Everything Else

Game #18 – Hawks vs. Hurricanes Douchebag Du Jour: Enough Of The Dads’ Trip

By Sam Fels 1662 0

First of all, who takes all the Dads to Philadelphia and Raleigh? “Ok guys, we know most of you are sore all the time and sitting on a plane doesn’t help much but your reward is…a cheesesteak, liberty bell, and BBQ?” Let these altacockers get to Vegas or Miami or something. Most of them have spent a lifetime in a cold rink. Give them some warmth. Well, except Father Kane. You don’t want him anywhere near Vegas or Miami.

It’s not that the Hawks should stop the Dads’ Trip. It’s a cool thing to do for the players and their families, along with the odd year Moms’ trip. But what we don’t need is to hear about how special it is every fucking year. WE ARE USED TO IT, YOU DO THIS EVERY YEAR.

But every year, we get a long soliloquy from Pat Foley and Eddie Olczyk about what a special organization the Hawks are for doing this, because not every team does this you know? Except that they do, and the Hawks stole the idea from the Rangers anyway.

Saturday’s rant was even more precious, because they made special mention about how much it costs to do this for the organization. Because that’s what fans want to hear, the financial burden of flying the players’ fathers around to a couple different cities. Tell us, what do you think fans would prefer if it is so cost-prohibitive: The Parents’ Trip or lowering ticket prices? We’ll be over here when you have an answer.

It’s even more awkward as the Hawks and Rocky Wirtz are never hesitant to tell you about all the money they don’t make and how the Hawks are still in the red even after all the miracle work he and John McDonough have done, according to Rocky and McDonough. Well, if you’re a team that loses money then maybe the lavish extravaganzas like this aren’t necessary?

Of course that’s all bullshit, and the Dads’ or Moms’ trip is fine. The Hawks are so desperate that their fans and the rest of the league see them as a model franchise they’ll sell you just about anything. Clearly, the Hawks are scratching for any goodwill they can right now because most fans, and a fair number of voices within the organization, aren’t pleased about the firing of Joel Quenneville.

So do your trips and your luxuries for the players. But we don’t have to hear about it anymore. Not until you win some damn games, at least.

 

Game #18 Preview Suite

Preview

Spotlight

Q&A

Douchebag Du Jour

I Make A Lot Of Graphs

Lineups & How Teams Were Built

Everything Else

High On The Hog: New Faces Impact The Weekend

By Jon Fromi 1431 0

The Rockford IceHogs had a pleasant weekend away from the BMO. New head man Derek King put some new faces in the lineup; it paid off with a pair of victories for Chicago’s AHL affiliate.

The Hogs got some excellent play in net from both Anton Forsberg and Collin Delia to knock off two of the Central Division’s better clubs. Friday saw Rockford beat Milwaukee 2-1 before King and company went into Rosemont and bested the Chicago Wolves. The IceHogs won the first meeting of the Illinois rivals this season 4-3 on Saturday night.

King has a lot of skaters nursing injuries and wasn’t afraid to get some recently acquired players into action. One that made an immediate impact was forward Justin Auger, who opened the scoring in both contests this weekend.

The 6’6″ Auger was on a power play unit this weekend, as was Hunter Fejes, another player who was signed to a PTO by the Hogs. AHL signing Connor Moynihan appeared in both games for Rockford. Saturday, with Tyler Sikura feeling ill and being a late scratch, Brett Welychka was back in the lineup.

Rockford has added several players to the roster, which should promote a sense of competition among a team of prospects. With Terry Broadhurst inactive for the weekend set and Sikura sitting on Sunday to go with injuries to Jordan Schroeder and Matthew Highmore, it was great to see players stepping up to beat a couple of quality division foes.

 

Lankinen Recalled

On Sunday, goalie Kevin Lankinen was recalled to Rockford. I can only speculate as to why this is, but here goes:

  • The Blackhawks want Lankinen to spend a few days under the watchful eye of their coaching staff. It is possible that he could start the Hogs Wednesday morning game in Grand Rapids.
  • Collin Delia took a lot of contact in Saturday’s win in Chicago. He did not seem to have suffered ill effects, but an issue may have been revealed post-game. Delia (5-2-2, 2.41, .931) was terrific at Allstate Arena, stopping 37 of 40 shots in what turned out to be a very physical game around the net.
  • Forsberg tweaked something in his appearance Friday night in Milwaukee. Forsberg was outstanding for the Hogs, especially early when Rockford was out of sorts. In four games with the IceHogs, Forsberg sports a 3-1 record, a 1.75 goals against average and a .933 save percentage. Both Forsberg and Delia are among the top-performing goalies in the AHL at the present time.
  • Someone’s getting dealt. Who that could be is anyone’s guess.

