Digityman

Mez looked like goat material when he lost an edge there, but Bob bailed him out. He looked like a sniper on that goal though, and played a good game.

thats right. Forgot that. He made up for it with that goal

I watched it last night with the steam and maybe I had to much to drink but I didn't think it was that good.

I'm going to watch it again this morning

If these are crap let me know.

Working good. I got the youtube one so I could post in in the thread. I also downloaded and saved again just in case.

Thanks again Oz. That time zone thing comes in handy sometimes...

I would play Bob until he loses. He once again is shining in goal. Bryz seems to need a chance to find himself, I would rather he sits now while Bob is hot and work on his concentration issues.

Exactly my thought. Unfortunately I don't think it's going to happen. I think Lavy is going to give Bryz Friday vs the Rangers in prep for the WC.

Who does Lavy start and who would you start?

Anybody want to give 3 stars/goats?

Mine

Stars - giroux, mez, bob

Goats - JVR, ?,?

Briere got the game tying goal to earn a point, got his shootout chance in and you call him a goat?!?

Read was a -1 and missed clanked his chance in the shootout and you have him as a star?!?

I am really confused by your rating system.

Simmonds was credited but still. With Pronger and Giroux out he and Timo should be carrying this team. Briere's man scored their 1st (maybe 2nd) because he was being lazy. He has another gear or two and it's just not there right now. Thus, goat.

Read has been so consistent at both ends..power Play, PK... I also don't think Lavy should have picked him for the shootout so I don't blame that on him. He's a rookie shooting the 3rd with the game on the line? Who would you have chose?

I never thought sites like these needed the search engines, that it was all word-of-mouth...shows how much I know.

Word of mouth is usually a great way no doubt. Being 1-5 on search engines is probably a bit more impact.

Make the profanity filter a user profile option set to 'on' by default?

I'm trying to work something like that. Members can choose to filter it or not but default is to filter.

So that the search engine 'bots' see it as non curse words.

24/7 Season Two Premiere Down 26% From 2010

by stevelepore December 20, 2011

You just can’t predict television sometimes, and the double-digit losses for the premiere of Season 2 of the critically adored 24/7 Rangers/Flyers: Road to the NHL Winter Classic drew 284,000 viewers on Wednesday night. This was down 26% from episode one, featuring the Penguins and Capitals, which drew 383,000 viewers on December 15th of last year. Just as an example, the Chicago-Minnesota game on VERSUS drew 540,000 viewers on the same night.

No matter the teams, I think this will be a continuing trend. 2010 was the first year the cable companies actually had a net decline in the number of subscriptions since cable tv existed.

People are starting to realize that paying $50-150 a month for TV is absurd. AppleTV, Roku and other internet based TV appliances are becoming more and more popular.

With the horrible economy TV is usually the first utility to take the hit by either a scale down in package (HBO) or take the hit completely (like at my house).

Less cable TV users, Less HBO subscribers - mix those together with the bastards that share the video via YouTube and you'll have far fewer viewers.

PS - The first episode in it's entirety can be found in the videos section.

Introducing - 3 Stars / 3 Goats

At the end of each game, reply to the game thread with your 3 stars and 3 goats for the game.

For example - Last game (Avs) for me was:

3 Stars

1) Voracek

2) Coburn

3) Read

3 Goats

1) Briere

2) JVR - find Bryz and come out of the woods

3) Bryz? just because.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Barring any last-minute setbacks, Giroux appears ready to rejoin the Art Ross Trophy chase tonight against the Stars.

It has been only 11 days since Giroux suffered his second career concussion on Dec. 10, but Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren revealed yesterday that his star player was cleared for all full-contact activities on Saturday. Officially, Giroux' status changed from "out indefinitely" to "day-to-day."

In an hourlong practice yesterday at American Airlines Center, Giroux skated in a full-contact practice and resumed his place between Scott Hartnell and Jaromir Jagr on the first line and his regular spot on the power play.

It was the third day in a row Giroux skated in a full practice and reported no ill effects. Yesterday was also the first time Giroux absorbed a true hockey hit.

