Broad Street Hockey

Why I'm okay with this Devils vs. Kings Stanley Cup Finals thing

2012-05-26T15:08:04Z

I have a lot of really obnoxious friends who root for the New Jersey Devils. Seeing as I'm from New Jersey, this isn't necessarily shocking.

They often pull out the "duuuuude we're from Jersey, gotta support the home team!" card when trying to make their argument for why they root for the wrong team, when in reality they're only Devils fans because we happened to be at an impressionable age when New Jersey won the Stanley Cup in 1995.

Sure, that's only an explanation for this phenomenon if you're about 30 years old or younger, but if we were to take a survey of South Jersey-born/raised Devils fans, I bet the vast majority of them are on the younger end of the spectrum simply because the Devils were good when they were growing up. There's no other reason to explain why people from South Jersey are fans of a team that played in East Rutherford vs. a team that plays in Philadelphia. Zero explanation.

If you weren't attracted by that bright shiny Cup in 1995 (or 2000 or 2003), you have your head straight and you root for the Flyers. You're one of us.

And if you're from South Jersey and somewhere in your early 30s or younger, you probably know a lot of obnoxious Devils fans you call friends, just like I do. And what's the worst part about a rival team winning a Stanley Cup or a championship in any sport?

It's not that you really hate the team all that much. I mean, that's definitely part of it at times, but I'm not so sure it's the truth with this Devils team. Hate (but begrudgingly respect) that NJ logo? Absolutely.

But hate the guys on this Devils team? That's tough. It's hard to hate Zach Parise or Alexei Ponikarovsky or Steve Bernier or Adam Henrique or Ryan Carter. It's kind of hard to hate Ilya Kovalchuk, frankly, too. I'm talking like ... real Scott Stevens level hatred here, by the way. Maybe you have bottled up 12-year-old hatred for Martin Brodeur and Patrik Elias, and that's totally justifiable, but they really aren't the worst dudes in the world. And Devils coach Pete DeBoer seems kind of awesome.

No, it's not that you hate the team. It's that you hate your friends who root for that team, and when they win, you have to deal with those phone calls and those text messages and those bets you made when you were drinking. For an entire calendar year, you have to deal with STANLEY CUP CHAMPS WOOOOO! 1975! 1975! etc. It's just the worst.

But that's just the thing: When you're talking hockey with a friend who roots for the Devils today or last week or even last season, when the Devils were awful, or five years ago or 10 years ago, the conversation always comes back to the same talking points: The Devils have three Stanley Cups since '95 and the Flyers haven't won since '75. The Devils have no fans and parking lot parades. Oh, and they're boooooring. Really boring.

We've been dealing with obnoxious Devils fans for decades at this point, and frankly, we're kind of experts at it. So if they happen to win another? That sucks. But is it any worse than if the Penguins were to win another? Or if the Rangers (God forbid) had advanced to the Finals this year and won the thing? Or if the Capitals finally break through and win one or (lol) the Islanders are able to turn their mess around and win another one before the Flyers do? No. It's really not.

Don't get me wrong here: I'm rooting for the Los Angeles Kings. I've never jumped on a bandwagon so strongly in my life. Not only are they basically the Flyers in different colors (and how awesome would it be to see Simon Gagne and Ron Hextall get a Cup, regardless of the polarizing feelings we all have on Mike Richards and Jeff Carter?) but their organization is utterly hilarious and completely refreshing. They deserve a Cup and I'm going to be rooting like hell for them over the next two weeks, and them playing the Devils only has me rooting harder.

But if the Devils win the Cup this year, it's not so bad. After all, a parade through the streets of Newark is even funnier than a parade in a parking lot.

Bombshell: Giroux Signs Two-Year Deal With KHL's Dinamo Riga

2012-05-26T14:01:13Z

Our Latvian hockey liaison LVHokejs does a pretty good job of keeping us posted on the doings of Dinamo Riga. When it comes to the Flyers, Dinamo Riga is pretty much to the east what the LA Kings are to the west.

But late this week, LVHokejs sent me a newsflash from Flyers East that could forever change the way these two teams look at each other from across an ocean.

Headline: "Rīgas Dinamo sastāvu papildina rezultatīvais kanādietis Žirū"

In paraphrased English: Canadian Giroux Signs with Dinamo Riga.

