Quick hits

I'm just going to touch on a couple of things quickly today: Today's tap of the stick goes to (ick!) Rangers forward Jaromir Jagr who last night broke the Rangers' all-time record for most points in a season, passing Hall of Famer Jean Ratelle. Congrats Jaromir, but here's hoping you fall flat on your face in the playoffs. Kudos to the Phillies for -- dare I say finally -- moving forward by naming Ryan Madson and Gavin Floyd to their starting rotation, while relegating free agent Ryan Franklin to the bullpen. Any other year with this team would have seen them try to put the sqaure peg in a round hole by keeping Franklin in the rotation and putting Madson back in the bullpen, while sending Floyd back down to the minors. It's nice to see that a good spring training does mean something after all. This will be my last post for a while. I'm in the midst of a major overhaul of the site -- template, links, everything -- and with the schedule I keep it'll take a little while to get done. Please check Phloggers Pheeds for updates on some of the best blogs around.

Dropping like a stone

Well, it seems my team and the Flyers have something in common -- losing ground to the team in front of them. The Rangers won again last night to increase their division lead to four points. As for my team, well, I was outgained by ten points last night to fall even further back in the standings. I now sit 67 points out of 3rd place with 20 days left in the season. HAT TRICK HOCKEY LEAGUE 3 War Machine 1658   4 Dynamo 1591 (-67)   standings through Wednesday, March 29, 2006

Playoff hopes dealt blow

My fantasy hockey team -- Dynamo -- thoroughly underperformed last night and dropped back even further in the standings. Currently in fourth place -- out of six teams, with the top three making the playoffs -- I had a meager five point night while the third place team had a nice twelve point night. I'm now 57 points out of third place with exactly three weeks left in the season. A nice offensive explosion from Atlanta and Edmonton would thoroughly help, as I have 6 players btween those two teams. HAT TRICK HOCKEY LEAGUE 1 Thunder Bay Bombers 1727   2 Beer Guzzlers 1668 (-59) 3 War Machine 1643 (-84) 4 Dynamo 1586 (-141) 5 Ant's Army 1564 (-163) 6 Tomatoes 1112 (-615)     standings through Tuesday, March 28, 2006

Desperation wins out

The Toronto Maple Leafs are fighting for their playoff lives right now while the Flyers are trying to secure the Atlantic Division title. This disparity showed last night as the Leafs took the game to the Flyers for all but the final six or seven minutes of the third period. The Flyers came out flat and stayed that way all game until the end when they finally realized that they needed to play offense to have a chance at scoring. The loss -- their first in five games -- drops them 2 points behind the Rangers for the division lead with 10 games to play (two of those games are against the Rangers). Up next is a home game Saturday afternoon against the Devils.

That Swing You Do

Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins hit in an incredible 36 straight games to end the 2005 season. The amazing part isn't the streak itself. No, it's that he did it in the thick of the wildcard race. When his team needed him the most, Rollins showed up and hit. Recently, he sat down with ESPN's Jayson Stark to discuss the hitting streak. To say Rollins is brimming with confidence is an understatement.

Esches concedes starting role; Hitchcock puzzled

Flyers goalie Robert Esche has conceded the starting playoff role to Antero Niittymaki. "The writing is on the wall," Esche said. "[Hitchcock] hasn't said anything to me, and I really don't know what's going to happen, but I'll bet you right now that [Niittymaki] is the starter and is going to be the starter for the rest of the year." After reading Esche's comments, it appears that he hasn't conceded anything. To me, he's merely stating his opinion that he thinks Niittymaki will be the starter. I have no idea why he would do this; it seems very counterproductive. It lets the media know that there is a very prominent player that is unhappy with his status on the team, not to mention that fact that it makes Niittymaki play while looking over his shoulder instead of completely focused on his game. Goalies are a fickle breed to begin with -- sort of like pitchers in baseball. The last thing they need is to worry about is what the other guy has to say about them and how they're playing -- which is exactly what will happen the second that Niittymaki falters. The media won't go to him to find out what happened. The first person they'll go to is Esche to see what he thinks about who should be playing. This does not seem like the actions of someone who is putting the team first. Okay, breathe. Meanwhile, coach Ken Hitchcock remains steadfast with his assertion that he hasn't reached a decision yet. "He is voicing his opinion, but unfortunately, for him, I have not made up my mind. I am sitting here, and one week I am going one way, and the next I'm going another, and maybe that is me. I can't make up my mind. "If I had some 42-year-old dog that is up in Toronto [Ed Belfour], it might be an easier choice. But I don't. I have a tough choice and have to figure it out." Unfortunately, I actually agree with Esche that Niittymaki will be the playoff starter. Where I disagree with him is that I think Niittymaki should be the playoff starter. Calder Trophy for an AHL championship? Check. Olympic gold medal finalist and silver medal winner? Check. Olympic MVP winner? Check. Strangely, Robert Esche has accomplished none of these. He backstopped the Flyers to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2003-2004 -- while riding the coattails of Keith Primeau, thank you very much -- and that's about it. My money's on Niittymaki. Hopefully, Hitch agrees.