 

The Perch

With fifteen games in the books for the 2018-19 season, Rockford is 8-4-1-2. With a .633 point percentage, the piglets are in third place in the Central Division. Milwaukee and Iowa are the two teams ahead of the Hogs.

Rockford has points in their last six road games (5-0-1). They have three games in opposing barns this week, starting with a morning game in Grand Rapids on Wendesday. The IceHogs will fly to Texas for a Friday date the Stars. Games in San Antonio await the Hogs Saturday and the following Tuesday.

Dylan Sikura (5 G, 7 A) and Darren Raddysh (4 G, 8 A) pace Rockford with 12 points. Sikura has fired 56 shots on goal, by far the most active on the team through 15 games.

 

Recaps

Friday, November 9-Rockford 2 , Milwaukee 1

Rockford started very slowly, picked up the play as the game progressed and found a way to knock off the Admirals for the second time in a week. Interim head coach Derek King got his first win behind the bench.

The IceHogs got some outstanding play in net from Anton Forsberg, allowing them to stay in the game throughout an uneven first period. The teams went into the first intermission in a scoreless tie.

Rockford built momentum as the second period wore on, taking a 1-0 lead at the 14:42 mark. Darren Raddysh got the play started by forcing a turnover in neutral ice. Lucas Carlsson chased down a loose puck in his own zone and skated along the left half boards across the Admirals blue line.

Carlsson slid the puck over to Justin Auger, in his first appearance for the IceHogs. Auger settled the puck in the high slot before shooting low on Milwaukee goalie Tom McCullom. The shot reached nirvana to end a four-period scoring drought for Rockford.

The Hogs lead was short-lived. Colin Blackwell collected a loose puck in neutral ice, skated to the bottom of the right circle and sent a shot past Forsberg that caught the crossbar and entered the net. The game was tied at one at 15:28 of the second and stayed that way when the teams went to the locker rooms.

After coming up empty on a couple of strong power plays, the IceHogs got the go-ahead goal 15:59 into the third period. The play got started with a Darren Raddysh point shot that was wide of the mark. The puck nearly came out of the Ads zone but was held in by Graham Knott just inside the blue line.

Joni Tuulola took in a pass from Knott, skated to the top of the left circle and fired to McCullom’s stick side. Rubber and twine united as one, with the IceHogs taking a 2-1 lead. Milwaukee pulled McCullom in the final minutes but Forsberg made the required stops to preserve a hard-fought victory.

Raddysh, Blackwell and Tuulola were the games Three Stars. However, the only reason Rockford was in a position to win this game was Forsberg, who made 19 saves and prevented an early Admirals lead with several high-quality saves in the first two periods.

Lines (Starters in italics)

Dylan Sikura-Jacob Nilsson-Viktor Ejdsell

Tyler Sikura (A)-Anthony Louis-Justin Auger

Hunter Fejes-Graham Knott-Henrik Samuelsson

Matheson Iacopelli-Nathan Noel-Connor Moynihan

Lucas Carlsson-Carl Dahlstrom (A)

Darren Raddysh-Joni Tuulola

Blake Hillman-Gustav Forsling

Anton Forsberg

Power Play (0-3)

Sikura-Sikura-Samuelsson-Raddysh-Forsling

Louis-Ejdsell-Fejes-Auger-Dahlstrom

Penalty Kill (Admirals were 0-2)

Nilsson-Noel-Tuulola-Carlsson

T. Sikura-Knott-Forsling-Dahlstrom

Louis-Auger-Raddysh-Hillman

 

Saturday, November 10-Rockford 4, Chicago 3

A big second period and 37 Collin Delia saves propelled the Hogs to the win in the first meeting of the season between two Central Division rivals.

Rockford withstood several early chances by the Wolves before Justin Auger won control of a puck in the corner of the IceHogs zone. He guided the biscuit to Anthony Louis, who sent it along the left half boards and across the Chicago blue line.

