Down and (Shut)Out

“Hey, Ruthie,” a co-worker says, “how’s your team doing?”

I reply, “They got back-to-back shutouts on the weekend.”

“That’s good, isn’t it?”

“Oops; sorry. I meant that they were shut out in back-to-back games on the weekend.”

I must have downloaded the wrong app. I wanted the one that notified me when the Flyers win. The one I have tells me when they lose.

They have all the offensive talent in the world, yet my guy Giroux and the kid Jakub Voracek, the same pair who racked up the most points in the league last season, have a combined total of twenty-seven after twenty-one games—and the Flyers have now officially scored the fewest goals of all thirty teams so far this year.

When you’re this far down, the only way out is up … or next year.

I saw the game against Ottawa last Saturday. End result: 4 – 0 for the Sens. Absolutely no offense, and Steve Mason was left to flail in the net. The one pool point I got came from Ottawa’s Kyle Turris in the third period, when he scored the fourth goal against them. There’s no heart in their play, no motivation, no enthusiasm, no cohesion. Basher was beyond inconsolable. He’s become resigned, and I fear he may refuse to watch the next game because no matter who the opponent is …

No, I won’t go there. I’ll admit, they’re pretty well hooped as far as the post-season goes, but I will always watch them on TV. I get few enough viewings, and I just laughed when a sympathetic friend suggested that I might want to try another team. Besides, who knows? They beat Carolina in overtime last night. A winning streak may be imminent!