wjag Posted October 18, 2006 Report Share Posted October 18, 2006 I just love the "since they're under contract...." line.... Humiliated in Buffalo...Again Posted by: Jose Mendez on October 18, 2006 The Philadelphia Flyers traveled to snow bound Buffalo to allegedly play a hockey game Tuesday night. What followed however, was not a hockey game. It was a slaughter. If you felt sorry for the Flyers, and they were certainly as sorry as it gets, you could be nice and say they were completely and utterly humiliated. That's if you felt sorry for them. Not many will. As shameful as the 9 -1 final was, it doesn't begin to describe how badly the Sabers outclassed the Flyers in all aspects of the game. If not for some outstanding goaltending from Robert Esche in the first period, the score could've easily reached well beyond double digits. As it was, Esche's heroics dried up in the second period while he watched Buffalo put on a hockey clinic in front of him and whiz pucks behind him. Entering the period clinging to a winning chance they didn't deserve, the Flyers left it clinging to the shredded remains of their self respect. They lost it around the half-way mark when Buffalo began raining goals like some kind of biblical plague. After an early period goal by Thomas Vanek, Buffalo seized all control during a 5 on 3 power play when Jaroslav Spacek drilled a one-timer past Esche. Chris Drury ended all pretexts of an actual contest by capitalizing on the remaining power play time to extend Buffalo's lead to 3-0. They added three more as they toyed with the Flyers. By then however, the Flyers had given up. Which brings us to coaching. Buffalo players weren't the only ones putting on a clinic. Dating back to last year's playoffs, Buffalo's Lindy Ruff has consistently out-coached Flyers bench boss Ken Hitchcock. Sabers players know where Philadelphia will put the puck before Philadelphia does, taking advantage of Hitchcock's highly structured, uncreative and ultimately, predictable system. When the Flyers do mange to gain control of the puck, a never-ending series of line changes ensures they have no chemistry to call on. Whereas Buffalo players quickly zip puck from stick to stick, the Flyers skate scared and slow - eyes wide with fear and confusion - while waiting too long to pass. That's not to say the players actually tried to make Hitchcock's system work on the ice. Turnover after turnover lead to a dizzying series of odd-man breaks and end to end rushes. Esche had little chance on many of the goals that Buffalo fired past him. One particularly dazzling rush saw Buffalo forward Maxim Afinogenov, who finished the night with four points, skate from one end of the ice to the other without a single Flyer placing so much as a stick or finger in his lane. He finished by undressing Darien Hatcher and tapping the puck underneath Esche who may not have even noticed. Esche was gone by then, retreating to whatever la-la land the Sabers had blown his mind to. In 20 minutes, a 0-0 game had become a 6-0 rout. Since they're under contract, the Flyers returned to the ice for the third period. They should've taken the opportunity to sneak out the back during the intermission. Despite an early period goal by Jeff Carter, nothing but further humiliation and ignominy awaited them. Carter got Philadelphia on the board at 1:22 with that nasty wrist shot he's been teasing Flyers fans with since he joined the team. He beat Buffalo goalie Ryan Miller cleanly over the glove from just inside the right circle. The Sabers crushed any sense of accomplishment the Flyers may have been feeling just 24 seconds later with another easy beautiful goal by Andre Roy, his second of the night. They added 2 more in the course of the period and even that was mercy as Buffalo let their third and fourth liners do most of the mop up. Buffalo tough guy Andrew Peters took that mandate literally, crushing Flyers captain Peter Forsberg to the ice with a hit and then laughing at the pathetic display of "team toughness" that followed. Flyers fans mourn for the days when humiliation was never total; when opposing teams paid for a beating like this one by taking a beating or three of their own. In Buffalo Tuesday, night the Flyers couldn't muster even a faint echo of that proud tradition. When the final buzzer sounded, Philadelphia skated meekly off the ice, lucky to escape with a 9-1 pasting. The Flyers continue their search for rock bottom Thursday against Tampa Bay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eleven Posted October 18, 2006 Report Share Posted October 18, 2006 In case you feel like sending Mr. Mendez some tips on his writing style (and/or factual accuracy): 1. It's Sabres, not Sabers. It's a six-letter word. Should be easy to spell. 