Down Goes Spezza

Caption Contest 17

2012-01-25T11:16:00.000-05:00

Simple...what's Timmy saying...

Rejected All Star Skills Competition Ideas

2012-01-24T16:44:00.000-05:00

Many people look forward to All Star weekend not just for the game itself, but also for the skills competition. What many people don't realize, is that due to time constraints several other events have been removed from the skills competition, luckily the DGS SuperSpies have found the list of events that were scrapped.

The Event: Bad Contract Roulette
How It Worked: A roulette wheel would be placed and each captain would try to stick his opponent with the contracts of terrible players like Ville Leino and Scott Gomez
Reason for Taking It Out: AHL players like Matt Walker and Wade Redden aren't allowed at the NHL All Star Game.

The Event: Dodge The Elbows
How It Worked: Players would skate around the ice dodging obstacles like Chris Pronger's left elbow and Matt Cooke's right forearm while attempting to handle the puck
Reason for Taking It Out: Matt Cooke seems to have cleaned up his act and Chris Pronger has gone the way of Marc Savard.

The Event: Diving Competition
How It Worked: All Stars would make like Summer Olympians and do a diving competition, complete with judges and everything
Reason for Taking It Out: Every single season, the Sedins would win.

The Event: Big Eats
How It Worked: A buffet would be laid out, and each team would see who could consume more food in the allotted team
Reason for Taking It Out: A small problem arose, Martin Brodeur is no longer an All Star goalie capable of challenging Tim Thomas.

The Event: ECHL Future Stars Game
How It Worked: A group of ECHL players would get to play giving hope to teams who employ Steve Mason and Brett Lebda that maybe some better players would arrive.
Reason for Taking It Out: Anchorage, Alaska; Elmira, New York; Trenton, NJ and Gwinnett Georgia are all considered better places to live than Columbus, Ohio.

Even though these events are gone, one still remains. During the actual All-Star Game we can watch players perform the 2 following events-

1: Play More Defense Than Mike Green

2: Loaf around the Neutral Zone more than Alex Kovalev

NHL Christmas Letters

2011-12-20T16:52:00.000-05:00

It's 5 days before Christmas, and it seems that the DGS Super Spies have found letters to Santa from hockey players all over the world....we're re-printing some for you here.

From: Paul Holmgren

Dear Santa,

Can you give me a calculator? Everyone tells me I need to learn something called math.

Paul

From: The Florida Panthers

Dear Santa,

Can you make the league take us seriously? We're like in first place and all...

The Florida Panthers

From: Caps GM George McPhee

Dear Santa,

I'm trying to get to the conference finals for a change, but I also want to Fail For Nail. Can you help me with that?

GMGM

Rick Nash and Jarome Iginla oddly wrote the same thing

Dear Santa,

Can I finally play for an NHL team? Please!

Rick/Jarome

From Steve Mason:

Dear Santa,

I want a pony, a chance to play in the AHL and my talent back.

Stevie

From Dwayne Roloson

Dear Santa,

Get Teemu to share his Fountain with me again.

Rolie

From Peter Laviolette

Dear Santa,

I'm calling timeout and taking 30 seconds to make sure this letter is delivered perfectly.

Now, I want a goalie. A real goalie. A goalie who gives me consistent .925 SV%'s. I got Bryzgalov this summer instead. So I need to make sure this happens. Also; can you take out the 35+ provision in the CBA, we need to remove Pronger somehow. Thank you again for your cooperation.

Pete

The Buffalo Sabres

Dear Santa,

Can you bring us Ville Leino? Not this scrub who claims to be Ville but is not very good at hockey.

Pegs

From Roberto Luongo,

Dear Santa,

Last year, I asked that the Canucks find a way to succeed in spite of my choking. I didn't actually mean for you to find Cory Schneider.

Lou.

From Lou Lamoriello

Dear Santa,

Bah, humbug. Get through my trap, then dodge my jelly. Then find me a way to sign Zach Parise.

Lou

From Tim Thomas

Dear Santa,

Donuts. Lots of them.

Timmy

NHL Conference Names

2011-12-06T13:20:00.001-05:00

With the NHL Realignment coming in, there are 4 conferences and 0 divisions. Now comes the hard part, naming them. Luckily we here at DGS have some ideas. Feel free to add in your own as well.

The Idea- Norris, Patrick, Campbell, Adams
Pros- These familiar names would show the NHL returning to tradition and these names would make sense to die hard fans.
Cons- This idea makes sense, therefore the NHL would never use it.

The Idea- Pacific, Central, Mid-Atlantic, East
Pros- These names would fit the geography of the league, making it easy for casual fans to know which conference their team plays in.
Cons- This also makes too much sense for Gary Bettman to consider it.

The Idea- Never on NBC (Coyotes), Rarely on NBC (Chicago), HNiC (Toronto), VERSUS NIGHTLY! (Flyers)
Pros- This would be perfectly accurate in describing how television deals would work.
Cons- Actually, Gary Bettman would use this, except that the names would be ruined by the impending relocation of Phoenix to the new Markham, Ontario arena.

The Idea- Orr (Toronto), Lemieux (New Jersey), Howe (Detroit), Gretzky (Coyotes)
Pros- There really aren't any...except if you look at Bobby Orr, Mario Lemieux, Gordie Howe and Wayne Gretzky of the Oilers instead of the following guys:
Cons- Naming a conference after a current ~~hockey player~~ goon (Colton Orr), a terrible coach (Gretzky), a Flyers Hall of Famer who played for the Red Wings (Mark Howe) and Claude Lemieux (Dirty NJ Devils forward) make no sense.

The Idea- Los Angeles Kings, Red Wings-Hawks, Colie Campbell's Kid, $$$$$
Pros- Accurately describes the most publicized parts of each conference
Cons- Do the $$$$$ refer to Ilya Kovalchuk, Ilya Bryzgalov, Glen Sather's contracts to Richards and Redden, Rick DiPietro or someone else?

NHL Announces the non suspension of John Carlson for headshotting Matt Cooke

2011-12-02T18:08:00.001-05:00

Well, luckily, the DGS SuperSpies actually caught the reason why Brendan Shanahan elected not to suspend Matt Cooke for the headshot he received from John Carlson the other night.

(Please Note: we are grateful there were no serious injuries on the play. Carlson's elbow should be good to go forever, and Cooke was only faking injury to draw a call)

An Open Letter To The Fans of DGS

2011-11-22T13:19:00.000-05:00

Dear Fans,

It's been one hell of a run over the last 18 or so months. I started this site in April 2010 with the intent of having a few laughs at the expense of a team that lucked their way into the playoffs and would be slaughtered in the first round. Then Brian Boucher beat the Devils.

Luckily, it seemed like Boston could do the deed, but no, Michael Leighton returned and Simon Gagne put game 7 to bed and we kept on going. The Habs just rolled over and the 2010 season ended with Michael Leighton's 5 hole giving me more material than I could possibly have dreamed.

That said, I picked up an audience, I got fans, so I kept writing, picked up two amazing cowriters along the way (PhillyGirl and ItsAFez- both of whom I am proud to call friends as well) and kept going and we had a lot of fun along the way.

That said, things have changed for me, Matt, the guy who runs this show. For one, if you haven't noticed, I've become an ECHL beat writer covering the Trenton Titans for TCL-Flyers. And second, I'm now in the real world with a real job. Writing posts on the blog in college while avoiding homework was easy, things are a little bit different now.

That being said, I don't intend to shut the site down and I will still post on occasion. The days of seeing 10-20 posts a month are probably gone though. My goal is one or two a week now. Don't worry, I'm sure we can still keep Leighton's goalie diary going, and Fez will surely continue to reference Doctor Who.

Also, to all the regular readers, thank you, it was you guys coming here and showing that I have some sort of drawing power that helped me get the confidence to jump into the ECHL Titans gig, without you, I couldn't make that jump, so please check out the creature you created, especially if you're a Flyers fan.

Matt

More NHL iPods

2011-11-13T14:04:00.000-05:00

Just over a year ago I did a piece of NHL iPods talking about players favorite songs. It seems like it's time to do it again, This time with music videos!

Scott Hartnell:

Top 3 songs:
-Falling Down by the Birthday Massacre

-Falling by Lacuna Coil

-Falling Again by Lacuna Coil

Terry Pegula: Owner of the Buffalo Sabres

This always seemed to play for him...

Blair Betts: Bad pun on a name alert...

Paul Ranger: Where'd you go?

A Certain Philadelphia Reporter who loves to make up stories and is horribly incompetent:

What song better than "Storytime", something that implies everything is fiction.

Rick DiPietro: The Islander because no matter what, he's always going to be an Islander.

Antti Niemi: Nemo...what's better than a song named after you?

Rick Nash: Over the Hills and Far Away, which is basically him wanting out of Columbus...

The Carolina Hurricanes: Stone People, aka the Hurricanes Defense

Sergei Gonchar: For the Heart I Once Had...because once I got to Ottawa, I stopped giving a sh!t

Sieve Mason: Better Days....he's had them

Ville Leino: Wish You Were Here...as in...he wishes he was still on a line with Scott Hartnell and Danny Briere to carry him...

Finally: Charles Wang, NYI owner....Gimme Shelter...as in a new Arena

Braydon Coburn Contract Facts

2011-11-10T20:31:00.000-05:00

Editor's Note: Relax, kids. This is comedy. Have a laugh this time, in the words of Ilya Bryzgalov, "why you heff ta be mad?"

Braydon Coburn just signed a 4 year contract extension worth $18 million yesterday. While many people have questionable doubts, the DGS superspies were able to calculate exactly how Coby plans on spending this money.

$12 Million will go to being a hockey player. A lot of people think $3M would have been fair for Coburn and so did he, hence, he's budgeted this money as his fair salary,

$5 Million will go to nose related expenses. When you're nose is as big as Coburn's you need to budget significant funds. In fact, here's 5 things Coburn's nose does...

1. In the event of a water landing, Coburn's nose can function as a flotation device.

2. Chris Pronger's hidden a stash of pucks inside of Coburn's nose

3. Should times become desperate, Braydon Coburn's nose may function as an emergency goaltender*

4. Braydon Coburn's nose has been screening Steve Mason since 2009, leading to Mason's very long slump.

5. The gravitational pull of Coburn's nose is so massive, it causes Scott Hartnell to fall down. A lot.

*-Coburn's nose as a goaltender has the equivalent talent of 1 Vesa Toskala.

$1 Million was budgeted as Prize Money for a fight that hadn't happened yet.

Easy Halloween Costumes for NHL Players

2011-10-30T22:28:00.004-04:00

Scott Hartnell: Bozo the Inflatable Clown (even bounces back!)

Danny Briere: Leprechaun

Claude Giroux: This guy, only GINGER (which would make him happy)

Ilya Bryzgalov: A bobblehead (He's already showing off

his costume!)

Daniel Sedin (Costume: the guy on the right) and Henrik Sedin (Costume: the guy on the left)

Zac Rinaldo: an insane guy

Wayne Simmonds: Train conductor

Kyle Wellwood, Timmy Thomas, Marty Brodeur group costume (now joined by Dustin Byfuglien): Plates at a buffet table

The Laviolette Line Lottery

2011-10-26T14:54:00.000-04:00

Well, it seems that Lavi is at it again, just pulling lines at random and inserting them on to the ice. The thing is, these lines aren't random, in fact, the lines come from a come from a long list of rules that must be adhered to. Luckily, the DGS SuperSpies obtained this list and we're gonna share it.

1. Due to the lack of centers, Couturier, Briere, Schenn, Giroux and Talbot are not allowed to be on a line together.

2. Scott Hartnell falls for linemates, he has to removed from a line after falling to prevent the center from possibly having relations with his wife.

3. Danny Briere will take a stick foul if left with the same linemates for more than 2 consecutive shifts.

4. Paul Holmgren believes that changing Couturier's line fast enough will actually slow down time allowing him to slide Couturier even though he plays in 82 games.

5. After a shift, when Matt Read says, "and I learned that at Bemidji" State," any forward within ear shot has to go to the lockerroom to look up how to spell Bemidji.

6. Sometimes players miss shifts on account of being dazed from Chris Pronger's left elbow.

7. Jake Voracek hasn't quite learned the system of "rely on your talented young center to get you the puck"

8. Due to the smaller ice surface of North America, while sitting on the bench, Jagr actually thinks he's playing the game.

9. Peter Laviolette rotates his forwards on account of not having goalies to rotate anymore.

10. Paul Holmgren accidentally called out line changes from the GM's office...needless to say, like his math skills, his memory of lines leaves much to be desired.

Caption Contest 16

2011-10-18T00:28:00.000-04:00

Been a long time since one of these came around...tell us why Carter Ashton looks confused and Sean Couturier (7) is hiding his mouth....

Not So Different, 2011-12 Flyers and 2009 Yankees

2011-10-17T19:54:00.000-04:00

Last week, I did the similarities between the Flyers and Maple Leafs, this week, I started noticing some parallels between the current Flyers and the New York Yankees of 2009.

In 2008, a long term core of Yankees disappointed many by flat out missing the playoffs.

In 2011, a long term core of Flyers disappointed many by going down without a fight in the playoffs (round 2)

After this meltdown, fans of both teams wanted the coach/manager to be fired. (I had posts on my facebook wall and tweets regarding Lavi, Yankees ALWAYS want to fire the manager when the team loses)

Both teams blew up several positions in the ensuing offseason that showed a change in team philosophy:

The Yankees: instead of signing big bats and offense, went out and grabbed 2 starting pitchers at insane contracts pushing their young pitchers (Hughes, Chamberlain) back in the rotation/to the bullpen.

The Flyers: traded some top offensive players (Carter and Richards) to free up cap space to sign a starting goaltender (Ilya Bryzgalov) to an insane contract pushing a young up and coming goalie (BOB) to the pine.

Both teams saw a star player who was formerly a top offensive player begin to take a back seat

The Yankees: Alex Rodriguez began to see less time at 3B and more time as a DH while Eric Hinske was acquired to come off the bench and take his place more and more

The Flyers: Scott Hartnell's ice time dropped in favor of the newly acquired Wayne Simmonds.

Both teams acquired a player via trade with a solid classy personality

The Yankees: Put Nick Swisher in RF

The Flyers: Put Wayne Simmonds on the 2nd line

Both teams found a solid rookie who would turn into something that was somewhat overhyped given his actual role.

The Yankees: Francisco Cervelli (Catcher) came up from AAA to his over .300 while filling in for an injured Jorge Posada. He eventually gave the reigns back to Posada but some of his solid hitting helped the 09 Yankees to the World Series.

The Flyers: Matt Read, an undrafted UFA out of Bemidji State University, came out of nowhere during camp to wow everyone with a lot of talent before earning a spot in the Top 9 on opening night. He's seen some top 6 minutes, but will probably see most time on the 3rd line moving forward.

Both teams parted ways with long term high profile players who may or may not have had drug problems and had frequent leg injuries

The Yankees: Jason Giambi, his drug of choice was steroids and HGH, though if you read his actual comments, he only apologized for being a distraction for issues in his personal life, never did he explicitly admit to drug use.

The Flyers: Parted ways with Dry Islanders Jeff Carter and Mike Richards who have been accused of everything from excessive drinking to using cocaine.

Giambi and Carter: Both are also known for knee/leg problems, Giambi battled knee problems during his last 3-4 years with the Yankees as well as a foot injury, Carter broke both feet and sprained his MCL in his last 2 years with the Flyers.

Both teams always operate over the Salary "cap" of their respective sport.

The Yankees: Pay a luxury tax

The Flyers: exploit LTIR loopholes.

Both Teams have rabid fanbases, New York and Philadelphia are tough cities to play in.