Graham Knott won a race to the puck and drove to the front of the net. The play was broken up, but Auger was on hand to pressure the Wolves and found the loose puck on his stick. Auger slid it behind Chicago goalie Oscar Dansk at 15:15 of the opening period for a 1-0 Rockford advantage.

The Wolves countered in the waning seconds of the first with a power play goal by Brooks Macek, who slammed home a Daniel Carr rebound with 3.9 seconds remaining. The teams went to the locker room even at one goal apiece.

The key stretch of the game came early in the middle frame. With the teams skating four to a side, Lucas Carlsson uncorked a one-timer off of Viktor Ejdsell’s faceoff win from the right point. Dansk was unable to detain the puck and Rockford was back on top 2-1 at the 1:35 mark.

The Wolves were down two players due to penalties soon after, setting up another long-range bomb. This one came from the stick of Darren Raddysh, who one-timed a pass from Gustav Forsling at the top of the left circle past the blocker of Dansk. The Hogs led 3-1 at 2:58 of the second.

Halfway into the second period, the Rockford power play struck again. Forsling sent a slap shot toward the Chicago goal that rebounded off Dansk and into the slot. Ejdsell was on hand to collect the puck and pass to Dylan Sikura at the bottom of the right circle. The resulting shot caught twine at 10:55 to make it 4-1 Rockford.

The Hogs needed each of those tallies to outlast the Wolves, who had their offensive prowess on display. Keegan Kolesar batted in a rebound of a Brandon Pirri shot on a delayed penalty call to cut the lead to 4-2 at 13:31 of the second. Chicago then turned up the heat in the final 20 minutes.

Delia found himself fending off an onslaught of rubber throughout the third period. The IceHogs penalty kill stopped two Wolves chances; after Raddysh was called for interference with 7:40 remaining, Chicago brought Dansk to the bench for a two-man advantage that Rockford stopped. Dansk spent most of the remainder of the contest behind the boards as the Wolves slammed away at the Rockford goalie.

Macek eventually got his second goal of the game to make it 4-3, but that came with just 22 seconds to go in regulation. The piglets held on despite 20 Chicago shots on goal in the third to post their second win in as many days.

Sikura, Macek and Ejdsell were voted the game’s three stars, though Delia certainly deserves a mention for stopping 37 of 40 shots. Most of those shots came with heavy traffic in front of his net.

Lines (Starters in italics)

Hunter Fejes-Nathan Noel-Henrik Samuelsson

Anthony Louis-Graham Knott-Justin Auger

Dylan Sikura-Jacob Nilsson-Viktor Ejdsell

Connor Moynihan-Brett Welychka-Matheson Iacopelli

Gustav Forsling (A)-Dennis Gilbert

Carl Dahlstrom (A)-Lucas Carlsson

Darren Raddysh-Joni Tuulola

Collin Delia

Power Play (2-7)

Sikura-Samuelsson-Knott-Raddysh-Forsling

Fejes-Ejdsell-Auger-Louis-Dahlstrom

Penalty Kill (Wolves were 1-6)

Nilsson-Noel-Tuulola-Carlsson

Samuelsson-Knott-Forsling-Dahlstrom

Louis-Auger-Raddysh-Gilbert

 

Waking Up With The Griffins

Grand Rapids, who hosts the IceHogs Wednesday morning, are 6-6-0-1 on the season. They have, however, played well at Van Andel Arena (3-1-0-1).

The Griffins are led in scoring by a pair of long-time AHL veterans, Chris Terry (8 G, 3 A) and Camper Carter (2 G, 9 A). Matt Peumpel, who notched 22 goals for Grand Rapids last season, has five goals and five helpers this season.

There’s a lot of veteran presence on the Griffins. Returning faces include forwards Martin Ford (3 G, 4 A) and Turner Elson (3 G, 5 A). Defenseman Dylan McIlrath is a nine-year AHL vet. Fellow blueliner Brian Lashoff is starting his tenth year with Grand Rapids. Both are big, physical players who have been dishing it out against Rockford for years.

