This Pens series has been flat out embarrassing. We can’t shift change for shit and look like a middle school hockey club, setting up odd man rushes so often that Fleurry is being peppered with machine gun like fire. Our power play unit has given up three shorthanded goals this series. How many did we give up the rest of the season? And that Asham hit was just cheap and awful, and he should be suspended for the rest of the series. You can kill someone with hits like that.
Just pathetic. The only way this series could be more painful is if Tebow scored a goal for the Flyers. Just wretched.
Kathy
Really? I thought the game was pretty good. It helped take the sting away from my little guy who’s lacrosse team got killed this afternoon.
proverbialleadballoon
asham should be suspended for the rest of the pens season. so, a one-game suspension.
James Hare
Now y’all know what it’s been like to be a Caps fan the past few years. I think the changing personnel has finally caught up to the team — they’re not sure of how to play because they are a different team with Crosby than without.
They’ll be back next year without the injury problems. Y’all still have some of the best young talent in the league.
Fred Shero Will Rise Again
You Can’t Beat us! clap-clap-clapclapclap
(Asham & Neal-headhunters)
JPL
Maybe Tebow likes Philly….nah, never mind.
arguingwithsignposts
What’s all this “we” shit? Have you taken a shift? Made a glove save? Checked someone into the boards? Then shut the fuck up and stop pretending you are the team.
Marcellus Shale, Public Dick
agreed, john about covered it all.
John Cole
@arguingwithsignposts: This is a joke post, right?
KG
@arguingwithsignposts: The “we” thing has always bothered me with professional sports. But I grew up in Southern California listening to Vin Scully and Chick Hearn (peace be upon them), who made a point of not being homers. As Scully once said “there’s too many transplants in LA for that kind of thing, too many fans of the other team listening to you.”
I give a little leeway when dealing with college sports because of the alumni factor.
Just saw the post game, um, “highlights”, and I can’t disagree with much of what Cole said. The Pens look sad
arguingwithsignposts
@John Cole: Insofar as it isn’t Pittsburgh Sports Talk Radio, yes.
Just Some Fuckhead
@John Cole:
Looks more like an asshole comment to me.
arguingwithsignposts
@Just Some Fuckhead: delphi speaks!
Desert Rat
Of course, the alternative is just to state that my Flyers are kicking the Penguins’ a**es.
Truthfully, this series was over when Pittsburgh blew game 2. They might have recovered from game 1, but game 2 was such a gutpunch for them I was expecting a sweep before game 3.
Fleury hasn’t helped you guys much, but frankly your defensive pairs have been horrid. Lazy passing, poor clearing attempts, terrible puckhandling coming out of the defensive zone, and no backchecking to speak of vs. Philadephia’s breakouts.
EriktheRed
You think THAT sucked, John? I’m a Cubs fan.
Need I say more?
the Conster (f/k/a Cat Lady)
If you want to feel better, watch the Canucks implode. They’re a bunch of soft diving floppers who would rather whine to the refs than fucking hit somebody. They’re worse than an Italian soccer team. They SUCK.
Rekster
Wonder what Tortorella would have to say about the Pens? Wish I could have heard Bylsma’s press conference. The Pens have completely shit the bed.
The officials lost control of this game early on and having Neal cross the ice in the 3rd period was completely stoopid.
HumboldtBlue
After heavy rain on 10 of the past 12 days (other two days brought light rain)we get a gorgeous weekend and here I come home to such welcome news. 16 goals in two games. It appears Lavi’s high-pressure-go-for-broke-offense found the perfect defense. Hell, even the Phillies scored 8 runs and me without a lottery ticket.
Ash Can
@EriktheRed: We may yet see the Blackhawks abracadabra their way past the Coyotes, though.
Amir Khalid
@KG:
It’s perfectly normal for sports fans to identify with their teams to the extent of using the plural first person pronoun when discussing their team’s fortunes. I do it myself with Liverpool FC. I hereby give John Cole permission to do the same with the Pittsburgh Steelers and, um, that ice hockey team he supports, and even the university sports teams of his choosing.
ditch digger
20 goals against in 3 playoff games, you just don’t ever see that. The fact the Pens are getting so destroyed is about the only thing right now keeping me from going for a long drive in the garage every time I think of my Canucks.
mainmati
@arguingwithsignposts: Growing up in Pittsburgh when there weren’t a lot of transplants from other areas (not counting university students), Pittsburgh was a very tight collection of communities – maybe still is; haven’t lived there in a while. But it was a great place to grow up and folks are very loyal to their sports teams. I’m still a fan of the Steelers and the Buccos. (Never was much into hockey; soccer was my game.)
Brian
Get some Jesus skates and lets find out if he can score. I’d bet he could.
You are right though. The Asham hit was felony assault anywhere but a hockey arena.
Brian
@Fred Shero Will Rise Again: I did enjoy that chant. Go Flyers. Not over til you get all 4 though.
DLew On Roids
How can a team with Sidney Crosby pull the shit that Asham did late in the 3rd? Someone is going to end #87’s career if that happens a few times.
Brian
@DLew On Roids: Asham’s hit was in the first.
Desert Rat
@DLew On Roids:
Crosby wasn’t much better, to be honest. Dude instigated three fights. A man who is about one concussion away from retirement ought to have more sense than that.
Argive
James Neal will have a target on his back for the rest of the series. He should have been ejected for that hit on Couturier. I’m worried about Giroux.