Both Teams have a GM who is essentially a life time member of the organization.

The Yankees: Brian Cashman started as an intern with the Yankees while he was in college. He stuck with the organization before becoming GM.

The Flyers: Paul Holmgren played for the Cup WInning bullies, he then became an Asst. GM and finally GM in 2006. (yes I know he coached in Hartford too)

Both teams have a player who has a narrative history of being clutch despite the fact that standard mathematical evidence proves a major flaw to their game.

The Yankees: Derek Jeter. Captain Clutch. Mr. November. Also good for ~150-170 strikeouts a season.

The Flyers: Danny Briere. Mr. Playoffs. Also good for 25-30 stupid stick fouls a season.

Both players have a controversial, injury prone superstar who's on the downturn of his career and has a contract with no end in sight.

The Yankees: Alex Rodriguez, 10 years, 275M signed in 2007. UGGH.

The Flyers: Chris Pronger, 4.921 Cap Hit until 2017...35+ clause attached.

Both Teams also have an unsung hero who went unappreciated for his hard work.

The Yankees: Brett Gardner, he doesn't put up power numbers, but his stolen bases and great defense helped the Yankees win.

The Flyers: Matt Carle, the best even strength defenseman in the NHL (his weakness is goal scoring and special teams)

Both teams are known for using UFA's and trades to build up rather than from within.

The Yankees: they buy talent. the sign the best available player all the time. even though the Yankees have a 1B, if the Yankees signed Albert Pujols no one would bat an eyelash.

The Flyers: They trade an insane amount of draft picks for other players (Meszaros, Timonen rights, Hartnell rights, Pronger, Bryzgalov's rights, all had picks in their trade). They sign FA's too: Lilja, Bryzgalov, Timonen, Hartnell, Simmonds, Voracek, Talbot, Matt Read, Blair Betts, Jody Shelley, Bobrovsky all signed as UFA or RFA.

But yet both teams have built superstars from within:

The Yankees: Cano, Jeter, Posada, Gardner, Hughes, Chamberlain, Rivera, Pettitte were all built from within the Yankees system and won in 2009

The Flyers: Giroux, JvR, Read (undrafted UFA puts him in both categories), Bartulis, Gus, Bob (undrafted UFA, see Read)

How about you, what do you think? Did I miss anything?

Tales From An Adirondack Nothing 2.0: Week 1

2011-10-11T10:32:00.000-04:00

Dear Glove -

Well, here we are again. Back in Glens Falls. For joy. I've already prepared myself to be stuck here the whole year - don't know where else I would go unless they trade me. And if someone wanted me, they could have had me for free on the waiver wire - so I don't think I'm going anywhere.

Saturday was opening night at home. I got the start - Bacashihua backed me up - and Backlund, well, he went to the "press box" - or wherever you go when you're not playing in an AHL game.

Anyway - back to opening night against the Connecticut Whale (sorry folks, no Sean Avery in sight). We wore retro jerseys - they were okay, I guess. Player introductions were nice - I was the last introduced, and got a thunderous applause - no really, I did. They love me. See the video at 30 seconds in.

Of course once the game started, maybe they didn't love me as much. Gave up a goal to Kris Newbury 37 seconds into the game (it was a bad deflection, I swear). He completed the hat trick soon into the second period.

But that was it - no more goals after that. I got it together - team scored goals - six of them in total! I wound up stopping 24 of 27 (okay, and the post stopped two late in the third - thank you post). Not horrible, but I can do better.

Monday the Phantoms hosted some golf thing - every one had to join in with fans. I think I played okay - this guy thought I was a great guy. Again, nice to be appreciated.

Next home game is Friday - we'll see if I get the start.

Until then.

Grateful Eyes and Appreciative Smiles,

Leights

ATTENTION EVERYONE!

2011-10-11T00:34:00.001-04:00

So,

It's DGS's birthday. The guy behind the madness.

Everyone wish him a happy birthday and make fun of him for being old!

The End.

(P.S.: Seriously though. Wish him happy birthday because he's awesome.)

Not So Different, Flyers and Leafs

2011-10-08T22:46:00.002-04:00

As many of you who follow me on twitter know, I have a huge soft spot for the Toronto Maple Leafs. It's confusing to some since the teams have such a huge rivalry on the ice, but honestly, it's not really hard to explain. The Flyers and Leafs are in fact, very similar. Let's have a look, shall we.

Both teams have a history of great goal tenders: Parent/Hextall in Philly, Belfour/CuJo/Potvin in Toronto. This was contrasted by terrible goaltending post lockout with some hot streak exceptions (Leighton/Boucher/Esche in Philly, Toskala/Raycroft in Toronto.)

Both teams have an insane drought since their last Cup win, 1975, 1967.

Both teams have demanding fans that throw things when displeased (waffles? batteries?)

Both teams hate the Habs and Bruins.

Both teams finally (hopefully) found their goaltender (Bryzgalov and Reimer)

Both teams are currently captained by big body D-men who are known for hard hits and big slapshots (Pronger and Phaneuf)

Both teams have to deal with a division rival who's won cups more recently than them (Boston/MTL for Toronto, Pittsburgh and NJ for Philly)

Both teams get to destroy a weak but once "great" team (NYI for PHL and OTT for TOR)

Both teams have an overpaid goon who occasionally scores. (Colton Orr and Jody Shelley)

Fans of both teams both hated a sniper for missing the net (Jeff Carter and Phil Kessel)

Both teams have very old school GMs who want physical teams (Homer and Burkie)

Both teams have NMC's driving them crazy (Muskoka 5 anyone?, what Pronger, Timonen and Briere will be in 2-3 years)

Both teams have exciting young defenseman (Gunnarson, Franson, Aulie in TOR, Carle, Gustafsson, Coburn in PHL)

Schenn and Kessel. Kessel and Schenn. Enough said.

Players with heart problems (Gustavsson in Toronto, Hartnell in Philadelphia)

GM's with close friends as coaches (John Stevens in PHL who got fired, Ron Wilson in TOR who almost got fired)

Each team picked up a hot goalie at the right time who gave their team a ton of hope moving forward (Michael Leighton in Dec 2009, James Reimer in Jan 2011)

Both teams traded multiple first round picks for an instant impact player (Pronger to PHL, Kessel to TOR)

Both teams employed a holey goalie (Leighton's 5-hole, Toskala's glove hand)

So, this is why, I always will be friends with fans of the Leafs. I know how they feel, because, Flyerdom, they are us.

Project Mayhem

2011-10-05T22:42:00.000-04:00

Our good friend Chemmy from Pension Plan Puppets came up with a great idea for the NHL All Star Game and we need your help.

Make the Ottawa Senators of old starters for the All Star Game.

Justin Bourne outlines the plan here: http://blogs.thescore.com/nhl/2011/10/05/project-mayhem-getting-the-right-players-into-the-all-star-game/

But here's my take on it

When you vote for forwards, you want to vote for-Dany Heatley, Marion Hossa, Martin Havlat

On Defence- Zdeno Chara and Chris Campoli

Goalie: Ray Emery.

Side note: Bonus points for getting Zdeno Chara in the Lamborghini,

We wanted to vote for Wade Redden, but like Rory Fitzpatrick a couple years ago, the NHL would probably quash that. At least this lineup has reasonable choices for an All Star Game.

Just do it. Make Ottawa suffer more than watching Chris Phillips clinch the Cup...for the Ducks in 07.

You're welcome.

A Handy Guide for the NBA fan to the NHL

2011-10-04T22:20:00.000-04:00

So it seems the NBA is threatening to cancel regular season games soon. With that, it seems that many NBA fans will soon be making their way to NHL games unsure of what to do. Luckily, we here at Down Goes Spezza would like to put into print (well, digital E-media) a guide to going to hockey games for NBA fans.

First a list of Do's/Do Nots

Do Not- Chant "De-Fence" when the opposing team has a powerplay to motivate your team's penalty killers
Instead-When your team has a power play, yell "SHOOT!!!!!" at whomever is holding the puck.

Do Not- Expect to see players "check in" at the scorer's table before entering on a change
Instead- Expect to see the Boston Bruins botch line changes and get called for Too Many Men penalties.

Do Not- Think that a puck in the mouth that breaks a jaw is a reason for a player to miss a game.
Instead- Expect to see that player return with a cage on.

Do Not- Expect a half hour press conference to detail one UFA signing.
Instead- Expect a half hour press conference every day telling you everything about Sidney Crosby

Do Not- Expect to hate a player like LeBron James for signing as a UFA with another team
Instead- Expect to hate Eklund for getting your hopes up that a player might sign with your team.

Do Not- Get used to seeing a team in Phoenix.
Instead- Create your own clever relocation rumor

Do Not- Buy your new favorite team's jersey and expect it to stay in date since during the shipping time, they will probably re-design it.
Instead- Just buy a throwback from the 90s.

Do Not- Expect to hear rap music at a game.
Instead- Expect to hear music that was cool in 2004.

Do Not- Assume that goaltending is illegal.
Instead- Assume that you'll see 30 goalies a game when watching a Flyers playoff game or NY Islanders season.

Do Not- Expect to see players ignore defense every night and have it treated as the norm.
Instead- Expect every single person to blast Dany Heatley and Phil Kessel for never venturing into the defensive zone.

Do Not- Wonder why players like Dustin Byfuglien, Martin Brodeur, Kyle Wellwood and Tim Thomas have jobs despite not looking like athletes.
Instead- Wonder why players like Wade Redden, Matt Walker and Mike Komisarek have jobs.

Also, if you're going to be attending an NHL game for the first, you may want to have "forecasts" of what to expect when you get to the arena. Luckily, we've put together a list of basic expectations for every NBA City that has an NHL team.

City-Toronto
NHL team- Maple Leafs
Basic Forecast- If you live in Toronto, you already know who the Maple Leafs are.

City- New York
NHL team- Rangers
Basic Forecast- In terms of big name free agency signings that don't deliver titles, Gaborik and Brad Richards are Chris Bosh and LeBron James...and Henrik Lundqvist is Dwayne Wade.

City- Minneapolis/St Paul
NHL team- Wild
Basic Forecast- By acquiring half the Sharks, the Wild now own many players with distinct choking abilities.

City- Miami
NHL team- The Florida Panthers
Basic Forecast- The Panthers went on a spending spree like the Heat a year ago. Unlike the Heat, the Panthers didn't actually sign good players.

City- Dallas
NHL team- Stars
Basic Forecast- Bankrupt, like the NBA will soon be.

City- Los Angeles
NHL team- Kings, Ducks.
Basic Forecast- Kings: Hipsters and Wil Wheaton make up the fan base. Ducks: No matter how hard you try, no one has George Parros's beard.

City- Bay Area, California
NHL team- Sharks
Basic Forecast- Like LeBron James, Joe Thornton tends to leave important games 12 minutes early.

City-Boston
NHL team- Bruins
Basic Forecast- Like single other team in Boston, the Bruins have won a recent title.

City- Washington DC
NHL team- Capitals
Basic Forecast- This actually might be the easiest city for an NBA fan to get into, as Capitals fans and Wizards fans all have roughly the same amount of hockey knowledge

City-Philadelphia
NHL team- Flyers
Basic Forecast- Muggy with a chance of batteries.

City- Atlanta
NHL team- Thrashers
Basic Forecast- Gone, faster than this NBA season

City- Newark, New Jersey
NHL team- Devils
Basic Forecast- Beware of traps and jars of jelly.

The DGS Flyers 2011-12 Roster

2011-10-03T14:59:00.000-04:00

With the preseason done and over with, and real hockey about to begin, we've seen (and studied) a lot here. If I (Matt, which means PhillyGirl and Fezzy may not agree) were building the Flyers roster, these are the decisions that I would be making. Here we go.

Forwards (with Cap Hits)

Line 1: Scott Hartnell (4.2M)-Danny Briere (6.5M)-Jakub Voracek (2.25M) =Total Cap 12.95

Line 2: Jaromir Jagr (3.3M)-Claude Giroux (3.75M)-Matt Read (0.900) =7.575

Line 3: JvR (1.654M)-Sean Couturier (1.375M)-Wayne Simmonds (1.75M) = 4.779

Line 4: Andreas Nodl (0.845)-Blair Betts (0.700)-Max Talbot (1.75M) =3.295

Scratch: Ben Holmstrom (.750)

Total Caphit: 29.349

Explanation: Couturier is obviously going to slide in 9 games in favor of Brayden Schenn and a couple other moves. Holmstrom is more versatile and Talbot, Simmonds and Hartnell can handle fisticuffs. If JVR's injury keeps him out, put him on IR, use Rinaldo (UGGHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!) instead. Matt Read and Andreas Nodl are both versatile enough that, if injuries happen, they can slide up and down the lineup and provide scoring as needed. I put read with Giroux and Jagr because they worked the puck so well in the preseason, let JvR and Couturier work the puck on the third line and the Flyers have 3 scoring lines that can expose defenses. Also Schenn will eventually fit in, (waive Shelley, Couturier back to the Q, dip into some LTIR, have roughly ~700K for injury callups)

Defense:

Pair 1: Pronger (4.921M 35+) Carle (3.4375M) =Total Cap (8.3585)

Pair 2: Timonen (6.33M) Coburn (3.2) =(9.53)

Pair 3: Meszaros (4.0M) Kessell (.925) =(4.925)

Scratch: Bartulis (.600)

Defense Total: 23.4135

Defense is self explanatory except for Kessel. For one, Lilja doesn't need to on the NHL roster this season thanks for Travis Hughes/Geoff Detweiler from Broad St Hockey who found this:

Yesterday, I was double-checking to see how much the Flyers would receive in cap relief upon sending a 35-plus contract to the minors. Section 50.2(c)(iv) is the relevant section, discussing what counts against the salary cap:

All Player Salary and Bonuses earned in a League Year by a Player who isin the second or later year of a multi-year SPC which was signed when the Player was age 35 or older (as of June 30 prior to the League Year in which the SPC is to be effective), regardless of whether, or where, the Player is playing, except to the extent the Player is playing under his SPC in the minor leagues, in which case only the Player Salary and Bonuses in excess of $100,000 shall count towards the calculation of Actual Club Salary; plus

That "in the second or later year of a multi-year SPC" is a rather obvious qualifier that I don't know how I missed. Or how nobody corrected me. -Geoff Detweiler

Well, Geoff is right, and with that, I'd send Lilja down in favor of Blake Kessel. Two reasons for this, for one, Kessel's right handed shot is something the Flyers need on the PP (and Matt Walker has almost 0 offensive talent)and second, Kessel CAN play some forward if need be so having him on the roster provides insurance for injuries at 2 positions. In 08-09 the Flyers used Lasse Kukkonen this way, and Kessel is much better, especially offensively, than Kukkonen.

Goalies

Bryzgalov: (5.666667)
Bobrovsky: (1.75)

No explanation needed, these guys are arguably the best tandem of goaltending (with Lundqvist/Biron in NY, Quick/Bernier in LA, Thomas/Rask in BOS, LOLongo/Schneider in VAN, Rinne/Lindback in NSH as other candidates) in the NHL. Only question is whether or not the scoring holds up in front of them and whether the Flyers older D-men stay healthy.

Goalie Total: 7.416667

Team Total: 60.179167+1.167 for Ian Laperriere+1.4025 Bonus Overage

62.748667 TOTAL CAP
1.551333 CAP SPACE (Without LTIR and waiving Shelley, or with LTIR it's very close to actual capspace)
0.451333 (With Shelley Suspension and without LTIR)

There you go, my roster. Thoughts?

