In case you missed it, "Danny the Great... May Make You Forget Alex."Done laughing yet? I'll give you a minute.
I don't want to waste too much of my Saturday morning on this Sam Donnellon love letter to the diminutive Flyers pivot, so I'll just do a quick drive-by. Let's start at, well, the beginning:
For two periods last night, Danny Briere was rewriting the script to this Stanley Cup playoff series. Scratch out Alex Ovechkin. Insert Briere. The go-ahead goal. The back-breaking goal. Two even-strength goals by Briere's line within 33 seconds.For some reason, I just can't get past that "pal." What the hell is that? Is this guy trash-talking... someone? AO? Eh, whatever.
You want an explosive scorer? We have your explosive scorer right here, pal.
The article slogs on for a while, and Donnellon even mentions that Briere took a couple of penalties, one of them costly. But title (and conclusion) aside, how seriously can you take an article that claims that Briere "impacted the game on every shift" and complains that he was pushed around a bit?
In fairness, Briere had a good second period. He even ended up plus-two on the night - quite the turn-around from his regular season minus-22 rating (which was only 949th in the League).
But Alex Ovechkin had the primary assist on the game-tying goal, then scored the game-winner, and ended up dishing out a game-high eight hits along the way. No one's going to be forgetting him any time soon... pal.
UPDATE: I forgot to mention that you guys are all classless bandwagoners:
Let the record show that the Verizon Center fans - who discovered ice hockey about the time Ovechkin started putting up crazy numbers - cheered as Thoresen writhed in pain on the ice. No doubt the national media will be as harsh on the Washington fans as they would be if the same thing had happened in Philadelphia.Right. We were cheering the injury and not the opportunity that a downed penalty killer created.
What's next from this band of classy Philly journos? I've got ten bucks on some kind of cheap shot related to crime and/or drug use in D.C. (hell, maybe they'll kill two birds with one hackneyed stone and mention Marion Barry).
H/t to TANK1 on the first link.
21 comments:
Up until the third period, Danielle was the best player on the ice. No bout a doubt it. Woulda been nice if he had taken the puck in the nuts but we all know Danielle would never have sacrificed himself it such a way.
Yeah, but the point is who gives a toss what you do through forty minutes when a game is sixty minutes long?
Briere is good, but he's a bit overrated. I don't think he did anything super special last night, anyway. If I'm remembering which goals were his, he took a crappy shot that huet sloppily let by him (I thought huet had his worst period of hockey during the second, and it worried me greatly), and then he was in the right place at the right time for a tap-in with hartnell or some other bozo in the crease, making it impossible to stop, no matter how good your goalie may be. Bring back the crease rule, why do we have that blue spot on the ice if it means nothing?
There definitely should have been a 'but' in the first paragraph for sure.
Briere's layup should have been disallowed by Rule 69.3. I think it was Hartnell who was standing with both skates in the blue paint on that PP.
If an attacking player establishes a significant position within the
goal crease, so as to obstruct the goalkeeper’s vision and impair his
ability to defend his goal, and a goal is scored, the goal will be
disallowed.
For this purpose, a player “establishes a significant position within
the crease” when, in the Referee’s judgment, his body, or a
substantial portion thereof, is within the goal crease for more than an
instantaneous period of time.
I disagree with you Hotdog. Up until the third period, I thought Matt Bradley was the best player on the ice.
Anonymous, didn't that rule get thrown out?
Regardless, I won't complain about any of the goals scored last night, no matter how bogus they *may* have been. We overcame, because we were the better team.
I really like the symmetry of +/- this regular season: Alex Ovechkin was 7th from the top (+28), and Briere was 7th from the bottom (-22).
(click my name for stats)
At the risk of sounding logical, the effort of one player does not diminish the efforts of an opposing player. This is a journalistic ploy to develop story line that seems to have seeped into common usage. Crosby sucks, OV is good. OV is good Crosby sucks. Or Malkin. Briere played great hockey last night. Ovechkin played clutch, aggressive hockey. Guess which one is best suited for the playoffs?
Frankly there's no doubt that there are bandwagoners in D.C. It's all but inevitable with how many other options there are for entertainment and how many transplants there are. What bugs me is that I think D.C. is getting more flak for it that other places. Buffalo and Pittsburgh drew poorly when their teams weren't any good, St. Louis' attendance took a huge hit the last couple years because they've been in a trough and going into this year Washington had outdrawn Boston in 6 of the last 10 season. The Capitals might not have the large number of die hard fans that some teams do but I don't think the bandwagoning is as extensive as people make it out to be.
Nice dig by the Flyers' players. ottawa fans tried the same schtick with the Alfie hit. It's not like there wasn't almost a brawl that was being cheered on it was those classless fans.
I'm honestly not surprised that someone from philly is entirely clueless to hockey.
THEY'RE CHEERING A GUY BEING HURT WHILE A GOAL IS CURRENTLY BEING SCORED!!111
Yes, that's what everyone's cheering. Holy shit, get a clue.
Better yet, someone send him a clue.
How deliciously hypocritical is it for Philly, the city that cheered Michael Irvin's spinal cord injury, to be complaining about the fans cheering one of their players going down (and, BTW, it certainly didn't seem like that on TV). I thought the guy just got hurt blocking a shot as often happens, I didn't realize it was "down there" and so serious.
The refs made the right call not blowing that play dead, and if it had gone the other way, no Flyers fan would say otherwise.
On an unrelated note, I've never seen a player, much less a superstar sniper, dominate a game physically the way Ovechkin did last night. He was like Scott Stevens out there. All I can say is that the legend grew in my mind last night. The Caps, as a team, were much more physical no matter what the box score says. Ovie had better be ready for Philly trying to take him down with cheap shots and dirty hits in the coming games.
The league is filled with good 40 minute players. The guys who are great in the last 20 minutes are the ones who get into the Hall of Fame. The only way Breire will ever get into the HOF is if he buys a ticket.
Just wanted to share this quote with you all. It's from the ESPN wrapup page for the Caps' victory last night- quoting Vinny Prospal:
"We've been successful tonight... Too bad we didn't win the game"
I wish Vinny and his teammates continued success- in fact, I hope that they continue this success for three more games.
andy,
They sure were successful, for about 10 out of 60 minutes. If the Caps keep the area in front of the net clear, that game is a blowout. The Flyers certainly played well for stretches, particularly in the 2nd, but the Caps dominated the game for 10 minutes at a time at points.
Oh, and, earth to Philly journalist, it's not a back-breaking goal if the other team comes back and beats you. The Caps didn't look broken to me in the 3rd.
I'm a Pens fan (linked to you from The Pensblog).
That being said, I've got to give your team the respect they deserve after the game last night. AO's third period was a huge statement.
Also, I'm glad to see the stands filled with very enthusiastic fans, and the place going nuts all game long. Good for the NHL. Here's to hoping you embarrass the flyers in game 2 and beyond.
Great post and insight. Great comments as well! I'd love to have everyone's insight over at www.myhockeyforum.com
Look forward to chatting with you there!
Interesting but pointless factoid:
Donald Brashear and David Steckel have more goals than Malkin and Crosby combined in the playoffs right now, and having played one less game at that.
hey! I'm not your buddy, guy.
love the south park reference!
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