AlaskaFlyerFan

I suggest the Flyers let him walk.

Who are they going to sign to replace him?

Wow. I thought that was a borderline call. Ericsson passed the puck then admired his pass. Rinaldo hit him. The article says he "launched himself". During the game, I didn't see that on the play or replays. Rinaldo's feet weren't visible. Even if he did leave his feet, I don't think the hit is suspension worthy.

EDIT: After seeing Shanahan's explanation, yes Rinaldo left his feet. Still not worthy of suspension.

... little things, big things, medium things... you have to do all the things.

FIRE ALL THINGS!!!

Ice with water on top of it is not ice. It is ice with water on top of it. If there's enough of it (water on ice), it stops the puck dead in it's tracks, almost always.

Or it has the opposite effect if there is a thin layer of water on top of the ice. It reduces the friction on the puck and can make it travel faster. That's what I think possibly (not 100% sure, but possibly) could have happened here. Matt Read came in and tried to stick handle and get the puck to his backhand. The puck moved faster than he expected and he lost control. The puck didn't bounce or stick to the ice, it squirted (no pun intended) off his stick into the corner.

@jammer2

Nice avitar

Are guys getting more concussions these days or did nobody report it back in the day?

Both

This water would have had no bearing on Read's skating ability.

Not on the skating ability...on his controling the puck. He lost the puck in the visinity of where the water was squirted.

I hope he doesn't get picked last!

The bright side of being picked last is you win a car. I hope Chara & Alfredson talk and decide that Kessel will be the last pick again. That would be hilarious!!!

Just for the love of God, why can't they just give him 2 weeks to rest? This team can play at 500 without him, as valuable as he has been. It's friggin' January. His long-term health is more important than winning maes in January... This is just the Flyers being the Flyers.

I think he is getting that time off now. Well, we'll see if he gets 2 weeks. At least he will get some significant time. Only 1 game left til the AS break and Jags won't be playing in it. That gives him about 10 days off till the next game. Followed by 8 games in 13 days.

Is Chris Stewart facing a suspension? Suspended earlier this year for his cheap hit on Kronwall, he came off the bench and even tho the puck was a mile away from him went right after Brad Stuart. I know he is having a bad year and is trying to get out of Hitchcocks doghouse but that was cheap.

I really didn't like the fact that Stewart went after a non-fighter for a clean hit. There's a whole thread about this over on the Flyers Forum. http://www.hockeyforums.net/index.php/topic/9251-3-hits-from-the-bruins-vs-flyers-1222012/

Cheap...absolutely. Suspension worthy...I don't think so.

http://www.nhl.com/i...s.htm?id=613232

Eberle:

SEASON TEAM GP G A P +/- PIM PPG SHG GWG S S%

2011-2012 Oilers 43 17 27 44 -2 6 8 0 3 97 17.5

Hartnell:

SEASON TEAM GP G A P +/- PIM PPG SHG GWG S S%

2011-2012 Flyers 47 25 19 44 18 71 13 0 4 126 19.8

I'm OK with Eberle going. He has 44 points (same as Harts) in 4 fewer games.

The one I'm not happy with is Letang, replacing Byfuglien. Dude missed half the season already!! He's only played 25 games!

I'm really disappointed with the whole All Star game player selection. The fans voting players (that don't deserve to be there) as starters really pisses me off.

While not the original topic, I do like the big clean hits. Want to take out the fights after clean hits? Mandatory 2-5-10 the guy who incorrectly thinks he is standing up for his team. Not that I trust refs to call it correctly, but in spirit I think it works.

Dirty hit? Haymakers away!

That was my point. They already have the instigator rule. Twice in yesterday's game they didn't apply it when it should have been.

If you're gonna put a rule in the book, apply it correctly.

@Spinorama

there was a nice opportunity created out of the hit....but it went in the crapper because it had to be answered with a fight. schenn had to be shown his stuff would not be tolerated, and he felt obligated to not turn tail and run.

Is this not the textbook reason why they have the instigator rule, so players don't have to fight after a good hit? Just saying.

