I'm a Devils fan who is jazzed about this beautiful series win vs. a heated opponent. As I try to do with most posts, I'll be leaving my Devils bias out of it. Here's just a case of me losing it on an entire organization, something I've only done with Boston. Enjoy
Going into game 5 in Philadelphia, all eyes were on how the Flyers would react. After a solid game 1 victory, Philly lost all sense of what to do and got man handled by Jersey and dropped 3 straight. Included in those games was a ridiculously stupid penalty by Flyers leader Claude Giroux.
And to noone's surprise (Flyers fans excluded), Giroux earned a 1 game suspension from the headshot.
So the Flyers had to face a game 5 on home ice, without their star forward.
Here's what everyone was saying. Either:
A) the Flyers realize their own impending doom and they look horrid against the Devils who wipe them out of the building
or
B) they're inspired to win on home ice as their teammate watches from the bleachers and come out firing and win the game.
But what actually happened never really crossed my mind. I expected a physical game but what I saw was a game in which one team lost all sense of control.
What I saw tonight embarrassed me as a hockey fan.
The physical match started with a huge and CLEAN hit by Devils defenseman Anton Volchenkov. Shoulders and elbows were in. The hit was shoulder to shoulder. Nothing but huge and clean.
For some reason, Flyers agitator (and I use this word in lieu of a more inappropriate one because kids read this blog) Zac Rinaldo, deemed it necessary to get revenge on this clean hit. What happens next is atrocious.
Before I post the video, I want to review with you what the Charging Penalty is. Here's the NHL rule book: "42.1 Charging - A minor or major penalty shall be imposed on a player who skates or jumps into, or charges an opponent in any manner.
Charging shall mean the actions of a player who, as a result of distance traveled, shall violently check an opponent in any manner. A “charge” may be the result of a check into the boards, into the goal frame or in open ice."
To summarize: If a player lines up a hit, from way-the-hell too far away, it's a penalty. If a player leaps into the other player (not as a result of the momentum. for the hit itself), it's a penalty. Oh Zac Rinaldo.
Zac zones in on the A-Train from the left circle. It's clear as day that he was pretty much instructed to go after the guy who cleanly knocked the sense out of Brayden Schenn just a few minutes earlier.
No penalty was called, and this parts the worst, after Volchenkov slowly got to his feet, the fans booed him. Now if that's not the most classless thing I've heard in my life, I don't know what is. Nothing ticks me off more when a fan base degrades themselves. The Philly fans did that tonight.
And that wasn't even the end of it.
Then came this horrendous play by confused goalie Ilya Bryzgalov. Let's just say Bryz hasn't had his best performances this post season. And this goal didn't help.
Martin Brodeur has been playing the puck all series for the Devils and he has 3 assists in the playoffs so far. This could be Ilya Bryzgalov trying to show his stuff off as well. But the forecheck of the New Jersey Devils and the peskiness of David Clarkson got this puck to the back of the net. And oh, by the way, this one happened to be the game winner.
Next came Wayne Simmonds who had yet to make an appearance in this series. And finally did so by elbowing Marek Zidlicky's head into the end boards. From behind. And surprise surprise. Just like the first period Rinaldo hit, there was no penalty here. And by the way, Zidlicky didn't return to the game after the second because of this hit.
And just a little over a minute later, Zac Rinaldo does perhaps the most disgusting thing a player can do in a game. Take out another players' legs.
With the puck being nowhere NEAR the play, Rinaldo decides to take a lovely stroll behind his own net and accidentally bumped into Dainius Zubrus, you know, the guy that killed the Flyers in game 4.
That was apparently the argument of a Flyer fan I got into a fight about online. He honestly claimed it was accidental and that Rinaldo was trying to "avoid contact" with Zubrus.
Not only is that one of the dirtiest plays in hockey, the Flyers fans protested the call, booing loudly and resorting to the "A$$hole" chants directed to the refs.
Seriously? If you fail to see something illegal in this play then you are beyond anyone's help. It boggles my mind how ignorant these Philly fans were tonight. First booing an injured player. And then booing a legitimate call on a dirty play? The Flyer fans really need to grow up.
And then the wheels fell off. The Devils defense stymied them and one more bonehead penalty, this time courtesy to other MIA (and Jersey native, thank you very much) James van Riemsdyk. Since no video is going to be posted on this penalty, I'll do my best to describe it.