The DGS 2011-12 Season Preview: What you need to know about all 30 Teams, Eastern Conference Edition

2011-10-01T00:51:00.001-04:00

Atlantic Division

New Jersey Devils:
Key Strength: Ilya Kovalchuk will be a Devil for "14" more years giving the Devils stability in the "overpaid enigmatic Russian" department.
Key Weakness: Due to age requirements, their goaltenders will soon become Detroit Red Wings.
What If...: Pete DeBoer was just John MacLean 2.0?

New York Rangers:
Key Strength: Waiver rules mean that overpaid contracts can be buried in the minors away from the salary cap.
Key Weakness: The Rangers lack something known as talent.
What If...: Glen Sather was remotely competent?

New York Islanders:
Key Strength: Don't have to worry about debating tough issues as "how to stand up to goons like Trevor Gillies" as Trevor Gillies plays for their team.
Key Weakness: Team is completely distracted by the odds on "what does Rick DiPietro break this year".
What If...: The Islanders had a home that didn't smell moldy?

Pittsburgh Penguins:
Key Strength: Sidney Crosby will at some point, hold another press conference to tell us absolutely nothing of value.
Key Weakness: Matt Cooke's inevitable hearing with Brendan Shanahan.
What If...: Matt Cooke breaks Chris Simon's record on suspensions?

Philadelphia Flyers:
Key Strength: Roster battles need no longer be fought in camp thanks the Brendan Shanahan's active usage of his ShanHammer.
Key Weakness: Team is confused by the fact that the same guy is always in goal.
What If...: Jaromir Jagr's mullet didn't age a bit?

Northeast Division

Ottawa Senators:
Key Strength: In the most technical sense of the word, the Ottawa Senators are an NHL team.
Key Weakness: In the most literal sense of the word, the Ottawa Senators are an ECHL team.
What If...: the Senators go a year without changing coaches?

Montreal Canadiens:

Key Strength: PK Subban's apt initials for Penalty Kill will make for great pun based jokes from hockey comedians.
Key Weakness: Reaching the overhead bin's on team flights.
What If...: Chris Campoli turns over another puck in a game 7? Would the city of Montreal survive?

Toronto Maple Leafs:
Key Strength: Finally acquired NHL caliber centers.
Key Weakness: Still lack NHL quality depth.
What If...: Brian Burke robs the Flames again, does Calgary finally call the cops?

Boston Bruins:
Key Strength: Are in fact staring down at the rest of the NHL due to Zdeno Chara being so tall
Key Weakness: Donuts, cheeseburgers, Tim Thomas remembering he's 40.
What If...: Tuukka Rask somehow becomes worse than Andrew Raycroft and Phil Kessel is better than Tyler Seguin?

Buffalo Sabres:
Key Strength: Pegula's $$$$.
Key Weakness: No matter how much Pegula spends, you're still playing in Buffalo.
What If...: Ryan Miller actually claims the Flyers committed genocide by knocking the Sabres out of the playoffs?

Southeast Division

Winnipeg Jets:
Key Strength: An ability to win any eating contest vs NHL team
Key Weakness: Inability to be good at something called hockey, the thing these people are paid to do.
What If...: People actually realized that despite the new uniform and change of venue, these are STILL the Atlanta Thrashers?

Washington Capitals:
Key Strength: Alex Ovechkin should score more than 28 goals this season.
Key Weakness: Mike Green is still listed as a defenseman.
What If...: Brooks Laich's tire changing skills actually keep the Capitals from going flat in the playoffs?

Tampa Bay Lightning:
Key Strength: Dwayne Roloson still plays like someone half his age.
Key Weakness: Which unfortunately is still really really really really old.
What If...: Steve Yzerman runs out of Jedi Mind tricks and trades Stamkos for Walker?

Florida Panthers:
Key Strength: Made many great depth signings like Scottie Upshall and depth trades for Kris Versteeg and Brian Campbell
Key Weakness: A lack of something called "a top line"
What If...: the yarmulkes actually get delivered?

Carolina Hurricanes:
Key Strength: Signed backup goalie specialist Brian Boucher in yet another attempt of acquiring former Flyers like Brind'Amour and Michael Leighton.
Key Weakness: Teammates don't understand Jeff Skinner due to the fact he never completes his sentences.
What If...: the Hurricanes become the first southern team to actually win more than 1 Cup?

The DGS 2011-12 Season Preview: What you need to know about all 30 Teams, Western Conference Edition

2011-09-30T00:00:00.000-04:00

So you've all wanted it. Now you're gonna get it. DGS has his "Internet Famous" NHL Previews. We're gonna look at the Western Conference first, and soon, the Eastern conference. After that, I'll continue with my look at the eastern conference.

Central Division

Chicago Blackhawks:
Key Strength: Acquired Ray Emery (on a PTO) and Dan Carcillo which decidedly boosts the Hawks advantage on "players who lost in the Cup Finals" category
Key Weakness: By loaning Cristobal Huet back to Europe, the Hawks lack "goalies who are overpaid and terrible"
What If...: Patrick Sharp is unable to play appendix free hockey?

Detroit Red Wings:

Key Strength: The ability to save money by ordering all team meals off the Senior's menu at every restaurant.
Key Weakness: It's getting harder to keep Lidstrom Bot 5000 running at peak efficiency all the time.
What If...: Todd Bertuzzi wasn't a spineless scumbag? Would people then actually notice Abdelkader, Smith and others were just as dirty?

St. Louis Blues:

Key Strength: Jaroslav Halak has been known to be kind of good at playing goalie in the playoffs.
Key Weakness: The ability to make the playoffs.
What If...: the Blues didn't trade for a bunch of Colorado Avalanche players?

Nashville Predators:

Key Strength: Shea Weber's beard and slapshot.
Key Weakness: After Pekka Rinne and Anders Lindback, the Predators have a lack of Scandinavian giant goaltenders in their system.
What If...: David Poile didn't buy out Brett Lebda?

Columbus Blue Jackets:

Key Strength: Between Rick Nash and Jeff Carter, the Jackets have the capability to unleash up to 500 attempted shots per game.
Key Weakness: Due to Jeff Carter always going high and wide, only about 10 of these shots will actually hit the net.
What If...: James Wisniewski gets suspended for telling the world what Jeff Carter gets from women?

Northwest Division

Colorado Avalanche:
Key Strength: The fact that Avalanche fans won't have to debate over who to take first overall in 2012 due to not having a pick
Key Weakness: The Brian Burke technique of dealing lottery picks for RFA's didn't win a Cup for Burke's team.
What If...: the Avalanche find a way to do something other than be a doormat?

Minnesota ~~Sharks~~ Wild:

Key Strength: Acquired a team that's guaranteed to bring offensive punch and make the playoffs.
Key Weakness: Mikko Koivu has yet to show that he has Joe Thornton's "distinct choking" ability in the playoffs.
What If...: Nick Backstrom could score like the other Nick Backstrom?

Calgary Flames:

Key Strength: Have a team with more chemistry than any other team due to this group having been together since 2007
Key Weakness: The Maple Leafs never played the playoffs either.
What If...: the Flames weren't Sutter'd?

Edmonton Oilers:

Key Strength: Picking 1st overall 3 years in a row isn't illegal
Key Weakness: It's still Edmonton.
What If...: Khabi decides jail is better than playing in Edmonton?

Vancouver Canucks:

Key Strength: Have a very capable starting goaltender ready to lead the Canucks to yet another loss in the Stanley Cup Finals.
Key Weakness: Cory Schneider is still stuck behind Roberto LOLongo.
What If...: the Sedins just decided to switch jerseys for the laughs?

Pacific Division

Phoenix Coyotes:
Key Strength: By having a goalie tandem of Mike Smith and Jason LaBarbera, the Coyotes won't have to worry about answering the question of "how long can our number 1 goalie play?"
Key Weakness: Kyle Turris's attempt to relocate before the Coyotes has many of hiss teammates confused.
What If...: the Coyotes had a permanent home?

San Jose ~~Wild~~ Sharks:

Key Strength: Acquired a team that's guaranteed to bring something and miss the playoffs.
Key Weakness: Mikko Koivu has yet to show that he has Joe Thornton's "distinct choking" ability in the playoffs.
What If...: Nick Backstrom could score like the other Nick Backstrom?

Dallas Stars:

Key Strength: No longer have to deal with Brad Richards contract drama
Key Weakness: Are still Dallas's best hope of fielding a playoff team in any sport not named baseball.
What If...: Mark Cuban bought the Stars?

Los Angeles Kings:

Key Strength: Acquired a ton of Flyers players who are familiar with Terry Murray and John Stevens as coaches?
Key Weakness: The only thing Michael Richards won while John Stevens coached was a Calder Cup.
What If...: $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$, Drew Doughty?

Anaheim Ducks:

Key Strength: Have a very strong top line followed by an ageless Finnish God on the second line.
Key Weakness: The U2 Album in goal.
What If...: the Ducks actually kept Vesa Toskala?

Tales from a Waiver Wire Nothing

2011-09-29T12:28:00.004-04:00

Dear Glove -

Well, here we are again, back on the waiver wire. It's not really a surprise - this is where we expected to be - and there was nothing we could do. Such is life. I think we played well the one chance we got, but it wasn't going to make a difference. Just wasn't in the cards for us. So now we sit and wait. Wait to see what happens.

Part of me hopes we get claimed - San Jose and Florida could both use a rent-a-goalie. But that means that once the rent-a-goalie time is up, we'd probably be back on the waiver wire. I'm not really sure I'd like a repeat of 2006-2007. Then again - you never know - I could play my way onto one of those teams like Manny Legace did to me in 2009. Hmmmm.

Option number 2 - get sent to Adirondack and try to be king of the AHL again. Of course there's a logjam of goalies down there, too. Backlund and Bacashihua. Who knows what the plan is down there. The team looks better, so that's a plus. I could rack up my shutouts and claim the all-time shutout record in the AHL. I might even make the All Star team. Feel like I'm needed. That would be nice.

Option number 3 - I get loaned to Europe. Not sure how I feel about that. Was ready to do that in 2009 when the Flyers claimed me. We all know how that turned out. Pretty darn well all things considered. So maybe I can hope for that - just fall into some random luck again.

Whatever happens, I'm still getting paid - and paid well. That's a good thing. Don't know where my next contract might come from - if at all.

So for now - I guess the waiting is the hardest part.

Tick Tock Tick Tock,

Leights

Grading a GM Part 2: 2007-08

2011-09-28T21:15:00.000-04:00

So, last time, I finished up 06-07's disaster season and gave Paul Holmgren a grade of B+ for this work of re-tooling a team Bobby Clarke left him. Now we start the 07-08 campaign. This will begin with Draft Day 2007, then move on to UFA signings followed by a look at the 07-08 regular season and playoff run. Finally concluding with my final grade of Holmgren. Later this week, I'll pick up with 08-09 in the same format.

So, to begin, Holmgren's draft selections during the 2007 NHL Entry Draft.

Philadelphia's picks at the 2007 NHL Entry Draft in Columbus, Ohio.^[3]

Rnd	#	Player	Position	Nationality	Drafted from
1	2	James van Riemsdyk	Left Wing	United States	US National Team Development Program (NAHL)
2	41	Kevin Marshall	Defenseman	Canada	Lewiston Maineiacs (QMJHL)
3	66	Garrett Klotz	Left Wing	Canada	Saskatoon Blades (WHL)
5	122	Mario Kempe	Right Wing	Sweden	St. John's Fog Devils (QMJHL)
6	152	Jon Kalinski	Left Wing	Canada	Bonnyville Pontiacs (AJHL)
6	161	Patrick Maroon	Left Wing	United States	London Knights (OHL)
7	182	Brad Phillips	Goaltender	United States	US National Team Development Program (NAHL)

Now to start grading.

Round 1, Pick 2nd overall: James van Riemsdyk. While Central Scouting ranked Kyle Turris as the number 1 skater.

Skaters

	North American	European
1	Kyle Turris (Centre)	Alexei Cherepanov (Right Wing)
2	Patrick Kane (Right Wing)	Mikael Backlund (Centre)
3	James van Riemsdyk (Left Wing)	Lars Eller (C/W)
4	Thomas Hickey (Defence)	Maksim Mayorov (Right Wing)

JvR was actually a better pick than Turris or Cherepanov (who would tragically die in 2008). Picking JvR was based on a future Flyers need, a LW. The Flyrers had 3 centers in, Jeff Carter, Mike Richards and RJ Umberger and had Claude Giroux waiting in the pipeline as a Center/RW and Steve Downie as a RW as well. JvR, a LW, made the most sense. In this sense, drafting JvR was a great move and gets a FINAL GRADE: A.

Round 2, Overall 41: Flyers take Kevin Marshall. Bad move. Kevin Marshall was a Left Shooting Defenseman and the Flyers had a ton of left shooting defenseman in 2007. There was right shooting offensive defenseman waiting to be picked at around the same time named PK Subban. Comparing their stats from Junior. PK had the offensive advantage over Marshall and PK Subban was a right shot, something the Flyers could have used on the blueline every year since Eric Desjardins retired. This blunder was fairly obvious, even before Subban became a controversial star defender for the Habs while Marshall flounders around the AHL. Final Grade: D

Round 3, Overall 66: Garret Klotz: Only Holmgren would draft a goon with LESS OFFENSIVE potential than Zac Rinaldo. Only Holmgren. Final Grade: F

Round 5, Overall 122: Mario Kempe: QMJHL wing with some offensive potential. Had a lot of speed and a decent scoring touch. Sadly this never translated to AHL success and he bolted back to Europe in 2008. Based on Q production, it was a solid pick at this level, sure it didn't work out, but not every late round pick is Lundqvist or Byfuglien or Enstrom or a Red Wing. Final Grade B.

Round 6, Overall 152: Jon Kalinski, Kalinski was picked out of college. He made his NHL Debut in 2008/09 campaign. He played decently on the 4th line before a leg injury turned into compartment syndrome and nearly ended his career and his life. That being said, Kalinski showed some NHL potential during his limited duty that season (12GP 1G 2A) which, multiplied out to 82 games is ~7G 14A 21pts. For a 4th line guy, that's pretty good. It's a good find for this late in the draft so Kalinsky get's a FINAL GRADE: A-

Round 6, Overall 161: Pat Maroon: Maroon showed a lack of discipline and an attitude in the Flyers system prompting him to eventually be traded. That's not Holmgren's fault so Maroon get's a FINAL GRADE: B.

Round 7 Overall 182: Brad Phillips. 7th round pick who bounces around the system. Nothing good, nothing bad. FINAL GRADE: B.

Final 2007 Draft Grade: C, Holmgren found a decent mid round talent in Kalinski who had a lot potential before getting hurt. A good late round talent in Maroon before drama pushed him out. Sadly however, picking Marshall over Subban pulls his grade down.

I am guessing, that with the roster Holmgren had in place after this draft, he was looking to hopefully have a team of forwards that looked like this in the future:

JvR-Carter-Giroux
Gagne-Richards-Downie
LW-Umberger-Upshall
4th line...

In a perfect world, JvR would power the net knocking in rebounds of Carter's wrister's and Giroux's passes, Gagne-Richards would provide solid 2 way play with Downie would agitate and distract while those 2 scored. Umberger and Upshall could provide depth scoring with a LW who could play a solid shut down game. Alas, this did not happen, but the plan is solid.

Now, we move onto free agency.