Former Sharks prospect Harri Sateri spent several seasons in the KHL and now patrols the net for the Griffins. In nine games, he’s 4-5 with a 3.71 goals against average and an .867 save percentage. Patrik Rybar (2-1-1, 2.21, .905) comes from several seasons playing in his native Slovakia. He had a rough debut against the Wolves but has played well in three other starts for the Griffins.

Follow me @JonFromi on twitter for thoughts on the IceHogs throughout the season.

 

 

Everything Else

Tonight I’m Gonna Rock You Tonight – November 11th

By Sam Fels 1235 0

First Screen Viewing

Flames vs. Sharks – 8pm

It still hasn’t quite clicked into gear for the Sharks, who are still somehow looking up at both the Flames and Canucks in the Pacific. But that’s mostly due to some wonky goaltending, and should straighten out at some point. The Flames have been spikier than imagined, though they’re starting Mike Smith in this one so you can expect them to give up five. Still a lot of fast players on display here and if the Flames believe in some sort of “throwing down a marker of intent” type thing, a win in The Tank is a good way to do it.

Second Screen Viewing

Wild vs. Blues – 2pm

Only to see if the Hawks drop into last, which is probably where they belong.

Other Games

Senators vs. Panthers – 4pm

Coyotes vs. Capitals – 4pm

Devils vs. Jets – 6pm

Knights vs. Bruins – 6pm

Avalanche vs. Oilers – 8:30

Everything Else

Game #16 – Hawks 0, Flyera 4: All Seven And We’ll Watch Them Fall

By Sam Fels 1981 0

Box Score

Natural Stat Trick

Corsica

At least the Colliton Era already has a familiar pattern.

Once again, the Hawks were the better team in the first period. They had the better chances, they looked faster and more creative than they have for most of the season, and yet they couldn’t solve a goalie who for the most part has struggled for a while. And then a defensive miscue causes them to fall behind. They don’t panic, but can’t scratch one out. At least it didn’t all fall apart like Thursday. Progress?

But then two veterans completely shit it on a power play, including some really questionable effort, and now you’re down two. The Hawks couldn’t crack a Flyers team that could then just sit back and wait, because they don’t have enough of those players. You know where it goes from there.

Let’s sort it out.

The Two Obs

-Let’s start with Duncan Keith. In the first period, the broadcast was all gaga about his “activity,” which pretty much amounted to impersonating that shortstop on your little league team who chased down every ball, even if it was deep in the outfield. And while activity looks nice, there’s a problem.

It’s not what supposed to be happening.

The main reason Henri Jokiharju was paired with Keith, other than there being no one else really and his veteran tutelage, was to take that part of the game off of Keith’s plate. Keith simply can’t be all over the ice anymore, he can’t be jumping into the play because he can’t get back, and he wasn’t that good at it anyway. As he settles into the sunset years of his career, a free safety role where his still useful mobility would be better suited is what’s on the menu. It’s Jokiharju the Hawks want jumping into the play. They want him making those passes and taking those shots. That’s where his game is. He’s not going to develop by having to catch all the fly balls Keith loses in the sun behind him. If Keith can’t, or won’t, reel it in, then there’s going to have to be another solution. This is part of the reason HarJu is drowning in his own zone. He’s there on his own a lot. And when his instincts to be aggressive come up, he’s finding his partner already there.

As for the first goal, yeah it’s a bad turnover, and a symptom of the Hawks still trying to do the things they used to. But still, when Keith does look, Anisimov is in that circle. Anisimov then proceeds to just float backwards toward the blue line, letting Giroux in front of him, for no discernible reason. Keith is under pressure and facing the boards, how’s he going to get that puck to you at the line, Arty? If you want to know why Anisimov’s possession and defensive numbers blow, there you go.

-Now to the second goal. Keith biffs a puck, admittedly rolling, at the blue line, letting Couturier in. And then Chris Kunitz…well I’m not sure what the verb is here. Blobs on Coots? Attempts to confuse him with his taco breath? Whispers in his ear about the emptiness and meaningless of life in an attempt to get Coots to be buried in ennui? I can’t tell.

I’m not going to rant and rave about him being on the power play at all, though I want to. With Saad out and the first unit loaded up, the alternatives are like Kahun, Fortin, and….well, you. So whatever. But if that’s the best effort that Kunitz can muster, to be shrugged off that easily, then he’s not an NHL player anymore and should be on waivers tomorrow. If he didn’t bother to do more, well that’s some veteran presence you’ve got there.

