflecting on the night and what happened and getting refocused on coming back here for Game 3.
It wasn't a good night, not one bit. Guys are still disappointed and very embarrassed. But after talking and getting everything out on the table, we really can't dwell on it and let it bring us down for the next game. It's in the past. We need to play desperate in Game 3 and make it a fight for our lives to get back into it.
It's definitely not over yet. We've got to start better. We owe it to our fans and ourselves to have a good Game 3. We know they'll come out hard, but we can make it a series with a win. Whether I play is still up in the air. Hopefully, I can pass that test tomorrow and get in there.
7:05 p.m. Pre-game on. I'm in time to hear Steve Coates talking again about Forsberg as the best passer in the world. Don't think he's done, Coates says. And this quote: "The cream will come to the top, and it will all change." Is he talking about his stomach backing up?
Took less than three minutes for the Sabres to get on the board. So far it's looked like a power play.
There's there IS a power play as Forsberg leaves his feet for a check.
Wait.... SHORT - HANDED! Savage! He does a shifty bit of skating and scores on a slap shot from the circle. We're tied.
Over on the Sabres board, a Buffalo fan named frenchconnection70 writes: Yup, nice soft goal by Miller... he LOVES to give those up.....
Hope either Freddie or R.J. is reading this on the bench.
First period over. Two different teams are playing. Let's check around the Web.
Over the PhillyBoard, HKP pronounces: First good period of this series from the Flyers.
Second period begins and Savage buries his blade in a Buffalo midsection. Mike Richards hits the pipe - Flyers seem to skate with them better when down a man.
Shots even at 10. Score even at one. Flyers leading in hits and penalties.
Forsberg just took in down the wing and hit it off something for the Flyers first lead of the series. Hit it off the defender's skate. Miller never saw it. 2 to 1 Flyers. And a Buffalo penalty follows. The crowd makes some noise. Forsberg must have seen Coates on the pre-game show.
Just checked into the Orange and Black chat room. A little too atonal for me:
20:21:23 [OmahaFlyer] we gonna see preems friday you think?
20:21:35 [ogie] No
20:21:36 [DarthFlyer] No.
20:21:37 [Meathead] sabres have responded incredibly well this season after losing a lead lets see if it happens here
20:21:46 [madlee] this chat room refreshing is messing with my streaming
20:21:51 [wickedwris] only if hes ready id say he should play
20:21:51 [chadta] i hope not
20:21:54 [ogie] ahh
20:22:01 [wickedwris] otherwise no bc we need every player to keep up with this team
20:22:05 [wickedwris] cant have a guy play 3 min
20:22:09 [madlee] sabres sabres sabres. blah blah blah
20:22:18 [DarthFlyer] He won't be ready for a long time.
20:22:27 [madlee] i think i heard the sabres were going to cure cancer too
20:22:29 [Meathead] no primeau wont play this series
20:22:36 [DarthFlyer] Primeau needs 7-10 days without symptoms.
20:22:38 [madlee] and win the war on terrorism
AND AS IM TYPING THIS HE SCORES FROM BEHIND THE NET. Crafty move against a rookie netminder, he just knocked it against Miller's back and it fell in. They should call that shot a Rook.
Over at the Sabres fans section, the French Connection70 sighs: YES....great penalty there you go...game oveR ! its a ALL new series boys...Sabres lost their heart need to see the wizard QUICK!
And from the Flyers section: Flyersrock87 suggests: New strategy... don[t aim for the net, aim for the Sabres.
J.P. Dumont takes a blade in the chest from Denis Gauthier. The Buffalo player is doubled over, then down on the ice. Coates quickly explains the fans' cheers as pay-back for the Sabres reaction when Umberger got flattened in Buffalo. No penalty. Should have been one. (For the record, the PhillyBoard crowd is a lot harsher on "Goat" for the spear and the cheers.)
14 shots this period for the Flyers, they announced. They're ahead 16 to 5 in hits.
At the break before the third period, Forsberg sits for an interview. Is there a high Canadian edge to his Swedish lilt? Naw. Sweat-soaked, and flush, he says, "It's great to play with a lead instead of chasing those guys all over the ice."
Almost five minutes into the period, the Sabres swarm and score. One goal game.
Sabres are looking fast and silky. Flyers a little choppy. Nedved behind the net, loses it, trips someone. Penalty.