UFA: Danny Briere: 8 years, 6.5 Cap Hit, FULL NMC

Re-signed (Years/Cap hit)
May 11, 2007	Scottie Upshall	—	2 years, 1.225M
May 14, 2007	Ben Eager	—	2 years, 600K
May 17, 2007	Lasse Kukkonen	—	2 years, 875K
June 8, 2007	Riley Cote	—	1 year 500k
June 8, 2007	Lars Jonsson	—	1 year, AHL
June 14, 2007	Antero Niittymaki	—	2 years, $1.225

Danny Briere: Terrible, terrible, terrible contract. Briere had come off a 95pt season with Buffalo (his only point per game or better season with 70 games played) and got paid like a player who does that sort of thing consistently. Briere's frequent stick fouls take away from his value as a scorer and his defensive lapses make his goals less valuable in that he allows goals which nullify the net gain on his scoring. For the 07-08 Season, Pavel Datsyuk signed a similar contract with Detroit (7 years, 6.7 cap hit). Datsyuk is a consistent 70 pt scorer AND a constant Selke pick making him FAR more valuable than Briere's 200K discount. Granted, Scott Gomez and Chris Drury got cap hits over 7 from Glen Sather, but Datsyuk blows all 3 of this contracts out of the water in terms usefulness to his team. Briere's playoff "heroics" redeem him somewhat, so I can't fail this contract, but a FINAL GRADE: C- seems fitting. (But only because Gomez would get a D and Drury and D+ for their comparable disasters)

Scott Hartnell: Also another reactionary overpayment from Paul Holmgren, comparables to Hartnell include Milan Lucic (4.1), Johan Franzen (3.9), Ryane Clowe (3.6), Mike Knuble (2.8 in the same season). Tossing out Knuble, Hartnell isn't grossly overpaid like Briere, but still slightly overpaid especially since he got a NTC to protect him. I love Hartnell, but his falls don't (usually) help his team win. Lucic and Clowe, like Hartnell will drop the gloves on occasion and both are 45-55 point players like Hartnell. This sets the market for Hartnell at 3.6-4.1, and it should be lower since this was 2007 and Hartnell and Lucic got their current contracts far more recently (adjust for inflation of cap). Hartnell, like Briere is overpayment on a reaction, had he played like he did in 08-09 (30G/30A) and his 2010 playoff run every season, we'd be cheering this as a steal, it's not. Final Grade: B-

Kimmo Timonen: Third reactionary overpayment. Timonen got 6.3. He's never scored 10+ goals for the Flyers, never had 50 points, is solid defensively. Not worth it, maybe worth 5.5 at most. His point totals have declined every single season, and even with the help of Chris Pronger in 2010, couldn't QB a successful PP one bit. Thing is, with 5 straight season of 10 goals leading up to this, Timonen had all the potential, he's just never lived up this contract. That's not Holmgren's fault entirely. FINAL GRADE: B+

Well, these 3 contracts are a prime example of quick fix gone wrong, sure they got the Flyers to the conference finals in 08 and finals in 2010, but now, all 3 are going to provide cap hell (especially Briere) until they come off the books. In Kimmo's case, Holmgren should have known Timonen would start trending downward, he was 32 at the time he signed this contract. Hartnell was at least trending up, and maybe could be a consistent 50 point player. Briere on the other hand, was paid after being a one hit wonder in a contract year. He regressed to his mean in his tenure with the Flyers so far. At least Briere is helped by the disasters known as Scott Gomez and Chris Drury.

Scottie Upshall: Not a bad deal, Upshall was a 1st round pick and had upside talent as a ball of energy player who could score a bit. It never really panned out for Upshall in Philly, and he'd become a cap casualty in 2009 for Dan Carcillo. But honestly, he wasn't paid big money and he didn't disappoint in terms of points per dollar. Final Grade: B

Ben Eager: A goon, he had some playing ability. Was paid goon money too. Eventually traded. Final Grade: B

Antero Niittymaki: Nitty. Solid backup goalie to Marty Biron. As a starter though, was kind of weak. But again, he was paid as a backup and played well as a backup. Final Grade: B

Martin Biron: Underrated starting goalie. The guy doesn't get a fair shake because in Buffalo, he was stuck between Hasek and Miller and Philly has had an alleged "goaltending problem" since 1987. (it's not true, folks, Biron, Cechmanek and Bobrovsky were all very solid). Biron's 07/08 campaign was great, a bit weaker in 08/09 but keep in mind he was paid 3.5M. He wasn't getting a major salary like Bryzgalov or Lundqvist or Thomas or Broderur or Luongo or Huet or Khabibulin. Because of that, Biron earned his keep as a starter, signing him, like his trade, gets Holmgren a Final Grade: A

Cote: Goon, league minimum. Final Grade: C

Jonsson: AHL contract, Grade N/A

Tryouts that became contracts

Jim Dowd, Jesse Boulerice, Rory Fitzpatrick:

Dowd was a solid 4th line center while Boulerice would be suspended and spend a ton of time on the Phantoms and Fitzpatrick would also end up back in the AHL. Final Grade: B for Dowd, C for the other two.

Trades (Preseason)

June 4, 2007	To Philadelphia Flyers future considerations	To Nashville Predators Matt Ellison
June 18, 2007	To Philadelphia Flyers Scott Hartnell Kimmo Timonen	To Nashville Predators Nashville's 1st-round pick in 2007
June 23, 2007	To Philadelphia Flyers 2nd-round pick in 2007	To Washington Capitals 2nd-round pick in 2008 Nashville's 3rd-round pick in 2007
July 1, 2007	To Philadelphia Flyers Joffrey Lupul Jason Smith	To Edmonton Oilers Joni Pitkanen Geoff Sanderson 3rd-round pick in 2009

Quite a bit happening, no surprise since the previous team was terrible.

Ellision: Oh man how this trade turned golden for the Hawks.... #BlameWhyno. Also, N/A for a grade

Timonen and Hartnell for NSH's pick and the picks to the Caps that became Kevin Marshall, see the respective parts of this article on Timonen, Marshall and Hartnell.

Lupul and Smith for Sanderson, Pitkanen (I swear I typed Pronger and caught the typo) and a pick:

Lupul would be great for Philly his first (injury shortened) season. He had ~45 pts in ~55 games and scored an OT goal in game 7 vs the Capitals. He'd be gone after being part of the Jeff Carter Party Crew when he'd be traded for Pronger after signing an extension. (We're covering the extension later.) Smith would be a good shutdown defenseman, but his age would show and he'd be weakened for the playoffs, as Captain though, he was good. Pitkanen is Pitkanen and Sanderson was sent to the closest NHL team to his home in the Northwest Territories. Overall, this trade gets a B+.

So, looking at the Roster, the Flyers opening night roster looked like this

http://flyers.nhl.com/club/boxscore.htm?id=2007020012
(Line combos may not be accurate)

Forwards:

Gagne-Briere-Knuble
Hartnell-Carter-Lupul
Kapanen-Richards-Tolpeko
Boulerice-Dowd-Eager

Defense
Timonen-Coburn
Smith-Hatcher
Kukkonen-Randy Jones

Goalies:
Biron
Niitymaki

This lineup, was a bit top heavy (Richards hadn't proven he could be a point per game player yet, 4th line had 2 goons, Kapanen was towards the end, Tolpeko an unknown. The 4th line played a combined 17 minutes, half of which came from Jimmy Dowd. Sad, no?

This team, like the current team, had some really good young forwards with lots of upside, veteran AGING defenseman, (tho the young Carle-Old Coburn-Mesz trio DWARFS the talent of Young Coburn-Kukkonen-Jones)

I give Holmgren's offseason a B: he made some solid depth moves and goaltending moves. a very good trade for a captain. Conversely he overpaid his UFA's (though compared to the market in 07, he didn't really have much choice with Briere)

Now his inseason moves:

We start with trades.

December 10, 2007	To Philadelphia Flyers 7th-round pick in 2009	To Dallas Stars Jussi Timonen
December 18, 2007	To Philadelphia Flyers Jim Vandermeer	To Chicago Blackhawks Ben Eager
February 19, 2008	To Philadelphia Flyers Jaroslav Modry	To Los Angeles Kings 3rd-round pick in 2008
February 20, 2008	To Philadelphia Flyers 3rd-round pick in 2009	To Calgary Flames Jim Vandermeer
February 25, 2008	To Philadelphia Flyers Vaclav Prospal	To Tampa Bay Lightning Alexandre Picard 2nd-round pick in 2009

Jussi Timonen for a pick: Grade N/A, late pick for AHL-er. Nothing to grade here.

Eager for Vandermeer: Goon for goon. Eager was traded after getting murdered in a fight by 41 year old Gary Roberts during an 8-2 win vs the Penguins. Vandermeer would be dealt after a gaffe in a game vs the Habs lead to a Habs goal in 5-2 loss (that featured Riley Cote's only NHL career goal). Vandermeer would be dealt later for a third round pick from Calgary. In reality making this trade Eager for Calgary's 3rd. That net gain is pretty good, Final Grade: B+

Pick for Modry: Jaro Modry really anchored the Flyers depth defense when Hatcher got injured, a third round pick was the cost of said trade. Still a decent move FINAL GRADE: B

Picks for Prospal: Remember how I said the opening night team lacked scoring depth? Gagne's concussion (and season ending recovery) as well as Lupul's injury really put a lot of pressure on Richards, Carter and Umberger to deliver big numbers. Richards was a point per game player, Carter missed 30 goals by 6 inches on an empty net on the last game of the season and Umberger had 50 points. That's delivering. Then Prospal game to really bolster the depth along with Lupul's return from injury. All of a sudden an opening night question mark was really set as a good solid playoff team. Final Grade: B+

Holmgren's in-season trades grade: A-, each move by itself was B worthy, the sum of the parts however built a VERY solid team heading to the post season.

Waivers:

One waiver move: Flyers claim Patrick Thoresen from Edmonton. Thoresen would be a depth third line guy who really helped the lower lines before quite literally, giving his balls to the cause in the first round of the 2008 playoffs. Thoresen's emotional heroics, heart and willingness to lay his body on the line and most importantly the fact that he came for free give this, Final Grade: A.

The postseason Flyers roster in 2008 was extremely strong. Biron was a solid goalie. The Flyers had lots of capable scorers. 8 players had 40 points or more (40 points being the baseline for a top 6 player). Also, Scottie Upshall was on pace to come close to 40 before being injured (he missed 21 games) and so was Simon Gagne, giving the Flyers 10 players with top 6 scoring talent. That's a solid offense.

On Defense:

Smith-Hatcher-Modry-Timonen provided excellent top 4 leadership and kept the puck moving forward. Coburn really showed why he was an early first round pick. The 6 spot, Jones-Kukkonen-Parent was...well...it's been a problem even during the 2010 Cup Run with Parent-Krajicek-Bartulis.

Goalie: Biron: Played dececntly during the playoffs, though not to the tune of his regular season performance. his .904SV% was a bit weak. He was also inconsistent posting a sub-.900 SV% in 8 of 17 games. He was BRILLIANT during his on games, but he did get lit up. (he also gave up 4 goals on 40 shots in a game, that's .900SV% but a lot of goals.

Conclusion: Holmgren get's a B+ for the season.

While I'd have rathered he developed the centers he had and not signed Briere. Briere in Montreal could have swung that round 2 series. Also a GM has no control over injuries, imagine if the Flyers had Gagne healthy for the playoff run. Imagine if Smith didn't have 2 separated shoulders, Coburn wore a visor and Timonen didn't have a broken foot/blood clot. The Flyers top 3 D-men were either out or playing hurt, and a healthy defense MAY have been able to shut down Crosby-Malkin in 2008. Maybe, just maybe, a healthy team extends the series, but again, you can't fault a GM for injuries. Holmgren built the team, he didn't have control over concussions, broken feet or slapshots to the left eye.

What keeps Holmgren from getting an A is the weaknesses of the draft (Marshall over Subban, Goon in round 3, overpayment on Hartnell, Briere and Timonen).

Also, while I get that Holmgren was loyal to Niity as the backup goalie because of his Calder Cup with the Phantoms, I've always wondered if a better backup goalie could have at least given another look in the ECF of 2008 when Biron was getting overmatched. From 2/28/08 to the end of the playoffs, Biron played 34 of 35 games, I know the Flyers were floundering at times during that season, but John Stevens lack of faith in Nitty was a weakness that could have been addressed. The only question, who was available?

Anyway, Paul Holmgren is still a B+ GM at this point. Next time, Draft day 2008 to Draft day 09.

Carry on with your normal life until then.

Paul Holmgren, Grading a GM: Part 1, 2006-07

2011-09-23T14:05:00.000-04:00

So it's gone too far. Well it did a while back, but these last 2 days had 2 more total fuckups that I cannot explain. For me it is now impossible, in any type of good conscience, to support Paul Holmgren as GM of the Philadelphia Flyers.

To show how I've arrived this conclusion, I'm going to have a look Paul Holmgren's run as GM.

It started on October 22, 2006 when Bobby Clarke stepped down. This was the roster Holmgren iced for that first game:

http://flyers.nhl.com/club/boxscore.htm?id=2006020136

Forwards (line combo's may not be accurate)

1 Gagne-Forsberg-Knuble
2 Umberger-Carter-Ruzicka
3 Calder-Richards-Kapanen
4 Eager-Robataille-Grant

Defense

1 Hatcher-Rathje
2 Guathier-Pitkanen
3 Lars Jonsson-Alex Picard

Goalies:
Antero Niitymaki
Robert Esche

Every single player from this roster is gone. Some left to UFA, some to waivers, the rest with trades, and Rathje/Hatcher retired as Flyers.

Using this transaction list: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006%E2%80%9307_Philadelphia_Flyers_season

I will grade every move made by Paul Holmgren ever. I will do this in the order that the above list places them in.

Trades:

November 9, 2006	To Philadelphia Flyers Darren Reid	To Tampa Bay Lightning Daniel Corso
November 13, 2006	To Philadelphia Flyers Todd Fedoruk	To Anaheim Ducks 4th-round pick in 2007 futures
December 16, 2006	To Philadelphia Flyers Alexei Zhitnik	To New York Islanders Freddy Meyer conditional 3rd-round pick in 2007
December 20, 2006	To Philadelphia Flyers Mike York	To New York Islanders Randy Robitaille 5th-round pick in 2008
February 15, 2007	To Philadelphia Flyers Ryan Parent Scottie Upshall 1st-round pick in 2007 3rd-round pick in 2007	To Nashville Predators Peter Forsberg
February 24, 2007	To Philadelphia Flyers Braydon Coburn	To Atlanta Thrashers Alexei Zhitnik
February 26, 2007	To Philadelphia Flyers Lasse Kukkonen 3rd-round pick in 2007	To Chicago Blackhawks Kyle Calder
February 27, 2007	To Philadelphia Flyers Martin Biron	To Buffalo Sabres 2nd-round pick in 2007

Reid for Corso: AHL prospect exchange, neither panned out...final grade: N/A

Fedoruk for a 4th: Enforcer for a mid pick, a bit of an overpayment, but Holmgren was trying to make the team his and maybe avoid the tailspin, final grade: C

Zhitnik for Meyer/pick and Zhitnik for Coburn thereby the net gain being Meyer and pick for Coburn: And even this deal STILL keeps the final trade a steal. Holmgren made an even deal (Zhitnik/Meyer) and stole Braydon Coburn from the Thrashers; final grade A+.

York for Robataille and 5th: Mike York provided a guy who had been a 40-50 point player earlier in his career for Robataille who was on face for about 50 points with the Flyers before being dealt. York however had been part of a stellar PK group earlier in his career and was a better 2-way player. (salary numbers for 06-07 were unavailable) Grade: C+ Holmgren was trying to move things around to get something to work. He had very little to work with and it showed.

Forsberg for Parent/Upshall/1st/3rd: Forsberg was on the downside of this career, Upshall and Parent had decent upsides and the 1st round pick was turned into Timonen and Hartnell. When this deal was made, it was obviously done for the future and accomplished just that. Sadly, it was Parent who came over in the trade and not any of the other "better" Preds Defenseman. Still, developing players isn't the job of the GM so this deal gets an A-.

