Attention Goalies, Don’t Mess With the Roy’s March 23, 2008
Posted by Dave in Hockey, Patrick Roy, fight.add a comment
In a junior hockey playoff game Saturday night, Patrick Roy’s son Jonathan tried to live up to the Roy family name in beating the bejesus out of his opponent. Pardon the French. Seriously…you might want to mute it. The announcer speaks French.
Here’s how dad used to do it.
Approaching the Playoffs, Flyers Heat Up March 23, 2008
Posted by Dave in Atlantic Division, Danny Briere, Eastern Conference, Josef Vasicek, Marty Biron, NHL, New Jersey Devils, New York Islanders, New York Rangers, Philadelphia Flyers, Vinny Prospal.Tags: NHL, Philadelphia Flyers, New York Rangers, Atlantic Division, New York Islanders, Vinny Prospal, Danny Briere, Eastern Conference, New Jersey Devils, Marty Biron, Josef Vasicek
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Ever since their 10 game losing streak ended in mid-February the Flyers have been taking baby steps to becoming once again a dominant force in the Eastern Conference. Sunday night they took what is perhaps one of the few steps left to take. Their 4-1 victory over the New York Islanders was the first time in a long time that the Flyers had a complete team effort for 60 minutes.
The power play notched three of the four goals on the night
including a 5-on-3 tally for Vinny Prospal who got a crisp
pass
right
through the crease from his new designated line-mate Danny Briere.
Briere had a goal and two assists in the effort,
continuing his personal hot streak. He has six points
in his last three games. Not only did the league’s second
best power play flex its muscles Sunday but it gave the fans and
players added confidence to a facet of the game that hadn’t
been so hot recently.
Perhaps the most astounding part of the victory was the play of goalie Marty Biron. The Arenavision screen showed the “save of the game” with ten minutes to go; a windmill glove save by Biron with a whole half of net to shoot at. Apparantly he wasn’t so thrilled with that save because about five minutes later Biron stuffed a Josef Vasicek offering between the blade on his left skate and the right post. Biron said in a post-game interview with WIP that the start gave him more confidence but also the play of his defense. He noted that the defensemen were making their reads on puck handlers quicker which allows him to react accordingly.
So what was the baby step that the Flyers took since their shootout victory over the Rangers on Friday? They finished. It became routine for the Flyers to blow late leads, let weak goals in with under two minutes to go in a period, skate hard for two and a half periods; but to their credit the Flyers played a full 60 minutes tonight. The defense was pretty good although a few whiffed shots for the Islanders added to how good the D appeared. Shots were blocked and -what was missing for so long-, the man without the puck was picked up. Hell, the Flyers even broke out of their own zone with ease; another thing that gave them difficulty as of late.
If the Flyers could keep that level of play up in their six remaining games (two of which against the Devils who have given the orange and black fits this year) not only will they make the playoffs, not only will they have a reasonable seed, they will be a force to be reckoned with come April and May.
Remaining Schedule:
@ 
Tuesday March 25 7:30 pm 
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Friday March 28 7:00 pm 
@Â Â Â 
   Saturday March 29 7:00
pm 
@ 
Wednesday April 2 7:30 pm
vs. Friday April 4 7:00 pm
vs.Sunday April 6 3:00 pm 
Photos courtesy flyers.nhl.comÂ
Davidson Pulls Upset, Vols Survive in OT March 23, 2008
Posted by Aaron in Georgetown Hoyas, NCAA, NCAA basketball, Roy Hibbert, Wayne Chism, bruce pearl, butler, butler bulldogs, davidson wildcats, march madness, stephen curry, tennessee volunteers, texas.add a comment
The 2 seed in the midwest region Georgetown Hoyas have been defeated at the hands of the 10 seed Davidson Wildcats.
The Hoyas had a 38-27 lead at the half despite big man Roy Hibbert only playing around 5 minutes due to 2 early personal fouls. In the 2nd half, Davidson fell down as many as 17 but this mid major was not done. The Wildcats, led by superstar Stephen Curry, rallied and eventually won the game 74-70 to pull the giant upset. Curry hit 4 clutch free throws down the stretch and finished with 30 points, he had 40 in the first round game against Gonzaga. The Wildcats have won an NCAA leading 24 games in a row. Davidson will play Wisconsin in the Sweet 16.
In other action the Tennessee Volunteers took on the Butler Bulldogs for a chance to play the winner of tonight’s Oklahoma/Louisville game. The Vols opened the game on fire, taking an early 12-2 lead. But the 29 win Bulldogs wouldn’t go away that quickly. They battled back and made the Vols lead just 4 at halftime. The teams went back and forth the entire 2nd half. Butler grabbed their first lead with less than 2 minutes to go, only to be tied again by Tennessee. Butler had the chance to win the game at the buzzer but an overtime was needed. After the 5 minutes, Bruce Pearl’s club survived yet again to advance. Smith and Chism each put in 15.
Another 2 seed, Texas, survived Miami (FL) to advance to Houston to play a virtual home game in the sweet 16 against Stanford. It’s been quite a wild weekend for 2 seeds. Duke lost to West Virginia, Georgetown lost to Davidson, Tennessee and Texas squeaked by.
March Madness!