Nice kill. Flyers kept clearing the puck. Even strength. And Nedved trips another. Penalty.
The Buffalo boards are using shorthand. PP. clap. clap. PP
Another great kill. And then Forsberg is called for ---NO, A DIVING CALL against Roy of Sabres! A little Italian national football on ice.
Three minutes to go. Two and a half. Two. A one-goal, three nail game.
One minute. The Sabres can't get Miller off the ice for a six-man attack.
Gagne... empty net.... send your Buffalo to bed.
Sure there is plenty of hockey left, just no much more the frivolous philly flyers. The flyers are so outclassed by the Sabres this year you cannot even attempt to skate with us. Your old concrete footed goons have a long way to go to stay in a hockey game with the Sabres. Watch and learn you losers, this is what the league wants not your old school, bobby clarke hockey. oh, by the way has umberger woke up yet? run us all night we will take the penaltiea and you can set your t-times. losers! Maybe next year Philly.................
nice to see you guys back. did you get day passes or something?
Why are they called the Buffalo Bills? I have the answer: Boy I Love Losing Superbowls!
The Sabres referred to Umberger as BJ Umberger. Shoot me. Also, I've always had faith in Esche, but tonight, I'm assuming the Sabres will put the puck in the net every time they pass the blue line. Not exactly what I'd call confidence.
I just Googled B.J.Umberger. Wrote something called "The Effect Of Power Output And Cycling Cadence On Lower Extremity Emg Responses In Recreational Cyclists." Not our guy, I think.
Their announcers also referred to Pitkanen as Pitkanence. Perhaps he, too, wrote a book? I'm live blogging this game, too. There really needs to be a group blogging effort for a future game.
yeah, we need tag teams. Barely time to get a beverage.
Nice to see the fans booing when Dumont got up. The city of "brotherly love", my @ss. You kind of people are the reason the rest of the world thinks Americans are @ssholes. Pennsultucky. The state in the way of where you want to be. You swine are truly a class act.
Maybe in Buffalo for game 5 they can cheer the clip of RJ Umberger bleeding from the mouth a few more times. That'd be super classy. Hypocrisy is the downfall of man. Not Philadelphia.
Have I got this right? Dumont skates alongside Gauthier, Gauthier's stick 'inadvertently' flips above his waist into Dumont's gut, and Dumont falls. You hear booing the whole time. Umberger gets fed a suicide pass and gets hit while looking down. In Buffalo, silence. Just wanted to be certain where you're coming from.
thats right - as Barry Melrose said it best - a daytime emmy for the show put on by Dumont!! Lets Go Flyers... you gloated (or goated probably since that is what is on the front of your jersey) for 2 games and it is time for us to flex our muscle - you got it handed to you in philly! More to come on Friday!!
Alain, Showing the R.J. Umberger hit over and over on the big screen at the game as the Sabres fans get louder and louder...I guess the silence you speek of was in your head.
and hey alain, nice representation last nite in Philly. 2 or 3 fans? and that was probably your ridiculous announcers on MSG with their mock turtlenecks and suspenders on running around the concourse!! When the going gets tough, hide in Buffalo and wait for your homers to come back 2-2! Doesnt it suck to look around HSBC shack and see all the orange and black?
Those Sabre idiot fans are awfully quiet today. Visions of Norwood and Hull are dancing in their heads!!
Hey Sabre fans.... Listen to the... SOUNDS OF SILENCE... now listen to... LETS GO FLY-ERS!!! your little speedy midgets didnt look so fast last night!! Oh how the tide is turning
The Broad Street Bullies have entered the series. The Sabres players were trying to avoid hits late in the game, like they had enough of a pounding. That game wasn't possible without hard hitting and the heart hitting of Kate Smith's God Bless America. Let's bring it home in six boys!! :)
I'm not here to talk smack, because really, I have on crystal ball and I don't know who will win the series. But this: "Umberger gets fed a suicide pass and gets hit while looking down. In Buffalo, silence." That's rewriting history just a bit, dude. Clean hit, sure. But show some class and maybe wait until the guy cleans up his blood and remembers his own name before you start showing the clip over and over. As for the silence - I know not of which you speak. Maybe something was wrong with the TV broadcast, but it sure sounded pretty loud to me.