"I felt good," said Giroux, who was hurt when he was accidentally kneed in the head by teammate Wayne Simmonds. "It's pretty much the same [as before]. I went in the corners with 'Coby' [braydon Coburn] and told him to hit me a little bit. And that felt pretty good, too."

Another player who figures to return to the lineup tonight against the Stars is defenseman Andreas Lilja, who has not played since Nov. 25 because of a high-ankle sprain.

After the Flyers dropped a point Monday night against the Avalanche in the shootout, Laviolette was asked about his team's struggles in the shootout. The Flyers are now 0-2 this season and 19-36 all-time (34.5 percent) since 2005, the worst win percentage among all 30 teams.

He was also asked why Jaromir Jagr, the NHL's active leader in goals with 656, was left on the bench for the second straight shootout.

"I think a player's comfort level with doing it plays into it, with what we see in practice, their history throughout the course of their career," Laviolette said. "We have conversations with all of our players and find out what they're comfortable doing. That's not to say he wasn't going to be on the docket somewhere."

Jagr's numbers in the shootout aren't pretty. Among the Flyers who have taken at least six career attempts, Jagr ranks last (behind defenseman Kimmo Timonen) with a 22.7 percent success rate. He is 5-for-22

Ah HAH! So YOU'RE to blame!

Bound to happen. Been awhile.

@Spinorama

@canoli

Sorry for the late reply. I'm getting bogged down a bit. Anyway, re: cursing.

I could give a sh!t about cursing but when it comes to google ranking you get hit for profanity. Because the site is really just starting out, I figure we need all the help we can get. Currently I believe hockeyblogs.net is ranked on the second page when you google "hockey blogs." And also on the second page for hockeyforums.net when you google "hockey forums."

Higher the rank, the more members, the better the conversation...bla bla bla.

Google, MSN/Bing, Dogpile and a few others are on this site all the time so I'm hoping to get up to at least the #3-5 spot. Once that happens, I lift the profanity filter at least a little to see if we can maintain the ranking.

Sound good?

DALLAS -- Guess who’s coming to Dallas wearing Flyers colors.

How about Claude Giroux? While it’s not 100 percent certain, all signs point to the Flyers’ concussed center returning to the lineup Wednesday night against the Stars, a game that will air on VERSUS.

At least two teammates are pretty certain he will play, and Giroux himself has kept open the possibility, saying, if he takes warm-ups tomorrow, he’s in.

There is no morning skate.

Giroux has missed the past four games with a concussion since taking an accidental knee to the back of the head from teammate Wayne Simmonds on Dec. 10 against Tampa Bay.

He had another hard practice here on Tuesday at American Airlines Center and came through it fine. One twist: his power-play unit was different today with Jakub Voracek replacing Scott Hartnell. Jaromir Jagr remains on the top unit, naturally.

“I try not to think about [coming back], just go day by day, but obviously, today was pretty good,” Giroux said.

Asked how he’ll know he’s ready to return, Giroux paused then said, “I don’t know,” while Jagr shouted from behind, “Watch the game.”

Then Giroux said, “If you see me in warm-ups, that means I’m going to play.”

And what is the likelihood of that happening?

“Soon probably, if it keeps getting better like that,” he said.

Against the Stars then?

“Ah, maybe.”

A couple players said from talking to him, they expect him on the ice against Dallas.

Giroux also took some physical contact today from defenseman Braydon Coburn, which is a prerequisite before he can re-enter the lineup.

“Cobie hit me a little bit and I felt good, too,” Giroux said.

Of course, Giroux has to get medical clearance from the Flyers' doctors and general manager Paul Holmgren, who is not on the trip.

The Flyers released a late injury report from Holmgren that read: “Giroux: has made positive strides over the past few days, now listed day to day.”

Holmgren later said in a text to CSNPhilly.com that Giroux was cleared for "all activity" last Saturday.

Coach Peter Laviolette would not commit one way or the other, but said it was good to see Giroux “banging” around on the ice.

Laviolette did his usual playful taunting with the media, saying it would be “illegal” for him to comment when this is strictly Holmgren’s territory.

“These decisions are way further than me,” he said. “With regard to whether a player is healthy and ready. That’s why we have a staff in place and conversations through the trainer, general manager, the doctors and everyone else.”