Kukkonen and a pick for Calder: Kukkonen had his moments, Calder sucked the pick was Garret Klotz. Nothing big happened here. No loss either. Grade is a C.

Martin Biron for a 2nd: A second round pick for a goalie who had 2 very good seasons at the Flyers starter. Biron wasn't elite, but he was a big part of the Flyers deep playoff run in 2008 and in terms of SV%, had a better 2009 playoff run. Biron wasn't the answer, but a 2nd round pick for what he delivered is still a big win: Final Grade: A-

Next up: Waivers:

Claimed off waivers
December 30, 2006	Dmitry Afanasenkov	Tampa Bay (NHL)
January 11, 2007	Michael Leighton	Nashville (NHL)
February 27, 2007	Denis Hamel	Atlanta (NHL)
Lost on waivers
November 11, 2006	Marty Murray	Los Angeles (NHL)
January 2, 2006	Petr Nedved	Edmonton (NHL)
February 24, 2006	Nolan Baumgartner	Dallas (NHL)
February 27, 2006	Michael Leighton	Montreal (NHL)

These moves all made sense in given the rest of the roster and fitting under the cap. Everyone was replaced by someone better. Holmgren's working of the waiver wire is solid: B+

Holmgren also extended some contracts during 06-07:

November 29, 2006	Mike Knuble	—	2 years, $5.6 million extension
February 13, 2007	Sami Kapanen	—	2 years, $2.5 million extension
March 27, 2007	Martin Biron	—	2 years, $7 million extension

Knuble: 2.8 cap hit for a guy who was a PP specialist, solid 2nd line producer and dressing room positive influence, this signing gets a solid A.

Kapanen: a 4th line veteran making 1.25M against the cap. Kapanen also PK'd a lot. He was older and falling apart. He didn't keep anyone down, but didn't add much outside of PK either. This makes him slightly overpaid but not by much so the Final Grade is: B-

Martin Biron: 3.5M cap hit for a goalie who would give 50 starts and had a solid playoff run in 2008, and, in terms of SV% was much better in the 2009 playoffs. I would argue the Flyers lost in the 08 playoffs to Pittsburgh because of the Coburn/Timonen injuries (the top pair on defense) and not through any direct fault of Biron. 3.5M for a solid goalie, Final Grade, solid A.

I won't grade Holmgren's list of ELC's since the NHL caps ELC contracts on a special scale. The GM must operate within a scale and they're for the most part waiver exempt. So if an ELC doesn't work out, it's not Holmgren's fault since all these players were drafted by Bobby Clarke. That said, here's the list.

Signed to Entry Level contracts
May 28, 2006	Frederik Cabana	Halifax (QMJHL)	Drafted 171st overall, 2004
May 30, 2006	Steve Downie	Peterborough (OHL)	Drafted 29th overall, 2005
May 30, 2006	Jussi Timonen	SaiPa (SM-liiga)	Drafted 146th overall, 2001
July 5, 2006	Denis Tolpeko	Regina (WHL)	Undrafted free agent
August 16, 2006	Nate Guenin	Ohio State (CCHA)	Unsigned NY Rangers 2002 draft pick
September 23, 2006	Oskars Bartulis	Moncton (QMJHL)	Drafted 91st overall, 2005
March 15, 2007	Kyle Greentree	Alaska Fairbanks (CCHA)	Undrafted free agent
March 15, 2007	Jon Matsumoto	Bowling Green State (CCHA)	Drafted 79th overall, 2006

Note: only Greentree and Matsumoto are actual Holmgren offers.

Final 2006-07 Grade: B+

Rationale: Holmgren had nothing to work with in terms of the roster Bobby Clarke gave him. He turned several assests into big successes (Coburn, Biron, Knuble) but also would hinder himself with indirect moves from these (Briere, Timonen, Hartnell). Otherwise he set himself up for 2007-08 very well. It's not Holmgren's fault the Flyers picked 2nd and had to draft JvR instead of Calder winning Patrick Kane. But, on the other hand, imagine if Patrick Kane got to play 3rd wheel to Jeff Carter and Mike Richards. Who thinks that would be a problem?

Stay tuned for part 2, 2007-08 coming soon. It picks up on Draft Day 2007 and runs to Draft Day 2008

Support Wayne Simmonds

2011-09-23T00:51:00.000-04:00

This post isn't about humor, it's about humanity. It's about doing the right thing. So it's basically two open letters; one to the piece of racist scum in London, Ontario the other to Wayne Simmonds.

Dear Racist Piece of Scum,

You are, quite literally, useless, talentless, worthless and disgraceful. You are a personification of one of the greatest evils on the planet today. I don't know if you were trying to be funny, "cool" or just so insecure that you had to get yourself going by pulling this pathetic stunt, and quite honestly, you should be found and banned from any hockey game at any level for the rest of your life. Also, whomever delivered this gem of a quote to Frank Seravali
"I would have went and kicked that fan's ass myself," one teammate said, asking to remain nameless. "That's just not right."
Should be allowed to deliver on that promise. You like that right? It's 2011, and what you did wasn't funny. It was pathetic. The best part is, you may be famous, but you literally have tens of thousands of enemies now. Kinda funny isn't it. You're little joke turned 10,000 people completely against you.

Signed,

Matt.
(Yeah, I own what I write and what I do.)

Now, onto something more important and less angry.

Dear Wayne Simmonds,

You are far more classy and diplomatic than I could ever hope to be. I envy you for that. I envy how easily you can deal with idiots and wish I had the patience and class you showed earlier. I'm also incredibly sorry that you had to show that class in the way you did earlier tonight. It's pretty sad that people can't accept you as a hockey player with 40 point skill who plays with some grit and physical nature. It's sad that no one will remember your goal to tie the game tonight or your nice shootout goal. These were two nice accomplishments that need to remembered. Someone instead ruined that.

Wayne, it's sad you need to feel like this is normal, it shouldn't be. You are a hockey player. You are an NHL player. You play on a team that's a perennial contender and is expected to always be in or near the Stanley Cup Finals. We shouldn't be talking about this right now, we should be asking you different questions. I'd much rather hear you answer this, "How do you feel about your new home in Philly?" or "When you started your approach in the shootout to score, did you know what move you wanted to use?" or "Did you enjoy playing in the small London building?" and not all the other crap.

To the unnamed teammate who said they'd kick that idiot's ass. If you know who that teammate is, that person is a true friend. Tell them not to be afraid to tell us who they are, because every single person who's reading this piece right now will have respect for them.

You may not be on twitter, but some of your teammates (Matt Carle, JvR, Ian Laperriere, and others) are. Tell them to check out my feed. (www.Twitter.com/DownGoesSpezza) or do it yourself, there's a ton of messages that I "retweeted" or RT'd, showing that the world supports you because you're a human being. One of the best responses came from Becca, a Caps fan, @BeccaH_JR, she said the outrage shown shows that humanity is one step closer to eliminating racism. If you saw what I saw, you'd realize you don't have to deal with this, you shouldn't have to deal with this, and you will never be knocked on from most people for your skin color. All most of us care about is your ability to play hockey.

So, Wayne, lace up the skates, play the best hockey you can play, and continue to be the hero you have become. You just passed Scott Hartnell, Jody Shelley and Chris Pronger as my favorite Flyers. I'm proud to have you representing my team.

Sincerely,

Matt B.

The DGS Team Leader.

Tales From A Pre-season Nothing

2011-09-22T17:13:00.002-04:00

Hello Glove -

Long time no talk, eh? Guess what - we're starting tonight. No really, someone thought it would be a good idea to let us start. Third pre-season game of the season in London, Ontario. At least he has most of the regulars on defense to help me out - Timonen, Coburn, Carle, Meszaros - could be worse.

I'm not really sure what this means for me - they have Ilya Bryzgalov and Sergei Bobrovsky - the two goalies they are more than likely going with for the season. Of course there is a logjam for Adirondack with me, Johan Backlund and this Jason Bacashihua guy. Not sure why they signed Bacashilhua. Now the three of us have to battle it out for those two spots. Maybe Backs will head over to Europe - one can only hope.

The way I see it - tonight I have to be good. Of course, it's hard to have something to compare to - Bob gets a shutout in his first start (first time a Flyers goalie has done that since yours truly in May 2010 - I'm sure you remember). Then Bryz gives up 3, but you can't really blame him for all of them. Don't know if I can match Bob's shutout, though that sure would be nice. At this point, I'll settle for keeping it out of the five-hole.

Anyway, I'm sure it's just a matter of time before it's back to the waiver wire once again - then off to Adirondack. At least they love me up there. Nice to be wanted. Sigh. Another season riding the bus. And I might not even be the best guy down there because that Braden Holtby guy got stuck down there another season - just like me.

Wait, where was I - oh right - starting tonight. Legs closed. Don't f*ck up.

Positive Thoughts and Nervous Smiles,

Leights

Scott Hartnell: One Gif, the legend continues...

2011-09-22T00:38:00.000-04:00

Credit to @SethDH for starting #HartnellDown and @9InOrange for the GIF.

Enjoy

Reasons Drew Doughty is Holding out

2011-09-20T01:14:00.000-04:00

So, another day has come and gone and Drew Doughty has yet to sign a contract. Luckily, the DGS SuperSpies have actually been able to plant a bug inside the LA Kings GM's office to listen in on their negotiations with one Mr. Drew Doughty and Mr. Dean Lombardi. (Seriously, getting stuff from Philly to LA is super easy, even if one package got stuck in Tampa for a year.)

Anyway, after listening to the tapes of the negotiations, we've been able to get lists of Drew Doughty's demands with regards to his new contract.

Using Wade Redden's salary as a comparable, Drew would like to be paid in proportion to how much better than Wade Redden he is.
Doughty seems to be complaining that head coach Terry Murray, who was hired after he was drafted, keeps labeling him a "Marc Crawford" guy.
Drew Doughty wants a guarantee that the LA Kings actually sign a prominent UFA forward sometime.
Mr. Doughty is waiting for an offer sheet to force a move, too bad they never get used.
Using Charlie Sheen and Two and a Half Men for inspiration with regard to contract negotiations has him holding out and getting ready to party.
Drew Doughty has vowed to not sign a contract until after Phoenix gets a permanent home.
Doughty just wants to see what kind of whacked out rumors Eklund comes up with.
He's using a tactic he calls the "2010 Evgeni Nabokov"
There seem to be some voice mails from Paul Holmgren asking why Doughty thinks his RFA rights are owned by Philly. Holmgren keeps saying he signed him to an offer sheet but the league won't authorize it because 51>50. Holmgren says that he "doesn't quite get that math thing"
Drew Doughty will only sign a contract when he gets his face on an ice cream bar.
Actually attempted to sign an offer sheet from Glen Sather, only to find out that "gazillion trinagallion" doesn't actually exist.
Has decided that he really wants to play for the Thrashers, but hasn't heard anything regarding their offer sheet.

The DGS Wall of Shame Team

2011-09-17T23:36:00.000-04:00

So, in a going away present for NHL 11, before NHL 12 came out, I put together quite possibly the worst possible roster in the history of current NHL players. I based this roster not off ratings, but over actual performance during the 2010-11 season. To be eligible to be on this team, the player had to play in the 2009-10 season or 2010-11 season at the NHL level (either in preseason or regular season). Since the Edmonton Oilers were the worst team (record wise) in the NHL last season, they had the honor of icing this team.

Also, players that made this team had to be overall horrible. Obviously icing a set of goons and defensive defenseman would never score any goals, so that was out. On top of that, young players who were waiver exempt were let off the hook as well, so if a player was sent down without clearing waivers, they weren't eligible. Players on ELC's weren't added either, again, young players get the benefit of the doubt that they might become something, some day.

Goalies:
Steve Mason 1
Vesa Toskala 35

Explanation: Who's been a bigger letdown than Mason? A Calder Cup before completely falling apart lands him as the starting goalie Also, see how Toskala's NHL career ended. Michael Leighton would have made the list save a miracle playoff run and the fact that I gave him the benefit of the doubt.

Defenseman:

Pair 1- Wade Redden 6 and Matt Walker 8
Pair 2- Brett Lebda 22 and Cam Barker 45
Pair 3- Nick Boynton 44 and Jeff Finger 4
7th D- Bryan McCabe 28

They're all traffic pylons. All of them. Except McCabe, he's a turnover machine.

Forwards:

Line 1: Nikolay Zherdev 93-Scott Gomez 91-Hugh Jessiman 47
Line 2: Alex Kovalev 27-Brian Rolston 12-Scottie Upshall 7
Line 3: Matt Cooke 24 (A)-Chris Drury 23 (C)-Jason Blake 33
Line 4: Chris Neil 25-Jamie Langenbrunner 15 (A)-Trevor Gillies 14
13th FWD: Rob Schremp 13

So I think I need to explain somethings here. Gomez and Drury were 7+ cap hits that have done nothing with their careers except be completely mediocre. Sure Brian Campbell is the same way on D, but at least as a puck mover, he has some value. These forwards all have major holes in their game and quite literally cripple the team's they play for. Brian Campbell actually is needed to get to the Panthers to the salary floor so he serves a purpose that his team quite literally cannot. Rob Schremp, Scottie Upshall and Hugh Jessiman are all massive failures of first round picks. Gillies is an exception to my minor league rule due to having had more PIMS 169 than TOI 119:36. This isn't an enforcer, this is an out of control maniac. Kovalev, Rolston, and Blake are all players who haven't lived up to their potential on the ice. Langenbrunner was a player who fell apart everywhere he played during last season.

So I turned off the cap, and iced this team. The following record happened.

Edmonton Oilers: 21-57-4

Leading Scorer: Nikolay Zherdev 41G 33A 77P
Leading Goals: Nikolay Zherdev
Leading Assists: Scott Gomez 13G 52A 65P

Defenseman:
Leading Goals: Wade Redden 7G 31A
Leading Assists: Brett Lebda 6G 32A
Leading Points: Lebda and Redden

Leading PIMs: Chris Neil and Matt Walker each had 241
Trevor Gillies only had 202

+/-: Brett Lebda and Alex Kovalev each had a team worst -29, Team best was Upshall +2

Goalies: (Season was simmed, starts were alternated with Mason starting game 1 via winning of a coin flip)

Steve Mason: 41 Starts 43 games: 17-23-1, .861 SV% 3.63 GAA.
Vesa Toskala: 41 Starts 43 games: 3-34-3, .765 SV%, 4.53 GAA.

Goodbye NHL 11, this is your swan song.

10 Observations from today's Rookie Game vs the Caps

2011-09-15T22:53:00.003-04:00

Quick observations on the Rookie Game:

1. Advance stats weren't tracked so nothing there in terms of detailed facts

2. Couturier has great hands, but needs to get stronger, he got pushed around like the Sedins pre-lockout. Send him back to the QMJHL, let him grow up. Bring him up next season. Treat him like Claude Giroux, keep him in the Q, half an AHL season, then bring him up...watch magic happen.

3. Blake Kessel has a 2yr 925K contract. WOULD be a huge addition to the PP, also he plays both FWD and Defense so he could rotate all over the lineup. Guy was a point per game player on a PP unit with JvR at UNH a couple years back. Oskars Bartulis or Jody Shelley could have a job on the line. Or, both. Kessel+Sestito make a combined 1.5M against the cap, Bartulis and Shelley make 1.7. Going with a scratch list of Kessel, Sestito, Read (especially if Schenn needs AHL time to master his PK/2-way game) would allow for more versatility with fewer players

4. There are in fact goalies with less talent than Leighton: Brad Phillips is one. Not that this matters as the only goaltending positions currently open in Philly are AHL and ECHL.

