Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Flyers 8, Penguins 2

The Flyers handed the Penguins their worst defeat of the season tonight. The Pens didn't take defeat lying down.

Five Penguins received game misconduct penalties, mainly because they continued to take shots at the Flyers. Some were bright, some... not so much (like Laraque's safe call at second base in taking out Martin Biron)

I'm not even going to talk about the actual game, because that was over by the end of the second period. What I would like to talk about is the location of Ben Eager for the last 17 minutes of the third period.

Eager really rocketed the funny business into high gear with a blatant elbow into the face of Georges Laraque, though the refs amazingly lost their whistles and were unable to call him for a penalty. Laraque reacted and dropped the gloves, but Eager, the tough guy that he is, kept his gloves on.

Eager wasn't going to get off the hook, however, and before he could leave the ice, Gary Roberts intercepted and enacted a bit of revenge. After some well-televised exchanges between Laraque and Eager in the penalty box, I was psyched to see Laraque use Eager as a human punching bag (because, if Roberts could beat him pretty thoroughly, what would Laraque do?)

So what happened then? The Tough Guy Flyers, who have been warned by the league to cut down on the cheap shots, were unable to handle things man to man, and didn't put Eager back on the ice for the rest of the game. What a complete wuss-out of a move. Eager was probably hiding under the bench. That's the only reason I can think of not to put him back out there.

It's probably good for little Ben that he wasn't back out there - Laraque had gone psycho by that point (for the first time in his Penguins career). He broke his stick over Rory Fitzpatrick on a cross-checking penalty, and then repaid Mary Biron for gesturing to Crosby to come and fight by taking his legs out. Not very bright, but I think it was kind of like Nuke Lalooshe hitting the mascot in Bull Durham - you never know what Georges is going to do next.

Remember the feeling that 8 games are too many against divisional opponents? Scratch that. I want the Flyers back soon. The end of January is too long to wait. Maybe they can schedule an exhibition, like they do in soccer. In soccer, they're called a Friendly. In our relevant nomenclature, we can call it a Bloody.

Man, do I hate the Flyers.

Next up: The Pens better keep the bad mood - the Sens are coming to the Igloo on Thursday.

7 comments:

Unknown said...

Have not seen a game with this kind of attitude since the one against Columbus a few years back. Nice to see everyone out there ready to mix it up.

What can you say about Little Ben. (I like that one, Pat!) He talked a lot, took a cheap shot at Laraque, got beat up by someone 83 years older than him, but then pulls a Keyser Soze and disappears for the entire 3rd after getting released from the fighting major. I agree that if Roberts took it to Eager like he did, BGL could actually pound him through the ice. I'm sure Georges won't forget about this next time they play.

How about Malone going after Smith early on. I actually thought Malone got the best of him, and after seeing Malone get thrashed over the past few years, it was good to see him get a win against a tough dude.

This game made me remember why, and how much I hate the Flyers! Can't wait for the rematch in Jan.

Go PENS!

Anonymous said...

Yeah Pat...nice post. Maybe you could call Sid and you two could share tissues from the same box while crying. I heard Michael (Michelle?) Therrien said the Flyers gave the Pens no respect tonight. Why is it they should have respect again? Sure....the Flyers have been guilty of dirty hits. And they've been penalized. Anything else to whine about? Ben Eager? I'll bet he'll be there in January when the Pansy Pens will attempt to take more liberties on their own ice, like they always do. Two runs at a goalie. Now that's a lack of respect, Michelle. And also classless. Oh and make sure Brooks and Georges are in the lineup. They'll make sure the puck ends up in the net. Man, do I hate the Penguins. And the Rangers. And the Devils. And the Sens....etc., etc.

Pat said...

mickg34 - at least we're all wound up about hockey again. It's fun to have this kind of passion about a game.

will - yeah - I'm jacked for the rematch too. forgot to talk about malone / smith (I was a bit hung up on Eager) - thanks for pointing that out!

Anonymous said...

Ah yes....with that I will agree with you, Pat.
Few more items: if it holds true that Eager was hiding under the bench whan challenged by Laraque, does the same hold true for Sid being under the bench when challenged by....um...a goalie!?!
Love the talent, despise the whining.

Had Laraque been wearing a Flyer's jersey while completely shattering his stick on Rory Fitzpatrick(yeah, he's a tough one)would he be suspended?

Pat said...

To answer your thoughts -

1. Eager is a "tough guy" by his own admonition. Sid isn't. I also think Biron was a bit out of line gesturing to Crosby - it was pretty ridiculous after seeing the replay of what actually happened

2. Laraque breaking his stick on Fitzpatrick didn't look out of line - it looked like he was trying to crosscheck him, and his stick happened to break. It was out away from the boards, so I don't think there was anything particularly dirty. If the stick didn't break, we wouldn't have thought anything of it. Having said that, Laraque was clearly looking to stir up some trouble...

Unknown said...

WOW... just WOW!

Pat said...

Yeah, that comment had to come down.