Geez, you win one game and all of a sudden all the whining about how clarke built the wrong type of team mysteriously stops. Cryers moniker definatley fits. They just delayed the inevitable!
was that anthem with Lauren and Kate enough to give you goosebumps? The crowd was energized!!! Flyered up baby!!
I must admit, that anthem did get me pumped up. Perfect antidote for the Flyers. I think it's gonna take more than that though to get you past the Sabres. Classic moment though.
lets not talk about whining when your hometown radion station WGR550 has a 10 minute segment every morning called fittingly enough for Buffalo fans "THE WHINER LINE" all you guys did was say how pissed you were at Cindy Fluff for firing up the sabres and how dumb you played. The bandwagon is suddenly filled with available spaces... you gloated and now its our turn!! You got smacked in the face, now like it!! LETS GO FLYERS.. Sabres suck, Cindy Fluff sucks, Ted Nolan sucked when he came to Philly with Buffalo...
Well, you've got it all figured out I guess. I can't speak for an entire city, only for myself. I know I'm not whining. Just stating the obvious. I love the passion of the fans in both Buffalo and Philadelphia. This is what playoff hockey is all about, but, reduced to simple name calling? That belongs on the playground.
Ha I love intelligent commentary like "you suck" GO SABRES!!! Phuck Philly!!
As for getting smacked in the face? I don't think 3 soft goals constitutes getting smacked in the face. You got lucky bounces in game 3 and you will need lucky bounces all series in order to win. Congratulations on the win. Now, 8-2.....thats getting punched in the mouth.
8-2...thats prison sex!
Dear Diary, Well we able to pull one out last night. That means another night in the locker room with my favorite fellas...I still can't believe that people are falling for this charade..me a hockey coach?..If they only knew what really turns me on....I think Forsey and Hatchy caught me peeking in the showers again...I really wonder why their not telling on me??...Hopefully those beautiful boys can win another. I love them all so much.
Patty, Sabres (lose) in 6, Big Sexy... Soft goal, lucky goal.. call it what you want but there is one common component to that.. GOAL!!! 2 more than you!! Right back in it!! It sounds like from the sounds of your diary that you have some experience in admitting those kind of secrets.. good luck with that. The frustration is starting to come out. Enjoy some more lucky, soft goals that lead to another Flyer victory tomorrow... ITS CRUSH TIME!!! LETS GO F L Y - E R S !!!
"I can't speak for an entire city, only for myself." -good point, sabresin6, which begs me to ask why you think you (along with the other Buffalo cockroaches) have any clue how real sports fans think. Maybe you could move to Philly and study us for a while... or maybe you could develop passion for sports that goes beyond surfing the internet to troll other cities' fans.
hey letsgoflyers26 time to move out of your parents basement...your coming unravelled with all that nonsense coming out of you...
hey howard, Im a buffalo native and fan, however I did go to the eagles/pats bowl ouch!! and I have neer seen or been around bigger asshole fans... ever...the adults sucked...the kids(fans) sucked and the women were so fucking ugly< I would 've rather chugged a cup of bleach than bang a philly chick...
Sabres fans using that "cryers" label is about as weak and stupid as it gets. These guys are still crying about a cup they lost in '99.
For the last time, They replayed the hit ONCE after RJ was taken off the ice. Sabres fans at the game cheered the hit, then went SILENT when something was wrong. We were not cheering for RJ to be injured like you were obviously cheering for JP to be injured. You stay classy Philly.
Why in god's name would I want to study Philly fans, The only thing they could teach me is how to cheer when people get hurt and boo santa claus. No thanks. Also, I was'nt referring to the Flyers as "cryers", I was referring to the whining Flyers fans.
For the record, The replay of the hit on Umberger was only shown ONCE on the jumbotron of HSBC arena. They didnt show it while he was down on the ice be attended too.. they showed it after he was escorted to the bench and play was about to resume. Also, as someone else had mentioned, the fans were cheering the hit, not the injury. Your fans were just booing Dumont like crazy as he was being escorted off the ice, almost keeled over. Ive heard a few reports of fans yelling that he was an asshole while he was down on the ice. Classy. One last thing, someone was mentioning how the Buffalo announcers said someones name wrong. YOUR PA announcer pronounced Kotaliks name KOT-A-LICK after he scored the opening goal.