5. Brayden Schenn was used as a PK guy. I took this to be a sign his offensive game is NHL ready but his PK game needs camp work to be ready. This could cost him a roster spot if Kessel or Matt Read (did not play tonight) have a strong camp.

6. Tyler Brown and Harry Zolniercyzk seemed to be all over the place. I doubt either can climb over all the obstacles needed to make the NHL Roster directly, but if there's an injury these 2 should be highly considered for a callup.

7. Tomas Hyka got his own rebound and buried it. This shows that "heart" that you non-stat people love. Taking that play, also is reflected by a high Corsi (the whole game didn't track so I can't prove it. But Hyka generated at least 3 scoring chances in the game). Hyka is locked into the QMJHL next season, but he was REALLY impressive.

8. Did I mention Blake Kessel? Did I mention Oskars Bartulis is expendable? Now I'm praying Doughty elects a holdout and LA tosses a mid to late round pick for Bartulis (because Bryan McCabe isn't the answer if LA can't lockup Doughty) thereby freeing up Kessel to make the NHL roster. the Flyers have a deep defense in terms of bottom pair/spare guys, but I don't see much in terms of top 4 potential from anyone. Kessel's best asset would be #6 Defenseman, PP specialist. if the Flyers PP keeps struggling from last season (which is hard with so many new faces) I fully expect Kessel to take a spot on the PP. Did I mention he's the best right shooting defenseman the Flyers have?

9. The emergence of all this defense makes the Andreas Lilja deal look like a waste. It's a 35+ contract, he can't be waived out of camp either.

10. Danick Paquette of the Capitals didn't kill anyone. He said this recently "I'm a pretty dirty player ... like Matt Cooke." (Thanks to Steve Whyno of the Washington Post for that quote)

Flyers Dark Horse Choices For Captain

2011-09-13T20:00:00.000-04:00

Well, a lot of people seem to think the Flyers will give the "C" will go to one of three players: Kimmo Timonen, Chris Pronger, or Danny Briere.

But the fact is, there are some deserving candidates for the "C" in Philadelphia and now, we're gonna go through the Pros/Cons of 5 other players on the Flyers roster.

The Candidate-Scott Hartnell
His strengths- He's known for being a drill sergeant which is always good for having a disciplined team.

His weaknesses- Does anyone actually think Hartnell is capable of running a skating drill?

The Candidate-Matt Carle
His strengths- He's known for being a solid defenseman especially during even strength play which where most of the game is played.
His weaknesses- Allegedly disappears when Chris Pronger isn't around.

The Candidate- Blair Betts
His strengths- His calm demeanor even in tough PK situations is great for mentoring young players.
His weaknesses- He is Blair Betts. No one really knows too much about his personality and one day as Captain would be probably involve more interviews than Betts has done in his entire NHL career up to this point.

The Candidate- Max Talbot
His strengths- Totally learned how to handle tough Wells Fargo Center crowds from playing on the Penguins
His weaknesses- He is probably still a douche.

The Candidate- Jaromir Jagr
His strengths- He's totally betting on being named Captain, and Jagr's gambling has never been a problem.
His weaknesses- Something he says about being a former "Capitals superstar forward" has many people confused.

The Real Reasons the NJ Devils Are Almost Bankrupt

2011-09-12T19:05:00.000-04:00

So, according to the NY Post, (http://www.nypost.com/p/news/business/devils_in_the_red_Mi3p63lfff0OCTWRIdroxH)

The NJ Devils are possibly bankrupt. As DGS always does, we sent the Super-Spies out to find out why. Needless to say, what they uncovered made us start to smirk.

Reasons the NJ Devils are bankrupt.

1. Not really sure if it's relevant, but Devils ownership is beginning to wonder if they could have saved $100M by leaving Ilya Kovalchuk in LA.

2. Noticed tons of money went missing after one night where John MacLean volunteered to coach the accountants.

3. Team meal expenses have tripled since 1991. Unrelated: Martin Brodeur became a Devil in 1991.

4. Cleaning bills for jelly and broken glass get expensive.

5. Something about "trap" based income where one doesn't market, doesn't invest and expects to turn profits.

6. Brian LOLston.

7. Gary Bettman rejected all income the Devils have made since becoming commissioner on account of "Phoenix Circumvention"

8. Driving the Devil's bankrupt to relocation, fits the NHL's idea of relocating 29 franchises before Phoenix.

9. The Devils are rethinking their idea of trying to beat the Islanders at everything.

10. On second thought, following the Mets business model probably wasn't the best of ideas.

DGS Was Wrong. My public apology.

2011-09-10T23:11:00.000-04:00

I was wrong. Paul Holmgren actually made a completely genius move that I have been criticizing since it happened. Not only that, but there are many others who agree with me, possibly due to my fervent usage of this criticism. Well, I'm here to make amends and apologize. The following is my public apology to Paul Holmgren.

Dear Mr. Paul Holmgren,

Can I call you Uncle Paulie again? I'm sorry for thinking you didn't know what you were doing with Pronger. But today, I was on CapGeek and I found somethings and I realized you have 1 of 3 ideas in mind to keep Pronger from being a cap nightmare. You ARE planning to do these 1 of these 3 things right? If you're not, do them anyway.

DGS

Pronger Solution 1:

Keep Chris Pronger on perma-LTIR like Mike Rathje was. This one is fairly simple, it's been done before.

Pronger Solution 2:

Trade Chris Pronger after the 2013-14 Season. Because in 14-15 Pronger's salary drops to 4M, followed by 2 years of 525K.

While the cap hit would be 4.921, a "salary floor" team may be in need of some extra cash like Florida was this year. A team could in fact "pay" Pronger the 5.5M for 3 years to have a defenseman who could play the #7 D-man role and tutor some younger D-man. Imagine if Nashville loses Shea Weber to UFA and Ryan Suter. Pronger could be traded to NSH for a 5th round pick he could tutor some young D-men who are on ELC's in order to keep them (or another team in the same situation) above the Salary Floor. Pronger could play 30-35 games a season as a PP specialist but really be more an extra coach in practice. His performance wouldn't be the important part (he just needs to do what he did in his few playoff appearances, be a PP specialist and log some third pair EV minutes in limited game duty)

Or, if the team just wants a cap hit, they could trade for Pronger and buy him out like NSH did to Brett Lebda this year. In a 35+ Buyout, the cap hit stays the same BUT instead, the team would payout 2/3 the salary. So, on July 1, 2014 Pronger is dealt and bought out, thereby counting for 4.921 to the salary floor while the team would only owe him about 3.5M during the buyout time frame.

There is a possible issue with this scenario though. If Pronger is bought out by his new team just for the sake of counting against the cap, the new team could face Cap Circumvention charges like the Kovalchuk contract. Because of this, the first scenario is more likely.

So, I'm sorry Paul Holmgren. This move might not be a bad one.

Hartnell Down: Defining the Terms

2011-09-09T00:22:00.000-04:00

As you all know last year, we tracked Hartnell Down. Well, once again, we're doing it. So, here's how it's gonna work.

What is a Hartnell Down?
Scott Hartnell falls, a lot. Often for no reason. We like to keep track of #HartnellDown.

Who started Hartnell Down.
That would be @SethDH from twitter. I just market this.

How does a Hartnell Down happen?
HartnellDown is defined as a moment where something OTHER than Scott's skates or stick are on the ice and attached to his body. For instance if Scott puts a gloved hand on the ice, he's down but if Scott tosses his gloves to fight, he's not down until he inevitably ends up flat on his back during said fight. If Scott drops to a knee in order to slow down to deliver a one-time shot, a judgment call will be made by DGS or SethDH to determine whether or not it counted.

Why does Hartnell fall?
Does it matter? It's funny. Usually. Especially during goal celebrations.

Now for some fun.

1. Place guesses on how many falls Hartnell will have this season (he averaged just under 3 per game last season).

2. Guess the amount of falls in his highest game. Last year, against Atlanta, Scott fell 12 times for a season high. The Thrashers may be gone, but I guarantee Hartnell is still falling.

3. Tell us how many times Hartnell will go fall free in a game he plays in. If I recall correctly, he went fall free in about 6 games last season. Will he top that?

Prizes to be determined at the end of the season, most likely some sort of shoutout on the blog.

Concussions: the DGS academic research into them

2011-09-02T22:35:00.000-04:00

As most, if not all of you know, I have spent quite a bit of time in my life researching concussions. With the deaths of 3 NHL enforcers this summer, I feel compelled to post a paper I wrote for a class on concussions in athletes. While, I was a student when I wrote this and therefore this paper isn't exactly published, it follows the rules of an academic peer reviewed paper set forth by the American Psychological Association (APA).

To download the 10 page paper :click here:

Note: this was part of a larger project involving several other students, this way my portion of it.

Here's some bullet points headlining what you'll see/important things to note

Page 2 (first page of full text) shows that Post Concussion Syndrome (PCS) was first defined in 1981, that's 30 years ago...
Pages 2-3: the bulleted symptom list of concussions (PCS means these symptoms last for long periods of time after the initial trauma)
Page 3: The Reggie Fleming (NHL) Case. Because, well, he's a hockey player and a fighter.
Page 6: The Boston University Study linking concussions to Lou Gehrig's Disease
Last Page of Text: Ted Johnson of the NFL. While I don't expound on it in this paper, his behavior is actually indicative of depression as well.
References Page: So you can look up the articles and sources I used to put this project together.

Maybe I'm the Solution

2011-08-23T17:08:00.000-04:00

Just ~~a few short weeks~~ one damn off-season eternity ago, I wrote a piece about how maybe I'm the problem. (July 8, 2011: Maybe I'm the Problem). As it turns out, every story has an opposing side, and so I feel that now, in the dog days of August, this other side should be told.

2007-08: Because DGS goes off to college and starts living in Philly, he decides he needs a change in his life, the change, growing and keeping a goatee for the entire season, this goatee becomes a playoff beard when the regular season ends. However, cracking under of pressure of a now ex-girlfriend, DGS shaves the playoff beard right before the Pittsburgh series, the Flyers are soon eliminated.

2008-09: DGS once again keeps different variations of facial hair during the entire regular season, but in March of 2009, DGS starts a new job and decides to make a good impression on his new employer by going clean shaven for this job. The Flyers are quickly dispatched by the Pittsburgh Penguins.

2009-10: DGS is clean shaven for the start of the season. The Flyers totally suck more than anything. On December 31, as a joke, DGS decides to to let some facial hair start growing. When DGS doesn't shave, the Flyers kick ass. DGS lets a full chinstrap grow from Jan 1 which eventually turns into a playoff beard. DGS never shaves the playoff beard willingly but on the morning of Game 6, while frying bacon for his breakfast, DGS singes part of his beard and it falls out leaving an empty patch of playoff beard (not to be confused with DGS empty patches on his playoff beard caused by inability to grow facial hair.) Game 6 OT the puck trickles through Leighton's 5-hole.

2010-11: DGS goes into the season with a goatee as always, other than November where DGS does "Movember" and has a Carcillo-like Porn-stache instead. The Flyers are easily one of the best teams in the league. Right around the ASG, DGS drops the facial hair in favor or long sideburns and a Danny-Briere clone look and the Flyers collapse faster than the 2010 Boston Bruins. During the playoffs, the playoff beard returns but with a problem, right before Game 1 of the Boston series, DGS plays a pickup game of hockey with some friends. During the game, DGS loses some hair in his helmet. (if you check the playoff beard update pics, I started wearing a hat to hide it.) After DGS lost this chunk of hair, the Flyers never won another game.

Luckily, this year, I plan on keeping a Ville Leino beard until the playoffs, then going all out with (what I hope ends up as) a Hartnell-esque amount of hair.

PS: If it doesn't work, Blame Steve Whyno!

Here's to a successful season! GO FLYERS!

Social CORSI, or how to pick better friends

2011-08-17T14:47:00.000-04:00

If you follow me on twitter, read my serious pieces or know me, then you know that I love math and Corsi. I crunch numbers, it's fun. In fact, it's so fun that I've come up with a Social Corsi scale that can be used to help you pick friends.

This doesn't bode well for Social
Corsi ratings.

Now most people use "feelings" and "emotions" when picking their friends. Or they use a +/- like system that's too dependent on the environment, just like +/- is heavily influenced by the play of the goalies.

So let's create a standard of Social Corsi to determine who are really the best friends. Also, with them, I have some examples of people you should get to know because they have high Social Corsi ratings. Oddly, I'm not one of them. Also, in order to show how Social Corsi works in accordance with perception, I'm going to compare the Social Corsi test subjects to current NHL stars. This should help you understand the rankings of Social Corsi.

First off, in Corsi, a player gets a +1 for shots on goal, missed shots and blocked shots while getting a -1 for the same 3 categories against. In Social Corsi one gets a +1 for good social things like: telling jokes, giving compliments, having fun Twitter banter, being insanely polite, starting clever twitter hashtags and funny trolling and a -1 for being unfunny, stupidly trolling, giving into RT requests from idiot fans, making silly RT requests.

More importantly, but when on Twitter checking a persons "follower" count for a high number doesn't guarantee quality.

For instance LeBron James has a ton of followers, but he's unfunny, a douche, an egotistical dirtbag and always disappears after 3. This is a bad Social Corsi rating. Now, on top of it all, he's competing with the NBA. A place where people pull guns on teammates. This is a low relative competition setting. Conclusion, LeBron James has the WORST Social Corsi Rel to QoC. Or, in short. LeBron is a douche.

On the other side, Steve Whyno. (@SWhyno) is a guy who seems like he's a horrible guy. He's always causing trouble to the point that #BlameWhyno will probably trend on Twitter at some point. Also, he openly admits to having a huge ego and finally, he ditched Philadelphia for DC faster than Jayson Werth. But, when you look deeper you see a few things. 1: #BlameWhyno is actually funny. 2: He will give quality banter. 3: If not for the humor he makes at his own expense, the world would be boring. That's a super high Social Corsi rating. In fact, Whyno is so misunderstood, he's like Jeff Carter. Many people perceive him to actually be the cause of their problems and take #BlameWhyno too seriously. They also assume that because of his ego, he's always wrong about everything and a bad writer. Just like Carter, people dwell too much on single-issue anecdotes not realizing that in the big picture Carter was a top tier NHL Center. Now, stop #BlameWhyno and realize, Steve Whyno is awesome. The only place Whyno loses points, Philadelphia is filled with "rude" people (according to Dan Carcillo) so therefore, Whyno's Social Corsi Rel QoC is still moderate.

Finally DGS Podcast guest Jaye Horbay. @HorbayJ is a guy who has a top social CORSI. He's always polite. He's great with jokes and getting involved in hashtags. Not only that, but he's a super frustrated Avalanche fan who is from Edmonton and now lives in Vancouver. Being in enemy territory like he is, it would be so easy for him vent his frustrations on the world constantly, but he NEVER does. Instead he gives out great advice with regards to his job and is a politely awesome guy. He's the king of Social Corsi as his Social Corsi is high and he puts up this high Social Corsi while seeing top competition making him the "champion" of Social Corsi Rel QoC.

Please note: this is the first time that Vancouver will EVER be the Champion of anything.

NHL Oops Moments

2011-08-15T18:56:00.000-04:00

You know that moment you have when you realize something wasn't what it seemed? Like when people mistake me for Danny Briere (happened twice now). It's happened quite a bit around the NHL recently and we have a list of those moments compiled here.

The Event- Martin St Louis wears the new Lightning jerseys to a promotional event at a Tampa area sports store.
The Reaction- A little kid yells out, "LOOK, MOMMY, A SMURF!!!!!!!" (This is followed by kids asking Marty to sign their Disney movies...and parents wondering who that paid actor is...)