Laviolette said that Giroux looked “really good” on the ice.

In other words, ready to play, no?

Winter Classic and HBO 24/7 videos are now located in the Video section of the site

Moved all the videos for the Winter Classic and HBO 24/7 series to the Video section of the site.

Digiity, you should make this subform or thread only visible to registered users/people who sign in. It'll save you and us a lot of disappointment from HBO/NHL threats.

That's a good idea. Thanks s3x

NEW YORK - Housed on the 15th floor of a nondescript Manhattan office building, the NHL's headquarters are plush and stunningly modern. In the lobby, there are three flat-panel televisions with EA Sports' NHL 12 video game begging for someone to pick up the controller on the PlayStation 3 - possibly set for a bad boy in town to meet with dean of discipline Brendan Shanahan.

Flanked by chief operating officer John Collins, the creative brains behind the Winter Classic, and deputy commissioner Bill Daly, the Daily News spent an hour on a recent Friday with commissioner Gary Bettman in an exclusive interview. They were seated in a swank conference room, with microphones at each of the 30 chairs - one for each team in the league.

Here are five questions Bettman answered in the wide-ranging interview:

Daily News: You preside over a league that, other than Major League Baseball, probably sticks to its traditions more than any other. Looking at the popularity and draw of the Winter Classic today, it sounds like a silly question, but how much convincing did it take to get two teams to play outdoors?

Bettman: In Year 1, it may have actually been a tough sell. The first time we did it, we had to ensure the participants that it was going to be all right. A lot of credit is due to the Buffalo Sabres and their president at the time, Larry Quinn. They were willing to go ahead with this and we were lucky to get the Pittsburgh Penguins to agree. There were a lot of uh-oh moments in the first game. But this was an event that the players enjoyed being a part of it; other players around the league suddenly wanted to join in.

DN: How much do you think an event like the Winter Classic has helped branch out to other sports fans, who might not be hockey fans?

Bettman: I think for every fan, it's a genuine amount of fascination. You want to see how a baseball stadium is turned into a hockey rink, how two teams will handle the elements of playing outdoors, who will win, and how the fans are reacting. They say that sports is the ultimate reality television show. For us, sports outside when we're typically an indoor sport, it adds even another element of intrigue. Our special-events people do a great job at dressing up the stadium to look like hockey. It's all part of a big event. It not only appeals to a hockey fan, but a casual fan as well.

DN: The Flyers will now have participated in this marquee event twice in the 5 years of its existence. What has the response been from other teams? One locale that was mentioned was Beaver Stadium at Penn State. Was there ever any serious consideration there?

Bettman: All 30 teams would love to participate. All 30 teams would love to host the event, even if it is not geographically feasible with the weather. Through the course of discussions, probably every conceivable option has likely been raised, even if it's discussed for 2 seconds and kicked aside. Or sometimes, it's 20 seconds, or sometimes, there are more legs to something. Because of what it does for the host market, we're pretty much going to stay close to a team's market. Instead of being absolutely in the middle of nowhere, it doesn't make sense when we think we can be connected. I'm not talking about a stadium that's not downtown. But not being in either Pittsburgh or Philadelphia, I'm not sure it makes a whole lot of sense - at this point. As this thing goes on, and more and more of a foundation is built, my guess is John [Collins] will be pushing the boundaries to go further and further out there. I'm not sure what that means yet.

(Collins joked about Hawaii. "We'll call it the Hula Bowl," he said. The NHL said it would not consider using a synthetic surface to allow an outdoor game in any climate for a regular-season game. "The authenticity of this is important," Bettman said.)

DN: When you pick a market like Philadelphia, where the weather can be unpredictable in the winter, how do you ensure that the conditions are decent enough to hold a game? What kind of contingency plans are in place?

Bettman: That's the thing. When you're dealing with weather, you can't ensure working conditions. But if the conditions aren't decent enough, then we're going to have to adjust around it. Last year, we had to move the game [in Pittsburgh] to the evening because the conditions weren't good enough. Again, this kind of goes to why it is more of a reality show. We have our own meteorologist on site. And we're going to have to make some judgments if the weather becomes a factor. I think that's part of the charm.