-Every time David Kampf, who does have use, makes a move at the offensive blue line to put his teammates offside, he should have to spend five minutes with a weasel in his pants.

-The third goal is mostly unlucky, except for the part where Jan Rutta is hesitant, takes a shit angle, and gets beat to the outside. Otherwise there isn’t even a shot to bounce off Crow and Manning to go in. Ain’t no coach going to do anything with Jan Rutta or Manning or Davidson. Too bad Connor Murphy is dead.

-At least Crow looked more like Crow than he has in weeks.

-A word on the broadcast. First, the barely concealed contempt Foley and Olczyk have for Barry Smith during that interview is excellent television.

We went through this last year. I know this team is a tough watch, but Pat and Eddie are getting paid a fair sum to be professional about it. I don’t need them to agree with the firing, I really won’t argue with anyone who does. But it’s not their job to sit around and lament it two games later. To make it clear how miserable you are having to broadcast this team. No, it wasn’t a great game today, but the mark of a broadcaster is what you do with the bad games. We’re all wondering what we’re doing here, but it doesn’t help when the broadcast of the game sounds like they’re narrating a trip to the DMV. Do better.

Onwards…

Everything Else

Game #17 – Hawks vs. Flyers Preview – Life In The So-Called Space Age

By Matt McClure 1995 0

 @ 

Game Time: 12:00PM CST
TV/Radio: NBC Sports Chicago, NHL Network, WGN-AM 720
The Gang Welshes On A Bet: Broad St. Hockey 

With the first game of the Jeremy Colliton Era under the Hawks’ belt in less than thilling fashion, the team leaves for the East Coast for a two-game Metro Division swing. The Hawks find a team in the Flyers who could probably use the recently departed Joel Quenneville’s services.

Everything Else

Game #17 – Hawks vs. Flyers Spotlight: The Abyss In The Crease

By Sam Fels 1785 0

You can go around to any of the four major sports and it would be nearly impossible to pick a team and position, or helplessness at said position, more identifiable than the Flyers and their goalie situation. For as long as you’ve been alive, no matter how old you are, the Flyers have had goalie issues. And that’s putting it kindly. When describing the Flyers’ crease, some might be tempted to use words like, “garbage dump,” or “wasteland,” or “Chernobyl.”

Going through the list, it’s like Bears quarterbacks. Have some penicillin on hand. The Rockies and a rotation? That’s setting-based and they may have actually solved it, finally. The Cubs and 3rd basemen was in this category for a while. That’s solved now, too (and Kris Bryant is likely to keep both of his feet!). The Browns and a QB? The Browns and everything? That’s about the closest comparable.

Did you know that the best SV% in a season for the Flyers is Roman Cechmanek’s .923 in 2003? That’s 15 years ago, where the SV% of everyone has steadily risen to the point that that mark is just about league-average now. 15 years and they haven’t bettered it. And yes, Cechmanek is now a thrower at some one-terminal airport in the Czech Republic now.

Nor have they even really come close. Once in the past 10 seasons have they had a team save-percentage over .920, and that was three years ago that saw them be a first-round out anyway. For as long as time it seems, the Flyers have been searching for anyone or anything that can make a stop. This is what the U2 song was about, as if it wasn’t bad enough being a Flyers fan.

You want to hear some names? You don’t, but here’s the list of fuckwits and shit-gibbons that have taken the starter’s role in eastern PA for the orange: Brian Elliot, Michal Neuvirth, Calvin Pickard, Petr Mrazek, Steve Mason, Ray Emery (twice), Ilya Bryzgalov, Brian Boucher, Michael Leighton, Sergei Bobrovksy (pre-Vezina form), Marin Biron, Antero Niittymaki, Robert Esche, Jeff Hackett, Shawn Burke, John Vanbiesbrouck at 107 years old, and Ron Hextall at even older. That’s 20 years worth of Flyers goalies, and our fingers just disintegrated after typing all of that.

You’d think over that span, 20 years, you’d just find a goalie by accident. On that list, who even had a passable NHL career after leaving the Flyers? Bobrovsky and….Bobrovsky. Fuck, Ray Emery is dead and he’s assuredly dead from being a Flyers goalie twice. It has to be terminal.