The Event- Danny Briere walks into a local coffee shop in South Jersey
The Reaction-The barista instantly says, "Your usual, DGS?"

The Event- Jaromir Jagr and Max Talbot sign with the Flyers.
The Reaction-Chris Pronger laughs maniacally as he reveals he stole the Penguins contract offers and replaced them with a Flyers offer instead.

The Event- The Rangers sign a UFA player.
The Reaction- Glen Sather still doesn't know who keeps adding extra years "0s" to each contract.

The Event- Wade Redden waived and assigned to AHL Hartford.
The Reaction- The Whale apparently were under the impression that they were getting an NHL send down, not an ECHL call up.

The Event- The Bruins execute a line change during the playoffs.
The Reaction- Paul Holmgren counted out the men, there's too many...oh god... GAGNE!

The Event- Eklund reports a trade rumor as e5
The Reaction- Crickets

The Event- David Poile asks for "Brent" in a trade with the Maple Leafs
The Reaction- Brian Burke hand writes the trade fax with "Brett" in it and makes sure to send Lebda to the Predators.

(Note: We have no proof about this, but it's the only logical explanation as to why anyone would ever trade FOR Brett Lebda)

The Event- A Sedin asks a linesman about a call during a stoppage prompting the linesman to say, "Well, Dan..."
The Reaction- "uhh...I'm Henrik"

The Event- Garth Snow jokingly says he intends to reacquire Roloson because of his playoffs successes.
The Reaction- In a "Milbury Moment" Snow acquires Brian Rolston instead.

Giving Back

2011-08-12T15:22:00.000-04:00

I've sat on this post for a day now, not really knowing how to write it or what to say. But here goes.

Yesterday I did something that was inspiring and uplifting on a level that I can't describe. I had a chance to visit a pediatric oncology wing of a hospital and do a little entertaining for some kids who deserve it. These kids, mostly between the ages of 7-10, are by far the toughest, bravest souls I have ever met. They show no fear in what it is they do. In a world with a lot of negatives going on, it was nice to see that somewhere, good things still happen.

Most of these kids won't see the age of 12, but stuff like that won't stop me. I'm going to try to make this a regular thing, go back every so often to help them out.

Anyway, I'm not gonna push for a "will donate this much to charity if..." because I already gave a flat amount to a cancer research charity at the end of my day there yesterday. Rather, I challenge you to: do something nice for someone who needs it. It doesn't have to be big, just smile to someone who looks upset or let someone go ahead of you in line at a store or something. Doing things like that, can improve the world.

Magical Spearing Midget

2011-08-10T10:30:00.000-04:00

By popular demand to yesterday's post. I made another character. A Gnome Mage. His name is Briere. He's Hab-sized, uses magic...and well...look at that spear-like object he carries.

Pronger

2011-08-09T01:27:00.000-04:00

I play World of Warcraft. Today, I made my newest character, Pronger.

DGS Fantasy Hockey 2011-12 Style: THIS YEAR WILL NOT SUCK!

2011-08-06T09:52:00.000-04:00

This year, I'll be hosting a Yahoo Fantasy hockey league. It's going to be the maximum number of players and largest roster size possible. In other words really big, with lots of people.

If you want in, shoot me an email at DownGoesSpezza@gmail.com (joins will be taken on a first come, first serve basis and we already filled about 10 slots via twitter) and I'll put you on the list. I realize that I'm starting early, but I want to have everyone's contact information get a draft time reserved when it works for as many people as possible. Who's ready to have fun?

Hope you enjoy, good luck and lets play hockey!

Don't Cry for Me Philadelphia

2011-08-03T20:08:00.000-04:00

Dear Diary -

Well, this is the end my friend, at least for the Philadelphia chapter (the second NHL one). When the Flyers traded for the rights to Ilya Bryzgalov I knew my days in orange and black were over (again). Recognizing that my days as a starting goalie are also over - well, to be honest, they've been over for a while - I took a two-year contract to go back up Cam Ward with the Carolina Hurricanes.

But fear not Philly, I'll always have the memory of my second run - both good and bad. I mean really, who could forgot the freak accident where I slashed my finger during a game, leading to the emergence of Michael Leighton (ooops....I probably should have said He Who Should Not Be Named). Or when Ryan Parent fell on me - spraining both my knees, once again leading to the re-emergence of He Who Should Not Be Named. I have to say, I won't miss the Goalie-Go-Round - frankly, I was getting quite dizzy. I'm sure the rest of you were, too.

But let's be honest, my best memory in this second go-around has to be the shootout against the New York Rangers to sneak into the playoffs. I know what you were all thinking - "Oh my g*d, a shootout - we're screwed." But I did it - I stopped Olli Jokinen and did my Boosh Dance to celebrate (let's all forget about the little trip I made before the dance - okay).

It's been real Philly, but the time has come to move on. It's a Russian era - and I just don't fit. But don't worry - I don't heffa be mad. It's okay. After all - it's not like I'm going to Edmonton or anything.

So long Philly - it's been real.

Boosh

Flyers Tweets (stick tap DTV)

2011-07-29T15:41:00.000-04:00

So, Don't Trade Vinny did a piece on Lightning First Tweets

This got me thinking, what if some Flyers got twitter, what would they say...

@JagrBomb68: "Totally won the Jagr sweepstakes pool in Vegas. Made millions."

@FallingScott: "Fell flat on my back when I created this thing, but I'll keep trying"

@CaptElbows: "hey panotch...GUESS WHO #Winning"

@Kimmo44: "Drinking my secret Viking Warrior potion. SUOMI TIME!"

@BlairBetts: "OMG SOMEONE BOUGHT MY T-SHIRT!"

@Coburn5: "My nose is just a nose, I swear, it doesn't have superpowers"

@LatvianWolf: "HOWL! I'm pressbox wolf!"

@MeatTrainPHI: "I AM NOT JEFF CARTER!"

@LaviCakes: "Taking a 30 second tweet break to construct the best tweet ever"

@UnclePaulie: "First 25 attempts at this all failed, whats 140 limit? why is there math? I got told, there would be no math"

A Letter from a Fan

2011-07-25T12:19:00.000-04:00

(Editor's Note: DGS Reader "Rich" sent in this email detailing a personal story. It's a rather unbiased (at least in my opinion) look at how inappropriate games can get. Like the last post on the topic, I'm disabling comments, but if you want to add to the discussion, shoot me an email DownGoesSpezza@gmail.com)

I'm a STH, and while I'm basically indifferent to all things "activism" (call it oblivious?) I get a little irked at how liberally "fag" is tossed around at Flyers games. I have gay friends, shit I've even brought gay friends to games, and I hear it every single game. I've used it. I've been corrected by my friends for using it, and try not to. (To be fair I use it in the south park sense, where the bikers were all fags, and not as a slur, but I still try not to).

Anyway, to my point. I was at a playoff game, and some kid (22?) walks up to me, out of no where, and goes "Lets kill these fags tonight!" Really? thats how you introduce yourself and walk around a public place? I dont notice this stuff at CBP, nd I'll let the parking lots stand in their own right, its road warrior out there.

So today, a friend of mine posted an article on facebook about the Phils doing one of those "It gets better" videos, and I shared your article with her, and I think you should started an online petition or at least host it. BSH would probly throw a link up for it.

Heres the link, I think the got like 2000 sigs, I think that could happen.

NHL Stars Tips To Beating The Heat

2011-07-22T11:36:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, it was 103 degrees in my hometown. That's effin hot. Luckily I stayed cool because of a great AC and these tips for staying cool that were submitted to me by the amazing DGS Super Spies. Sadly, unlike the Miami Heat, this head wave doesn't disappear after 3. Luckily, here's how some NHL-ers are beating the heat.

Jonathan Toews: Walked outside wearing a winter coat, gloves, ski cap, and boots, stared at the air around him until it froze to an icy -62 Fahrenheit.

Ilya Bryzgalov: Gave the following quote, "Why you heff to be mad? Just use $51M to buy big air conditioner."

Dan Ellis: Commented that, "it takes more talent to survive in 100+ degree heat than it does to be a brain surgeon"

The Atlanta Thrashers: Packed up and moved to Winnipeg, and were never seen again.

Taylor Hall: Called Tyler Seguin and said, "that Cup doesn't keep you cool like Edmonton does."

Dany Heatley: Demanded a trade to Edmonton, Calgary or a demotion to ECHL Alaska.

Glen Sather: Signed the thermometer to a 12 year 78M contract because, "there's no way mercury gets cold in NYC winters."...he doesn't realize that a "No Movement Clause" doesn't mean the mercury will stay hot...L-O-L Rangers...L-O-L

Matt Cooke: Elbowed himself in the head, so he could sleep through the heat.

Paul Holmgren: Didn't get out of the heat because he didn't realize that 103 is higher than 75. He started suffering from heatstroke, the first symptom, he said, "Today, I will use math while making decisions."

Rick DiPietro: Ended up on LTIR after a bead of sweat fell off his head and onto his leg causing his ACL to tear.

Sean Couturier: Thanked his lucky stars that the 50-contract limit keeps him in the QMJHL.

The DGS Hockey Scouting Report

2011-07-18T12:42:00.000-04:00

Most of you know that I used to play hockey. But there are some reasons as to why I don't play anymore, try to figure out my game through this scouting report.

The Down Goes Spezza Scouting Report

Height: 5'10

Weight: 155lbs

Position: Left Wing

Hands: This player is known for his ability to find the open guy like Ville Leino, but his shooting ability is akin to Andreas "No Goal" Nodl.

Skating: Scott Hartnell stays vertical more than DGS does.

Checking: Solid defensively and a great PK guy, kinda like Darrol Powe.

Discipline: His stick is all over the place, there's usually more stick fouls than Danny Briere on a bad night with this guy.

Health: His joints explode like Rick DiPietro. His bone's explode like Marion Gaborik. His brain explodes like Eric Lindros.

There, now you know something about me.

NHL Baby Toys

2011-07-16T16:18:00.000-04:00

I was talking to one of the 3 intelligent Caps fans on the planet, DCcheapSeats. She told me a story of how she took her niece to a Caps practice today and got her to say "hockey!" (and like most Caps fans, her niece pointed, said hockey and had absolutely no clue as to what she was talking about.)

Luckily, she'll be properly educated by the following list of NHL Baby Toys.

The Product- Baby's First Cooke
Why Your Child Needs It- Baby's first Cooke is a ~~safe~~ concussion inducing product that will teach your newborn how to properly throw elbows to the head behind the net and get away with it.
But Be Warned- No one will ever want to play with baby out of fear the Baby's First Cooke will try to kill it.

The Product- Tickle Me Pronger
Why Your Child Needs It- Tickle Me Pronger is a great way for your child to have fun. Depending how you tickle it Pronger will deliver different snarky retorts.
But Be Warned- It also has a tendency to elbow your child in the head, and recent models break easily and due to the "35+ Warranty" even if it breaks, you still are obligated to pay for it for the next 5 years if you give it back. However there is a loophole in the buyer's agreement, keeping it at home with the intent to fix it, will allow you to collect a reimbursement check equal to what you paid for it in order to guarantee you can buy another toy.

The Product- Uncle Paulie's Calculator
Why Your Child Needs It- Want your baby to learn math? Uncle Paulie's Calculator is a great tool for teaching your child basic mathematics.
But Be Warned- It's success rate is kind of terrible as Uncle Paulie was told "there would be no math"

The Product- The Hartnell Scooter
Why Your Child Needs It- The Hartnell Scooter is the perfect is the perfect little scooter for your young child to zip around the neighbor in.
But Be Warned- This scooter isn't very stable and tends to make your child fall over, a lot.

The Product- The Phila-Battery
Why Your Child Needs It- This battery is specially designed to be aerodynamic but light enough for your baby to throw. It will teach your child the lovely art of battery throwing in the Philly tradition.
But Be Warned-We're not saying you're a bad parent, but next time you tell your child something he/she doesn't like, we're not responsible for any blunt force trauma to your body if they turn it on you. We're also not responsible for damaged property or injuries incurred from damaged property when using this product

The Product- Luongo's First Goalie Pads for baby
Why Your Child Needs It- If you want your child to be a goalie, Luongo's First Goalie pads are designed specfiically for babies.
But Be Warned- Presents a huge choking hazard.

The Product- Easy Bake Emery
Why Your Child Needs It-Easy Bake Emery is the perfect way for your cranky child to relax, we're not quite sure what's in it, but it sure calms people down and makes them hungry.
But Be Warned- It's illegal in the USA.

The Product- Well-done Wellwood Oven

Why Your Child Needs It- Does your child seem to enjoy cooking? If so, the Well-Done Wellwood Oven is the perfect toy to teach your child how to cook. Why, just using the basic ingredients (sold separately) you can create snacks in under 20 minutes.

But Be Warned- It's the leading cause of childhood obesity in the world due to the fact that it's not an oven, but a deep fryer.

The Product- Gillis Mystery Detective

Why Your Child Needs It-There's a conspiracy against the Canucks, help Mike Gillis solve it by playing this video game and beating up such villains as Captain Serious and his evil sidekick girlfriend, Chelsea Dagger.

But Be Warned- The Murdersaurus is still an unbeatable enemy as for some reason, your party of HAMhuis, Bieksa and Raffi-Runner just refuse to fight it.

The Product- Hide and Seek with Chris Neil

Why Your Child Needs It-What child doesn't want to play hide and seek?

But Be Warned- It's impossible to find Chris Neil unless you're alone and defenseless. Seriously, I had Colton Orr with me the other day and Chris Neil was just impossible to find....

The Product- The Caps-Wagon

Why Your Child Needs It-This little red wagon is perfect for pulling your baby around the neighborhood.

But Be Warned- It's made in Russia and breaks every April.

Reasons Steven Stamkos Hasn't Signed Yet

2011-07-15T14:20:00.000-04:00

"It's been a while Mr. Stamkos. Please sign soon." Hockey Fans Everywhere.

Anyway, the Stamkos saga is still ongoing. But luckily the DGS Super Spies know why Stamkos hasn't signed.

Is holding out hope Glen Sather or Paul Holmgren will overpay him on an offer sheet.
Is trying to trade Vinny.
Wants to find a dramatic chipmunk
Cannot sign a contract until someone finds Paul Ranger
Told Gary Bettman he won't sign a contract until Tampa hosts Edmonton on NBC on a Sunday.
Wants to play in the NHL, and doesn't get that southern teams are actually NHL teams.
Thought the Bolts moved to Winnipeg instead of the thrashers
Went across the state of Florida to save the shuttle program by one-timing astronauts into space.
Thought the NHL lockout started a year early so he didn't think he needed a contract
Stamkos can't get through the 1-3-1 to get to the contract to sign it
Stamkos is too tall, he can't see the contract right in front of him being held by Marty St Louis
Stamkos wants to get away from Crazy Rolie the Goalie who keeps telling him about "that time the Edmonton Oilers went to the Stanley Cup Finals"
Can't decide whether he should fear Matt Cooke, Chris Pronger, Raffi Torres or Steve Downie most and therefore doesn't know who to join.
Is trying to figure out where to play in order to get Mattias Ohlund and Victor Hedman to pass him the puck. (Thanks DTV)

There you have it.

Somethings Don't Fit In Hockey, or anywhere for that matter

2011-07-15T02:03:00.003-04:00

We've all done stupid things we regret. Every single one of us. We're just human after all, none of us are perfect. But that doesn't absolve us from our mistakes.

Now, in a perfect world, when we make a mistake, we're able to say we're sorry and move on. I've made my fair share of mistakes, 95% of which come from me talking without thinking. (Irony, I wrote that last sentence three times to make sure I got the message I wanted to send across in the right way.) Anyway, Bill Watters comments the other day reminded me of a hockey story of my own.