Rekster
@Argive: Don’t think Neal has to worry about any target on his back. Probably won’t get hit too hard sitting in the press box watching!
Uncle Cosmo
I watched the game & I was gobsmacked. Three misconducts by the 10-minute mark?? Jeebus H. Cripes. “Disdain,” indeedy-do.
It seemed to me that the Pens came out en fuego but after the shorthanded goal they lost all composure. Then again I don’t pretend to any deep knowledge of the game. John’s summation sounds fair & it would be classless to pile on.
Argive
@Rekster:
Hey, you never know. Some of the Flyers’ beat writers are just ruthless.
Rekster
@Argive: Too Funny! I’m a Dallas Stars season ticket holder and we are wishing we were having the excitement of playoff hockey here! Well, next year will be better!
Breezeblock
I hate both teams, and wanted this series to go to triple OT for 7 games.
Thanks for showing up Pee-burg.
Geeno
The phrase we Sabres fans used to use for Hasek back in the day – “the guy sees more rubber than the Thruway”
The prophet Nostradumbass
Shanahan needs to hand out some suspensions after that game, Asham in particular. I’m amazed that Carkner only got one game for what he did to that Rangers player.
burnspbesq
Just be glad you’re not a Spurs fan. That phantom goal by Chelsea is the single worst officiating decision I’ve seen in the last five years.
4jkb4ia
BAN FIGHTING!
/This was ridiculous. Almost every time I lifted my head to look at that game, there was another fight. This is not MMA here.
Jamey
@arguingwithsignposts: I’ll take a game misconduct for being the tenth man in, but you shouldn’t be here commenting if you haven’t the first fucking clue about professional sports.
Wrye
@ditch digger: Word.
cmorenc
That was a great fight card on teevee this afternoon, all but for the stretches when a hockey game broke out.
KB
It’s somewhat personal in our house – I’m from Philly and my wife grew up in Pittsburgh. I’m not crowing about it, but the Flyers did look pretty good last night, especially early in the game. There were a couple of times when I thought we had a power play because it just looked like the Pens were outmanned, but it was only the Flyers’ disciplined attack. That broke down a bit in the 2nd period, and then things got rather ugly, but it worked out okay in the end.
And how about the scoring in this series? Looks more like an American League baseball game, or, er, a national championship college football game….
Bob2
Crosbitch needs to shut his mouth if he’s gonna start fights and not fight in them.
Neal and Asham are pretty much gone for game 4.
Also, how do you try to concuss Flyers players when Crosby is made of glass?
They’re lucky the Flyers aren’t still molded in the shape of the Broad Street Bullies, or people may actually have gotten killed…not that Asham didn’t try to kill Schenn.
Frapalinger
Sidney Crosby is the most talented player in the league. The skills the man possess are head and shoulders above every other player out there. We were all glad to see him come back from a terrible injury that took a lot of grit to overcome. He has become an embarrassment to the game. The NHL, indebted to Super Mario for saving a small market franchise in an aging region and concerned for the health of marketing scheme, has given Crosby and the Penguins carte blanche to slash, cheap-shot, and dive without any consequences. Crosby has flaunted his untouchable status to everyone else in the league, as he and his team mates try to injury other players and cry to the officials when their opponents rudely return the favor.
In case anyone doubts the overt bias in refereeing during games, consider the fact that Brayden Schenn was penalized after Asham laid his cheap shot on him. Crosby clearly instigated 3 fights, and was not ejected. After the last fight, where James Neal head hunted Claude Giroux and Sean Couterier (receiving no penalty for either dirty hit), and Crosby (after refusing to fight Brayden Schenn) pulled Hartnell’s hair out of his jersey before attacking him from behind and double teaming him with another Penguin, the Penguins ended up with a power play!
Crosby is the problem. He has the skills of Mario Lemieux and the integrity of Claude Lemieux. Although he is unquestionably the more skilled player, Crosby is being completely outplayed by Claude Giroux.
The NHL needs to get its shit together. In the East, the participation of Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Washington give the league an opportunity to finally get some good ratings on TV. If they squander this chance to do well in major markets because they are going to let one team play by its own rules, they can expect all the financial success and increased interest in their sport that 3 New Jersey Devil’s championships brought them in the last 2 decades. If people want to watched a sport dominated by superstars who cannot foul and can only be fouled on teams that predestined to win the championship every year, they can watch the NBA. That audience is not the NHL’s audience, and if Gary Betman doesn’t realize that, he needs to go, fast.
Chinn Romney
I never realized how cheap Crosby is until yesterday. I just assumed it was sour grapes, but no, in fact he is a cheap-shot artist. He was demonstrating it left and right all game, but punching Giroux in the head, after Crosby had him on the ground? Rock bottom. Totally classless. Fight’s over at that point, you won. Except Crosby lost when he kept swinging.
Bob2
NHL and NFL = We care about concussions (but only to our star players)
Brendan Shanahan has his hands full today with penalties.
I was glad to see it was a stuffed penguin with a noose thrown onto the ice and not a monkey.
Btw, googling around, there’s a pub in the UK called
http://www.nooseandmonkey.com/
Jesus.
themann1086
I was watching at a friend’s house, and he was following the commentary on reddit and other sites; half the Pens fans and every other fan in the NHL thought that the Penguins were disgraceful. Actual quote: “The Pens made the Flyers look like gentlemen.”