Back to work

So my mouth finally starts to feel better and the reward I get is to go back to work?!?! Man, how I love the real world. Well, anyway, enough about The King . . . . another night, yet another big win for the Flyers (Sound familiar?). Saturday's victim was the mighty Ottawa Senators. The Orange and Black were up 2-0 in the blink of an eye and didn't look back. It was 4-0 about halfway through the first period on goals by Petr Nedved, Niko Dimitrakos, Jeff Carter, and Michal Handzus. The second period saw the Senators play the game more to their liking -- on the attack. Antero Niittymaki stood firm, letting in just three goals despite facing 36 shots from the highest scoring team in the league. CURRENT STANDINGS: Atlantic GP W L OTL Pts GF GA Home Road L10 NY Rangers 71 39 20 12 90 227 180 22-8-6 17-12-6 3-3-4 Philadelphia 71 40 21 10 90 238 227 20-10-6 20-11-4 7-3-0 New Jersey 71 35 27 9 79 200 207 22-11-3 13-16-6 3-5-2 NY Islanders 70 33 32 5 71 207 237 18-14-2 15-18-3 6-3-1 Pittsburgh 71 18 41 12 48 205 282 10-20-7 8-21-5 4-5-1 Eastern Conference Team GP Pts 1. x-Ottawa 70 102 2. *Carolina 70 98 3. *Philadelphia 71 90 4. Buffalo 70 93 5. NY Rangers 71 90 6. Tampa Bay 71 81 7. New Jersey 71 79 8. Montreal 71 79 -------------------- 9. Atlanta 71 76 10. Toronto 71 72 11. NY Islanders 70 71 12. Florida 70 71 13. Boston 72 68 14. Washington 70 55 15. Pittsburgh 71 48 * = Division Leader Quick update 1: Boston fired GM Mike O'Connell on Saturday, with team president Harry Sinden conceding that the playoffs are out of reach. (Through Sunday, the Bruins are 11 points out of 8th place in the Eastern Conference with 10 games left.) Quick update 2: This weekend's tap of the stick goes to Dallas center Mike Modano. Modano fired a one-timer home at 6:18 of the second period on the power play. This was his 135th career power-play goal, breaking the Minnesota/Dallas franchise record for career power-play goals previously held by Brian Bellows. Congrats, Mike, and sorry I had to trade you.

Time to take a TO, baby!!

One day, the Sweet 16, and an emergency root canal later and it's time for a break. All week I had been bothered by a toothache. On Thursday, Tylonel stopped working to dull the pain and that night I couldn't sleep. Friday morning began with an 8:00 am call to the dentist and finished with me laid up in bed after calling out sick from both jobs. Thus, I'm not in much of a mood to be blogging today. This damn thing still hurts -- even with the meds. Hopefully my doctor was right and the pain starts to subside tomorrow. Right now, though, I don't notice much of a difference.

Broadcast schedule set

Jason at Beer Leaguer is reporting that the Phils have settled on their broadcast schedule for the season. The good news -- Chris Wheeler won't be doing all nine innings. The bad news -- he's still slated to do six. I couldn't agree more with Jason's call for sweeping changes in the Phils' broadcasts. He uses the word "stale" to describe them, and that's dead-on. The problem is that it's the entire organization that's grown stale, from ownership on down. A breath of fresh air is clearly -- dare I say desperately -- needed to bring this team back from the brink of obscurity. Quick side note: Please stop by Jason's site at www.beerleaguer.com. He's really been at the top of his game lately following the Phillies in spring training -- specifically commenting on the battles for the last bullpen and bench spots. Considering how much I want to focus on the NHL at this time of year, I can't help but keep going back to his site for Phils updates.

Tied for 1st, 12 to go

Another night, another big win for the Flyers. Last night it was over the Rangers in the Garden. Robert Esche got the start in net and, despite giving up a hat trick to Jaromir Jagr, earned the 6-3 win. Mike Knuble potted two power-play goals and Simon Gagne netted his 41st of the year. The win puts the Flyers into a tie with the Rangers for first place in the Atlantic Division, though the New York has a game in hand. The two teams will play twice more this season -- once each in Philadelphia and New York.

Fantasy Land

Tom G. at Balls, Sticks, & Stuff has some advice for MLB Commissioner Bud Selig in regards to fantasy leagues. Believe it or not, he manages to tie in the Dave Matthews Band to make his point. And as much as I can't stand DMB, Tom makes an excellent point and I'm inclined to agree with him.

