I’ll hit off with a bit of great news about a Gordie Howe movie. I stumbled upon through the ESPN widget. Even if it’s about his days with the WHA and produced by the Ally McBeal people, it will be cool. And let’s also hear it for Mats Sundin’s 500th goal and Brendan Shanahan’s 600th.
Meanwhile, the Flyers have remained winless since defeating the Islanders. Last night’s complete butt kicking by the Sabres (again); a 9-1 rout, was incredibly humiliating, especially for goalie Robert Esche since the Buffalo fans are still bitter over him going to the Olympics over their guy Ryan Miller. It didn’t matter anyway, the US team was terrible in every position and Esche barely played. So my Flyers are hitting rock bottom now. They’re last in the Atlantic Division. I really doubt they’ll be in the playoffs and they’ve become a one-line team. Until Jeff Carter scored their only goal, eight of their 11 total goals have come from the Forsberg-Gagne-Knuble line. Nice job Bobby Clarke, didn’t get any offense worth a damn in with these trades this Summer, just aging has-beens like Geoff Sanderson and Petr Nedved. Something has happened to the young guys Carter, Richards and Umberger. They’re totally cold. This Calder guy we traded Chicago for Handzus has proven to be a complete gyp. Obviously Clarke didn’t learn his lesson regarding Chicago’s fire sales with Zhamnov (left the NHL) and Ellison (he’s lucky to be playing for the Phantoms). I have no idea what’s gonna’ have to give for this to turn around. Trades? Too soon. Firings? They just signed Hitchcock to an extension and I don’t think it’s his fault. Meetings? Those are just as useless in sports as they are in the business world I live in; after a while, they’re pointless. I’m just glad I don’t live in Philly. The screaming and complaining would be as unbearable as I remember it was back in Milwaukee over the Packers and every Chicago team. Count on the Cheesesteak of Suffering to rack up another 500 days. Meanwhile, I’m not faring much better in EA’s NHL ’06. I know it’s last year’s game but I need to play it before I upgrade for the current lineups.
The Coyotes, my other favorite NHL team due to geography and JR, have fared slightly better, finally breaking their losing skid over the Blues on an untelevised game the same night. They too suffered a 9-2 thrashing at the hands of the Red Wings who are showing that they won’t be going away quietly as they age. This thumping has given me pause to revise my prediction of their playoff goal. However, I will give them more time because expectations aren’t high yet and we’re only in the first dozen games of the season.
Update, Oct. 19, 2006: Seems that the Flyers’ management team felt my griping along with that of thousands of other fans in Philly. Shortly after I posted this tale, the EPSN widget showed a news flash of Clarke putting Nedved, Dimitrakos and Baumgartner (more like Bum-gartner) on waivers. According to the beat reporters in Philly, this may only be the beginning. Good, because I would put Calder, Hatcher and Gauthier on the short list too.