For Philly, the new coach is 2-1-0 and he’s off to a shaky start. Stevens won in his debut against the Atlanta Thrashers but it required a shootout. Then there was another humiliating defeat from the Penguins starring their new diving champ, Sidney Crosby who is exceeding Bill Barber’s innovation to the NHL for drawing penalties. If they didn’t have Mark Recchi and John LeClair, I could really dislike them more with less guilt. Finally, the Flyers did have a clear 3-0 victory over the Blackhawks yet it was at the expense of Brian Boucher and the team’s collective injuries. It would’ve been better if the Blackhawks were healthy, especially Michal Handzus who Philly gave up for the disappointing Kyle Calder. The season’s still young and the Atlantic Division leader is only ahead by 10 points with over 65 games remaining. I do not share Peter Forsberg’s upbeat comment to the team about how the Avs were 2-8-1 one season and they went on to win the division. He forgot to add that he was probably injured most of the season thus making no contribution to the comeback, they still had Roy in goal and the only competition in the Northwest then was Vancouver. I will close on the Philly section with good news. Today, Ken Hitchcock was officially made the Flyers’ scout, quelling any rumors that he’d be the next head coach of the Coyotes. Colin Campbell turned them down for the GM gig but I think Holgren will be alright until the trade deadline or 2007 Draft. Turns out my friend Brian in IS&T actually played with Campbell back when they were with the Petes. Brian says he’s a good guy despite the unpopular job he has in the NHL, something to do with discipline.
My Coyotes still struggle with all the talent. The good news is JR getting more ice team. I miss his enthusiasm with Philly. He may not score as many goals as he used to, yet he wants to win as much as possible. Gretzky just can’t get it through the team’s head to stay out of the penalty box. When the ‘Yotes are at even strength, they’re pretty decent but they’re getting killed on special teams since they’re outmanned by one or two guys for almost 20 minutes a game. Oddly the penalties aren’t coming from Laraque and JR too. Again, the season is early. Dallas may be off to a strong start now with the Ducks and Sharks but it’s where everybody ends up by March that will matter.
I watched the final moments of the Buffalo winning streak end at 10, tying them with a record set by the Leafs in 1993-94. Tense to the end but at least the Sabres went down fighting with a loss in a shootout. Then Marty Brodeur is the number four goalie in shutouts with his back-to-back victories putting him over Jacques LaPlante. Seems the higher scoring isn’t really hindering his chance to beat the all-time shutout record set by Terry Sawchuk. Lastly, I went to my first Bats game of the season. With them playing closer to my ice at the local rink, I caught a Sunday afternoon match against the Laredo Bucks. I don’t agree with my friends who say the Bats stink. Sure they lost the game but it was still some skilled, quality hockey on the ice compared to what I’ve seen of the high schools and UT. It didn’t hurt that my ticket was free, a couple of nice ladies let me have one and it was behind the visitors’ goal. Pretty sweet since it was a $20 spot. As I said, Austin lost 5-3. The score is misleading since Laredo cinched it with an empty netter at the end and the Bats couldn’t hold on to their lead. Hopefully, I will be catching a rematch this Friday with friends.