The puck was lying in center ice and van Riemsdyk was skating towards it from the left (Devils zone). Devils' forward Patrick Elias was in front of him so JVR decided to try to draw a penalty by bumping into Elias and making it look like Patrick was holding him back from the puck. What the referees saw (and what actually happened) was a Flyer player, having one armed wrapped around Elias, and the other hand in the air lobbying for a penalty. And he got one.
And then Ilya Kovalchuk made them pay once and for all (and wasted no time doing it).
Oh glorious. Tonight the hockey gods looked on as one team lost everything they worked hard for all year and saw the other team play 60 minutes of disciplined hockey. And the right team won.
Have fun golfing, Philadelphia scum.
Going into game 5 in Philadelphia, all eyes were on how the Flyers would react. After a solid game 1 victory, Philly lost all sense of what to do and got man handled by Jersey and dropped 3 straight. Included in those games was a ridiculously stupid penalty by Flyers leader Claude Giroux.
So the Flyers had to face a game 5 on home ice, without their star forward.
Here's what everyone was saying. Either:
A) the Flyers realize their own impending doom and they look horrid against the Devils who wipe them out of the building
or
B) they're inspired to win on home ice as their teammate watches from the bleachers and come out firing and win the game.
But what actually happened never really crossed my mind. I expected a physical game but what I saw was a game in which one team lost all sense of control.
What I saw tonight embarrassed me as a hockey fan.
The physical match started with a huge and CLEAN hit by Devils defenseman Anton Volchenkov. Shoulders and elbows were in. The hit was shoulder to shoulder. Nothing but huge and clean.
For some reason, Flyers agitator (and I use this word in lieu of a more inappropriate one because kids read this blog) Zac Rinaldo, deemed it necessary to get revenge on this clean hit. What happens next is atrocious.
Before I post the video, I want to review with you what the Charging Penalty is. Here's the NHL rule book: "42.1 Charging - A minor or major penalty shall be imposed on a player who skates or jumps into, or charges an opponent in any manner.
Charging shall mean the actions of a player who, as a result of distance traveled, shall violently check an opponent in any manner. A “charge” may be the result of a check into the boards, into the goal frame or in open ice."
To summarize: If a player lines up a hit, from way-the-hell too far away, it's a penalty. If a player leaps into the other player (not as a result of the momentum. for the hit itself), it's a penalty. Oh Zac Rinaldo.
No penalty was called, and this parts the worst, after Volchenkov slowly got to his feet, the fans booed him. Now if that's not the most classless thing I've heard in my life, I don't know what is. Nothing ticks me off more when a fan base degrades themselves. The Philly fans did that tonight.
And that wasn't even the end of it.
Then came this horrendous play by confused goalie Ilya Bryzgalov. Let's just say Bryz hasn't had his best performances this post season. And this goal didn't help.
Next came Wayne Simmonds who had yet to make an appearance in this series. And finally did so by elbowing Marek Zidlicky's head into the end boards. From behind. And surprise surprise. Just like the first period Rinaldo hit, there was no penalty here. And by the way, Zidlicky didn't return to the game after the second because of this hit.
And just a little over a minute later, Zac Rinaldo does perhaps the most disgusting thing a player can do in a game. Take out another players' legs.
That was apparently the argument of a Flyer fan I got into a fight about online. He honestly claimed it was accidental and that Rinaldo was trying to "avoid contact" with Zubrus.
Not only is that one of the dirtiest plays in hockey, the Flyers fans protested the call, booing loudly and resorting to the "A$$hole" chants directed to the refs.
Seriously? If you fail to see something illegal in this play then you are beyond anyone's help. It boggles my mind how ignorant these Philly fans were tonight. First booing an injured player. And then booing a legitimate call on a dirty play? The Flyer fans really need to grow up.
And then the wheels fell off. The Devils defense stymied them and one more bonehead penalty, this time courtesy to other MIA (and Jersey native, thank you very much) James van Riemsdyk. Since no video is going to be posted on this penalty, I'll do my best to describe it.
The puck was lying in center ice and van Riemsdyk was skating towards it from the left (Devils zone). Devils' forward Patrick Elias was in front of him so JVR decided to try to draw a penalty by bumping into Elias and making it look like Patrick was holding him back from the puck. What the referees saw (and what actually happened) was a Flyer player, having one armed wrapped around Elias, and the other hand in the air lobbying for a penalty. And he got one.
And then Ilya Kovalchuk made them pay once and for all (and wasted no time doing it).
Oh glorious. Tonight the hockey gods looked on as one team lost everything they worked hard for all year and saw the other team play 60 minutes of disciplined hockey. And the right team won.
Have fun golfing, Philadelphia scum.
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