44 players were traded in 25 deals on Tuesday before the NHL trading deadline. The Flyers acquitted themselves nicely, gaining several draft picks, young players, and a guy who should be able to step in to be the number one netminder that has been missing for years.
I can't believe I'm writing this, but I really like the moves the GM Paul Holmgren made in the past few weeks. He's had some duds to be sure -- Mike York, anyone? -- but in dealing Peter Forsberg, Alexei Zhitnik, and Kyle Calder he shed a significant amount of payroll while at the same time getting younger and quicker, especially on the blueline.
Given these developments, it's not entirely unreasonable to make the argument that Holmgren should be retained as the team's general manager. The only drawback that I can see is that in dealing Zhitnik, Holmgren guaranteed that Derian Hatcher will remain with the team as the only veteran defenseman (not counting Joni Pitkanen, but really -- is anyone?). And, while the Daily News' Ed Moran would disagree with me, I still say the team needs to cut its losses in regards to Hatcher.
**See below for some extra deadline day commentary and analysis:
Showing posts with label Moran. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Moran. Show all posts
Thursday, March 1, 2007
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Classless
That's the cleanest word I can come up with right now for how I feel about the Buffalo Sabres. Buffalo was well on it's way to victory last night against Philadelphia when I witnessed something that should have been contemptible at the least and downright inexcusable at the most.
With all of five seconds left in the third period and trailing 6-3, the Flyers were whistled for a penalty. The faceoff was in the Flyers' defensive zone, to the left of goalie Antero Niittymaki. Remember, Buffalo was winning 6-3 with five seconds left in the game. There was absolutely zero chance for the Flyers to win this game. All that was left was for the linesman to drop the puck and for the timekeeper to run off five seconds.
So, what does Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff do? He sends out his number one powerplay unit to take the draw -- with five seconds left!! The worst part is that the players actually went for it. Sabres center Daniel Briere, who, in the interest of full disclosure, is on my fantasy team, won the draw back to the point and the defenseman actually took a shot that was, thankfully, blocked.
What was the point to this? For the players, it's a chance to pad the stats. For Ruff, a chance to run up the score on a team that he's had a few run-ins with over the years. (One incident that comes to mind is when Ruff was pelted in the face with a beer after the Sabres eliminated the Flyers from the playoffs a few years back. Talk about wasting a beer.)
This whole incident displays to me the complete lack of respect and classlessness -- if that's even a word -- that the Sabres embody. Once upon a time I felt bad about the no-goal Stanley Cup loss they suffered. I could even get onboard with them in the whole small market, underdog thing they had going for awhile. Not anymore.
Combine the worst uniform/logo in all of hockey with the utter disrespect they show to their opponents and you come up with a team that deserves nothing but disdain from every self-respecting hockey fan.
POST-SCRIPT: You know what the worst part of this is? This incident didn't receive one mention in either Tim Panaccio's or Ed Moran's recount of the game. For all the talk lately of how the Flyers have started to stand up for one another, where was it last night at the end of the game? They just rolled over and took it from the Sabres. So long as that keeps happening, they have no chance of improving.
With all of five seconds left in the third period and trailing 6-3, the Flyers were whistled for a penalty. The faceoff was in the Flyers' defensive zone, to the left of goalie Antero Niittymaki. Remember, Buffalo was winning 6-3 with five seconds left in the game. There was absolutely zero chance for the Flyers to win this game. All that was left was for the linesman to drop the puck and for the timekeeper to run off five seconds.
So, what does Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff do? He sends out his number one powerplay unit to take the draw -- with five seconds left!! The worst part is that the players actually went for it. Sabres center Daniel Briere, who, in the interest of full disclosure, is on my fantasy team, won the draw back to the point and the defenseman actually took a shot that was, thankfully, blocked.
What was the point to this? For the players, it's a chance to pad the stats. For Ruff, a chance to run up the score on a team that he's had a few run-ins with over the years. (One incident that comes to mind is when Ruff was pelted in the face with a beer after the Sabres eliminated the Flyers from the playoffs a few years back. Talk about wasting a beer.)
This whole incident displays to me the complete lack of respect and classlessness -- if that's even a word -- that the Sabres embody. Once upon a time I felt bad about the no-goal Stanley Cup loss they suffered. I could even get onboard with them in the whole small market, underdog thing they had going for awhile. Not anymore.
Combine the worst uniform/logo in all of hockey with the utter disrespect they show to their opponents and you come up with a team that deserves nothing but disdain from every self-respecting hockey fan.
POST-SCRIPT: You know what the worst part of this is? This incident didn't receive one mention in either Tim Panaccio's or Ed Moran's recount of the game. For all the talk lately of how the Flyers have started to stand up for one another, where was it last night at the end of the game? They just rolled over and took it from the Sabres. So long as that keeps happening, they have no chance of improving.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
