First off, we in Philly had better prepare ourselves, as our road to the Stanley Cup is gonna go through Pittsburgh for quite some time....
This is a good team, one where it kills me that we had to lose Timonen (and Coburn) for this series... After Biron, Kimmo was the one player we couldn't afford to lose...
Philly and Pitt are both young teams, so as long as the Pens can afford to be a franchise we should both be in it for quite some time...
That is not at all what happened. The Pens always had plenty of fan support. The Civic Arena is the oldest in the NHL, it has been around since before the Pens were in existance. The Pens ownership had been asking for a new arena for years, and the city wasn't going to help out. So Mario threatened to leave if they didn't get a new arena, and it got the attention of everyone. So the city and state got together with Mario, and after a long negotiation they finally worked out a deal. I thank Gov. Rendell for that. So the new arena will be here in two seasons, and the Pens aren't going anywhere. AND NEITHER ARE THE FANS!!!
I agree Steel, the talk of the Pens leaving Pittsburgh never had anything to do with the fact that there was no fans support, their fans support was and is one of the biggest and strongest around. It was the fact of not getting a new arena deal in place, that almost cost Pittsburgh their beloved hockey team, but as he did in the past, Super Mario stepped in and save the Penguins once again.
So if you are going to make comments about the Penguins, make sure you have your facts straight first, ok, damn Filthadelfia Cryer Fans... LETS GO PENS... HEEEEE SHOOTS AND SCORES, MICHAEL, MICHAEL MOTORCYCLE
Granted Timmonen being out was a huge disappointment, but you have to still show up to play the game. Unfortunately, the Flyers didn't. They played with almost no intensity and when players were interviewed after the first game of the Pitt series they were already saying about "next year" basically saying who cares we got this far and thats good enough for us. As good as you are the year before, doesn't guarantee you anything the next season, ask Ottawa. At this point the Flyers will be lucky to win tonight, they already have the "we lost" mentality so if you think you will lose, then your going to lose, plain and simple. Alot of that is from poor coaching and lack of motivation and accountability. The Flyers team is in too much of a comfort zone because they know even if they make a mistake, nothing is going to be done about it, Stevens isn't going to punish poor play, he gives the players that don't deserve ice time, more time than the guys who are playing their hearts out every shift and not making mistakes. Also he toys with the lines too much, guys need consistency to gel and get comfortable, but he mixes and matches unnecessarily. Injuries are on thing but he changes things way too much breaking up lines that are playing great together.
Through out this entire year, the Flyers have started games flat, it would take them giving up a goal or two to finally get their heads into the game and play, but usually it was too late. That is a major coaching problem when your team starts off games, especially rivalry games and playoff games completely flat. It looked at times like the whole team got called an hour before the game and told they were having a game that night. They had no leadership or direction from the coach and the decisions he did make were completely horrible, John Stevens is a mediocre AHL level coach at the very most. This Flyers team needs discipline and direction, that Stevens cannot provide.
On the positive side, they made a remarkable turn around and that was all the players. Richards really carried that team on his back and Carter came up big when Richard's was out. They are a few players away from really being a series threat. They need to cut lose some of the dead weight and get a coach that is a displinarian and rules with an iron fist, not a friend. They'll have some cap room with Jason Smith likely to leave, they have talent to trade and make deals, so far Holmgrem has done good with his dealings. They really killed themselves not getting Campbell at the deadline or atleast another solid defensemen. Hopefully Gagne will be able to come back next year and be healthy that would make a good top line with Gagne Briere and Prospal, still need the defense though.