I practiced with a semi-pro team in Colorado Springs one summer as they were gearing up for training camp. I was amazed at the speed. I could barely keep up with the skating, but the play making was just so fast that the best I could do most times was make sure I hung to my check.

Many times, the puck would come out of the d-zone and be in the o-zone in seconds (as in maybe 3). It was that fast. When you watch it above, you don't realize how fast it is. And these were semi-pros, not NHL in their prime guys.

I had the opportunity to work some NHL training camp scrimmages as a linesman a few years ago. I was on my blue line at the boards and saw a play developing at the other blue line along the boards on the opposite side of the ice. The play started coming at me. I knew if I stayed where I was I was gonna get smoked. I took 2 strides to my right towards the red line On my second stride, I had to swivel my hips and transition from skating forward to backwards to avoid being crunched. The players hit my left arm then slid along the boards right where I was positioned a moment ago. All that happened in about 2 seconds.

I had go look up wtf an object predicate was!!

Damn it! Now I have to go look it up!!

@Digityman,

Sorry, Dude. Didn't see your thread about this until a couple minutes ago.

@Vanflyer

Private poll this time. Don't know.

It was you, wasn't it? LOL j/k

Is it shiz or shizzle?

Shiznit fo shizzle

I was thinking that too- especially at their speed. I guess I just never clocked it. I played d-1 college hockey and guess just kind of instinctively knew the timing (most of the time- sometimes I just wanted to hit the guy regardless).

Actually, I should change that. 1 second was a too long last year when Horton got knocked out in the finals. If I remember correctly, that hit took place 7/10ths of a second after Horton released the puck. From release to the hit was almost the distance between the red & blue lines in that same 7/10ths of a second.

The hard part with this is that if you have already committed to checking a player- especially at top speed, it is very hard to change. I used to go by a 2 second rule. I mean think about it realistically the timing for your brain to change a decision and then enact your body to follow.

2 seconds might be a good number for youth hockey but it's a lifetime for these guys. 1 second is enough time, IMHO.

I had the Boston feed for the game yesterday. How many of you saw what I saw right before the shootout started?

After the zambonis did their dry scrape, the rink attendants re-set the nets, Tim Thomas goes back to the crease and grabs the water bottle, takes a drink, then squirts a bunch of water on the ice out in front of the crease. Only seconds later, Matt Read comes in for his shootout attempt and loses the puck in the same area that Thomas just squirted the water.

Water can cause the puck to travel faster due to less friction (hydroplane). Conversely, it can cause the puck to *stick* and not slide at all (which didn't happen in this case).

I'm not sure if the water effected Read's ability to control the puck, but I think its a little suspicious that he lost control right in the same area that Thomas squirted it.

So, what do you think? Smart play or Cheating?

How do you see who voted yes for #1 & 2?

1. Sestito is 6'5", Kampfer is 5'11". Every time Sestito hits someone it looks high BECAUSE HE'S 6' FREAKIN 5"!!! Supposedly, Kampfer knocked out one of Sestito's teeth with his cross check to the mouth. Kampfer needed a 5 and a game for that.

2. Agree with previous comments that the hit was late. Horton is a little taller but I never saw his head move on the hit.

3. Hartnell's hit? Give me a freakin break. That was a beautiful thing. On the same play, did you see Thornton cross check Schenn from behind?

None of those plays were worth Shanny's time to even look at them.

Sad day.

http://www.foxnews.com/sports/2012/01/22/joe-paterno-former-penn-state-football-coach-dies-at-85/

I liked Snyder's comment...Said club chairman Ed Snider at the time: "We would trade our own mothers if it made us better."

To me, that shows commitment to winning.

And if my aunt had any balls she'd be my uncle.

How is your uncle? LOL

Plus Rinaldo was not seeing ice time from the time I tuned in mid way thru the second.

Rinaldo was injured...not benched.

Shelly was seeing pp time at the end I'm sure to pad his gaudy stats...

I doubt that's the reason. The score was 4-1 late in the 3rd. Why would you put out your #1 or #2 PP? It's more of a classy move by the coach to throw Shelley out there and not run up the score.