Game 6: Sharks @ Red Wings 8:00 (Versus - Mike Emrick and Eddie Olczyk, ItG: Pierre McGuire) (TSN)
Game 5: Hawks @ Bulls 8:00 (TNT - Marv Albert and Steve Kerr, SR: David Aldridge)
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Monday, May 9, 2011
May 9 Playoffs Live Blog
Game 4: Heat @ Celtics 7:00 (TNT - Kevin Harlan and Reggie Miller, SR: Craig Sager)
Game 6: Canucks @ Predators TBD (Versus - Dave Strader and Brian Engblom, ItG: Darren Pang) (CBC - Jim Hughson and Craig Simpson, ItG: Glenn Healy, SR: Scott Oake)
Game 4: Thunder @ Grizzlies 9:30 (TNT - Dick Stockton and Mike Fratello, SR: Marty Snider)
Game 6: Canucks @ Predators TBD (Versus - Dave Strader and Brian Engblom, ItG: Darren Pang) (CBC - Jim Hughson and Craig Simpson, ItG: Glenn Healy, SR: Scott Oake)
Game 4: Thunder @ Grizzlies 9:30 (TNT - Dick Stockton and Mike Fratello, SR: Marty Snider)
Sunday, May 8, 2011
May 8 Playoffs Live Blog
After a craptastic performance that the Flyers would approve of, Chelsea have found themselves in an insurmountable hole in the English Premier League. Congrats though to Manchester United, they have been the best squad all year and deserve this title. The fact that Chelsea even made a race of it should speak volumes as to how far they come after trailing Man U by 18 points in the standings. They were playing with house money, and could not even muster a pair. Whatever. Moving on to laughing at the Lakers and/or Mavericks should they decide that now is the time for their most epic choke job either.
Game 4: Lakers @ Mavericks 3:30 (ABC - Mike Tirico and Hubie Brown, SR: Heather Cox)
Game 5: Red Wings @ Sharks 8:00 (Versus - John Forslund and Daryl Reaugh, ItG: Brian Engblom) (TSN - Chris Cuthbert, ItG: Ray Ferraro)
Game 4: Bulls @ Hawks 8:00 (TNT - Marv Albert and Steve Kerr, SR: David Aldridge)
Game 4: Lakers @ Mavericks 3:30 (ABC - Mike Tirico and Hubie Brown, SR: Heather Cox)
Game 5: Red Wings @ Sharks 8:00 (Versus - John Forslund and Daryl Reaugh, ItG: Brian Engblom) (TSN - Chris Cuthbert, ItG: Ray Ferraro)
Game 4: Bulls @ Hawks 8:00 (TNT - Marv Albert and Steve Kerr, SR: David Aldridge)
Saturday, May 7, 2011
May 7 Playoffs Live Blog
So now that both Philadelphia teams are down, I am left hoping that one of either the Nashville Predators, San Jose Sharks, Oklahoma City Thunder, or Memphis Grizzlies win a championship. Just to make me feel somewhat better. As much as I love Simon Gagne and want him to be happy, him winning a Stanley Cup will open up a Philadelphia can of worms that I really do not want to deal with. As far as the NBA go, there are 4 teams I do not like left in the East, and 2 I do not like in the West. Suffice to say, the Thunder and the Grizzlies are the two that I actually like. Normally I'd add Vancouver to the list of hockey teams I would not mind see winning, but honestly, Mike Gillis has been a real turn off for me this year. A collapse against the Preds might be just what the doctor ordered for me.
Justin's bold prediction for the rest of the Conference Semifinals: The Detroit Red Wings will force Game 7.
Now onto the schedule and live blog.
Game 3: Thunder @ Grizzlies 5:00 (ESPN - Dave Pasch and Doris Burke, SR: Ric Bucher)
Game 5: Predators @ Canucks 8:00 (Versus - Dave Strader, ItG: Joe Micheletti) (CBC - Jim Hughson and Craig Simpson, ItG: Glenn Healy, SR: Scott Oake)
Game 3: Heat @ Celtics 8:00 (ABC - Mike Breen, Mark Jackson, and Jeff Van Gundy, SR: Lisa Salters)
Justin's bold prediction for the rest of the Conference Semifinals: The Detroit Red Wings will force Game 7.
Now onto the schedule and live blog.
Game 3: Thunder @ Grizzlies 5:00 (ESPN - Dave Pasch and Doris Burke, SR: Ric Bucher)
Game 5: Predators @ Canucks 8:00 (Versus - Dave Strader, ItG: Joe Micheletti) (CBC - Jim Hughson and Craig Simpson, ItG: Glenn Healy, SR: Scott Oake)
Game 3: Heat @ Celtics 8:00 (ABC - Mike Breen, Mark Jackson, and Jeff Van Gundy, SR: Lisa Salters)
The Philadelphia Flyers: Cathartic Ramblings Written After Game 3 That I Never Added On To
(After the Flyers lost Game 3, I decided I would write a season retrospective on the Flyers, conceding that the chances the Flyers had of coming back were likely minimal at best. I had a part of it written with the attempt to add more to it, but once everything ended, even though nothing changed, I could not think of anything else to write. So here is a half-completed 2010-2011 Flyers retrospective that I wrote for catharsis after Game 3. Enjoy it, if such things are to be enjoyed.)
