Pens v Flyers 2009 Playoffs
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Monday, April 13, 2009 at 11:45am Edit Note Delete
Surprising nobody, I will state that NHL playoff time is one of my favorite times of year. There is no other professional playoff that has the excitement of the NHL. To win Lord Stanleys cup you have to w win 4 BEST of SEVEN playoff series! This will test your teams talent, determination, depth,focus and mentality like no other. The Penguins get to start this year's run with their most hated rivals! This can be either a good thing or a bad thing. These teams are very evenly matched this year as evidenced by the fact that they both finished with 99 pts in the standings, and the Pens finish 4th, while the Flyers are fifth by virtue of 1 extra victory by the Pens. Lets look at the factors that go into evaluating the potential winner of a playoff series:GOALTENDING: Fleury and Biron are also very even for the season in key stats:Fleury is slightly better in goals against at 2.67 to Birons 2.76, while Biron is slightly better in save % at .915 to Fleury's .912. Both played well in last years playoffs, but Fleury was better in getting the Pens to the Finals........the key factor here is that despite the seasonal similarities in stats, Fleury is playing better over the past 10 games..........so, EDGE to Pens...............SPECIAL TEAMS: Flyers have an edge in the season on the power play clicking at 22.5% for the season, while the Pens were 17.2% for the season. It is important to note that the Pens have been clicking at nearly 26% over the past 10-12 games, so I will call PP even. The Penalty Kill for the Pens on the season is 82.7% while it is 83% for the Flyers, again nearly even. I will give the Special Teams edge to the Flyers based on their season long ability to score short handed......but the Pens have improved on both the PP and PK the last quarter of the season. Special Teams will be big in this series, as the Flyers play a physical game on the edge, generally taking their share of penalties. Our ability or inability to cash in on the power play and avoid short handed tallies will be a key to the outcome.SCORING: The Penguins scored 289 goals for the season according to Fox Sports and the Flyers 252 goals according to the same source, giving the Pens a slight edge here in scoring. Goals against was 1 less goal allowed for the Flyers, so very even for the season. Interestingly enough, the experts give the Flyers the edge in scoring balance due to the fact that they have four players with 30 plus goals, one of whom has 46, while the Pens have only two players with 30 or more goals and nobody with 40.......However, I will argue that the Pens have MORE balance through the linuep based on the following:The Flyers top 6 goal scorers, Jeff Carter, Mike Richards, Simon Gagne, Scott Hartnell, Joffrey Lupul, and Mike Knuble accounted for 192 of the 252 goals, leaving 60 for the rest of the current team to chip in......*all numbers are based on the goal scoring of current team members, and does not count those goals scored by players that have been traded away*The Penguins top 6 goal scorers, Malkin, Crosby, Kunitz, Staal, Guernin, and Sykora only account for 159 of the Pens 289 goals, leaving 130 goals scored by the remaining team members or more than double! After the top 6 goal scorers with 20 plus goals for the Flyers, they only Briere in double digits, while the Pens have the following double digit goal scorers:Satan at 17, Fedotenko at 16, Kennedy at 15, Cooke at 13, Dupuis at 12, Talbot at 12, Letang at 10.........Based on this, the Pens actually have the more balanced attack from a goal scoring perspective. Both teams have a great top 6, with the Pens having two of the top 3 scoring leaders in the NHL, and the Flyers having the second leading goal scorer in the NHL, and more 30 plus goal scorers. The Pens however have far more "secondary" scoring with an additional 7 players on their playoff roster who have double digit goals to just one for the Flyers. This scoring balance may be one of the key components to a Pens series victory.TRENDS: The Pens are 17-3-4 since Bylsma took over in mid February, making them one of the hottest teams over past two months in the NHL. They are also 7-2-1 over the last 10 games. In contrast, the Flyers are 4-5-1 over their past 10 games, and lost a home game that would have given them home ice to close the season. The Pens have an edge in momentum, and they won the seaon series 4-2. Despite the fact that hisorically the Flyers have owned the Pens, the Pens have had the better of the play from mid season LAST YEAR through the playoffs and this season. To me, that means I like the Pens in 6 games...........However, this rivalry is like the Backyard Brawl and like other long term, local rivalries, you can throw the records out the window and just watch....anything can happen here.....it should be FUN!!







