Friday, July 24, 2009

Oh, Danny Boy...

There has been an amazing development at the Batt-Man house...

I received in the mail yesterday something that is very special to me, and meant SPECIFICALLY for the readers of my dear blog (The quality of my fans is more important than quantity, remember that.


In a series of special treats I had planned for you folks, I sent out questionnaire's to some of the best and brightest Philadelphia Flyers out there, past and present, in an attempt to get some inside access on their thoughts towards different topics of our choosing.

The first letter to be sent back was by... drum roll......


DANIEL BRIERE.



This is a great victory for the Live From Broad Street people. I am very happy.


Have I built this up enough? This is the best thing ever.ever. I have received a few autographs from the strapping young man, and they don't even touch this time-consuming piece of letter he sent to me.

Without further delay... Here it is.



(Click to make it readable)

I know it is only 5 questions, and 5 questions that some may find stupid and/or irrelevant, but it is what I wanted people to know, SO BACK OFF! (Billy Madison style).


That is just the first one for you guys...I expect plenty more to come, including many tough customer's!


I hope you enjoyed very very much.

Update

HELLO fans. Sorry, I haven't been updating much, but there really isn't a whole lot to update in Flyer-land.


For those who need my site for their fix on the Flyers, here's what has happened since I last wrote:

The Flyers announced the signings of 5: Jason Ward, Krys Kolanos, Mika Pyorala and Joey Mormina to one-year contracts. They have also signed Lukas Kaspar to a one-year deal, the only player that I think has a prayer of making the team.



That's it, really. Oh, more fun news is that the Cote Carnival 2009 is going to have Ray Emery as a guest this year. He is the only other player officially signed on to be making an appearance at the moment.

If you would like tickets, go to www.cotecarnival.net



Check back for more updates, including a special series I have for you guys!

Friday, July 10, 2009

Off-season acquisition review #1:

Raymond Emery.





I am writing this article because the appearance of him on Twitter has caught my attention, and I’ve been meaning to write this series of article anyway, so why not start off with our first major acquisition?

The story on Emery: Great up and coming goaltender for the Ottawa Senators, fought Neil Little and the Phantoms as a Bingham Senator a few years back, made it to the big show and kicked some major ass and went to the Stanley Cup Finals (against Pronger, mind you) but failed,sadly… Here’s some fun info from, I know, Wikipedia….don’t take it verbatim.


“He once made a $500 bet with Senators captain Daniel Alfredsson, which required Emery to eat a cockroach that had been found on the floor of a Carolina dressing room. He won the bet, and used the money to get another tattoo on his right arm which read, "Anger is a Gift".”

What a cool looking guy. He is also huge on style. I need some help from him I think…I’m a young white man with no style whatsoever.




The following season, the Senators had many issues, one being an apparent disharmonious locker room for the Sens, with Emery being at the center. Long story made short, the Sens fell apart and used Emery as the scapegoat. He was bought out, and went to Russia. He then put up pretty good numbers, but still had some issues with his team. He went after the Atlant Moscow Oblast’s trainer after constant pressure to put on a baseball cap; I’d love to blame him and say he’s out of control for this, but that'd have me upset too.

Who cares, that’s in that past.


NOW, he is a Philadelphia Flyers. He signed a one year, 1.5 million dollar contract to fly the orange and the black. I’m sure we weren’t his ONLY option, so it is nice to have someone of his caliber be understanding of our cap situation and be willing to be another piece to the Stanley Cup winning puzzle. He has the attitude that reminds us Flyers fans of Ron Hextall, but probably has more potential. Either way, with the additions of Pronger, Laperriere and himself…the crease WILL be cleared from the “Happy Feet” Penguins.




He took the uniform number 29…..hmmm….interesting. There is no reason for the choice, but I personally think it is because many Flyer tough-customers donned that number (Todd Fedoruk is the first that comes to mind).
I think he was the perfect fit considering our cap situation…the upside is very high, but if he goes, I don’t think Boucher is enough to get the job done. All I know is, I want to see a combination of Rocky/Apollo Creed/Bernard Hopkins on his helmet next season!
Good luck, Ray.

Monday, July 6, 2009

Chris Pronger, the comedian.

Chris Pronger is the man. I love his game in every aspect, ranging from his shot from the point, physical play, leadership and defensive positioning....but I've come to learn something else about him that I love:

His personality.


Photobucket

I sat and watched his press conference at noon today, and sat there laughing continuously after each response to reporters.

One of the more interesting statements made by Pronger, referring to his reputation as a player, was "I put a lot of pressure on myself...fans are booing, in my hometown...it's up to the player's to be held accountable for their playing"

When a reporter asked "What kind of message can you send to them (Malkin/Crosby), as a Flyer?", Pronger smiled and said "I think you know the answer to that". The reporter said "I know what I'm thinking, what are you thinking?", Pronger again smiled in a laughing matter and said "I'll just let you come up with your own...we don't want to pre-meditate anything, now do we?"

He is a very hilarious fellow, I have to admit.

Another reporter brought up a quote from Chris, that said "...you said you need two shut down defenseman against these two guys (Malkin/Sid, again)...". Chris confidently went "No, two shut-down pairs..." ::pause:: Chris added "That's four" and held up four fingers for the reporter, and the room erupted in laughter at the reporter

Just when we thought Pronger had beaten the reporter down to a proverbial pulp, he added again: "But he plays them sometimes together...". Pronger said quickly "Well, then you put your two top-D together."

