Habs' coach: sand issue 'complete fabrication;' Flyers focused
The Philadelphia Inquirer Blog - Flyers Report: Broad Street Bull
Habs' coach: sand issue 'complete fabrication;' Flyers focused
Sam Carchidi, Inquirer Staff Writer
Montreal coach Jacques Martin called the Great Sand Issue "a complete fabrication" after his team's skate on Monday morning and said he was concerned with other things.
Such as staving off elimination in the team's third straight series.
Injured Montreal center Tom Pyatt will be a game-time decision, Martin said.
The Flyers have a 3-1 series lead in the conference finals and can earn a trip to the Stanley Ciup Finals with a win at the Wachovia Center Monday.
"I expect the crowd to be pretty wild tonight, knowing the situation that we're in," said center Danny Briere, who leads the Flyers with nine playoff goals. "I mean, it's been a while since they the Flyers have been in this position, so I expect the fans to help us in that department, definitely.
The Flyers are focused, Briere said.
"It's funny how I look at our team now, and it just feels like this is business," he said. "This is what we've been preparing this whole season for. It just feels like there've been a lot of obstacles. There've been injury situations during the year that have put us in all kinds of different emotions at times, and playing well, and not playing well, and the coaching change, and there's been so much distractions."
Not now. Now the Flyers are as healthy as they have been all season as they try to end Montreal's remarkable run.
The Flyers scored a 3-0 win in Montreal on Saturday _ Michael Leighton's third series shutout _ during a game in which a few of their players complained that a sand-like substance on their locker-room runway gave them skate problems. GM Paul Holmgren dismissed the issue and did not file a complaint with the league.
A victory would put the Flyers into the Finals for the first time since 1997. Chicago, Cup-less since 1961, awaits the Flyers-Canadiens winner.
The dates for the Finals will be announced when the Eastern Conference finals end. The Finals are expected to start on Memorial Day weekend.
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PHAN2...Canadiens are certainly not frauds. They worked their way up with a real team effort. They also lost maybe the best defenseman of the league before coming into this series against the flyers, Markov. They won over offensive machine and the most packed team of the nhl, they overcame the NHL Stanley cup champions...and you say they are frauds!!! My friend, you need to learn what hockey is.— bombadil- honestly tom? don't hate. people have been picking against the flyers the whole time. they've all been wrong.— liberty_bell
- i have a meeting tonight. how can i get scoring updates to my at&t cell phone?
- Honsestly? Flyers win tonight. Too strong for Montreal. But Chicago takes you out.— Big Tom Threw 3
CBC Reported a Montreal official said it was the Composite sticks Flakes that caused the Flyers Problem..
Comment removed.- LETS GO FLYERS.....LETS GO FLYERS.....LETS GO FLYERS.....!!!!!— flyerdup
- Exactly 'bazalite', why would the team make that up or have their most important players miss shifts for a 'complete fabrication'? 'rjsmith', did the players hear Maguires report on air and decide what a prank it would be to miss game time? It's down played because they won. Not that anything was done intentionally, but don't claim it was made up. There was obviously 'some substance' on the lead-in ramp that was dulling the skates of players. And not all players may have noticed it or cared, some players actually prefer duller skates (defenseman, goalies). But to call it a 'fabrication', oh wait its Jock Martin. -not bob levy— remyy
- @Bazalite: "Why would Pierre McGuire make something up like seeing a sand like substance in the carpet?" You're kidding, right? Pierre McGuire does not sound like a Rhoades Scholar out there during his "reports". I think he saw the towels, won an Olympic medal for jumping to conclusions, and made the announcement to "scoop" the other network covering the game. The Flyers themselves have down-played this issue and are focusing on eliminating the Habs tonight, as well they should. Go Flyers.— rjsmith
- Of course they denied it.— lostInPhilly
- Stop beating the story to death... Like Charlie Manual said: Stop Crying... Lets close this out tonite... Game 1 Saturday in Chicago— EndTheDrought
In decades of watching hockey, I've never seen so many players players go to the dressing room in an entire game as I did in the first 10 minutes of that game. Something was clearly wrong. They play with the composite sticks every game, they cross the ice to get to the locker room in other buildings, but something was clear wrong. Also, the Flyers have neither confirmed nor denied this, it was reported by Pierre McGuire, and he's no Flyers fan. NBC might prefer the Flyers in the finals to Mtl, but it sure as hell isn't reflected in the worship they show montreal in their coverage.— Pelti- Hmm so McQuire saw a figment of his imagination. Ok lets get a few trucks loads of sand and place it in Montreal's locker room. In fact lets bury the whole team up to there necks!!!! Let's go FLYERS!!!
- Lucky Pierre pretty much hates the Flyers, so I don't but that he would "fabricate" the sand issue.— erbower
- Bazalite, Pierre McGuire wouldn't make something like this up. The only "complete fabrication" in the Eastern Conference Finals to date has been Jacques Martin's coaching abilities.— The700Level
- In Montreal it's "gamesmanship." In Philadelphia it would be "those dirty Flyers again."— FourFourTwo
- I really don't care about the "sand" scandal because the Flyers won, no one was injured, and the Flyers are now a bit fired up even though they continue to say the right things to the press. Tonight perhaps the Club de Hockey Canadien might ask the refs to measure the pads wrapped around Michael Leighton's legs, or the curve on Chris Pronger's stick. Either way, let's light up the light more times than them tonight, and continue to do it with class...— The700Level
- Why would Pierre McGuire make something up like seeing a sand like substance in the carpet?— Bazalite
- canadiens are frauds. its that simple.. its that clear— PHAN2
- Close this thing out tonight!