Wow. Holy crap. The article says it was a two-year deal he signed. And who even knew he could sign stuff with those casts on his wrists?

Some important details on this shocking acquisition after the jump.

Upon further investigation into the article, it turns out that it wasn't Claude Giroux who signed with DR, but Alexandre Giroux.

Oh.

Alexandre Giroux is an unrelated AHLer who spent some time with the Washington Capitals at the same time Claude was breaking onto the Flyers. There was a comment at Japers' Rink during that era suggesting that Alexandre would turn out to be the better of the two, but that suggestion was quickly and correctly shot down.

"Great name, glad he's coming, but I wish the other Giroux were coming instead," said one Latvian commenter.

But in more sincerity, the Flyers seem like a fairly likely candidate to open their season in Europe next season, maybe even in Riga. Why not an exhibition game with Dinamo while they're over there? It would make Oskars Bartulis happy, and that alone should make it worthwhile.

Speaking of Oskars Bartulis, go try to win that shirt he's on.

Eurovision 2012 Baku Final: Predictions Contest (Win a Shirt!) and Preview Haikus

2012-05-26T14:01:03Z

The big day has finally arrived. At midnight in Baku, and 3 pm on the east coast, the final of the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest will begin.

And to wrap up our week of celebrating Eurovision WTFs, we thought it would be fitting to reward you all with a chance to win some BSH swag that was borne out of a Eurovision WTF. Namely our Latvian Wolf shirt, in the size of your choice, shipped right to your doorstep. All you have to do to win is crack the code that is Eurovision with a little contest.

One quick disclaimer: we're going to need to have at least 12 entries to make the contest valid, so make sure to tell everybody you know to enter so that we can fly past that minimum.

So much stuff after the jump. Rules for the contest, the running order for the final (complete with wave-y flags and a haiku about each song), and info about how to follow the show live.

Contest Rules:

You will be trying to predict the top ten and bottom five finishers out of the 26 countries in this year's final. Your entry (to be submitted in the comment section of this post) should basically look like this (except with countries that are still competing, obviously):

Latvia

Montenegro

San Marino

Georgia

Austria

Finland

Portugal

The Netherlands

Switzerland

Bulgaria

...
22. Croatia

23. Belgium

24. Belarus

25. Israel

26. Slovenia

And here is the scoring system that will be used to determine a winner:

1st: (Worth 120 points)
2nd: (Worth 100 points)
3rd: (Worth 80 points)
4th: (Worth 70 points)
5th: (Worth 60 points)
6th: (Worth 50 points)
7th: (Worth 40 points)
8th: (Worth 30 points)
9th: (Worth 20 points)
10th: (Worth 10 points)
...
22nd: (Worth 10 points)
23rd: (Worth 20 points)
24th: (Worth 30 points)
25th: (Worth 60 points)
26th: (Worth 100 points)

You'll also earn points for countries that you correctly put in the top ten or bottom five, but whose exact placing you miss. These points will be determined by the following formula:

Points if you would have gotten it right
-------------------------------------------------------- = Points you get (with rounding)
(Places Missed by + 1)

So for example, if you predicted Lithuania to come in fourth but they actually win, you would receive:

120
---- = 30 points
(3+1)

It's a lot less complicated than it looks...

You must submit your ballot before the first points are announced on the show. This would likely be at roughly 5:10 pm, but just try to get it in as soon as you can after the last song is performed). Also feel free to submit before the show starts if you have a pretty good idea of what you think is going to happen. If you want to review any performances you can find them all here.

And like I said before the jump, we need at least 12 entries if we're going to be able to give out a shirt, so tell your friends and neighbors to join in.

Enough rules. Now, the running order for the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 Final...with haiku analysis.

