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Written by FRE
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Tuesday, 13 July 2010 15:22 |
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This story was originally ran last season around this time when the Flyers signed goalie Ray Emery. Hockeyoutsiders will continue to cut and paste this story for every Flyer off-season from now until the Flyers actually sign/develop a legitimate starting goalie. Philadelphia, PA. Garth Snow, Sean Burke, Johnny Vanbiesbrouck, Brian Boucher, Roman Checkmanek, Jeff Hackett, Robert Esche, Antero Niddermakker, Marty Biron, Ray Emery and now Micheal Leighton is set to add his name to the list of former all-star, all-pro, hall of fame Philadelphia goalies, who for some reason or another just didn’t work out. Emery of the mercurial goalie of recent Russian league fame, former Ottawa Senator, former Stanley Cup finalist, is being jettisoned in favor a pedigree waiver wire one year wonder that ensures he will fit in nicely with the Flyers who have since 1995 placed almost no importance on the goalie position and do not seem to care who knows it.
Said Philadelphia GM, Paul Holmgren, minutes before the 11AM EST press conference where the Flyers indicated their intent on signing Leighton “Micheal is an all-star caliber goalie, who we signed cheap because we really don’t give a crap about that position. I mean, since drafting Hexxy [Ron Hextall] in 1982, we have had a mentality that the goaltender position is rather irrelevant in this league. Hell, even Tretiak , who is considered the best Russian goalie of all time, told Bobby [Clarke] back in the day, that having an elite goalie wasn’t necessary to win championships. We here in Philly, abide by that philosophy. Look at a guy like Anti Niemi GAA of almost 4 in the Cup finals and he’s got his name etched on Lord Stanley. That just proves my point right there!”
Flyers fans should get used to this
Since arriving in Philly last season Leighton has been hailed as the savior of the Flyers 2009-10 season and he has now been signed to lead the Flyers to something they failed just short of. Expectations are now very high in the Philly area. Leighton has been affectionately referred to as "Jesus" in the locker room, where his teammates all have supreme confidence in his abilities.
Said Assistant Captain, Chris Pronger; "Leights is our guy, he's going to lead us to the promise land. We have put that horrible last goal and the fact that Micheal has a five hole the size of the grand canyon behind us. We will find anything less than a Cup victory this next season as a disappointment."
All of us here at Hockeyoutsiders only wonder one thing; what time does the crucifixion begin?
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 13 July 2010 15:51 )
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Written by FRE
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Friday, 09 July 2010 14:38 |
Newark, NJ (HO). Now that the Lebron craze is over, another public sports star has decided to hold his own free agent special. NHL superstar, Ilya Kolvachuk has announced that VS will be airing a 2 hour special titled “The Pronouncement” that will reveal which professional hockey team has finally agreed to pay his $100million dollars for 10 years contract demands. The shows producers would not disclose if the team was a North American team or if Ilya will be headed back to his native Russia to play in the KHL.
VS released the following statement: “One of the most anticipated decisions in the sports world – where NHL superstar free agent Ilya Kolvachuk will play next season and beyond – will be officially revealed on "The Pronouncement," to be presented live on VS and the NHL Network, Thursday, July 15, at 9 p.m. ET.
Presented in High Definition by VS
Jay Grossman said: "Ilya has a longstanding commitment to giving back to his country and has worked with the Ministry of the Interior for many years. With the unprecedented attention and interest surrounding his decision, we decided to make this announcement on national television and donate the proceeds to his Russian charity. We very much appreciate the cooperation and generosity of our sponsors.”
General of the Army, Rashid Nurgaliyev, who is the elected official of the Ministry, added: “We are thrilled to hear from Ilya’s agent over this past weekend with this most generous gesture. Taking time out of what I am sure is most difficult decision, and creating opportunity for our organization to benefit, is…how you say, tremendous.”
VS's NHL Analyst Brian Engblom will host "The Pronouncement," and will be joined by VS co-hosts Keith Jones and Eddie Olczyk. Darren Pang will conduct the first interview with Kolvachuk in which he announces his choice. Pierre McGuire will also guest host and will also have an extensive interview with Kolvachuk.
