Stanley Cup: game three recap

By Scott Antoszewski

Flyers 4 Blackhawks 3 OT

Blackhawks lead series 2-1

Game three was probably the most exciting game of the Stanley Cup Finals yet. The Flyers played desperation hockey in front of the largest home crowd in Flyers history. The 20,000+ Orange clad fans were sent home happy after Claude Giroux(pronounced Jerr-oo) scored his first goal of the finals in game winning fashion. The Blackhawks held a 3-2 lead in the third period after Patrick Kane got his first goal of the Cup Finals on a sweet breakaway.

I’d be lying if I told you that thoughts of a Blackhawks sweep didn’t enter my mind when the Hawks got the lead. Honestly, I’m excited to see that we will have what looks like a competitive series. Both goalies played well in Game 3. The Flyers just played more desperate hockey and fixed a lot of the mistakes that cost them in the first two games. I love overtime in the playoffs. We’ve only had one epic three overtime game so far this year. I was hoping this one would keep me well up into the night, but no such luck.

The series isn’t over yet! Game four should be very interesting. The Flyers now know they can beat Chicago, and will be playing at home again. The Hawks on the other hand will be looking to start another road winning streak. My instinct tells me that if the Flyers can win game four, then the series will probably go all seven games. A Blackhawks win in game four will most likely lead to the Hawks claiming the Cup after game five. I don’t usually make predictions, but since this one is in writing, I’m curious to see how it turns out.

Game three goal scorers are as follows: Flyers: Daniel Briere in the first on a power play, Scotty Hartnell in the second on the power play,Ville Leino in the third even strength, and Claude Giroux in overtime at even strength. Hawks: Duncan Keith in the second at even strength, Brent Sopel in the second at even strength, and Patrick Kane in the third on the even strength breakaway.

Game four is Friday night in Philadelphia at 8 pm.

Celtics @ Lakers...Need I Say More?

By Dan Rodgers

I know you're probably upset that no one wrote anything about the worst call in sports history last night, but I'm sure Dr. Jekyll will include it in his segment of Rounding the bases.

This is a quickie as I am going to see Get Him to the Greek. (Don't worry, it's free)

Game One:

Celtics @ Lakers 9:00 PM on ABC

This is a ridiculous rematch of the greatest player of my era (Kobe) against a franchise that owns the Lakers in the finals (Celtics hold 9-2 edge).

I don't think it will matter because Kobe is a hoss and wants payback after losing in 2008. I will review this game and go into more depth before game two. Enjoy watching Kobe, KG, and Uncle Ray.

L.A. X-Factor: Pau Gasol

Boston X-Factor: Whoever defends Kobe

All I know is that if I were a gambling man, I'd bet on the Lakers...

Rodgers That

The Kid calls it quits

By Dan Rodgers

George Kenneth Griffey, Jr. is hanging up his very historic cleats. "The Kid" or "Junior", whichever you prefer, didn't show up to the ballpark today and informed the Mariners that he has decided to retire.

Griffey, one of the greatest players ever, could have held the all-time home run lead if not for devastating injuries in the middle to the end of his career. He played 22 seasons, however, 11 of those seasons he played less than 130 games and five with less than 100 games.

Even though Griffey had multiple hamstring and knee injuries which severely hurt his career numbers, his 630 home runs puts him in fifth on the all-time list. Many speculate that if he hadn't been injured so often players would be chasing him and not Barry Bonds for the all-time lead in home runs.

Griffey spent most of his career, 13 seasons, with the Seattle Mariners; the team that drafted him number one overall in the 1987 draft. He also spent eight and a half seasons with his father's old team, the Cincinnati Reds. The other half of the 2008 season he spent with the Chicago White Sox. Griffey was then brought back to Seattle for the 2009 season and then resigned for 2010.

He was a 13-time all-star and a 10-time gold glove recipient. He was also awarded the 1997 AL MVP (56 HR 147 RBI).

One of the greatest players that I've ever had the pleasure of seeing, and one of the all-time greats is calling it quits. I had the pleasure of seeing him play once because I was in Arizona and my father and I decided to go to a Diamondbacks game before we left. They happen to be playing the Reds that night, and I was given the great opportunity to witness one of his many home runs. This guy was awesome and I hope he stays in the game some way or another.

Stanley Cup: game two recap

By Scott Antoszewski

Game two was the exact opposite of game one. A tight checking, defensive battle that put stellar goaltending on display. The Blackhawks scored two goals somewhere in the neighborhood of 40 seconds apart in the second period, and that’s all they would need. Philly goalie Michael Leighton rebounded nicely from a tough game one, but still took the loss. The legend that is Antti Neimi continues to grow as the rookie is now only two wins away from a Stanley Cup Championship. The Flyers activated Dan Carcillo for game two for some reason. He had little to no impact on the game. His accidental hit on teammate Mike Richards, will stick in most people’s memory; I would be surprised if he plays again in the series. The Hawks are still waiting for a breakout game from Patrick Kane. He played well, just hasn’t been the offensive force that he was all year long. The Hawks’ goals were scored by Marian Hossa and Ben Eager. The Flyers’ lone goal came courtesy of Simon Gagne.

I watched game two with a friend of mine who does not follow hockey. I very much enjoyed getting his perspective on the game. Avid hockey fans can enjoy a tight checking defensive battle; much like a die hard baseball fan can enjoy a 1-0 pitchers duel. I tried to explain to him that games like this are not what the league is looking for from the finals. The NHL wants a more wide open, run and gun, 6-5 final.(See my post about game one) The league believes that more scoring will entice the “casual fan” to pay more attention to the game, hence the changes to the red line rule, the goalie equipment sizes, the trapezoid, etc. Overall, it was a fun game to watch, both teams have proven they can play wide open and tight defensive hockey. Game three is Wednesday night in Philadelphia. Enjoy!

