Penguins – Flyers III
posted by Mike Boone at 18h15 EST on May 13
I don't recommend it for delicate stomachs, but Journal de Montréal has a suck-butt story on Michel Therrien.
Here's a surprise: Pittsburgh assistant coaches André Savard and Gilles
Meloche think Therrien is great. For the record, I think my boss is a
genius, too (see above, re free lunch).
• • •
Braydon Coburn – cut for 50 stitches, but no structural damage to his
left eye – won't play tonight. The Flyers will dress defenceman Ryan
Parent.
In La Presse, Matthias Brunet has a good piece on the brilliant job Paul Holmgren has done in rebuilding the Flyers.
Get used to an idea that's hard to swallow: Philadelphia is going to be very good for a long time.
That said, Pittsburgh is smokin' them.
Hey, this is the first game at the Washovia Center since ... I don't want to talk about it.
• • •
Our Cup dreams dashed: Jonathan Ferland has decided to pursue his pro career in Austria.
• • •
The Bruins have signed Chuck Kobasew (who was injured and missed the Canadiens series) to a three-year contract extension.
Kobasew, 26, will earn $2 million next season, $2.5 million in 2009-10 and $2.5 million in 2010-11.
He scored 22 goals and 39 points in 73 games this season.
• • •
On Melnick's show today, Mitch and Pierre McGuire marvelled that anyone – i.e. Cherry and P.J. Stock – could find the Detroit Red Wings boring.
• • •
Apologies to those who tried in vain to access the site this afternoon.
It had to be taken down for an oil change.
Chris Aung-Thwin lives the highs and lows with the Habs everyday, and now he writes about his favourite team from a fan's point of view
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Bob wont sign a contract that long. I expect he will offer 5 years in the 20 million range, tops would be 25million.
The big question is whether anyone else ponies up an offer sheet. They are considered bad form among the gm crowd.
okay maybe i'm late but
kobasew, average 2.33 million in 3 years.
career highs: 22 goals 39 pts
erat, average 4.5 million in 7 years
career highs: 23 goals, 34 assists 57 points.
andrei kostitsyn, 26 goals, 27 assists, 53 pts
he's in line for at least 4 million a year, deservedly. I say sign him to a long 7 year deal for 4-5 million a year and lock up his younger brother to the exact same deal.
likehoy - I realize it's a reflection of increased revenues (under the new CBA) but when you look at some of the contracts you wonder if the world has gone mad. Blake, Kubina, Michalek, Samsonov, Legwand, Dumont, Fisher, and Hartnell are just a few that caught my eye. Some of these guys are young and teams don't want to lost them down the road to UFA but it certainly raises the bar for the other teams and players. Boyle in Tampa is a very good defenseman but $6.67 a year for 6 years is a huge commitment. Is that the new going rate for a top end, experienced defenseman? I shudder to think what we will have to give out to keep our good players over the next few years. Who really did win the lockout?!
The Original 24 CUps
yea it's very true that the salaries have been inflated greatly
if you were to compare how much andrei kostitsyn should make compared to koivu/kovalev(4.75/4.5 respectively), he shouldn't make a shade over 3 million...but cause he's RFA, we have to keep him long term, we have to entice him somehow...and the market value has players increasing their value each year.
This is the Flyers as they truly are. Completely dominated with no lucky streak for Biron with 3+ posts a game and no fluke goals coming from Umberger.
Agree.
Still - Biron had help from his posts yesterday as well.
How about that Crosby goal that was refused. I say it was a goal but it was tough to say...
Boone, take a look at the Flyers cap situation before you declare them a contender for a long time.
They are near the cap next season (49M - 53M) and have yet to resign, Umberger, Carter, Prospal, Smith and Jones and when they do free up cap in 2010 they have to deal with Lupul, Knuble, Upshall and Biron.
Briere has been invisible outside his Game 4 tap in winner for 9 games now and they owe him 6.5M per season for another 7 years. Lets see how everybody feels about that signing in 3-4 years.
Watching the Flyers play against the Habs, even though they won, it was somewhat predictable that something like this was in the offing. Nobody wanted to say it too loudly... but the Flyers didn't have much of a shot unless they elevated their game several notches.
The Flyers just weren't that good. Oh, they could score -- every imaginable way, off of every imaginable bounce and aided by a subpar Carey Price. But that was all they had. They were getting badly outplayed, and their defense just couldn't keep up. The Flyers just plain weren't the better team anywhere but on the scoreboard (and in the crease). The Habs' bizarre inability to convert an insane number of glorious scoring chances was the only reason the Flyers won the series at all, because everywhere else it was a slaughter -- the other way.
While the Habs couldn't buy a goal to save their life, there was no way this lack of opportunism by their opponents was going to last very long. Many pundits after Game 2 didn't think the Habs could possibly lose the series if they kept dominating the way they had in that game. They didn't, they actually did better... but lost anyway. Eventually, that was going to catch up to the Flyers -- unfortunately, it did after the Habs were out.
Predictably the Penguins are putting the puck in. And to be honest, from what I've seen of both series... I don't even think the Penguins are outplaying the Flyers as badly as the Habs did. That makes the whole thing so frustrating -- minus their sudden inability to score, I feel the Habs had a pretty good chance against the Penguins. But the Hockey Gods decided otherwise.
Couldn't agree more.
So now it is time for some poster to "tell it like it is", and tell us that the Habs didn't deserve to win...we were soft...we were inexperienced...yada yada yada...OK...Now....GO!
an inability to put the puck in the net over as many chances as the habs had reflects poorly on the habs.
The penguins "finish" the habs didnt. Blame Biron, blame Higgins, but the score says the habs didnt finish their chances.
Malkin, Crosby, Hossa, Malone....they put the puck in the net....
Well said.
"On Melnick's show today, Mitch and Pierre McGuire marvelled that anyone – i.e. Cherry and P.J. Stock – could find the Detroit Red Wings boring."
Thats odd. I've heard nothing but complaining about that snore fest from my fellows here in the West.
To me, its a little too lifeless and lacking in passion.
Of course only an idiot would argue with Mcguire......
Philly in 7?
Ex nihilo nihil fit
And Dallas in 7.
It's a lock.
Bet your alimony.
Grapes making excuses for the Cryers, pathetic.
You've heard of the "porn star moustache"?
Crosby has the kind of growth you see on female porn stars.
So you're saying he's completely shaved?
Iv seen German women with more hair than Crosby.
Peach fuzz and some eyeliner....still a baby.
Hahaha good one Boone!
Wow, both series have 3-0 leads so the final could be over before June maybe?
18 shots at home in the playoffs.
Not too impressive..
To be fair, though, losing Timonen and Coburn is like Markov and Komisarek out of the Canadiens lineup
Nice ending...No fluke goals by the Flyers this game.
Hahahaha Philly is done!
I wonder when the last time there were 2 sweeps in the semis?
So, who thought both conference finals would be lead 3-0 ... ?
Nice threads on Crosby père. Let me guess: there's a Moores in Cole Harbor.
Hey Mario, try to control your emotions.
This is absurdly hypothetical (and I've had a few pops) but I honestly don't think Pittsburgh would have swept the Canadiens. They wouldn't have won two at the Bell Centre to open the series.
Mike, we could have taken those guys. Damn, if our "franchise" kicker had turned in half the game Biron did, you'd still be getting 900-plus posts a night.