Fatigue
Fatigue. Mental fatigue. Physical fatigue.
Exhaustion. Mental exhaustion. Physical fatigue.
It is the most reasonable explanation there is. After dominating the Buffalo Sabres in a 7-game series that saw the Sabres get a lot of luck, the Flyers got thoroughly manhandled by the Boston Bruins, who thoroughly manhandled the Flyers in 3 out of 4 games. Of course, the only game the Bruins did not dominate, Tim Thomas transformed himself into a brick wall that stopped everything in sight.
But let's go back and see what the Flyers have been through.
May 2010: Flyers comeback from 0-3 down to eliminate the Bruins.
June 2010: Flyers play a 6-game Stanley Cup Finals.
October 2010: Regular season starts after an abbreviated off-season for a team that had not been in the Stanley Cup Finals since 1997.
Late Winter 2011: Flyers hit a slump that almost costs them their division lead.
April 2011: Flyers need Game 82 to clinch the Atlantic Division. No regular season game could be used for rest.
Late April 2011: The Flyers play a 7-game series with the Buffalo Sabres that saw multiple comeback attempts, thanks in large part to some boneheaded decision making by Peter Laviolette.
May 2011: Flyers bow out to Boston in a sweep
May 2010-May 2011: Peter Laviolette works his team tirelessly in practice, perhaps more so than most coaches.
And when it is the playoffs and everyone plays in spite of the minor injuries, it is a recipe for disaster. And disaster is certainly one way to describe that series against the Bruins. When a team is physically and mentally drained like the Flyers were, and you are facing a good team with a good goalie, you could see the disaster coming a mile away. I did, I had hopelessly hoped that my feelings were deceiving me, but I had seen this loss coming. And sure enough, it did. The Bruins are hungry. The Flyers had no room left to store their food. It is not that they quit, or lacked Heart, or did not "want it," they simply had nothing left to give.
If Wishes Were Fishes, The World Would Be An Ocean
"If the Flyers would have gotten a franchise goalie, they would have won the Stanley Cup!"
This is a statement that you will likely see a lot of in the upcoming days. Whether it be from frustrated fans or members of the mainstream media looking to expand upon their narrative. But it is also something that you, no matter how certain of it you are in your mind, you cannot say in an intelligent discussion and still be taken seriously.
The above statement is what is known as a counter-factual argument. "If the Capitals had fired Bruce Boudreau last season, they would have eliminated the Lightning." "If the Flyers would have traded their 2011 1st round draft pick for Vokoun instead of Versteeg, they would still be playing hockey now." "If Peter Laviolette played match-ups better, the Flyers would have won this series easily."
The answer to all of those is simple: But they didn't. If the Flyers got a franchise goalie...but they didn't. If the Capitals fired Boudreau last year....but they didn't. If the Flyers got Vokoun instead of Versteeg....but they didn't. If Laviolette played match-ups better....but he didn't.
You can say the Flyers do not have elite goaltenders, but the problem comes not when you make that statement, but when you make the jump from that statement to saying that elite goaltending would have put them over the top this year. It is something you do not know, it is something you cannot go back and fix to see if you are right, and therefore, it is an argument that holds no ground. Is it a possibility that if the Flyers traded for Vokoun instead of Versteeg that they make the Stanley Cup? Yes it is. Is it a possibility that if the Flyers traded for Vokoun instead of Versteeg, they would have had a different playoff match-up, for better or worse? Yes it is. These are all possibilities, they are not givens. It is possible that without Kris Versteeg, the Flyers do not beat Buffalo. It is possible that with Vokoun they would have win the Stanley Cup. It is possible they would have gotten Vokoun, he gets injured, and the Flyers are without a 2011 draft pick, an elite goaltender, and Kris Versteeg. But just because something is possible, does not mean it would happen under a given set of conditions when that given set of conditions never materialized.
Fatigue
Fatigue. Mental fatigue. Physical fatigue.
Exhaustion. Mental exhaustion. Physical fatigue.
It is the most reasonable explanation there is. After dominating the Buffalo Sabres in a 7-game series that saw the Sabres get a lot of luck, the Flyers got thoroughly manhandled by the Boston Bruins, who thoroughly manhandled the Flyers in 3 out of 4 games. Of course, the only game the Bruins did not dominate, Tim Thomas transformed himself into a brick wall that stopped everything in sight.
But let's go back and see what the Flyers have been through.
May 2010: Flyers comeback from 0-3 down to eliminate the Bruins.
June 2010: Flyers play a 6-game Stanley Cup Finals.
October 2010: Regular season starts after an abbreviated off-season for a team that had not been in the Stanley Cup Finals since 1997.
Late Winter 2011: Flyers hit a slump that almost costs them their division lead.
April 2011: Flyers need Game 82 to clinch the Atlantic Division. No regular season game could be used for rest.
