The Flyers handled business last night, thoroughly beating a disappointing Columbus Blue Jackets team 5-3. Jeff Carter had a pair of goals, with the second one being one of the strangest/coolest you will ever see. The faceoff was in the Jackets zone, to the right of the net. Right from the draw, Carter took a shot, which went right through a stunned Mathieu Garon’s legs. I was at the game, and completely missed it, because I was staring at the replays on the scoreboard.
Claude Giroux continues to amaze with his dazzling stickhandling. It’s amazing that he doesn’t pile on more points, with the great passes that he creates. Someone sitting near me kept calling him Magic Man or the Ninja, for his “now you see it, now you don’t” maneuvers. This was on full display when he set up Aaron Ashom for a sweet goal. JVR tried to set Giroux up in front of the net, but the puck bounced a little, and the goalie made a nice save. Nin-Giroux (Ninja + Giroux, just go with it…No? Ok, screw you!) grabbed the rebound, and curled out toward the left circle. While facing the boards, and his back to the middle of the ice, he sent a blind pass right to Ashom’s tape, where he one timed it in. Garon didn’t even have enough time to yell “sacrebleu” before the puck was past him.
A few more insights, and then a rant against Philly haters:
- Ian Laperriere and Mathieu Roy had a nice fight. What a way for Lappy to celebrate his birthday. In a weird coincidence, right after the fight is when they flashed people’s birthdays on the scoreboard, and most of us found out that bit of news.
- Briere threw a nice backdoor pass to Pronger, who’d snuck in from the point on the powerplay. This kind of thing rarely happened under John Stevens. I’m glad to see that Laviolette’s system includes giving players their balls back. They are playing with more and more flair, and its fun to watch.
- RJ Umberger scored 2 goals for the Jackets, and was in front of the net when Rick Nash scored in garbage time. However, because the play happened quickly, and the camera zoomed into RJ, the fans thought it was a hat trick. It also happened to be a promotion where everyone in attendance got a free Flyers hat. RJ was popular when he was in Philly, and would probably still be here if the Flyers knew how to manage the cap a bit better. So of course, fans littered the ice with hats to show him some support. After the ice was well covered in hats, Lou Nolan, the Flyers public address announcer, declared that it was not a hat trick, and people should stop throwing their hats. Gotta feel bad for the people that got screwed, but at least the hats were free.
- Rick Nash is a 10 carat diamond stuck in a pile of shit. He could easily be one of the most popular players in the league if he were on a decent team, in a city that actually got some exposure. Umberger and Vermette are talented guys that most teams would love to have, but Nash is a standout player. He’s a big boy who knows how to use his body to create space for himself and his teammates. I hope he escapes Columbus soon and gets to play for a top tier hockey city.
Ok, rant time: When I got home, I watched highlights on the NHL Network. The clips were courtesy of the Blue Jackets broadcast. Right before a Flyers goal, you can hear the end of the conversation between the commentators, in which they say “and they booed Santa in this building.” Really asshole, we did? Because I’m pretty sure that happened in 1968 at an Eagles game, at Franklin Field. The building where this game took place was opened in 1996, and has never hosted an Eagles game. Of course, these ignorant jackasses probably grew up in a cornfield, banging their cousins, and raced gerbils for fun. This is typical behavior of people in the media spewing any horseshit that comes to mind, whether its accurate information or not. Go back to Ohio, find the nearest church, and pray that Rick Nash never leaves, or it won’t be long until your franchise folds and leaves you jobless. Also, assholes, maybe you should read up on the Santa incident to find out why the fans booed. Newsflash: Philadelphia doe not hate Santa. The Eagles were in the midst of a terrible season, and the Santa that was scheduled to appear did not show up. So they got some drunk 19 year old skinny kid out of the stands to play the part. People didn’t like how that looked, thus they booed. So, if you have half a brain, you can clearly see that they did not actually boo Santa, they booed the Eagles organization for a badly planned stunt.
Thanks for reading.
You can follow me on Twitter by going to www.Twitter.com/BroadStreetBuzz