Stanley Cup: game one recap

By Scott Antoszewski

I remember thinking as I watched the Olympic hockey tournament back in February, “This is great hockey, I hope the NHL can live up to this level of hockey when it starts again.” Honestly, the last couple months of the season were entertaining, but not nearly as entertaining as the Olympic tournament… until Friday night.

Game One between the Flyers and the Blackhawks was the most entertaining game of the season in my opinion. The NHL needs more games like that to draw in new fans. The game was high paced, end to end, and full of excitement, especially offensive excitement, which is exactly what the league wants. The skill players got to show their stuff, we got to see Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, and Patrick Sharp lighting up both of the Flyers goaltenders. The Flyers responded with Daniel Briere, Simon Gagne and even Aaron Asham putting pucks past a rookie goalie, but came up just one goal short.

The old Chicago Stadium was nicknamed ‘The Madhouse on Madison’ and I noticed they put a sign up facing of the upper deck that read exactly that. The environment in that building was amazing, and I can only imagine how loud it must have been. The hockey fan in me was dying to be there, even though the ‘Hawks aren’t my team. The ‘Hawks sent almost 22,000 fans home happy. Personally, I can’t wait to see if game two is more of the same.

A Memorable Memorial Day Weekend

By Dan Rodgers

This weekend there have been all kinds of exciting things happening in the NHL, NBA, and MLB. We'll start with hockey and work our way down the list.

NHL:

The Stanley Cup series is underway as the Chicago Blackhawks return to the Cup finals for the first time since '91-'92 and look for their first Stanley Cup championship in franchise history. The Flyers return to the Cup finals for the first time since '96-'97 and look for their first championship since '73-'74.

The Flyers have been a big surprise as they first upset the number two-seeded New Jersey Devils four games to one. Then, shocked everyone again and made history by coming down from being down three games to none against the Bruins and winning the series. The Flyers then only needed six games to cool down the very hot eight-seeded Montreal Canadiens in order to advance to the Cup.

The Blackhawks have been on fire and have just cruised through the playoffs as they have improved each series. They won the first series in six games, the second in five, before sweeping the number one-seeded Sharks. Game one took place on Saturday night and it was a fun one for the fans as it was full of offense. The Blackhawks gave the home team fans something to cheer about as they kept pace with the Flyers and won the always important game one 6-5.

NBA:

On Friday night, which is the weekend in my book, the Boston Celtics unfortunately closed out their series against the second-seeded Orlando Magic. The Celtics won the first three games before dropping the following two. They definitely didn't want to be the second Boston team in the past month to blow a three games to none lead so they just went ahead and won game six. They now advance to their second NBA Finals appearance in three years.

On Saturday night, which is most obviously the weekend, the L.A. Lakers went into Phoenix and beat the Suns with yet another 30+ point performance by Kobe Bryant. The L.A. Lakers advance to their third consecutive finals appearance and for a chance to defend their title. We will be witnessing a rematch of the 2008 NBA Finals when the Celtics defeated the Lakers in six games.

This Finals should be even better than 2008 as Kobe has been on a 30-point tear this post-season and is as hungry as ever for another ring. I have been watching more basketball than usual because I find the things Kobe does to be absolutely ridiculous. The guy makes some of the most amazing shots I've ever seen; ones LeBron couldn't make if he had 10 chances. Kobe is clearly the best basketball player of our era, and so far above LeBron it doesn't even seem fair. I understand they play different positions and I don't want to get into this right now, but Kobe is such a better offensive player and is a solid defender. He will win NBA Finals MVP...

MLB:

Ah, baseball...my first love. I know that most people don't give baseball any credit, but the people from Philadelphia got to see something very special on Saturday. Personally, I don't think they deserve it considering they way they have acted this season and in previous seasons.

Okay, I have beat around the bush long enough...if you didn't catch any ESPN this weekend, you didn't hear that Doc Halladay threw a perfect game against the Florida Marlins. That's right...absolute perfection (sounds like a good name for a brand of vodka). For me, there is no prettier thing in baseball...I mean just the sound of it...PERFECTION. It is impossible to acheive anything close in any other sport. A shutout in hockey? 20/20 in save chances...impressive but nothing out of the ordinary. Shooting 10/10 from the field in a basketball game...damn impressive, but still nothing too special. A perfect 158.3 QB rating in football...not too likely but still...just doesn't sound as good.

The reason I say that Phillies fans might not deserve it is because they have acted as bad this year as any other year. It is unbelieveable how they act, just click the link above. For them to behave the way they do, and then have the pleasure of watching a perfect game doesn't seem fair. I will speak for Yankee Nation, our fans might be obnoxious but we certainly don't act that bad. In fact, I will go as far as to lightly speak for Red Sox fans, or the few I know at least...

Not to mention, they have the pleasure of being graced by one of the greatest pitchers of our era... Harry Leroy Halladay III. Doc, as many call him, has been incredibly dominant this season...nothing out of the norm for him. The guy definitely deserves it more than anybody I can remember. He has owned the Yankees for as long as I can remember, formerly being a member of the Blue Jays, and I was more than overjoyed for him the leave not only my division but the American League all together. Regardless...this guy is incredible, a Hall of Famer if he retired tomorrow, and a classy guy. I hate him because he's so good but you've got to love him.

Rodgers That