Late April 2011: The Flyers play a 7-game series with the Buffalo Sabres that saw multiple comeback attempts, thanks in large part to some boneheaded decision making by Peter Laviolette.
May 2011: Flyers bow out to Boston in a sweep
May 2010-May 2011: Peter Laviolette works his team tirelessly in practice, perhaps more so than most coaches.
And when it is the playoffs and everyone plays in spite of the minor injuries, it is a recipe for disaster. And disaster is certainly one way to describe that series against the Bruins. When a team is physically and mentally drained like the Flyers were, and you are facing a good team with a good goalie, you could see the disaster coming a mile away. I did, I had hopelessly hoped that my feelings were deceiving me, but I had seen this loss coming. And sure enough, it did. The Bruins are hungry. The Flyers had no room left to store their food. It is not that they quit, or lacked Heart, or did not "want it," they simply had nothing left to give.
If Wishes Were Fishes, The World Would Be An Ocean
"If the Flyers would have gotten a franchise goalie, they would have won the Stanley Cup!"
This is a statement that you will likely see a lot of in the upcoming days. Whether it be from frustrated fans or members of the mainstream media looking to expand upon their narrative. But it is also something that you, no matter how certain of it you are in your mind, you cannot say in an intelligent discussion and still be taken seriously.
The above statement is what is known as a counter-factual argument. "If the Capitals had fired Bruce Boudreau last season, they would have eliminated the Lightning." "If the Flyers would have traded their 2011 1st round draft pick for Vokoun instead of Versteeg, they would still be playing hockey now." "If Peter Laviolette played match-ups better, the Flyers would have won this series easily."
The answer to all of those is simple: But they didn't. If the Flyers got a franchise goalie...but they didn't. If the Capitals fired Boudreau last year....but they didn't. If the Flyers got Vokoun instead of Versteeg....but they didn't. If Laviolette played match-ups better....but he didn't.
You can say the Flyers do not have elite goaltenders, but the problem comes not when you make that statement, but when you make the jump from that statement to saying that elite goaltending would have put them over the top this year. It is something you do not know, it is something you cannot go back and fix to see if you are right, and therefore, it is an argument that holds no ground. Is it a possibility that if the Flyers traded for Vokoun instead of Versteeg that they make the Stanley Cup? Yes it is. Is it a possibility that if the Flyers traded for Vokoun instead of Versteeg, they would have had a different playoff match-up, for better or worse? Yes it is. These are all possibilities, they are not givens. It is possible that without Kris Versteeg, the Flyers do not beat Buffalo. It is possible that with Vokoun they would have win the Stanley Cup. It is possible they would have gotten Vokoun, he gets injured, and the Flyers are without a 2011 draft pick, an elite goaltender, and Kris Versteeg. But just because something is possible, does not mean it would happen under a given set of conditions when that given set of conditions never materialized.
Friday, May 6, 2011
May 6 Playoffs Live Blog
It's due or die time for the Flyers. Just don't get swept, okay guys?
Game 4: Sharks @ Red Wings 7:00 (Versus - John Forslund and Daryl Reaugh, ItG: Joe Micheletti) (TSN - Chris Cuthbert, ItG: Ray Ferraro)
Game 3: Bulls @ Hawks 7:00 (ESPN - Mike Tirico and Hubie Brown, SR: Heather Cox)
Game 4: Flyers @ Bruins 8:00 (Versus - JIP) (CBC - Bob Cole and Garry Galley, SR: Elliotte Friedman)
Game 3: Lakers @ Mavericks 9:30 (ESPN - Mike Breen, Mark Jackson, and Jeff Van Gundy, SR: Lisa Salters)
Game 4: Sharks @ Red Wings 7:00 (Versus - John Forslund and Daryl Reaugh, ItG: Joe Micheletti) (TSN - Chris Cuthbert, ItG: Ray Ferraro)
Game 3: Bulls @ Hawks 7:00 (ESPN - Mike Tirico and Hubie Brown, SR: Heather Cox)
Game 4: Flyers @ Bruins 8:00 (Versus - JIP) (CBC - Bob Cole and Garry Galley, SR: Elliotte Friedman)
Game 3: Lakers @ Mavericks 9:30 (ESPN - Mike Breen, Mark Jackson, and Jeff Van Gundy, SR: Lisa Salters)
Thursday, May 5, 2011
May 5 Playoffs Open Thread
There is only one playoff game tonight and I am going to the Phillies game (I've had these tickets months in advance, but really, for so many reasons, I could not have picked a better night for my first trip to Citizens Bank Park this season). I have an open thread here, though of course, if someone else sets up a live blog, then they are obviously more than welcome to do so.
Game 4: Canucks @ Predators 8:30 (Versus - Dave Strader, ItG: Darren Pang) (CBC - Jim Hughson and Craig Simpson, ItG: Glenn Healy, SR: Scott Oake)
Game 4: Canucks @ Predators 8:30 (Versus - Dave Strader, ItG: Darren Pang) (CBC - Jim Hughson and Craig Simpson, ItG: Glenn Healy, SR: Scott Oake)
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