Captain Mike Richards response to the Flyers being referred to as the underdog in the 2010 Stanley Cup Finals against the Chicago Blackhawks.
"We're obviously feeling confident about ourselves, so are they...For you guys, the media and TV, you probably want to label someone the underdog but we feel confident in our capabilities...we got here for a reason."
Defenseman Kimmo Timonen explains how he has prepared for the Blackhawks.
"They were saying that Chicago is a quick team with a lot of skill and their D-men can really move the puck and they can jump into the play ... They were saying to me that they tried to play physical hockey and tried to limit their D jumping into the play. That's going to be one key for us."
Coach Peter Laviolette's response to who he think will win the battle in front of the net, Dustin Byfuglien or Chris Pronger.
"It's certainly something that's going to have to happen ... Our defense has done a really good job, not just Chris, but our defensemen in front of the net and team defense has been really good in these playoffs.
Coach Laviolette's feelings about being asked to take over the coaching duties for the Flyers in the middle of the season.
I'm grateful to [Flyers GM] Paul [Holmgren] and grateful for the opportunity because there's not a lot of jobs."
On this day one year ago, former Flyer Peter Zezel passed away from a rare blood disorder, hemolytic anemia at the age of 44. Zezel was selected by the Flyers 41st overall in the 1983 NHL Entry Draft. Zezel spent the first five seasons of his 15 year career with the Flyers. Zezel played in 310 games for the Flyers while scoring 91 goals and having 170 assists. In 1986-87, Zezel had his best offensive output for the Flyers. Zezel had 72 points during the season including 33 goals and 39 assists. Zezel spent the rest of his career with six others teams including the St. Louis Blues, Washington Capitals, Toronto Maple Leafs, Dallas Stars, New Jersey Devils and Vancouver Canucks. Zezel retired during the 1998-99 season after being traded to the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. Zezel finished his NHL career with 873 games played, 219 goals and 389 assists, with a total of 608 points.
On this day in 1933, outfielder Chuck Klein hit for the cycle in a 5-4 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals. This was Klein's second of his career. Klein's previous cylce occurred in 1931. Klein spent 15 of his 19 year career with the Phillies. Klein finished the 1933 season with a .368 batting average, 28 homers and 120 RBIs. Klein was voted to his first of two All-Star teams in 1933, while finishing second in the NL MVP race behind New York Giants pitcher Carl Hubbell. Klein led the NL in ten statistical categories including hits, doubles, homers, RBIs, batting average, slugging percentage, on base percentage, OPS, OPS+, and total bases. Klein was inducted into the Hall of Fame by the Veteran's Committee in 1980.
Also on this day in 1980, pitcher Steve Carlton became the National League pitcher to throw six one-hitters in their career. Ten years later, third baseman Mike Schmidt's uniform #20 was retired by the Phillies.
On Sunday afternoon, after winger Kris Versteeg scored the empty netter for the Blackhawks, I started to wonder will captain Jonathan Toews touch the Clarence Campbell Bowl. Toews decided to stay as far away from the Campbell Bowl as he could while taking a photograph with the hardware.
When captain Mike Richards skated up to the Prince of Wales Trophy on Monday night, Richards was itching at the chance to grab the trophy. Richards was so anxious that he almost forgot he had to pause and take a photograph before leaving the ice.
After the game, Richards admitted that the Flyers season hasn't been a conventional one, so he decided to against the supposed jinx labeled with touching the conference trophies.
Last year, Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby decided to touch the Prince of Wales trophy. The Penguins ended up beating the Detroit Red Wings in seven games. In 2008, Crosby decided to stay away from the trophy like it was the plague and the Penguins lost to the Red Wings in six games.
One fact to make Flyers worried could be that in 1997, Eric Lindros decided to touch the Prince of Wales trophy. Detroit Red Wings captain Steve Yzerman said publicly that he won't touch the Campbell Bowl. All Flyers fans can remember the Flyers decided to not show up and got swept by the Red Wings.
I can't blame Richards for being excited for getting a chance to lift Lord Stanley because it has been 13 years since the last appearance in the Cup Finals by the Flyers. This might be the only chance that Richards would be able to lift any trophy. The man was living in the moment and letting what the Flyers just accomplished all soak in.
In no way a hockey player really thinks that the main goal of their season is to win the conference trophy. Their goal is to drink out of Lord Stanley during the summer. There is going to be no worries that Richards and the rest of the Flyers will be focused.They will try to bring a parade down Broad Street this summer.
As much as the Flyers are a "team of destiny" right now, they should have been here the whole time. They had one of the best paper rosters coming into the 2009-2010 season in the Eastern Conference. Because of injuries and the under-achieving of the team, the Flyers dug a huge hole for themselves and had to win in a shootout to sneak into the playoffs.
The Chris Pronger deal, last summer, addressed a huge hole on the squad, a shutdown defenseman. Now, with Pronger and fellow defenseman, Kimmo Timonen, has given two shutdown defense pairs, which will be crucial to shown down Toews and Patrick Kane along with Marian Hossa.
