The Flyers traveled to New Jersey tonight for a matchup with the New Jersey Devils, as they looked to get back on track following a loss to the Ottawa Senators in their last game. They did anything but on this night. They let up an early power play goal to Niclas Bergfors to put themselves behind 1-0 just 2 minutes into the 1st period and never recovered. By the end of the 1st period they were already behind 3-0 as Begfors scored another power play goal and Patrick Elias added a late score. It was not until late in the 2nd period that Claude Giroux finally put the Orange and Black on the board with a power play goal to cut it to 3-1. Then Elias added another score with just second left in the period to push it to 4-1 and that's how it ended with neither team scoring in th 3rd period. It could have been worse but the Flyer's defense hung in there to hold New Jersey to only 28 shots on goal. However, they took 6 penalties, which is too many, and could only kill off 4 of them. Also Brian Boucher did not play very well in goal, as he struggled to handle rebounds and gave up some cheap goals. Finally the Flyers mustered very it little offensively, with just 23 shots on goal and then one score by Giroux. Sure, they're missing top faceoff man Blair Betts, top power play Daroll Powe, and top points scorer Simon Gagne, but the Flyer's still have some dynamic scoring talent in Giroux, Jeff Carter, Mike Richards, Danny Briere, JVR, and Scott Hartnell and should be able to do better than this. Still there is surely no where to go at this point but up right? right?
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Friday, December 11, 2009
SIXERS NEWS
The Sixers welcomed the Houston Rockets to the Wachovia center tonight as they looked to snap an 11 game losing streak. The Sixers played fairly well on the night, even leading for a while early on, but they dropped off again in the 2nd half, and were forced to put together another desperate rally late in the 4th quarter which alas came up short once again. The Sixers shots just 41% from the field while Houston shot 44% and hit 8 threes, and proved to be the difference. Andre Iguodala led the way offensively for the Sixers with 24, Allen Iverson posted 20, Elton Brand had a nice night with 19 and 10 rebounds, and Thad Young worked hard for 15 and 11 rebounds. Defensively, in addition to holding Houston to just 44% shooting the Sixers also outrebounded them 52-40. Yet, they still couldn't get the stops they needed late in the game for the win. They just didn't defend the perimeter very well at times and allowed the Rockets to score in transition far too easily at times. The Sixers had an early 10 point lead after the 1st quarter, but Houston rallied back to within 3 at the half and by the 4th quarter they were up 10, as they went on to hold off the Sixers 96-91. So the Sixers drop their 12th in a row, and surely at this point there's nowhere to go but up right? right?
Thursday, December 10, 2009
FLYERS NEWS
After a 6-2 thumping of the Islanders in their last game the Orange and Black welcomed the Ottawa Senators to the Wachovia center as they looked to make it 2 in a row. Once again they played solid defense, holding the Sens to just 25 shots on goal, of which Brian Boucher saved 23. However, the Flyer's also went back to struggling to score on this night, as Brian Elliot saved all 23 shots the Flyer's threw at him. Try as they might the Flyers just couldn't get anything by Elliot, and eventuallyy fell 2-0 for their 6th loss in 7 tries. The Flyers just can't afford to keep losing close games like these or they'll never be able turn things around. I just hope it's not already too late for them to turn things around.
Wednesday, December 09, 2009
SIXERS NEWS
The Sixers welcomed the Detroit Pistons to the Wachovia center tonight as they looked to end their 10 game losing at last. They were this close to doin so, but in the end it was not to be on this night. scoring wise Andre Iguodala led the way with 18 , Sammy Dalembert dropped 17 and 11 rebounds, Elton Brand put 17, and That Young and Allen Iversion each added 11 to round out a balanced night of scoring, although the bench did seem to be lacking at times. Defensively, the Sixers performed solidly as they held Detroit to just 45% shooting from the field and only one 3 pointer. They also compiled 6 blocks and 7 steals, but were outrebounded by Detroit 45-32 which did not help matters. The Sixers trailed by 2 after 1 quarter of play, knotted it up at half and trailed by 4 heading into the 4th quarter with the score 67-63. Initially in the 4th Detroit pulled out to a double digit lead, before the Sixers put together one last furious rally that saw them pull back ahead briefly, fall back again then draw even again with just over 2 minutes to play and again as Iversion sunk a jumped to tie it at 86-86 with only about a minute to play. The Sixers fell behind again though and with 3 seconds left and the score now 88-86, Andre Iguodala got an open look at the 3 and the win but he missed and Detroit hung on to win 90-86 for the Sixers 11th loss in a row. What a team.