Flag	Country	Artist - Song - Haiku
	1. United Kingdom	Engelbert Humperdinck - Love Will Set You Free Age seventy-six / But he's still getting it done / Grannies love The Hump
	2. Hungary	Compact Disco - Sound Of Our Hearts Mediocre rock / Everyone wearing leather / You'll forget this one
	3. Albania	Rona Nishliu - Suus Battlefield Earth-esque/ / Sounds like a boiling kettle / Modern Medusa
	4. Lithuania	Donny Montell - Love Is Blind Blindfolded at first / Then finds sight and air guitar / One-man discotheque
	5. Bosnia & Herzegovina	Maya Sar - Korake Ti Znam Piano bench / Blows even without wind machine / Bathroom break time, yes?
	6. Russia	Buranovskiye Babushki - Party For Everybody Adorable grandmas / Baking a victory? / Ladies came to win
	7. Iceland	Greta Salóme & Jónsi - Never Forget Over-dramatic / Volcanic intensity / Skinny tie death stare
	8. Cyprus	Ivi Adamou - La La Love Dancing on table / La La La La La La La / La La La La La
	9. France	Anggun - Echo (You And I) Whistle while you work / Cleopatra-esque lifting / Find those guys some shirts
	10. Italy	Nina Zilli - L'Amore È Femmina (Out Of Love) If Amy Winehouse / Was an Italian instead / And...um...still alive.
	11. Estonia	Ott Lepland - Kuula That boring grey vest / Stolen from Jim Tressel's grave? / Remarkably dull.
	12. Norway	Tooji - Stay Stomping Norwegian / Darkhorse in a hoodie / Why's he grab her hand?
	13. Azerbaijan	Sabina Babayeva - When The Music Dies Very depressing / Hometown Debbie Downer--why? / Repeat unlikely
	14. Romania	Mandinga - Zaleilah Accordionist! / A moonwalking bagpiper! / ¿En español? ¿Que?
	15. Denmark	Soluna Samay - Shoud've Known Better Her old sailor hat / Can't top cellist's Starter cap / She should know better.
	16. Greece	Eleftheria Eleftheriou - Aphrodisiac Craving viagra? / Perennial powerhouse Greeks / Won't need a bailout
	17. Sweden	Loreen - Euphoria Some mumbly verses / Then frantic, snowy dancing / Odds-on favorite
	18. Turkey	Can Bonomo - Love Me Back Drunken sea shanty / Azerbaijan loves Turkey / And he loves them back
	19. Spain	Pastora Soler - Quédate Conmigo (Stay With Me) Spanish struggling / Not top-five since Ninety-Five / Decent soccer, though
	20. Germany	Roman Lob - Standing Still Big puppy dog eyes / Make long, desperate eye contact / And a stupid hat
	21. Malta	Kurt Calleja - This is the Night Surprise finalist / This won't be his night at all / But his heels impress
	22. Macedonia	Kaliopi - Crno I Belo Aging Balkan star / Singing in a black blazer / Serbs do it better.
	23. Ireland	Jedward - Waterline Power ranger twins / The fountain of hyper youth / Will make a big splash
	24. Serbia	Željko Joksimović - Nije Ljubav Stvar Second in oh-four / Could do one better this time / Babushki battler
	25. Ukraine	Gaitana - Be My Guest Flowers in her hair / Virtual back up dancers / Trumpeters in skirts
	26. Moldova	Pasha Parfeny - Lăutar Follows trumpets on / And he sings about trumpets! / Let's swim on the floor!

Here are the current odds from a bunch of bookmakers to give you a sense of how the experts think things are going to go. But beware--Eurovision results often defy reason. Last year's favorite France finished in 15th, but for the most part the odds wind up at least in the correct ballpark.

You can watch live (or on delay after the show finishes) on a pretty decent live stream at the official Eurovision site. And you can talk about the show in the comments here (I'll also be tweeting about the show a lot at @BenRothenberg, annoying the crap out of my tennis followers).

Good luck!

NHL Awards 2012: Our Calder, Lady Byng And Masterton Trophy Ballots

2012-05-25T18:44:43Z

Over at SBNation.com this week, bloggers from around our network have voted on five of the various NHL Awards. We've presented our ballots for the Vezina Trophy and the Norris Trophy already, and now, here are our ballots for three others.

First up, the Calder Trophy, awarded to the NHL's top rookie. Head to SBNation.com to see who 40 of our hockey bloggers ultimately voted the winner.

	Third Place	Second Place	First Place
Geoff	Carl Hagelin	Adam Henrique	Gabriel Landeskog
Ben	Matt Read	Ryan Nugent-Hopkins	Adam Henrique
Travis	Sean Couturier	Gabriel Landeskog	Adam Henrique

Continue to get mad at us after the jump.