(A similar contingency plan exists by which the NHL would move the game to a prime-time slot on NBC if it cannot be played at the original 1 o'clock start. There is also a follow-up rain date, as well as an indoor date, should the game require one).

DN: In nearly every major professional sports league - the NFL, NBA, MLB and even MLS - their signature television event of the season also involves their championship. The NHL and NASCAR, with the Daytona 500, are unique in this aspect. Could you ever have imagined that your signature, made-for-TV event would not involve the Stanley Cup?

Bettman: Actually, our signature event is still the Stanley Cup. This is our signature regular-season event. But the Stanley Cup is still our signature event. And I dare say that there's a regular-season game in any sport that is comparable to the Winter Classic. But let's not lose sight of the prize.

3 stars -

Voracek

Coburn

Read - his whole line really. Very steady line

3 goats -

Briere - where were you on Landeskog's goal? You need to be carrying this team at this point. Simmonds got your goal by the way.

JVR - try playing during the game not just the shootout.

Bryz - just because

Why did Lavy use Read as the 3rd shooter? Why not Jagr?

@AlaskaFlyerFan

When I started reading it, I had to check who wrote it again. Scrolled up and blinked twice, then scrolled down and kept reading.

The Flyers start a five-game road trip when they take on the Avs Monday. How many games will the orange and black win on that trip?

2-3 with a shootout loss.

@AlaskaFlyerFan

haha.

I had to post it. Too funny.

From an Avs blog:

After dispatching the Capitals on Saturday, the Avalanche have a giant opportunity tonight as they host the Eastern Conference's current top team (statistically speaking). Although they'll need some help, the Avs can pass as many as three teams (Calgary, Edmonton and Los Angeles) with a win tonight. The Avs won on Saturday by having Erik Johnson and Cody McLeod both break their 2011 goal cherry. Matt Hunwick and Brad Malone...looks like you guys are up.

Both teams are very banged up. You know about the injured Avs; the Phillies are in a similar boat, with Claude Giroux, Chris Pronger and Sean Couturier among the names on the injured list. Oh, and that Ian Lapperiere guy. We still miss you, Lappy.

On paper, this one doesn't look great from a goaltending standpoint. Both J.S. Giguere and Semyon Varlamov have their worst career GAA against the same team. Yep, the Flyers. Giguere is 2-6-2 with a 3.73 GAA all-time, while Varly is 0-0-1 with a 4.79 GAA. Oh, and the Flyers are the highest scoring team in the league right now. On the other side of the ice, Ilya Bryzgalov is 7-4-3 with a 2.43 GAA all-time vs the Avs. Thankfully, the game isn't played on paper. That's right, it's played on ice. Shocking, but true.

And another:

The Colorado Avalanche played some of their best hockey of the season last week, and yet only came away with a 2-1 record after blowing a two goal lead late against the San Jose Sharks. The Avalanche return home for the next week and will play some fierce opposition. Monday night's opponent is none other than the Eastern Conference leaders, the Philadelphia Flyers.

The Flyers may lead the conference, but there are some serious issues developing in the City of Brotherly Love. Captain and future Hall of Fame defenseman Chris Pronger will miss the remainder of the season with a concussion. Leading scorer and blossoming superstar Claude Giroux has also suffered a concussion. The league's leading scorer is out indefinitely, and the Flyers will absolutely miss his scoring presence.

In goal, the Ilya Bryzgalov experiment is not quite working out as expected. Philadelphia traded away two of their top centers this offseason, clearing space for the 31 year old Russian goaltender. So far this season, Bryzgalov has a very average 2.92 GAA and .896 SV%. Then again, Philadelphia cannot complain about his 14-6-2 record in net.

For Colorado, Kevin Porter finally returns to the lineup after serving a four game suspension for his hit on Vancouver Canucks' forward David Booth. Jean-Sebastian Giguere will start his second straight game in net for the Avalanche after a quality performance against the Washington Capitals this past weekend.

@killjoysfly

I don't get Lavy's decision unless it was dictated to him from Homer.

I hope he is on a very short leash.

Who's in net?