2. "the score could've easily reached well beyond double digits." Not really. Maybe into double digits or even well into double digits, but not "well beyond" double digits. What's this guy imagining? 100 goals? 10,000? 3. Buffalo isn't "snow-bound." It may have been on Friday, but from where I sit (just blocks from the Arena), there is no snow and there wasn't yesterday, either. 4. Who is Andre Roy? There are others--but I have to stop ripping the writing of Flyers fans (or is that Flyres fans?) and get back to work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hopeleslyobvious Posted October 18, 2006 Report Share Posted October 18, 2006 In case you feel like sending Mr. Mendez some tips on his writing style (and/or factual accuracy): 1. It's Sabres, not Sabers. It's a six-letter word. Should be easy to spell. 2. "the score could've easily reached well beyond double digits." Not really. Maybe into double digits or even well into double digits, but not "well beyond" double digits. What's this guy imagining? 100 goals? 10,000? 3. Buffalo isn't "snow-bound." It may have been on Friday, but from where I sit (just blocks from the Arena), there is no snow and there wasn't yesterday, either. 4. Who is Andre Roy? There are others--but I have to stop ripping the writing of Flyers fans (or is that Flyres fans?) and get back to work. Andre Roy plays for the Penguins. And pronounces his last name like Patrick. Of course Derek did for about a week last year as well... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apuszczalowski Posted October 18, 2006 Report Share Posted October 18, 2006 In case you feel like sending Mr. Mendez some tips on his writing style (and/or factual accuracy): 1. It's Sabres, not Sabers. It's a six-letter word. Should be easy to spell. 2. "the score could've easily reached well beyond double digits." Not really. Maybe into double digits or even well into double digits, but not "well beyond" double digits. What's this guy imagining? 100 goals? 10,000? 3. Buffalo isn't "snow-bound." It may have been on Friday, but from where I sit (just blocks from the Arena), there is no snow and there wasn't yesterday, either. 4. Who is Andre Roy? There are others--but I have to stop ripping the writing of Flyers fans (or is that Flyres fans?) and get back to work. Tlk about beating them while they are down, who cares about spelling mistakes, grammer errors and false facts. The guy wasn't ripping the Sabres or coming up with excuses why Buffalo won, he was giving credit where credit is due. Now maybe next season you can rip into this guy again after he has time to go back to school to learn proper spelling and grammar when the playoffs come around and there is no more Flyers games to right about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eleven Posted October 18, 2006 Report Share Posted October 18, 2006 Tlk about beating them while they are down, who cares about spelling mistakes, grammer errors and false facts. The guy wasn't ripping the Sabres or coming up with excuses why Buffalo won, he was giving credit where credit is due. Now maybe next season you can rip into this guy again after he has time to go back to school to learn proper spelling and grammar when the playoffs come around and there is no more Flyers games to right about. NO mercy for Flyers fans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FogBat Posted October 19, 2006 Report Share Posted October 19, 2006 Yeah, but he was pretty creative in his writing style. He told it like it was. It was pretty funny too. Nice to know that Lindy has "Hitch has a glitch's" number (like we didn't know that already). Hitch has been in Lindy's crosshairs for a very long time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnnychemo Posted October 19, 2006 Report Share Posted October 19, 2006 Max got 5 points on the night, not four. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eleven Posted October 19, 2006 Report Share Posted October 19, 2006 Max got 5 points on the night, not four. That's the spirit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sactobillsfan Posted October 19, 2006 Report Share Posted October 19, 2006 Tlk about beating them while they are down, who cares about spelling mistakes, grammer errors and false facts. The guy wasn't ripping the Sabres or coming up with excuses why Buffalo won, he was giving credit where credit is due. Now maybe next season you can rip into this guy again after he has time to go back to school to learn proper spelling and grammar when the playoffs come around and there is no more Flyers games to right about. Write. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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