Flyers edge Devils

Big win for the Flyers last night -- 2-1 over the Devils. This puts them -- once again -- just two points behind the Rangers for the division lead and the coveted first-round home ice advantage. Coincidentally, the Flyers will be in Madison Square Garden tonight to play the Rangers. I only got to catch bits and pieces of the third period last night, but from what I saw and what is being reported, Antero Niittymaki played what amounts to a statement game. Hopefully, Ken Hitchcock and the rest of the coaching staff were paying attention. A tap of the stick to Flyers left winger Simon Gagne who collected his 40th goal of the season last night. His previous best in a season was 33 goals in 2001-2002. Other news: The Los Angeles Kings have fired head coach Andy Murray and replaced him with John Torchetti on an interim basis. The Kings, once on top of the Pacific Division, have now slid all the way down to a tie with Edmonton for eighth in the western Conference standings.

Hitchcock remains patient

The playoffs are approaching and the Flyers have two young, solid goaltenders on the team. Controversy, anyone? While the conventional wisdom calls for the coach to name a starter and run him into the ground, Ken Hitchcock is content to take a wait-and-see approach to things. Hitchcock said he's not afraid to use a rookie goalie as his playoff starter. At the same time, he left open the door for using both goalies in the playoffs. Terry Murray did that in 1997 with Ron Hextall and Garth Snow, and it worked until the Stanley Cup Finals against Detroit. "Everyone is banking on you needing one goalie for the playoffs," he said. "Maybe you do and maybe you don't. "It will not be based on past performance or something I thought two years ago. This is a clean slate, a new year." And as for Scotty Bowman's wondering in Tampa why Hitchcock won't play Niittymaki more? "I don't worry about it," Hitchcock said. "I am doing what is best for the hockey club." Yes, Hitch, you shouldn't worry about it at all. What could a NINE-time Stanley Cup-winning coach have to contribute that might be worth listening to?

Cup Dreams

Looks like ESPN's John Buccigross is getting set for a long weekend in Vegas before the NHL playoffs begin. Bucci is asked regularly by readers for names for their upcoming children. He never disappoints and sometimes includes a story about one of his children. This week is no exception. John, The wife and I are due for our first baby on Aug 16. Any suggestions for names? We want a name that would live up to a grinding winger or rugby forward if it's a boy, and something that screams goal-scoring dynamo if it's a girl. Thanks Chad Sooley Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada Your first?! Sweet. Here's what you have to look forward to. My son, Jackson, was sleeping in mom and dad's bed the other day because he wasn't feeling well. Well, Jack talks in his sleep on occasion. Usually, it's gibberish, sometimes he actually forms a sentence. Well, the other day, he yelled in his sleep, "How many Stanley Cups have the Flyers won?!" While the official answer is two, I'm hoping for my 30th birthday this year they decide to make it three. Things don't look so good right now, though.

Banging the drum for Niittymaki

Tim Panaccio, the Flyers' beat writer for the Inquirer, took a shot at coach Ken Hitchcock in today's column, wondering why Antero Niittymaki isn't being given a fair shot at the starting goaltender's job. After all, he argues, while incumbent Robert Esche has taken the Flyers to the Eastern Conference Finals, Niittymaki has backstopped a team to a Calder Cup Trophy and to an Olympic silver medal. That's not quite peanuts Panaccio argues, and I'd agree. I've never been a big fan of Esche, though, admittedly, some of that may have to do with his stance during the lockout. Panaccio also points out that Scotty Bowman -- now scouting for the Red Wings -- is also wondering what Niittymaki has to do to get a look from Hitchcock.

On the wagon

Okay, I'm going to do my best to get back on the horse here. Spring is coming -- the promise of better weather, hope abounding, and all that crap. I'm not going to make any promises about the frequency of posting -- as I've unsuccessfully done before -- so that I have nothing to hold myself to. Working 60-70 hours a week, going to school, and trying -- desperately -- to maintain a social life all conspire to keep a brother down. I'll post when I can, but more often than not I'll probably throw out quick links to other blogs that I feel are worth the read. Oh, I almost forgot -- now that the Olympics are done, it's down and dirty time in the NHL. With about a quarter of the season left and a whole rash of teams in the playoff hunt, it should be a fun stretch drive. The trade deadline is one week from today, but don't look for a whole lot of action. There aren't a whole lot of teams with a ton of cap room to play with; plus, the cap is still new so I'm guessing that the dinosaurs, I mean GMs, will have trouble wrapping their abacuses -- what's the correct plural here, abaci? -- around bonus money, pro-rated contracts, etc. The Flyers play the Rangers, whom they trail in the standings by just two points, tonight at the Center.