Just a few short years ago, I was playing in a summer roller hockey league. It was a fairly competitive league, at least, as competitive as an 8 team league made of mostly early to mid 20 somethings can be. Anyway, during a post whistle scrum (there always seemed to be one, especially in front of the net) I'm shoving with with an opposing player, he calls he a pussy and respond by telling him to shut up, and "quit being a whiny homo." Now, anyone who knows me, know's I'm about 5'9 140lbs, I'm not big at all, the guy I insulted was easily 6'1 175. Anyway, one of our players grabs me by the shoulder and pulls me about 15 feet away from the crowd in front of the net. While we're the only 2 behind the net, he whispers, so only I can hear it, that our goalie, who was by far our best player, was in fact gay and he, one of our players on our team, was the goalie's boyfriend. I was crushed. I felt so stupid for saying what I did. Anyway, the next stoppage of play, I apologized to the goalie, and to the other player both of whom took it in stride. As the goalie put it, "Matt, I know you, I know your politics, and I know that Amy (who is also a cowriter to this blog) is gay too. You made a silly mistake, don't worry about it, but don't do it again." I learned my lesson that day, I still talk trash, but now, I make sure to be insanely clever about it.

Being polite and a civilized human being doesn't have to be boring, it get just stretches the creative juices a little further, or hell, go by other cliche'd stereotypes. For instance, if you want to call an opposing player "soft" or a "not-tough" do what I've started doing, use original lines like "air puts up more resistance than you." Seriously, it works just as well and you don't have to worry about getting yourself in trouble. That last line, actually worked too well, the player I used it on, told me after the game that he didn't get it at first and because of that, it was a slight distraction to him that he claimed caused him to make a bad pass and turn the puck over. If you want to insult a goalie, call him/her "worse than Toskala" or "you were 'Leighton' getting to that one." Bad puns work wonders.

Short form, people are people, regardless of skin color, ethnic background, sexual orientation, gender identification, age, biological gender, hair color, eye color, foot size, etc...we're all human beings. Science proves that. We're all people, and all people should be treated equally.

Translating Bryzgalov

2011-07-13T16:00:00.000-04:00

Why you heff to be mad? It's only game....

Oh Ilya, you think you speak a language that no one understands...but I do, see, I'm Russian, just like you.

So with that, I'm gonna share with the world, the ability to understand Bryzgalov using quotes from his interview found here at BSH.

Quote: "I am excited to join a great organization with a rich history. That was my first reaction and I expect a lot from our work together."
Meaning: "I am excited to join a rich organization with a great history of overpaying players. My first reacion was $$$$$$$$ and I expect a big bank account, small island and possibly my own rocketship from our work together."

Quote: "First of all, when I came to Philadelphia, I met Mr. [Ed] Snider, Paul Holmgren and other people in the organization. We talked to each other and they told me the philosophy of the team. I like the philosophy of the team - winning, and everything in Philadelphia. I like this philosophy and it's my philosophy too.... This is a good spot for me because I like the idea and philosophy of the team."

Meaning: MONEY, they're giving me MONEY! MONEY MONEY OH MY GOD I HAVE MORE MONEY THAN DAN ELLIS!

Quote: "Not yet, not yet. He is a great guy. He's a good person and a big physical defenseman who can score, who can move the puck. He has everything that a number one defenseman needs. He's got size, he's got skill, he has character." (He's referring to Christopher Robert Pronger)

Meaning: OH GOD! Pronger's elbows scare me!

Quote: "Under NHL rules you can be traded any day and management made decisions to make some adjustments and we just have to accept it and play it."

Meaning: I know that I'm gone after 4 or 5 years. But I'm gonna be rich!

Maybe I'm The Problem. If you believe in luck, then I am the Problem

2011-07-08T19:03:00.000-04:00

Maybe I'm the problem. Maybe I really caused all of this. I was going through my closet today (well yesterday), and I started going through my Flyers stuff. So guys, I give you everything Flyers that I collected during the 4 years that the RBK-Edge uniforms were used. See if you guys can notice a pattern....

2007-2008:

Received Simon Gagne poster for my birthday: Gagne's brain explodes.

Bought Joffrey Lupul t-shirt: 2 days later, Derian Hatcher breaks Lupul's neck.

Won Antero Niitymaki t-shirt: found out Niity needed hip surgery that offseason.

Proclaim Derian Hatcher as my favorite Flyers player that season: Hatcher breaks his leg and never plays another game again.

Call Jon Kalinski my favorte Flyers forward: compartment syndrome

Tell my roommate: "That Thoresen kid is my favorite Norwegian player..." less than 30 seconds later, Thoresen's balls explode.

2008-2009

Bought black long sleeved Danny Briere t-shirt: Briere plagued by injuries all season

Received Mike Knuble t-shirt for my birthday: Mike Knuble signs with the Caps in the offseason.

Wears #9 when playing in a rec roller hockey weekend tournament for Upshall: less than a week later, Upshall for Carcillo

2009-2010

Received Ray Emery poster for my birthday: Ray Emery's hip and abdomen exploded.

Bought Chris Pronger t-shirt: Pronger's knee explodes during the playoffs, then the 2010-11 disaster

Received a Ryan Parent t-shirt: Parent kills Leighton and Boosh.

Finally develop the confidence to say, "Leighton is really proving himself to be a legit NHL goalie" (~15 minutes later, PatDrunk Kane goes 5-hole)

Put Jeff Carter celebrating a goal as my computer wall paper: Jeff Carter breaks both his feet.

2010-11

Said "Don't worry, a full season of Leighton will be good for him and the Flyers" Leighton breaks repeatedly.

My Chris Pronger man crush becomes more public: Chris Pronger turns into Sami Salo and Rick DiPietro, at the same time.

My mom buys a Matt Walker t-shirt instead of Matt Carle: Matt Walker spends the year needing a walker

I met Jody Shelley and he signs my hat in January: Jody Shelley breaks his face with a puck

I met Andreas Nodl and he signs my hat in January. Andreas Nodl misses the playoffs with an injury.

Also, the playoffs, they get their own section.

2008 playoff run:

1st round: Washington- 1 year removed from the Disaster of 2006-07, I figured the Caps would dispatch the Flyers quickly, result-Flyers in 7

2nd round: Montreal- Hot rookie goalie, veteran short forwards, and I think, ok, the luck's run out so it's Habs in 6. Result-Flyers in a 5 game sweep. Kovalev batted the game 1 goal in with a high stick.

3rd round: Pittsburgh- I'm finally on board, the Flyers have a legit top pairing in Kimmo/Coburn. Great depth guys in Smith and they will contain Crosby. The Flyers will win in 6. Well, Coburn breaks his face. Timonen breaks a foot. Smith separates both shoulders. Result: Flyers lose.

2009:

1st round: Pittsburgh- Revenge is sweet, this year is our year. Result: No, it wasn't.

2010:

1st round: NJD: I start this blog with the sole intent of making fun of the Flyers for another first exit. Boucher beats Brodeur avenging what happened a decade earlier. Result: NJD rolls over.

2nd round: BOS: during my prediction post, I make a hilarious typo where I say the Flyers win in 7, but actually give Boston the win in 6 when I do my game to game log. Result: The Miracle on Broad St.

3rd round: MTL: I go in brimming with confidence, but I think that MTL is due for revenge. I write my preview post espousing the optimistic side of things, but privately, I'm thinking MTL has it this time around. And if the Flyers win, Leighton won't be the reason. Result: Leighton pitches 3 SOs

4th Round: CHI: I predict Flyers in 6. Result: Hawks in 6.

2011

1st round: Buffalo- I think the Flyers will snap up and lose the series without Pronger or win it with Pronger. Result: The Flyers win without Pronger being a major direct factor.

2nd Round: Boston- I call Flyers to win and Tim Thomas to fall back to earth and crap the bed 4 straight times. Result: Flyers lose, Boston wins the cup

Welcome ItsAFez66

2011-07-06T14:40:00.000-04:00

Hey, DGS just signed ItsAFez66 to a front loaded long term contract with a full NMC for the entire duration. This means more DGS awesomeness. Here's her bio-

Guest Blogger Person: ItsAFez66 (whose real name may or may not start with one of the following letters: ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ)

Age: 21 (Oh hi there, ability to legally buy alcohol.)

Home: NJ (AKA South Jersey, the better part of NJ)

Favorite Current Flyer: BOB! (I have a goldfishie named after him!) And Pronger.

Favorite All-Time Flyer: Lappy Lappy Lappy HEY! (Ian Laperriere = Badassery on skates)

Favorite Sport that isn't hockey: Figure Skating, and Gymnastics too.

Random Fact: Evgeni Malkin is ugly.

The Jaromir Jagr-Chris Pronger Transcript

2011-07-06T12:06:00.000-04:00

Many people were shocked by the Flyers signing Jaromir Jagr last week. In fact, we all thought he would sign with the Penguins, Habs, or Red Wings, but then were surprised when in fact, Paul Holmgren inked Jagr. Later on in the day, it was revealed that Chris Pronger made a phone call to Mr. Jagr. Luckily the DGS Super Spies were able to snag a transcript of that call. Here it is, for you.

He's watching you, ready to trade you
as soon as you sign a long
term contract with a future NMC

Jagr- Dobré odpoledne. Já jsem Jaromír Jagr.

Pronger- Jaromir? This is Chris Pronger. We need to chat.

Jagr- Oh, Mr. Pronger, Lord of the Elbows.

Pronger- That's me!

Jagr- Why you call here?

Pronger- We need to talk.

Jagr- About?

Pronger- Who do you plan on signing with?

Jagr- The Penguins of course.

Pronger- Now why would you do that?

Pronger- We need to talk.

Jagr- Why?

Pronger- Because I don't like the Penguins

Jagr- But you're not playing for the Penguins, I am. What's the big deal?

Pronger- I don't like the Penguins.

Jagr- I don't see how this affects me, however.

Pronger- Do you remember my elbows?

Jagr- Yes.

Pronger- What do my elbows do?

Jagr- Give people concussions. Break jaws. Injure people.

Pronger- Do you see where this is going? The cold Siberian winters haven't frozen your brain now have they.

Jagr- If I sign with Pittsburgh, you're going to elbow me, aren't you?

Pronger- 6 games, 3 periods, we each should have 10-12 shifts a game against each other. So, assume 20-24 elbows per game.

Jagr- I shall sign with Philly, but there's no cap space.

Pronger- Like cap space is a problem. Holmgren can't do math. Fleece him like I did. I have a 35+ contract worth nearly 5M per season. It runs until I'm 43.

Jagr- I shall call Holmgren now. Thank you, Mr. Pronger.

Theme Songs of the 2011 NHL Playoffs

2011-07-03T01:00:00.000-04:00

(Editor's Note: HEY LOOK! DGS IS EXPANDING! Twitter's @ItsAFez66 has joined the team. I just snapped her up as a UFA yesterday. Don't worry though, I still have capspace. Hope PhillyGirl doesn't kill me. Anyway, enjoy her work.)

So, with hockey having ended for the season and the craziness of free agency upon us, I figured my first piece here on the awesome DownGoesSpezza blog should bring solely laughs.

So without further ado, I bring you:

Theme Songs of the 2011 NHL Playoffs

First, just for the hell of it, Atlanta Thrashers to the Winnipeg (Meese) Jets:

Now for the actual playoff stuff:

Dan Boyle (Sharks):

Scott Hartnell, Kris Versteeg (Flyers), Adam McQuaid (Bruins):

Danny Briere (Flyers):

Tim Thomas (Bruins):

Zdeno Chara (Bruins):

And lastly, Alex Burrows (Canucks):

Well….

ItsAFez66

Matt Carle: Underrated

2011-07-02T00:31:00.001-04:00

Matt Carle is probably the most underrated defenseman on the Flyers, if not the entire NHL.

No, I'm not crazy. Let's go back to my favorite thing in the world, math.

Who led NHL D-men in EV assists? Matt Carle, 37 (10 more than the nearest competitor, Brian Rafalski)

Who led NHL D-men in EV points? Matt Carle, 38, 2nd was Lubo Visnovsky at 37, but if you go by the ratio of EV points per EV 60 minutes played you see a more significant disparity

Lubo: 1.39 EV points per EV 60 minutes.

Carle: 1.51 EV points per EV 60 minutes

Even strength scoring is harder than PP scoring in that, a puck mover like Carle has a harder time finding open guys since 5-4 guarantees an open player, 5-5 does not. Now goals are a product of having a massive shot, something Carle doesn't have. He's a not a huge guy like Weber or Byfuglien or Chara or Pronger but he Carle's still solid there.

More importantly, Carle is solid defensively as well. His 157 blocked shots were good for 17th in the league, 2nd on the Flyers. Carle had 33 Takeaways, which equals Norris Trophy winning Nick Lidstrom's total in the same category. Since Carle's a finesse defender, and not a big-body hitter, it's impressive that he equals Mr. Norris-Lidstrom in the takeaway category.

Carle's inability to score on the PP was not a reflection of his lack of talent, but rather the unit he was with, the entire Flyers PP was a joke. So hopefully that changes this upcoming season with all the other moves the Flyers made. Because if it does, Carle could be an elite D-man in the league.

Down Goes Spezza

Caption Contest 17

Rejected All Star Skills Competition Ideas

NHL Christmas Letters

NHL Conference Names

NHL Announces the non suspension of John Carlson for headshotting Matt Cooke

An Open Letter To The Fans of DGS

More NHL iPods

Braydon Coburn Contract Facts

Easy Halloween Costumes for NHL Players

The Laviolette Line Lottery

Caption Contest 16

Not So Different, 2011-12 Flyers and 2009 Yankees

Tales From An Adirondack Nothing 2.0: Week 1

ATTENTION EVERYONE!

Not So Different, Flyers and Leafs

Project Mayhem

A Handy Guide for the NBA fan to the NHL

The DGS Flyers 2011-12 Roster

The DGS 2011-12 Season Preview: What you need to know about all 30 Teams, Eastern Conference Edition

The DGS 2011-12 Season Preview: What you need to know about all 30 Teams, Western Conference Edition

Tales from a Waiver Wire Nothing

Grading a GM Part 2: 2007-08

Skaters

Paul Holmgren, Grading a GM: Part 1, 2006-07

Support Wayne Simmonds

Tales From A Pre-season Nothing

Scott Hartnell: One Gif, the legend continues...

Reasons Drew Doughty is Holding out

The DGS Wall of Shame Team

10 Observations from today's Rookie Game vs the Caps

Flyers Dark Horse Choices For Captain

The Real Reasons the NJ Devils Are Almost Bankrupt

DGS Was Wrong. My public apology.

Hartnell Down: Defining the Terms

Concussions: the DGS academic research into them

Maybe I'm the Solution

Social CORSI, or how to pick better friends

NHL Oops Moments

Giving Back

Magical Spearing Midget

Pronger

DGS Fantasy Hockey 2011-12 Style: THIS YEAR WILL NOT SUCK!

Don't Cry for Me Philadelphia

Flyers Tweets (stick tap DTV)

Other Bryzgalov Questions (WITH ANSWERS!) so it's the Bryzgalov FAQ

A Letter from a Fan

NHL Stars Tips To Beating The Heat

The DGS Hockey Scouting Report

NHL Baby Toys

Reasons Steven Stamkos Hasn't Signed Yet

Somethings Don't Fit In Hockey, or anywhere for that matter

Translating Bryzgalov

Maybe I'm The Problem. If you believe in luck, then I am the Problem

Welcome ItsAFez66

The Jaromir Jagr-Chris Pronger Transcript

Theme Songs of the 2011 NHL Playoffs

Matt Carle: Underrated