EAGLES NEWS
The Eagles rewarded Andy Reid today for the great job he has done as the head coach the last 11 years, by signing him to a 3 year extension. Reid has taken the Eagles to 5 NFC championship games and 1 superbowl in his tenure and owns more wins than any other coach in Eagle's history. Now it will be more of the same for the next 4 years with hopefully a superbowl victory mixed in.
Tuesday, December 08, 2009
FLYERS NEWS
The Flyers welcomed the New York Islanders to the Wachovia center tonight as they looked to end a 5 game losing streak. Before the game even started the Flyer's got some bad news when they learned Ray Emery will be sidelined for the next 6 weeks with an abdominal tear head had been trying to play through. Without Brian Boucher will start most of the games in that time, with the rookie Jonas Backlund, recently called up from the Phantoms, backing him up. The way Boosh has been playing I'm sure they'll be alright. Anyway back tonight's game. For the 2nd time in as many nights they Flyer's came out and played some inspired defense, holding the Isles to just 24 shots on goal, 22 of them saved by Boucher who really didn't face any serious scoring opportunities until late in the 2nd period. The Flyers did pick up 8 penalties though, thus presenting the Isles with 8 power play opportunities, and although they killed off 6 of them, they really can't afford to take that penalties on a daily basis. The 8 penalties didn't matter tonight though, as the Flyer's finally figured how score some goals again, that is 6 of them to be exact. In the first period Mike Richards scored twice, one on the power play and one shorthanded for a 2-0 lead. Jeff Carter scored twice early in the 2nd period to push it to 4-0. Then late in the period Claude Giroux scored the Flyer's 3rd power play of the night for a 5-2 lead. Giroux then scored again early in the 3rd period for a 6-2 lead en route a 6-2 Flyer's victory. So the losing is streak is over at last and you can only hope this will be a springboard to further success this season for the Orange and Black.
PHILLIES NEWS
The phils rounded out their bench for the next season, by signing power-hitting utility outfielder Ross Gload, formerly of the Florida Marlins, to a 2 year contract. This means of course that the veteran Matt Stairs won't return to the Phils next season, probably will retire.
Monday, December 07, 2009
FLYERS NEWS
After their worst performance in some the time Flyer's headed north of the border to Montreal for a matchup with the Canadiens, as they looked to snap a 4 game losing streak and give Peter Lavoliette his first win as Flyer's head coach. They played 100 times better defense on this night then they had against the Capitals, limiting the Habs to just 13 shots on goal and only 3 power plays. Unfortunately, the Flyer's themselves had just 15 shots on goal and did not do a good making them count as they went scoreless on 4 power play opportunities. Brian Boucher got the start in goal, for the struggling Ray Emery and played well, allowing just 3 goals, and saving 12 of the 15 shots he faced. at least 2 of those goals were really not his fault, as one came on a breakaway and the other came on a 100 mph slap shot, both of which Boosh probably never saw coming. Danny Briere scored midway through the 1st period to actually give the Flyer's a 1-0 lead, but they would not score again. By the end of the 2nd period the Habs had already rallied ahead 2-1, with 2 scores on just 9 shots in the period. Halfway through the 3rd period, the Habs went on the power play, during which Marc-Andre Bergeron uncorked a screaming slapshot over Boosh's head and in for a 3-1 lead. From there the Flyer's fought and clawed the rest of the way in an effort to draw even but their efforts proved to be for naught as they fell 3-1 for their 5th straight loss. At least this time though they showed good effort and weren't totally blown out, so Lavoliette is starting to reach them.
