Before you lecture me, I know that JR scored his third goal of the season last week. It happened while I was on vacation and I didn’t have Illustrator installed on my MacBook. Then there was all the post-vacation junk to tackle which put the site’s banner adjustment on the backburner until last night. Not bad though, if Roenick keeps scoring goals at his current pace, he should hit 500 by Thanksgiving and maybe beat Joe Mullen by Christmas. ESPN.com can then put that in Burnside’s pipe for him to smoke.
I haven’t been as vigilant over the NHL this season because we ended our Dish subscription in the Spring. When an a la carte system appears with them (or cable), then I will sign up ASAP since Somara and I only watched 30 channels at most. As for the Flyers, I pick up bits and pieces of their progress. I actually received a personal answer from Tim Pannachio of the Philly paper on why his company stopped doing their podcasts; layoffs and budgets issues sadly.
What I have caught of the Flyers is exciting despite their winning streak turning into a two-game losing skid in Florida. They’re an impressive team again but they continue to be plagued by the Lightning and Panthers when they should’ve finished at least 1-1 on the trip. The new players GM Holmgren acquired are proving to be worth every dime so far. I readily admit my skepticism on Briere’s effectiveness, mainly over his size compared to other successful forwards in the league. After researching more of his background on the Internet, it turns out he was a great player in Canada, he just never lived up to his potential with Phoenix—same goes for Gretzky as a head coach. Isn’t it always the case though, the one year I don’t buy the hockey package, my team is impressive again.
Outside of the Flyers, the Atlantic Division will be tougher this season. The Pens and Islanders are formidable plus I think the Rangers are only off to a slow start, they’ll be around to torment everyone at playoff time. The Devils’ time is over until next year. The remaining teams I’m going to be watching since they could knock the Flyers out of the Cup race will be the Senators, Hurricanes, Red Wings, Wild, Flames and Sharks. It is nice to see the Blackhawks out of the cellar yet Chicago fans have had their hearts broken many times by the team’s owners so I share their skepticism about any alleged “new era.” Next month will shore up with a better picture of where my Flyers stand versus the other 29 teams.
Finally, I was contemplating going to an Icebats game since they were at home last night. Instead, I was too tired. Work dragged on over the release of the new Apple OS, the cats hadn’t been fed and they started off on a losing skid since opening day; even my patience has limits with my home team. Then I found out they won 5-2 which is only a big deal for the free chicken from the nearby Wings n’ More but upon further reading, the ‘bats scored three of their five goals shorthanded! Looks like I will be checking out the next home game when the chance arises.