Notice the Resemblance to my boy Hartnell?
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Don Widdicombe at 3:39pm April 13
In the scoring department you failed to mention that Danny Briere, who was injured for 75% of the season, was not in the top 6 scorers on our team. Now he has come back and is playing well, that adds another player to that mix. Even more threatening is the Flyers (after cutting two players and trading Upshall away to create cap space) have ... Read Morebrought up a rookie, Claude Giroux, who is probably as gifted if not more than Kennedy, Cooke, Dupuis, Talbot and even Kunitz. That give the Flyers 8 (almost 3 lines) players that are pure scorers. Still, I think the Pens are just playing better and should win the series in 7 games (we blew the home ice yesterday!), but there is a lot more depth then we had last year. In fact, I think Gagne and even a few defensemen were not playing for last year's series. Should be interesting and fun to watch. I pray that Crosby doesn't ask the refs for tissues though.


Steve Mazefsky at 4:26pm April 13
Don, I agree about Briere, and considered commenting, but the Pens have a similar situation with Gonchar and his projected numbers had he played the full season, and chose to ignore as they cancel each other out. Both teams have a player in the lineup that would normally be in the top goal scoring numbers that were not due to injury. Gonch would ... Read Morehave added nice PP numbers to all Pens goal scorers......I like Giroux also, but he did play 42 games to get his numbers, a bit more than half.........I agree Flyers have 8 legit threats, I just think the Pens have 10 or so...........both teams are strong, and one very big threat in the East is gone after rd 1 either way.


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Am I starting to like the Flyers?? Just a little!
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Sunday, March 22, 2009 at 7:00pm Edit Note Delete
I know, I know......as a western PA hockey fan you are born and bred to HATE the Flyers....and I sure have......years of being beaten by them have made the success the past couple of years extra sweet. During last years playoffs I had this special jersey made so that I could attempt to irritate the subject of my aggravation as much as possible during the playoffs from my vantage point right next to the visitors tunnel. Last year, the mission was accomplished! As I hung this jersey over the side of the rail and uttered some unprintables, Mr. Hartnell and a few others were happy to respond in kind, and worse! I hate to admit it at my age, that I found this fun, but frankly.........I DID!!This year, for whatever reason, this player decided that the jersey was funny. The ushers would tell me how he laughed when he saw it, and he would actually wave in the tunnel between periods of the home game, and the banter back and forth was..........well, I hate to admit.........FRIENDLY...........Mike Richards even threw my daughter a puck as they came off the ice, despite the fact that she was with me before the last game. I decided that the banter with the jersey alone had gotten boring, so I went out to get an orange wig to match Hartnells rather odd haircut/color and made a sign to up the ante. I was greeted today with friendly banter, laughter and again Mike Richards tossed a puck to my daughter as they came off the ice. A few minutes later, one of the Flyers trainers told me that Scott would love to autograph the jersey if I would like that. I told him that this would be great, but I did not really believe it, as players NEVER sign autographs there......never. With a couple minutes left in the game, they asked for my jersey to be sent down into the locker room, and despite my cynical nature, I took it off, and it disappeared into the tunnel. As the game ended, and he went through the tunnel, Scott Hartnell handed me the stick he used in the game, and a minute later the trainer brought out the jersey that he signed as the jersey read.........To my biggest fan, your bud.......Scott Fartsmell. Yes, he actually signed it Fartsmell!I have to tell you that the fact that he took the ribbin in stride, joked back, and then took the time to sign this jersey in the manner that he did, left a very lasting impression. I will not say it too loudly here, but WHAT A CLASS ACT AND GOOD SPORT! The Flyers, more than other visiting team go out of their way to take care of their fans in our arena, but to go out of their way to interact with me, given my attire and loyalties was well above the call of duty to say the least. All three trainers and equipment managers for that team were just as fun to joke around with! Best wishes, and good luck Flyers, except when you play us. And THANKS for a fun time