Yea I said it...Boucher. Anybody who either knows me or has read any of my previous posts knows that I like Boucher slightly more than Cindy, but I give respect when it's due and Boosh earned it tonight...wow what a game for no. 33. It's games like this that drive me up a fucking wall about this guy...he's capable of playing the way he did today but the next game he plays he'll probably fall back into the old Boosh we're so used to seeing. But enough of trashing him for tonight, let him bask in his glory for getting the W over that machine the B's got in between their pipes.
Tonight was pretty much as close to textbook Flyers hockey as you'll get. Superb puck movement, good solid checks, crisp passing, nice grinding in the corner, winning puck battles and just pure hustle...we also had the added bonus of supreme goaltending, all in all, it was an excellent day to be a fan of the boys in Orange and Black. Prongs made a pretty rookie mistake that led to the lone B's goal but Richie finally made an OT goal count (lol!) and the boys got their 2 points that they deserved. Even if they had lost, it really was one hell of a game to watch, great pace and awesome emotion in the whole game.
Moving on, Shelley made his case for him to be scratched when he gets back from his almost certain suspension he earned himself tonight. As much as I love our Flyers and hate all other teams, you don't push an opposing player from behind and send him face first into the boards...ever. One of my old coaches from my playing days told us if we ever hit someone in their numbers we would be doing nothing but sprints during practice and be sitting out for as many games as he saw fit, I believe Lavy should adopt this policy. This would solve some of the roster problems the Flyboyz have been having lately, at least for a little while.
Leighton is scheduled for a return tomorrow if I'm not mistaken, the CBA only allows for 1 extension on a conditioning assignment so he'll be making his return by the time Cindy and friends roll into town on Tuesday. Holmer, in all his infinite wisdom has gone on the record saying he wants to roll 3 goaltenders when Leights gets back. When we're already scratching a player every game because of roster issues, does it really make sense to add another bench warmer? No, not really. Unlike other bloggers I'm not gonna give my 2 cents on what I think they should do about the goalies, obviously I think Bobo should stay but as for the other 2...as much as I don't like Boosh, he's gettin shit done so far this season and Leighton hasn't played an actual game against NHLers since the preseason. It should be interesting to say the least over the next few weeks to see who goes where, but whatever Holmer decides, it better be the right call.
Zherdev was a healthy scratch again tonight, that pissed me off something fierce when I heard it...partly because he's in my fantasy league and I forgot to bench him before the game started so I had a useless player in my line up. But it mostly got under my skin because Zherdev seems to be paying a price for actually putting up some points while having to play with Betts and Shelley for most of his games. Yes, I understand he takes shifts off...yes, I understand that he's pretty irresponsible defensively...yes, he is a prick that doesn't talk to the media almost at all, or his mates for that matter...but as far as I know, we didn't bring him here to do any of those things. He was brought here to score goals, which he is doing. Holmer knew damn well when he signed him that he had attitude problems and could be lazy from time to time and wasn't really a 2 way player, but he still signed him and he did it for him to put the puck in the net. He's 5th on the team in goals scored with 9, a pretty impressive stat when you factor in he sees somewhere around 10-12 minutes a game. Seriously what else does the guy have to do? He's making the best with what he's got, he was given a brief opportunity early on to play with Groo and JVR but got banished to the 4th line pretty quickly and has either been there or the pressbox ever since. If I were him, I'd probably have an attitude problem too. He's no Ovechkin but he's definitely not 4th line material, hopefully he gets a chance to "redeem" himself and gets a permanent position on one of the higher lines with a gifted passer so he can start putting the puck in the net even more than he is now. Let's not forget that this guy is a rental, he's only here for 1 year. We're not gonna change his game, why would he change when he knows he's not gonna get a job next year unless he somehow nets 50 goals or something like that? It's not our job to try and shape him up, it's our job to take advantage of his over developed hockey skills so we can dominate the opposition. He's good but as far as I know, you can't score from the pressbox.
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