If you aren't Flyered up already, well then you might as well start because this series won't be a cakewalk for the 'Hawks. Look for this series to be one the best ever and going either six or seven. Let's Go Flyers!
On this day in 1997, Eric Lindros netted a hat trick as the Flyers defeated the New York Rangers, 6-3, in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals at Madison Square Garden. Lindros scored his first goal in the first period on a wrap around that just barely crossed the goal line, as the Flyers took a 1-0 lead. In the third period, after two quick goals by the Rangers in the period, Lindros responded with a slapper that beat Mike Richter glove side, giving the Flyers a 3-2 lead. Lindros scored his ninth goal of the postseason, as the captain added an empty net goal with time winding down. The Flyers closed up the series with two more victories over the Rangers, winning the series 4-1. The Orange & Black advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals and were promptly swept by the Detroit Red Wings.
On this day in 1983, Steve "Lefty" Carlton struck out four in a 5-0 loss to the San Diego Padres. But the southpaw was able to move into second place on the career all-time strikeout list, passing Walter Johnson, who finished his career with 3,511 strikeouts. At the end of the season, Carlton finished the season ahead of Nolan Ryan with 3,709 strikeouts. Carlton finished his career with 4,136 strikeouts and is currently sitting fourth all-time.
The Philadelphia 76ers organization and fans have been waiting for this day to come for about a month now. This day I speak of is the "John Wall Sweepstakes" or more well-known as the NBA Draft Lottery.
The Draft Lottery is a day for all the losers in the NBA to have a chance to turn around their organizations by getting one of the top three picks in the 2010 NBA Draft.
Going into the day, the Sixers would select sixth overall, if the ping pong balls fell in order. But, the Sixers had a 5.3 percent chance to get the first pick, 6.03 percent chance to get the second pick, and 6.97 percent chance to get the third pick of the draft. In the worst case scenario, the Sixers would stay in the Top 10, by selecting ninth overall in the upcoming draft.
But this draft for the Sixers organization is the most important draft for the franchise since the 1996 NBA Draft, where the Sixers selected shooting guard Allen Iverson. "The Answer" was the face of the franchise for a decade and helped selling out arenas throughout the NBA. Even this past year, the Sixers decided to bring back Iverson, in an attempt to drive up attendance at the WachoviaCenter. But that experiment failed as Iverson appeared in 25 games, averaging 31.9 mpg, 13.9 ppg and 4.1 apg. Iverson left the team in the middle of the year due to personal and family issues.
The 2010 NBA Draft includes a handful of prospects that would be able to contribute to a franchise but two prospects are considered franchise players. Those two players include the freshman phenom sensation, John Wall, and most pro-ready prospect, Evan Turner. Many Draft guru's have said that the winner of the NBA Draft Lottery would win the right to select Wall, the 6'4" point guard out of Kentucky over Turner, the 6'7" swingman out of Ohio St., as the first pick of the 2010 NBA Draft.
After getting a solid contribution from their rookie point guard Jrue Holiday last year, it would have made no sense for the Sixers to hope for the first pick in the draft. The only use for the first pick of the Draft would be to select Wall and hear possible trade requests for Wall's rights. This way the Sixers could somehow get a greater return but that still doesn't make much sense. Selecting second overall would benefit the franchise by selecting the much needed swingman Turner.
Imagine next year having Holiday and Turner in the backcourt along, for now, the new A.I. at the three. If Thaddeus Young bounces back from a right thumb fracture and the rest of the team decides to achieve to the best of their abilities, the Sixers will end up in an annually weak Eastern Conference next year.
But I might be jumping ahead of my assertion being that the Sixers currently don't have a head coach. The door hasn't been kicked down by any particular prospective head coach for the Sixers job. The reason being the team is filled with horribly large contracts held by underachieving players. President and General Manager Ed Stefanski tried to make a splash in the summer of 2008 by signing forward Elton Brand to a $82 million deal over five years. Stefanski also signed forward/guard Andre Iguodala to a $80 million deal over six years.
Luckily, the only bright spot, before getting the second overall pick in the upcoming draft, was the fact the Sixers do having a couple of expiring contracts this year. The Sixers could finally be able to move center Samuel Dalembert and his $12 million remaining on his contract. Other flexibility and possible players on the move could be guards Willie Green and Jason Kapono with their combined $12 million currently on the Sixers books.
The Sixers organization and fans might now be able to say they can see the light at the end of the tunnel. The flexibility to move the expiring contracts of Dalembert, Green and Kapono contracts gives the Sixers the chance to improve their team and give some cap relief. This will be a rebuilding process, which should be centered around Holiday and Turner. But for a change Stefanski will have to select a coach that loves to run instead of a coach who loves to slow down the game and run a complicated offense like the Princeton offense. If Stefanski doesn't select the right coach, then you might as well show Stefanski the door.
A diehard Philadelphia sports fan, who has been displaced for the time being in Pittsburgh, PA. But living far away from home hasn't stopped my love for following and cheering on my Philadelphia teams.
Captain Mike Richards response to the Flyers being referred to as the underdog in the 2010 Stanley Cup Finals against the Chicago Blackhawks.