I have to say, Pronger made the reporters of this city look bad. Regardless, the press conference continued on.


Another guy threw out to Chris "...Braydon Coburn said last week he had a poster of you in his bedroom wall growing up...", and Chris quickly said "So he's the one!"


I admit, I chuckled at this one pretty heartily.


When asked about why the number 20, he said it was because of his father's number playing hockey. A reporter asked if he played like his father, Chris replied in a laughing manner "I hope not. You obviously haven't seen him play... I took his number, but not his game."


and the last comment I want to share about this amazing person

When asked "Do you feel 34?"...he said "I feel 24" with another smile on his face.



I can't be anymore excited for this upcoming season than I am now. The Flyers logo looked amazing draped across this man's chest. Good luck to him and let's hope the Stanley Cup is making a return to PA next year, but flying the orange and black this time.

Friday, July 3, 2009

Flyers Offseason Reviewed...so far at least..

Well, it is Day 3 of Free Agency and I just wanted everyone to be caught up on how awesome I am at predicting these things.



I wrote an article after the 1st round of the playoffs, I think, about which free agents the Flyers should gun for even with their limited cap space. I think I did a pretty good job, considering almost all of these guys re-sign or signed for under 2 million dollars a year (Besides you, Sir Scuderi….figures that LA overpaid you).

Defense


1. ROBERT SCUDERI! – [4 years, 3.40 Mill a year]. I was a big fan of his this season, and became a bigger one after the playoffs (just like everyone else)…but by the time he hit Free Agency, the Flyers had already fixed their defensive woes, so it doesn’t bother me at all that LA went out and spent major dough on him.

2. Greg Zanon – [3 years, 1.93 Mill a year]. I’m just stunned by this. He was the #1 priority for me, as far as the Flyers go because I knew we could get him, and get him cheap, but I didn’t know it would’ve been THIS cheap. He’ll thrive in Minnesota among their new look team. Good luck to him.

3. Ossi Vaananen - [Nowhere yet]. I’m a fan, obviously. My list has changed a tad bit in regards to him even being on it… I had originally put him on this list as a cheap option to pair with Kimmo Timonen, and that would bump down more talented defensemen down to round-out the corps, but now that we’ve acquired Chris Pronger, there isn’t a gaping hole as there was before. Good luck pal.



Offense

1. Mark Recchi- [Re-sign Boston, 1 yr 1 Mill] – COME ON! I wanted you back at a cheap rate, but noooooooooooooo you were hell bent on going back to Boston, where you’ve only played for 30-40 games. TRAITOR! Fine! We’ve got Ian Laperriere instead.

2. Patrick Thoresen – [ 2 years, ??? for some KHL team]- Same thing as Recchi…I would’ve loved to have had you back man. I think you could’ve helped piece together the magic that team had in 07-08 during that run to the ECF’s (which easily could’ve been a SCF….yes, if Timm/Coburn didn’t get hurt.) Good luck in Russia.

3. Scottie Upshall – [Nowhere]. Uh I’m not sure that he’ll be out there for the Flyers to grab, but due to their recent shedding of poundage at the RW position, it would be a great idea to pick up someone to keep that goal total close to what it was last year (which it won’t, but I’m alright as long as the Goals Against is lowered). Let’s hope he can play for 2 Mill a year and bring some chemistry, and sparkplug back to the roster.

4. Colby Armstrong – [Nowhere]. Same thing as Upshall, for the most part. I’m just waiting to see what happens as an RFA, and hopefully the Flyers could sign a guy like him. Just so I don’t sound like a broken record, I’m ending it with this: He’d be nice.


The end. How awesome am I? Most signed under 2 million a year…which is what we have to work with.


The new candidate I do have is Ales Kotalik for the wing, but I’m very sure that his price is way too high for us.






I've also thrown my support to Mike Zigomanis (as I'm sure the girls at Puck Huffers are well aware of!) to do what he does best, which is win faceoff after faceoff.






We’ll see.

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

NHL FREE AGENT FRENZY!

WOW


What a totally underwhelming first day of free agency for the Philadelphia Flyers…
I’m not surprised; I wasn’t expecting anything major to happen when we have no salary cap room. Here’s just a summary of some of the moves that have happen so far related to the Flyers in some way:






1. Mike Knuble – (Washington Capitals)….I can’t say I’m shocked this went down. I had been hearing for a little while that “Iron Mike” may’ve been heading to Wsh. They needed a guy like him and he’ll be a nice addition. Sad to see him go.




2. Patrick Thoresen – (Somewhere in the KHL)… NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. I’m fucking pissed. I love you man, I love you. You had to stay out of the NHL..didn't you? Damnit.



3. Brian Boucher – (Us) …I’m actually pretty OK with this one. We needed someone who is cheaper than Emery, and Boucher is coming off of a pretty good year in San Jose (then again, it was SJ’s stacked team). 3rd time is a charm I suppose.





4. Ian Lapierre – (Us again) … I’m actually THRILLED with this signing. 3 years at 1.17 per year, and he’s a great locker room presence. He’s a tough little bastard, and can alleviate some stress from Carter/Richards on the PK. We may regret the 3rd year, but that’s fine. I think two things can be assumed from this signing:




1. No one wants to f*** with the Flyers this year.

2. Riley Cote may’ve lost his job.