NHL

Greeaaattt. The word coming down is that the Flyers will sign a new goalie after the July 1 opening of free agency.

You got it, Ray Emery.

Philly.com describes his as:

He has a history of being a hothead, a fighter on the ice and in the locker room, a man who liked to live fast and drive cars so fast that the Ottawa police liked to pull him over. A player who missed practices and team planes and ultimately had his contract bought out and had to go to Russia to grow up and refocus.

Wow, that’s just what a struggling team needs. It is a perfect fit!

I twittered Rile Cote, Flyers tough guy about it, but I don’t think he will reply. Here is hoping…

If there was one name I really remember from my childhood, honestly, it was Philadelphia Flyer Peter Zezel. I’m not going to quote all the things he had done as a Flyer or as a hockey player, as you can read most of them at the wikipedia article. He was drafted by the Flyers when he was only 19…

I also remember he had a small role in the movie Youngblood. If you have no idea what movie I am talking about, then you aren’t into hockey. At all.

Mr Zezel suffered from hemolytic anemia, a rare blood disorder in which red blood cells are destroyed faster than the body can replace them. He slipped into a coma earlier this week and was removed from life support today. He then passed away. He was only 44…

Wow. It’s been quite a while since I’ve posted. Although I am a twitter maniac lately, so if you want to be kept up to date, you can always subscribe there.

I’ll keep things short. The Flyers bit the bullet in the first round of the playoffs. I wasn’t as upset as I usually get (aka, really pissed off) because I knew it was coming. The sooner the better. So far, it’s been a pretty decent playoffs. The Rangers AND the Devils also bit it in the first round, so lift isn’t too bad. The only team left that I hate with a passion is the Penguins. I actually wouldn’t hate their team quite as much without the whiny baby Crosby, but that’s just life. So let’s all cheer any team that plays against Pittsburgh.

Jen and I have slowly begun collecting all of the things we (believe) will need to go camping with Emily for a few nights. Slowly but surely the garage is filling up with all kinds of fun stuff. Everything should work out just fine, as long as it doesn’t rain too hard.

Other then that, things just keep rolling. House projects have pretty much halted, but now that the weather is starting to get a bit nicer (minus all the freaking rain), I am sure some of this will pick up again. I have to finish the upstairs bathroom ceiling as well as all the trim work. Then I have to actually tile the bathroom closet as well. That should be a real party. Next is the dreaded basement.

After having a water collection/sump pump system installed, the basement is pretty much a tattered mess. Two of the four walls are half torn down, and all of that needs to be fixed and re-covered. We aren’t sure if we are going to re-drywall it or try something else like wood slats, etc. Time will tell.

Welp. I’m just not used to the Flyers playing so terribly at the end of a season. 4-4-1 is not what I call inspired hockey.

Chalk up another terrible game tonight against the Rangers. All the Flyers needed was 1 point to clinch home ice in the playoffs, and they couldn’t do it. The Rangers stole the game 4-3 with some very ugly goals, but I can tell you right now that this is not the type of loss that helps right before the playoffs. Now it’s Penguins-Flyers in the first round with the Pens having home ice.

Pens in 5, just like last year.

The Flyers seemed to be comfortably stuck in 4th place in the Eastern Conference, but honestly, due to some really terrible play, they have now been bumped to 5th, and have lost home ice.

Well ain’t that grand. Everyone else in the conference seems to be getting hot, unlike the Flyers who just lost 3 of their last 4, and are 5 and 5 in their last 10.

5 and 5 doesn’t cut it in the stretch boys. I’m not the only one that agrees. Ask Paul Holmgren, the GM:

“We’re at a critical point. We’re in a playoff position now, but based on how we’re playing, it’s certainly not a sure thing, and we need to play better,” Holmgren said. “I think that’s our key guys.”

Jeff Carter, Mike Richards, Mike Knuble and Scott Hartnell “need to step up now,” the GM said. “They’ve done their share for most of the season. They’ve played fairly consistently, but now it’s all about sealing the deal and getting ourselves into a sure playoff position.”

Even normally quiet John Stevens has had enough:

“I don’t think we dug in and did the little things necessary to win,” Stevens said after yesterday’s practice in Voorhees. “That’s three games in a row we’re playing catch-up, and that’s a tough way to play. We have to do the little things better early.”

