Lupul's Ready to Return
Ladies, your prayers have been answered. After sitting out almost a month with a high ankle sprain, Joffrey Lupul will return to the Flyers lineup tonight. In the wake of an epic bed-shitting last night in Toronto, which saw the Flyers blow a 3-0 3rd period lead to lose in OT, the team needs a spark, and Lupul could be it.
Dennis Tolpeko will also return to the lineup, as will Jaro Modry. Sami Kapanen is out with the flu that I've had for a week (for which I recommend nothing less than a 24-hour NyQuil-induced coma). Marty Biron will start in goal, despite having a long night in the league's capital last night.
Thank God for Carter and the power play or this team would be out of the playoffs.
Posted by: gootman | Wednesday, March 12, 2008 at 08:57 PM
Unfortunately this team is still a year away. Plus you just can't compete with all the injuries they've had.
Posted by: Tartan69 | Wednesday, March 12, 2008 at 10:19 PM
I'm getting the sense that the worst possible thing for the Flyers may have been their quick start to the season. The team was great and a lot of my non-hockey fan friends were even pointing out the huge comeback. Now the season is starting to seem like a disappointment because the team "tanked". They were in last place a year ago, we're going to the playoffs this year and the team is built to be good for awhile.
Posted by: phillyfanintheburgh | Thursday, March 13, 2008 at 01:38 AM
I have to criticize the coaching here...
I don't understand the decisions this guy makes. Okay, you sit Downie and Cote... fine, you want to play a finesse game. But you scored two goals. Is there really that much uptake on a Dennis Tolpeko... that you sit your two energy guys?
Also, his blatant disreguard to the abilities of Kukkonen was none more apparent then when he played Randy Jones again tonight after his horrible horrible game the night before. His turnover and his hand in the game winning goal in OT were unforgiveable. Before he was injured last night, he looked completely clueless out there.
And I thought Hatcher and Smith were slow, but Modry was beaten to the outside yet again. That has to be the third time in his short Flyers career that he's done that.
I also tire of the team's rhetoric at the end of losses. "We didn't play 60 minutes... We have to start better... We have to play wiht more emotion." Sounds to me like a motivational problem.... and I can't pin that on any one player... so it has to be the coach. They have the same lack of intensity on any given night. Hell, they don't even do anything where you could consider suspending them. Where'd that fire go...?
I predict the Phantoms will go further than the Flyers this season... and it has ALOT to do with who's behind the bench.
Posted by: digi | Thursday, March 13, 2008 at 09:47 AM
digi - "Is there really that much uptake on a Dennis Tolpeko" - UPTAKE ... is that a word
Posted by: 215 Sports | Thursday, March 13, 2008 at 10:23 AM
I think our last chance to grab some emotion back is Richards. If that doesnt work then I blame it on the coach, Richards is the leader and he Downie and Hartnell all have that killer instinct. The HaRD line will come back and be dominant, as long as Stevens get his dome out of his ass.
Randy Jones is killing me the first game against toronto, the turnover for the tying goal was just horrendous. FREE LASSE(not mine, actually took that from the Flyers boards on espn.com)
Posted by: Mike L. | Thursday, March 13, 2008 at 12:37 PM
Also, does anyone know what Richards has been saying about all this lately? I think he must be chomping at the bit to get out there instead of watching this team steadily get worse.
Posted by: Mike L. | Thursday, March 13, 2008 at 12:40 PM