How do you miss this consistently, not just on one position but the most important position in the sport? Of any sport? You’d almost have to be trying to do this. You can’t do this by accident. Even the biggest dumbass GMs end up with a goalie. Somehow, someway they get there. Glen Sather was incontinent and blind as Rangers GM and he got Henrik Lundqvist. Every Canadien GM has literally been the French teacher from the Simpsons and they have Carey Price. The Leafs at least signed Curtis Joseph back in the day or whatever. Bob Pulford was throwing up 17 hours a day and thanks to Mike Keenan as well the Hawks had both Eddie Belfour and Dominik Hasek at once.

Even if you stick to the last 20 years, pretty much every team has had a goalie worth a shit. Not the Flyers, Nope, fuck you, that’s the Flyer way! It’s going to be loud and stupid and orange and then some clown is going to let in a beer-belch from the red line in and we’re going to Wawa (which also sucks)! Generations of Flyers fans have grown up staring at some jerk-ass in net and wondering how they’ve been cursed with such a thing. Or maybe that’s why they’re cursed with such a thing. They want it this way, because it gives them something to complain about.

Maybe that’s why it has to be this way. The Eagles have won a Super Bowl now. The Phillies a World Series and look to be rounding into contenders again. The Sixers are at least young and interesting. As long as the Flyers don’t have a goalie, and at this point you’d be right to conclude they never will, it give the Philly fan something he can stab himself with a fork over in front of the viewing public, because it’s that last part they care about most. They need you to know how angry and red they are, otherwise they wither and die. It’s true. If a Philly sports fan goes eight minutes without someone looking at them they fucking get Thanos-snapped.

They’re going to throw Carter Hart into this at some point, maybe even this year. With any other team, he would probably go on to a successful NHL career. In Philadelphia, his hips will turn into a loose band of goldfish within months. It’s just that way. It’s the way they want. Well, they get it.

 

Game #17 Preview Suite

Preview

Spotlight

Q&A

Douchebag Du Jour

I Make A Lot Of Graphs

Lineups & How Teams Were Built

Everything Else

Game #17 – Hawks vs. Flyers Q&A: An Escaped Lab Experiment

By Sam Fels 1632 0

Like most of our friends, we don’t know where @FlyGoalScoredBy came from, and we’d rather not. Because then someone would have to be held responsible for his creation, and the penalties for that are too harsh to think about. 

By the time people read this the Flyers might have fired Dave Hakstol and hired Joel Quenneville. What is the general problem with Hakstol when it’s obvious the Flyers have no goalie?

I made a note of how Coach Q would be such a perfect fit for the Flyers, yet it will never ever ever happen. The Flyers are like some inbred family that can ONLY hire someone they’re related to. I’m surprised we don’t have “Coach Dan Carcillo” yet.  My biggest issue with Hakstol is his player usage. The Flyers are clearly in a long rebuild and have been for a long time, but their GM and coach always trot out these slow, old “vets” like Dale Weise, Jori Lehtera, and whatever a Christian Folin is. Play the kids Dave, it won’t matter with these goalies.

The Flyers were going to move forward as much as Konecny, Patrick, and Lindblom developed. How’s that going so far?

In short: well! I think everyone would love more consistency out of Konecny, but its a minor gripe. Patrick has started the season off very well and is putting on a solid two-way game. He looks more and more like a top pick now that he’s over a year removed from hernia surgery. Lindblom is just spicy. Feels like once he figures out the NHL game a bit more especially maneuvering around the offensive zone he’ll be lethal. These three are extremely important for the future.

Is Ghost Bear good? We know the power play numbers, but the metric suggest otherwise. Is he passed on the depth chart by Provorov and Hagg?

Ghost Bear is the best Flyers defensemen. He’s got that jackhammer of a shot, skates exceptionally well, owns three very beautiful doggos and is one of the only sources of personality on this team.  Protect the Ghost at all cost. Provorov is a scoop of strawberry ice cream. Ghost is a scoop of fudge ripple with walnuts and whipped cream.

How far away are we from Carter Hart?

