Waaa, waaa, waaa (CourtesyL The Good Old Hockey Show)

• Sidney Crosby, Pittsburg Penguins: Cindy, Crsyby, whatever you want to call him, is public enemy number one. He whines, he cries, he dives, he whines some more, and we cannot stand him.  Remember, this isn’t just fan perception, his peers also call him a little, whiny bitch. Check out this post on Yahoo! Maybe he should go play a dainty sport like baseball, so he can avoid contact.
• Sean Avery, New York Rangers: Another dirty player that does nothing positive for the game of hockey is this Broadway Bum.  He throws cheap shots, proudly wears purses, and of course just annoys the hell out of everyone.  Can someone please catch this guy and crush him through the boards!
• Martin Brodeur, New Jersey Devils: Until lately, he’s just been a part of our heartbreak much too often. Twice he’s beaten us in the Conference Finals, taking away our dreams. Countless other times he’s backstopped and group of untalented nobodies en route to regular season domination. He’s not a pest, he’s not dirty, but he’s just a pain in the ass no matter what. At least until this past year, when we lit him up.
• Zdeno Chara, Boston Bruins: He’s tall, has a long reach, and likes throwing his massive frame around. He uses his so size so well that he’s considered a top defenseman in the league.  Boy, didn’t he crumble in the playoffs when we threw some weight back at him. One of my favorite moments from the playoffs was when Briere cross checked Chara and sent him flying, even though a penalty was called.  I just love seeing this big man get planted on his ass.
• Darcy Tucker, free agent: It’s been a while since we’ve dealt with him, most notably during his tenure with the Toronto Maple Leafs.  But if he does come back, get ready. He’s the one who rocked Kapanen’s world a few years back, right before Roenick answered with a goal to knock the Leafs out of the playoffs. He’s the one always throwing late hits, sucker punches, and taking dives. He was the scum of the league until Avery came along to take the torch.
• Everyone else, NHL: Screw it, let’s get ready to boo everyone.  Our fanbase has a reputation for being the toughest, meanest, and most passionate group of fans around.  Let’s live up to his! Sure, a few guys piss us off more than other, but it doesn’t mean it’s ok to like the others.  They all want what we want, the Stanley Cup.  If they aren’t wearing the orange and black sweaters, they deserve no love from us. Yell at them, make signs, burn effigies (a bit extreme), do whatever you have to do.  Trust me, they don’t wish us well, so elt’s be nice and return the favor.  Keep up the home ice advantage, do whatever we can do to help the Flyers win.

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Another season of crushing the Devils? I hope so! (Courtesy: SB Nation)

As usual, the Flyers have plenty of questions heading into the new season, along with high expectations. Here is a list of issues for this season:

• More balanced scoring: Hartnell, Briere, Zherdev, Giroux- these guys need to give Richards and Carter a lot more support
• Healthy Chris Pronger: He makes an impact every time he is on the ice.  Matt Carle looked awesome playing alongside him, and the offense transitions much more efficiently with him out there.
• Forecheck: This was our biggest issue for the first half of the year, and our biggest advantage over the second half and the playoffs.  If we can consistently pressure other teams, night in and night out, we can possibly get 50 wins.
• Timonen/Coburn combination: Two years ago, this was out best defensive pair, now, not so much.  Coburn stopped improving, and gets beat 1 on 1 a bit too often, and Timonen showed his age a bit towards the end of last year. His positioning wasn’t solid like it had been, and he was the one who Kane easily head faked before scoring that Cup clinching goal.
• Goaltending: We know that Leightonsucks, but we brought in better defenseman to cover up for him.  The Flyers are doing the best that they can to not rely on him, and ive him enough support.  As long as he doesn’t give up too many softies, we’ll be ok.
• Beating Pittsburgh: I don’t care if the Devils won the division, the Pens are the team to beat and the harder match up. We went 1-5 against them. And if we met them in the playoffs, I don’t think we would have gotten past them. I want to feel more confidence when we play against them.
• Better play against top teams: San Jose, Phoenix, Buffalo, Washington, Vancouver, Colorado all handled us pretty well last season. NJ was the only division winner that we owned. We beat Chicago in our only regular season meeting, but we know how the rematch went. That’s why we squeaked into the playoffs in our last game, rather than locking up a spot a few weeks earlier.

In addition to roster spots, these are some of the main issues I want the team to address during camp. Maybe I’m missing a few, so feel free to chime in and leave some comments.  Meanwhile, the countdown is on.

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Yeah, keep looking away. (Courtesy: TSN.ca)

It’s not about whether or not he can play and contribute something to the team (he can).  It’s about his history, and what he’s been a part of over the years. He’s been a significant part of two franchises that rolled over us in the Eastern Conference Finals en route to a Stanley Cup Championship.  And it’s not just any franchises, it’s two out of our biggest rivals of all time: the New Jersey Devils (1995) and the Pittsburgh Penguins (2009). He beat us with clutch goals, tormented us with solid checks, and pretty much has been a pain in the ass all of the time.

Most of this hatred goes back to the mid-90’s, when he was there for the beginning of the Devils’ dynasty.  1994-95 was the season we made it back to the playoffs, when Eric Lindros and the Legion of Doom were supposed to bring us to glory.  Instead, the franchise that plays in a swamp, in front of relatively few fans, came along with their mind numbingly boring trap defense, with their clutching and grabbing, and stole our dream.  Guerin was a major part of that team, fitting in with that group that nearly ruined hockey with their boring style of play. He scored twice in the opening game in those playoffs as Jersey began the upset on our home ice.

That team that they had seemed to own the Flyers for most of the following decade, and he was a part of it for about half of that time.  There’s no way I can respect anyone from a franchise I hate so, so much. As we all know, he traveled around the NHL like a nomadic assassin after leaving the swamp.  Of course, over the last few years we grew to hate the Pens as they became relevant again.  And when he came back on our radar as they acquired him for the playoff push (worked out well for them).  Once again, he was a big role player for a team that ripped our hearts out.

And now, it’s possible that he’ll play for us? I know, sports is a business, it’s about winning and acquiring the right pieces.  Sometimes, however, I wish it was more about loyalty.  And I think it would be disloyal to bring along a player that’s been there to witness our misery, while he sat across the ice, laughing. Ultimately, I do want to see the Flyers win a Stanley Cup, and I want them to make any deal necessary. Some deals, just aren’t worth it.

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