Secondly, the Lady Byng, awarded to the NHL's most gentlemanly player. Check SBNation.com to see the winner.

	Third Place	Second Place	First Place
Geoff	Teemu Selanne	Kimmo Timonen	Nicklas Lidstrom
Ben	Kimmo Timonen	Cory Schneider	Karl Alzner
Travis	Kimmo Timonen	Matt Moulson	Teemu Selanne

And finally, the Masterton Trophy, won by Ian Laperriere in 2010-11, awarded to the player who exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey. Check with SBNation.com to find the winner.

	Third Place	Second Place	First Place
Geoff	Matt Cooke	Joffrey Lupul	Ray Emery
Ben	Jose Theodore	Roman Hamrlik	Jeff Carter
Travis	Tomas Fleischmann	Tommy Wingels	Ray Emery

Friday Morning Fly By: Three Day Weekend!

2012-05-25T10:00:25Z

Today's open discussion thread, complete with your daily dose of Philadelphia Flyers-related news and notes...

This year's offseason is pretty quiet compared to last year's, especially when you consider the similarities. The reaction has been much, much better though: [SB Nation Philly]
The results of SBN's Calder Trophy voting: [SBNation.com]
A good look at the rookie forwards from this year shows an under-appreciated Atlantic Division foe: [NHLNumbers.com]
Game 4 of the '87 Cup Final, otherwise known as one of those times Ron Hextall lost his mind: [Flyers Faithful]
Sam Donnellon says despite Jeff Carter and Mike Richards in the Cup Finals, Flyers fans shouldn't change their opinion on the trades: [Daily News]
Ratings from the New York market during Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Final set records: [SBNation.com]
The Dodgers are interested in hosting a Winter Classic: [LA Kings Insider] [SBNation.com]
Why you should root for the Devils to win the East: [SBNation.com]
A good comparison between the 2012 Kings and the 2003 Ducks, followed by some good discussion in the comments: [Battle of California]
On-ice video from the Kings celebration, where at 0.54 Jeff Carter tells Drew Doughty to calm down before he gets a penalty (s/t RudyKelly) : [Los Angeles Kings]
Arguing that Pierre McGuire needs to say more of the things he hears while inside the glass: [SBNation.com] [Flyers Faithful]
Steve Yzerman suggests he won't be trading for Roberto Luongo: [Puck Daddy]
But Canucks coach Alain Vigneault said yesterday that Luongo does want out of Vancouver: [Nucks Misconduct]
Tomas Kopecky took his silver medal from the World Championships to Pavol Demitra's grave: [Puck Daddy] [Backhand Shelf]
A Canadian poll shows a strong correlation between hockey fan and those who want to keep fighting in the game: [The Globe and Mail]
One more from Ben after the jump.

No context necessary:

via 25.media.tumblr.com

Vote Claude Giroux, and keep Evgeni Malkin's face off the NHL 13 cover

2012-05-24T18:21:27Z

Generally speaking, I think the Flyers Twitter account is sort of lame. It's not their fault, really -- it's just very generic and bland, and the total opposite of the @LAKings or even the pretty funny Florida Panthers feed or that of the Columbus Blue Jackets. But this hash tag they used this morning? Gold, Jerry.

The semifinals have begun for the #NHL13Cover! Vote @28cgiroux! Voting is unlimited...so let's get this going! #malkOUT nhl.com/covervote
— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) May 24, 2012

#malkOUT. Everybody loves a good pun. That's a damn good pun right there.

Seriously, though: Go vote for Claude Giroux right now. Vote a million times. There's nothing stopping you. Do we understand the consequences here? If you don't vote for Claude Giroux, there's a really good chance that this face winds up on the cover of NHL 13. Please think of the children. Vote for Claude.

CLICK HERE. VOTE. A LOT.

Andrew Johnston Scouting Report: A first-hand look at the Flyers newest prospect

2012-05-24T15:59:00Z

Ah, the power of SB Nation and the Internet. T.C. Engel, a mod at SB Nation's MMA blog Bloody Elbow, has seen new Flyers prospect Andrew Johnston play hockey quite a bit. He works at the arena that hosts the Humboldt Broncos, Johnston's former Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League team, and he provided this lengthy scouting report for us.

