Late again, I know, what a disappointment to you non-hockey fans. It’ll be brief.
The Flyers continue to lose even to mediocre teams such as Washington and the NY Rangers, both one-line wonders. Losing to the Devils was no shock, they’re still the smart money for the Atlantic. This unimpressive team, mainly staffed by members of the Phantoms, contributed to Marty Brodeur’s climb to beating out Patrick Roy and Terry Sawchuck as the all-time goalie in victories and shutouts respectively. Not too many seasons ago, the Pens were in the same boat; an AHL-level team with Mario Lemieux as captain. Speaking of (Arm-)Pittsburgh, the Flyers suffered another humiliating defeat there along with Sydney “The Diver” Crosby scoring six points on them. Crosby is good, he’s just a whiney, little baby. A spoiled brat of a player. The other young, scoring forwards in the league are much more modest than this kid. He’ll never be a good captain just like another bratty Canadian named Eric Lindros. The spanking wasn’t a complete wash. Overpriced forward Kyle Calder finally scored a goal. Amazing. After 37 shots, he got one in putting his shooting percentage at two and only one percentage point higher than snakebit Mike Richards. The difference is that Calder costs almost three million bucks while Michal Handzus prospers in Chicago. I would’ve waived this guy by now. Speaking of waived, Petr Nedved has been ditched from the Flyers for good this time. He’ll probably finish out with the Phantoms. Nobody really wants this guy and based upon GM Holmgren’s quote, agism is now the order of the day as Philly will be too busy rebuilding for the remainder of this season. LeClair won’t be waiting by his phone for a call to return. Johnny Vermont did get released from the Pens too so I think we’ll be hearing a retirement announcement any day now. Smooth move with the new Pens’ owner who is still threatening to move if he doesn’t get his new arena. I say he should go for it, see how long they last in Hamilton, Ontario with his high-tech funny money.
I haven’t really kept up with the Coyotes lately. My stomach sank when I read about the latest tantrum thrown by JR. Gretzky didn’t let him play against the Canucks so he stormed out of the stadium. The EPSN article made it sound as if the two of them have patched it up yet I didn’t care to hear the R word being thrown around. Then again, Mike “Prima” Modano has pulled way ahead in the US race to beat Joe Mullen at 495 goals and maybe Phil Housley as he broke 1200 points. I think the acting bug bit JR a while back and his committment to hockey is waning as his scoring declined after Philly. They’re within three points of LA yet the climb up the Pacific ladder grows steeper.
In closing, I’m impressed with Hitchcock’s results involving those losers in Columbus. In their last 10 games they’re 6-3-1! Hitch may actually turn them around enough to humiliate St. Louis and Chicago this season. I think his team will definitely improve once Federov is ditched.