[SmileyPSU]

Hockey thoughts from the past few days...this is pretty long..


-NHL got the whole Ribiero/Osgood thing right. Nobody deserved a suspension, but both deserved fines.

-I like the Pen's PK; really aggressive. I wish the Flyers had some better skaters so they could pressure the puck that way.

-Flyers PP looks lost without Kimmo. the one goal they got on the PP wasn't even a result of sustained pressure or puck control.

-I had flashbacks to Bryan Berard when Coburn took that puck to the face last night. From the replay, I couldn't tell where he got hit and I was very concerned that it caught him directly in the eye. Good to hear it was just a nasty cut; hopefully there's no concussion here that the Flyers once again fail to diagnose.

-Crosby, Alex, and Malkin are all very close in terms of talent, but I think if I'm starting a team from scratch, Malkin's my first pick.

-Biron looks like he has come back down to earth after two great playoff series. Awful puckhandling cost the Flyers a goal in game 1, and deflection or not, I don't think he can allow that shortside goal to Crosby in game 2.

-Mike Richards is just a fantastic hockey player.

-I was not the biggest Jeff Carter fan this season. I would have moved him to TO in a second if Kaberle was willing to waive the NTC....but, I am glad he is still a Flyer. I think he has taken a huge step forward during the second half of the season and throughout the playoffs. This no-deal may have been Holmgren's best move since the Coburn trade.

-The officiating in the NHL is easily the worst of the 4 major sports, and I say this as someone who doesn't think the refs are screwing the Flyers at all this series -- they have been equally bad going both ways.

-Flyers need to win the next 2 to have a chance of advancing, but this series is not out of reach yet. For all the talk about the Pens being the far superior team on the ice, watching the first two games you would not know that.