NoVaFlyerFan

I never see it called anymore, but it seems like Adams attacking Hartnell at the same time that Crosby is trying to instigate a fight with Hartnell is as blatant as it gets. If it does not apply in that scenario, when does it apply?

I wonder if Mario will threaten to quit the league again. Remember this? http://sports.espn.go.com/new-york/nhl/news/story?id=6118511

"Crosby Scores in First Minute"

Who would have guessed that the Game 1 hero would have been Kris Letang? Beautiful pass to get it past Fleury and over to Voracek for the easy tip-in. .

Matt Carle - now that would be a surprise

Look closely at the picture in the first post. The girl and guy next to the Hulkster are totally cracking up.

Was that twirling hand placed to the ear a signature Hulk Hogan move? I didn't get it at the time that Hartnell did it, but if that is the case, that is genius. Not only does Hartnell give it back to the fans, but he totally exposes the guy as a Hulkster wanna be. Love it.

What's more enjoyable? Watching the Flyers smoke the leafs yet again, or watching that little ***** Crosby take a puck to the face? I don't know. It's a bit of a toss up. I was surprised to see how violently Crosby reacted to that shot to the face. I would have expected that he would have built up quite a tolerance from all the other things he routinely takes to the face when hanging out with Lemieux and Pierre McGuire.

The only reason we beat them was that Versteeg kept going offsides and coughing up the puck at the blueline. I'm glad he's doing that somewhere else now.

Isn't it possible that they are just using the "concussion" as a means of protecting him from real injury while on the trading block? Since concussion diagnoses are not black and white they can concoct one to protect him while they finalize a deal. Of course, the other team would have to know the truth of it, otherwise they wouldn't trade.

Why is that borderline? When is it OK to lead a check with your elbow, especially one at head level?

Good for Giroux, but it is stupid for hockey to even have poster boys. Everytime there is a nationally televised game, the commentators play up 1 or 2 star players, only to have some unknown third line guy get 3 pts and become the star of the game. This isn't basketball where you can expect a single player to score multiple times or do something highlight worthy every night. You have to be really, really good just to average a point a game. The NHL should instead sell the rivalries, the tradition, the toughness, the speed. Unlike your poster boys, those elements of the game show up every night -- and are far more interesting anyway.

Wait a second, Aziz. You could make that same argument about any retro styling. When people buy Harley-Davidson motorcycles that make a ton of noise, they aren't pretending that quieter exhaust systems haven't been invented. They just like it that way. Dodge didn't design the Challenger to look the way it does because it is pretending that there have been no improvements in aerodynamic design since the 70s. It just looks better the old way. Is there any need for the laces at the top of the Flyers winter classic jersey? Do they actually lace anything? I don't think anyone is going for a "low-tech" look, they are going for "classic" look.

I believe they were designed for the Winter Classic. They are new-technology pads, but designed to look old-school. I think they look cool, but wish that the goalies would get a simple white mask to go with them. It looks odd to have throw-back pads and an overly busy airbrushed mask.

I seem to recall that over the summer when the trades were made, the consensus was that this team was going to go through some growing pains due to the youth, would struggle with scoring with the departure of Leino, Richards, Carter, and probably wouldn't be much of a contender unless Bryzgalov routinely stole games for us to make up for the other shortcomings. I believe the general expectation was a 5th-8th place finish in the conference and maybe a second-round exit, not that we'd be a cup contender. At the half-way point, it turns out that we were correct about the youth going through growing pains and being inconsistent, but pleasantly surprised with the scoring, and grossly dissapointed with Bryzgalov. Overall, the fact that we are even asking whether this team is a cup contender -- despite the unexpected loss of Pronger for the year -- shows that we are way ahead of where we thought we would be six months ago. But, this is still very much a work in progress, and we should enjoy watching it develop. I hope they don't trade away our future to make a cup run this year. This team doesn't (yet) have the consistency to be a contender. They score a lot, but they rarely dominate. If we can make a trade to deal with long-term replacement of Timmonen and Pronger, that's fine. If we need to get a little tougher in spots, that's also fine. But no short term solutions.

"Marc-Andre Bourdon has filled in nicely for Chris Pronger" Really? He has been better than expected, but those expectations were pretty low.

Correct. There is no defense for the d-bags that did this. On the other hand, I think it is unfair (but not at all surprising) that this is being portrayed as something that is systematic with Flyers fans or Philadelphia. I'm pretty sure there have been worse beatdowns at other sporting events. There have probably been worse beatdowns on Jerry Springer and Maury Povich. What makes this fight so egregious? That the Flyers fans threw the first punch? That the Rags fans were outnumbered (in Philly of all places)? That they were hit while on the ground? That is the only thing that I see unfair about the fight, and those sort of things happen all the time in fights. Fighting someone because they like another team is assinine, and assaults like these should definitely be prosecuted. But lets not pretend that this sort of thing never happens except in Philly. Like phlfly, I live in Washington and wear O&B to Caps games. I've never been beaten, but I've certainly been threatened with fights just for weaing my jersey. And Caps fans are probably the tamest fans in the league. And let's not pretend like this was the worst street brawl of the decade. This sort of thing happens all the time and this specific fight is just not that exceptional. Now if the Flyers fans had burned down Vancouver on Monday night, that would be exceptional.