Where Have You Gone, Luca Sbisa?

OK, he’s not in Lethbridge, Alberta playing junior hockey, he’s not at the Spectrum with the Phantoms, and he’s not playing for the Flyers, either.  Defenseman Luca Sbisa has been a healthy scratch in four straight games and eight of the last 14.  This puzzles me greatly because coach John Stevens has said that he needs to be playing.  Yet, he continues to scratch him and he’s not being sent back to juniors.  The Flyers don’t seem to know what to do with him right now.  I think he has played very well – some rookie mistakes, yes – but certainly well enough to be in the six man rotation.  I thought the plan when Randy Jones came back was to rotate scratches among Alberts, Kukkonen, and Sbisa.  Now it just seems that Sbisa is sitting.  There was talk of Sbisa going back to juniors when Briere returned from injury, but Danny’s hurt again so Luca stays on the roster but off the ice.  This apparent confusion on the Flyers’ part doesn’t make sense to me and certainly is not helping his development.  He’s proven he can play well in the NHL, so play him.  He’s earned the spot!

Carter Makes All-Star Team; Richards Snubbed

Mike Richards puts one of his non-All Star worthy 44 points past Toronto's Vesa Toskala in Saturday's 4-1 Flyers win.

Although he did not appear on the ballot, Flyers center Jeff Carter was named to the NHL Eastern Conference All-Star Team.  Carter is having a breakthrough year and is leading the League in goals.  Although Carter certainly deserves this honor, it’s unbelievable that Mike Richards did not make it.  He has been the Flyers best all around player and has 44 points as of January 11 with a +16 rating.  Unfortunately, many deserving players were left off the team this year thanks to a system that allows fans to vote for the six starters.  Montreal fans shamelessly stuffed the virtual ballot box on NHL.com, and voted in four starters from the Canadiens.  So, for example, Alexei Kovalev (11 goals, 32 points) is starting while Boston’s Phil Kessel (24 goals, 41 points) and New Jersey’s Patrick Elias (19 goals, 48 points) will remain at home with Richards.

Looks like there’s three things that have caused these All-Star injustices to occur.  First, the fans’ disregard for the idea that they should objectively vote for the best players rather than their home team players.  You would expect Montreal fans especially to have respect for the ideals of the game.  Second, every team must have at least one representative.  Someone not as deserving as someone else could make it because of this stipulation.  Third, there’s more teams now than ever in the NHL but virtually the same number of players (18 skaters, 3 goalies) are chosen as when there were fewer teams. 

It’s nice to involve the fans, but if they’re not going to respect the ideal of the All-Star Game then maybe a new system needs to be devised.  Thanks, Le Quebecois!

Crapitals Still Agitating About Last Year

Apparently, the Washington Crapitals are still agitating about last year’s seven game overtime playoff exit at the hands of the Flyers and the Flyers’ fans superiority when it comes to passion for their team.  According to the Inquirer’s Sam Carchidi, The Crapitals held a contest on their scoreboard during the last game with the question: “What is Philadelphia best known for?  (A) “Rocky”, (B) cheesesteaks, (C) obnoxious fans”.  As Carchidi noted, what a classy operation they’re running.  The day of the game, the Washington Post included an article criticizing the exuberance of Flyers’ fans in last year’s playoffs, complaining that Flyers fans “invaded the Verizon Center”, rocked a bus carrying Crapitals’ employees, and mooned the Caps’ team bus and smeared it with various condiments and shaving cream.  Defenseman Shane Morrison also questioned about us booing Santa Claus.  An article in the Post last spring suggested that the women and children at the Wachovia Center look like they could work security for the heavy metal band Megadeth.

Now, let’s first get something straight: We did NOT boo Santa Claus.  We booed the Easter Bunny; We threw snowballs at Santa Claus.  Secondly, Crapitals fans will never be able to match the knowledge and passion of Flyers fans.  This explains why the Crapitals seem fixated on criticizing us.  We’ll continue to infiltrate your home rink, bringing that knowledge and passion which the Beltway area residents lack.  We support our team through it all; your building is only red since the team has been playing well.  Finally, lets take a look at some noteworthy Flyers’ supporters:

Sign Man

We're everywhere - even in Vancouver

 

Flyers Dancing Guy:

Flyers Beat Ducks, Tie Rangers for First

After an awesome 5-4 shootout win over Anaheim last night, the Flyers moved into a first-place tie with the New York Rangers in the Atlantic Division.  Scoring came from unlikely sources, with defenseman Ossi Vaananen and forward Josh Gratton scoring their first goals of the season and first as Flyers.  Defenseman Braydon Coburn also scored a rare goal and the Flyers overcame a 3-1 second period deficit to win in the shootout, with Mike Richards scoring the only goal.  Overcoming a horrendous 0-3-3 start to the season, the Flyers have lost outright only seven times in their last 32 games. 

Maintaining first place won’t be easy as only a few points separate most of the clubs in the division.  And looking at their standing in the conference, the Flyers are contending with a red-hot Bruins team and the surging Washington Capitals.  Finishing near the top of the conference and getting good a good seed for the playoffs is achieveable, but will be difficult. 

On a side note, another cheap hit from behind on a Flyer occurred last night, as defenseman Andrew Alberts was hit behind the net in a precarious position a few feet from the boards.  The League better start dishing out the suspensions more equitably or I may start believing the opinions of some of my faithful readers who swear that there is a double-standard when it comes to the Flyers.  Hopefully, the Flyers are complaining to the League when these hits occur.

Mike Richards beats J.S. Giguere in the shootout.