SIXERS NEWS
Allen Iverson made his regular season debut tonight with the Sixers, as they played host to the Denver Nuggets and looked to snap a 9 game losing streak. A.I sparked the Sixers to an early lead, thanks to superb team defense, and hot shooting from Andre Iguodala, and Thad Young, and for 3 quarters it looked like Iverson's first game back would be a w, but it was not to be. For his part Iverson played 38 minutes and put up 11 points, 6 assists, and 5 rebounds. Meanwhile, Andre Iguodala led the way for the Sixers on the night with 31, Thad Young dropped in 21, and Elton Brand added 10 and 9 rebounds. Defensively, the Sixers had one of their better nights, with 8 blocks, 7 steals, 47 rebounds to the Nuggets 41, and a 39% shooting percentage from the field for the Nuggets, currently the highest scoring team in the NBA. Unfortunately, the Nuggets also shot 60% from beyond the arc and that proved to be the difference. For the 1st 3 quarters the Sixers played front-runners, never trailing once, and taking a 2 point lead into the 4th quarter. It was all Denver in the 4th though as they began to lock down on defense and the Sixers just couldn't handle it, eventually falling by 10, 93-83, for their 10th straight loss. Still, at this point, with their record at 5-16 overall they remain only 3.5 games out of the 8th in the Eastern conference, so the season isn't over yet.
Sunday, December 06, 2009
EAGLES NEWS
Micheal Vick's return to Atlanta this afternoon was a success for he and the Eagles. Vick himself threw for 48 yards and a td and ran for 17 yds and another TD to help guide the Eagles to another win. Aside, from Vick other offensive standouts for the Birds on the day include Donovan Mcnabb who threw for 238 yards and a TD, Leonard who compiled a combined 100 yards of offense and a TD, and finally Jeremy Maclin and Reggie Brown who each stepped up in the absence of the injured Desean Jackson, to pull in 4 catches for 83 yards and 2 receptions for 64 yards respectively. It was the defense though that was truly the Eagle's big star on this afternoon. They held the Falcons , without Matt Ryan, Micheal Tuerner, or Micheal Jenkins, to under 300 total yards, with only 61 of them through the running game. The Birds also forced 4 Atlanta turnovers and took advantage of each of them in getting the win. The Eagles struck first midway through the 1st quarter, with a David Aker's field goal and a 4 yd TD pass from Mcnabb to Leonard Weaver for a 10-0 lead. Another Aker's field goal made it 13-0 in the 2nd quarter and an interception as time expired in the half kept it that way. In the 3rd quarter Vick ran for his first TD, and Sheldon Brown picked up the 2nd and last interception of the day for the Birds, returning it 83 yds for a TD and a 27-0 lead. That was day for Mcnabb as he left the game early in the 4th quarter to give Vick a chance to play in front of his old home crowd. Vick used the opportunity to drive down and toss a 5 yd TD pass to Brent Celek for a 34-0 lead, but he hurt his hand during the drive and had to leave the game in favor of Kevin Kolb. It didn't seem too serious though so I won't be worried. Anyway from there the Falcons finally managed to get on the board with a TD, to avoid an embarrassing shutout, before the Eagles closed out the 34-7 win. So the Birds move to 8-4 overall, now tied for 1st in the NFC East, and with a win next week against the Giants, they can just about clinch a playoff berth and are in position now to win the division and perhaps do more than just get to the playoffs.
FLYERS NEWS
For the hit that caused him to get a 9 minute major last nght, Dan Carcillo was hit with a 4 game suspension today. That seems to me a bit of a harsh punishment, considering Carcillo only threw one punch , but again the NHL is not on the Flyer's side.
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