VS will also air starting at 6PM ET, a special presentation of The Daily Line that will expand to three hours leading into the two hour-long "The Pronouncement" at 9 p.m. Following “The Pronouncement,” VS will televise an expanded The Daily Line from 11 p.m.-midnight (10 p.m. PT). The Daily Line’s coverage throughout the evening will provide news and information associated with the pronouncement, an overview of the NHL free agency landscape, and a recap of the other sports news of the day. VS will also have reporters at the team headquarters of several teams which have been most active in free agency, including a candid interview with LA Kings, GM Dean Lombardi whose team is currently the front runner in the Ilya Kolvachuk negotiations.
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Last Updated ( Friday, 09 July 2010 15:03 )
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Written by FRE
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Thursday, 10 June 2010 19:13 |
Now that hockey is officially over for another season, Hockeyoutsiders sits down with their Stanley Cup notes from an epic David vs. Goliath matchup. Only in this instance, Goliath won. Congratulations to the Chicago Blackhawks, your 2009-10 Stanley Cup Champions. Anyway, on to the notebook:
-Philly and Chicago just set back goaltending 100 years. Think guys like Turco and Nabokov liked watching these finals as they saw the bags of cash that were suppose to be thrown at them this offseason, turn into possible signings with the KHL? The new goaltending model is to spend no money on the position, have a solid defense and skilled forwards and look like a genius. Any team spending over $3MM next year in goaltending is going to look really foolish. Vesa Toskala should stay glued to his phone because that dude is going to make more money than he should this offseason thanks to Michael Leighton.
The Blackhawks got the last laugh
-So the curse of Marian Hossa is finally over. Also apparently the hockey gods are fine with painting murals of players with the Stanley Cup, draping statues in jerseys and planning the parade prior to winning anything. Perhaps the only curse still in place today is the touching of the conference championship trophy. Or perhaps just the city of Philadelphia is cursed and doing these things only matters if you are a fan of that team. Maybe if you’re from Philly you should consider becoming an atheist today.
-Any talk of a Chicago dynasty should die within the next 2 weeks when the full magnitude of Dave Tallon’s horrible management of the salary cap ensures that probably 2 or more key members of this year’s squad get different addresses for the start of next season. Just a quick glance at the payroll numbers show the Blackhawks about $5MM over the estimated cap already, which means they have to take Huet outside and shoot him just to get back to the cap. Then they need to sign 9 more players with no cap space, which means we sure hope Brian Campbell enjoys playing for the Rockford IceHogs. It probably also means Versteeg, Sharp and that black dude that everyone in Chicago loves, but fans of every other team hate (no, not Chris Pronger) is probably going to be playing elsewhere watching the Blackhawks raise the Stanley Cup banner to the rafters in the United Center on their television.
-As to the Flyers, they seem to have less issues going into the offseason then the Blackhawks other than in goal, which we have already discussed. Our bet is that it will be another 10 years before we see this team in the finals again by virtue of the fact that how often in the playoffs do you get to face three teams in the bottom half of the NHL in terms of offense in the playoffs? Not since the 1987 Edmonton Oilers has the road to the finals been as easy as it was for the Flyers this year. It’s not their fault that Pittsburgh fucked their chance up so epicly by choking to the smurf-like Montreal Canadiens in round 2.
-As long as there is playoff hockey, there will be whining about officiating. For most of the series, Chicago was whining about the refs even though they were winning. Then when the stripes finally put away their whistles during the third period of game 6, the Flyers got robbed by a late 3rd period call that should have been made. Every hockey fan should just take a step back and accept the fact that there is no solution to this problem. It’s inevitable like death, taxes, and Pierre McGuire’s man-crush on Mike Richards. Officiating is going to be bad regardless of which team you root for. Ice is cold, water is wet, Gary Bettman will die before he gets replaced as the commissioner and your mother-in-law is a bitch. Get used to it. Or maybe it’s just way too much fun to rock that tin foil hat you’ve been making for the last few years.
-Finally, be thankful you didn’t have to watch Detroit and Pittsburgh in the cup finals for the third straight season. I doubt Bettman allows that to happen again on his watch. He’s already assured that one of either Washington or Pittsburgh will be in the cup finals next year by virtue of putting them in the Winter Classic game together.
Thanks to all our loyal followers and readers of Hockeyoutsiders. We hope that this season has been as enjoyable for you as it has been for us. We like the LA Kings chances in 2011!
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 10 June 2010 19:25 )
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