Ron Hextall is frustratingly the most patient man in all of professional sports.  He’ll keep Hart in the AHL for as long as humanly possible. For right now, Hextall looks smart, as Hart hasn’t exactly been dominant down there.  He’s been fine, but not performing like an elite prospect. Hextall clearly was punting this year when he decided to roll our Brian Elliot and Michal Neurivrth’s bloated corpse as their goalie tandem. Hextall will not be rushed. I bet we see Hart end of the season if they are out of the playoff race for a few games, or in training camp next offseason.

Where should the Flyers be finish when all is said and done?

They’ll be exactly where they always are.  90-94 points. Struggling to get a playoff spot, hoping not to get their doors blown off by Pittsburgh or Washington. It’s a team stuck in the middle because their GM didn’t blow the thing up and do a full rebuild. The Flyers right now are like the early 2000 Leafs (sorry, do Blackhawks fans know hockey existed before 2008?).

 

Game #17 Preview Suite

Preview

Spotlight

Q&A

Douchebag Du Jour

I Make A Lot Of Graphs

Lineups & How Teams Were Built

Everything Else

Game #17 – Hawks vs. Flyers Douchebag Du Jour – Gritty

By Matt McClure 2352 0

Before diving into this needlessly vitriolic piece, a few baseline things need to be established. One – there is nothing empirically wrong with Gritty as a mascot entity. It’s fine, it’s silly, it’s unique, it’s harmless, and it’s ultimately for children. Second, this may come as a shock to some readers, but my political leanings are basically just center of communist. The only thing that could have actually gotten me to the polls earlier in the week would have been if there were guillotine referenda on the ballot. And now with those two facts in place…

Fuck Gritty, and fuck the slack-tivist Left for turning him into some kind of meme-machine cultural icon for the #Resistance and Antifa. Perhaps this is a case of living inside a bubble and how I have curated my own social media experience, but there seems to be an onslaught of promotional material aimed at YOUNG PEOPLE on the left containing fan art of Gritty dedicating himself to the plight of the proletariat and bringing capitalist pigs to justice. It was so prevalent that even a publication with its finger so far up its own ass it can barely find the pulse of anything else, the New Yorker, ran a feature story on the phenomenon. But there it was one tweet in particular that simply made all of this a bridge too far and solidified the internet’s collective ability to beat something to death within mere moments:

 

It’s extremely difficult to tell whether this post is ironic in tone or not, but either way there is a tremendous disconnect here between those with internet brain worms and what the reality of the situation actually is. First of all, the thought that a fucking mascot has anything to do with the logistical operations of a professional SPORTSBALL team is laughable. Not to mention the fact that the chances of an NHLer going rogue for the cause of something he’d seen and been made aware of on Leftist Twitter is so far fetched it’s insane. Nearly 99% of NHL players are in all likelihood MAGA chuds because a) they stop attending school in 8th grade b) they come from rural areas which bend heavily conservative, and c) they’re basically all rich which makes one pathologically averse to wealth redistribution or even taxation of any kind.

And even if all of this weren’t true, it makes zero sense to attribute any of these tenets to a logo owned by a team in a sport which is arguably the most racially and economically exclusive of any of the “major” North American team sports, which in and of themselves are a cesspool of rape and entitlement culture. Not to mention that the Flyers specifically, are a subsidiary of Comcast, a borderline monopoly that cannot wait for net neutrality laws to be fully repealed so that they can price gouge even further and reap even bigger profits despite the fact that internet access has reached the point of being a utility out of its necessity to modern life. What’s more, Ed Snider, the Flyers’ former chairman who sold a healthy stake in the team to Comcast (and is dead and assuredly burning in hell for all of eternity) personally donated huge portions of his substantial wealth to virulent right wing think tanks like the Ayn Rand Foundation and The Atlas Society, and tried to destroy every labor union he ever came across, including the NHL players association. And for fuck’s sake, because this is Philadelphia being discussed after all, it’s a solid bet that the guy that’s actually in the goddamn costume itself has got a Facebook page filled with Blue Lives Matter memes and routinely throws around homophobic slurs when hanging out on South Street.

The counter-argument to all of this would be that using Gritty is re-appropriating a corporate logo for a nobler purpose and that anyone who indirectly gets involved in the community because they initially found the memes with the orange googly-eyed creature amusing is a net benefit. Which, ok, sure, but the energy spent on writing Gritty revolutionary slash-fic with intricate illustrations would be better spent throwing a brick through the window of the Comcast Center.

 

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