Granted, Engel claims he's not a professional scout, but who cares? He's seen the guy play a lot of hockey and he understands the game, so that's enough for me. See Engel's full report after the jump. - Travis

Hey Flyers fans. I'd be shocked if any of you recognized my name at all, but a quick intro: I'm a long time SBN user, and even longer time hockey fan (GO BLACKHAWKS! Sorry). I'm a mod at Bloody Elbow (MMA Blog) right now, and am a huge fan of that sport. But that doesn't really matter right now. What does is this: For the last year, I've worked at the arena where Andrew Johnston played his Jr. A hockey for the Humboldt Broncos, so I saw him play ~30 times this year. I just thought this would be a cool thing for you guys to read.What follows is a scouting report of the major areas of his game. Keep in mind that while he did play Junior A hockey, he had a roster spot on the table from the Red Deer Rebels that he turned down to keep his NCAA eligibility.

Disclaimer: I am, by no means, a professional, just someone who has seen a Flyers prospect play a lot, and just wanted to help out a fellow SBN blog's readers understand why they would take a shot in the dark on an unknown player.

Basics:

Born July 6, 1991

6'1", ~185 lbs.

Left shooting LW

Offense:

Obviously, Johnston was signed for his ability to make offense, this is no surprise. He is an absolutely deadly shooter, which his playoff stats this year may indicate: 10 G in 14 games. However, sometimes Andrew is reluctant to shoot, in favor of trying to set up a teammate, which he did regularly in the playoffs when his line was changed from Ryan Marshall and Josh Roach, a natural defenseman, to Marshall and Emrick Guillemette, a QMJHL veteran power forward. Johnston likes to hold the puck on the power play, looking to either find a cross ice pass or a shot on goal. He seems hesitant to pass to defensemen at times, though that may have been due to a deficiency in offensive defensemen on the team. Additionally, Johnston is a very good puckhandler. He is great one-on-one; I am hard pressed to remember an instance where he lost to the defenseman in a one-on-one. Above average speed, acceleration, and agility. He is pretty good in these areas, but definitely is not a Gaborik-esque skater.

Defence:

For a player whose offense is very touted, Johnston's defensive game is severely underrated. He played on the Broncos' first penalty kill unit throughout the season, and regularly battled, and won, in corners to get the puck out. He is great shorthanded, he and Marshall got quite a few shorthanded goals this year. Sticks well to his man during 5-on-5, but knows when he is needed down low and battles well along the wall.

Hockey Sense:

A true student of the game. He sees the ice better than I have ever seen anyone at this level. He is always passing to empty, open lanes, and the pass receiver would arrive just as the puck got there. He always appears to be a step ahead of the defence. I remember a particular incident in the Anavet Cup Final (SJHL champs vs. MJHL champs for the rights to go to the RBC Cup) when Marshall was just getting off the bench, and Johnston received the puck on the defensive left blue line. As Marshall started moving forward, Johnston passed a three foot high saucer pass from the defensive left blue line to the offensive right blue line, on Marshall's tape, in stride. He saw the Junior A game tremendously, I can only hope for your sake that he continues to process at such a tremendous pace in the AHL, and eventually, the NHL.

Character:

He really is a great kid. Works very hard, [cliche warning] he's the first guy to practice and the last guy out. As you all saw from his SAT score, he's a smart kid. He is a big game player; was the leading scorer in the RBC Cup tournament and was named top forward. Tough as nails. In a tied round robin RBC Cup game, he was hit after the whistle to end the 3rd period from behind; the hitter skated from the blue line to hit him. It was an incredibly powerful, dirty hit. Johnston laid on the ice for about two minutes before getting up and making his way to the dressing room. He came out and scored with seconds left in the ensuing power play to win the game for his team. This is about the best example of his character as it relates to hockey I can think of.

Really guys, overall, you're getting a good player. You can definitely take it with a grain of salt because he was not playing the highest competition, but the numbers really don't do Johnston justice; he downright dominated the SJHL this year.

If you have any questions for me, go for it.

I understand your concerns with Andrew, but I don't think you should worry: You have a hell of a hockey player on your hands. Treat him good down there.

Will lack of national discussion cause NBA, NHL playoffs to suffer?

2012-05-24T15:54:44Z

Will lack of national discussion cause NBA, NHL playoffs to suffer?

From SI.com.