I think Stevens is a bit like big Andy Reid. He rarely shows emotions where other people can see it. He rarely gets angry or even shows much emotion. Being a hothead, I’m not used to that. I think we need to light a fire under some of these guys. Give us your thoughts Scotty Hartnell:

“We didn’t come in with an attitude,” Hartnell said. “It was pretty evident in the way we played. We were soft; we weren’t involved. We didn’t go to the hard areas. We didn’t play with a Flyers attitude.”

That about sums it up. It seems hard to believe. The orange and black were at the same point last year, but went on a 7-1-1 run at the end of the season to seal the deal for the playoffs. The stretch is when they usually play their best and most inspired hockey. This year, the point totals are too close, and honestly, something better change or I think they will be on the outside looking in…

Wow, I love Flyers road trips. The Orange and Black played a game in Anaheim this evening versus the Ducks. Game time was 10PM Eastern, and of course, the game went into an overtime shootout.

Whew. My nerves can’t take the shootout. Big win for the Flyers though, and the game finally ended 5-4 Flyers at 12:54AM.

Tomorrow night’s game starts at 10:30PM Eastern. Let’s hope that doesn’t go into OT as well…

Just as I thought, the good old fans of Philly didn’t disappoint. Oh well, let’s put politics aside for now.

Flyers got killed in the open period. It was 4-0 by the end of the first, and Stevens had to pull Biron for the backup Niittymaki (whom posted a shutout from that point on). I think the loss had mainly to do with the fact that the Rangers had already played 4 regular season games and this was the first game for the Flyers. That’s what I am hoping anyway. In the end, the orange and black came back and almost tied the game several times in the 3rd period, but just couldn’t get it done. I’ll take the 4-3 loss (for now).

Eagles take the win! Better yet, Dallas quarterback Romo broke his pinkie finger on his throwing hand. Sorry folks, but hahahaha. I am an Eagles fan. I am required by law to hate all that is Dallas.

On a different note, I finally broke down and ordered a cold air intake for the Ram1500. I’ve been reading forums here and there and some people have boasted better gas mileage. I honestly won’t hold my breath, but it will give a chance to tinker around under the hood without breaking anything major. Pictures will follow…

I feel as if I have lost the urge to blog. I dunno, maybe I just don’t have anything important to say these days. Although, let’s be honest, when did I ever. Check the archives, there really isn’t anything groundbreaking there. I really should get back to posting more. I’m not sure what to say.

I pretty much hate watching the Eagles anymore. Watching yet another year of crap and horrible offense piled on top of shockingly mediocre defense is really getting to me. Watching big Andy Reid talk about how “we have to improve” and how he has to call better plays year after year is driving me nuts. The Eagles offense never changes, it never evolves, it just continues to suck when it is needed most. They are terrible in the clutch.

The Bills went 4-0 before exploding to the Cardinals. 4 and freaking 0. The Buffalo Freaking Bills. They are basically at the top of the AFC and still the Eagles fart along at the end of the pack. Oh well.

The Flyers are just getting their season underway and really, I can’t honestly say I am hopeful. The head office has made some changes, but nothing super dramatically different happened from last year. No big signings, no major changes. I can’t see the team getting that extra push it needs with signing cheap has-beens or even cheaper never-were players.

Penn State is 6-0 and ranked #6 in the country. So far, they haven’t (in my opinion) played any teams that have really tested them. That’s coming up though, I promise you.

The Soul won the Arena Bowl. Holy freaking crap. Although that still doesn’t make Philly a championship city. I think I am one of the few people I know that even cares about the Arena League.

The Phils have made it to the post-season this year. They look to be playing pretty strong, but I’m sure it is only a matter of time before they too rip my heart out and stomp on it. Give it time, it’s there.

Lastly, work kinda sucks. The whole “lets buy Macs” thing is really starting to burn me. They just don’t work the way we need them to. They aren’t lasting and/or taking the abuse that high school kids and teachers (more teachers it seems) dish out. But that’s what happens when truly uninformed people make truly uninformed decisions. I can hardly wait until their warranties expire, because that alone may drive our budget into the hole. So far out of about 450 MacBooks, we have had to replace 6 hard drives, 3 motherboards, 3 wireless cards, and over 120 batteries. I only say over 120 because at this point we have totally lost count. Add all that up and I would have to say that I am not impressed. Don’t even get me started on the supposed super friendly and even more super helpful Apple tech support. In a nutshell, it doesn’t exist.

Done!