Game One

Well, that one suuuuuuuucked. The first twenty minutes was promising, a good road period despite the visiting Flyers being unable to score on three power plays. Then Washington took over and we never recovered.

I haven’t watched the Caps much. I don’t like their “loud and proud stars and stripes” jerseys and I’ve decided that I really don’t like Alex Ovechkin. He tends to enjoy slamming guys in the numbers as much as he enjoys potting goals, and while I can admire the latter, admiring the first is not in my nature. I don’t like my guys slamming other guys through the boards, either – it’s a game and no one needs to end up on a stretcher to get the win.

That said, we lost our minds a bit after continual bruising through two periods. The Caps are bigger and uglier and way meaner than Philly, and there is bad blood between the teams. Tom Wilson checked Brayden Schenn off planet a couple of years ago, and guess who was in the thick of a scrum last night? Wayne Simmonds totally lost it at the end of the game and went right for Wilson’s throat after Wilson gave Schenn a friendly nudge into the boards. Not terribly smart, as Simmonds is the best Flyer on special teams (power play and penalty kill), and we were left without him during the most critical time of the game. Players on both sides were behaving like heat seeking missiles toward the end, so while we took the worst of it and won’t have a chance if we continue to take a physical hammering, I’d say that the stage has been set for a dandy series rife with drama, dislike and more elbows in the corner.

It’s only game one, after all. Lots of time to recover. Philly gets stronger as they go and the Caps are historically unable to win a seventh game in any series. Assuming that they don’t kill off our best players as we go (we lost Sean Couturier to an upper body injury – thanks, Ovie), we could conceivably beat them in seven.

In other playoff news – this time in the Western Hockey League – the Kelowna Rockets have evened their series against the Royals after Victoria got a two-game lead in their series. This serves as a reminder to Basher and me that falling behind is not the end of the world. Ground can be gained with patience, perseverance … and knowing thine enemy’s weakness. I just hope the Flyers can stay alive long enough to figure out what Washington’s weakness is!

Hockey Night in Victoria

Forty-eight hours after traversing the heavens with Sarah Brightman, Ter and I walked into the same arena but a different world. It was cold, for one thing. And bright. And loud. And it smelled rather a lot like testosterone, both in the stands and on the ice. The Kelowna Rockets were in town for back-to-back games with the Victoria Royals, and we were there to cheer on the home team for the second match.

The set was touted as a battle for first place in the Western Hockey League’s BC division and the Royals were on a win streak at home. Kelowna won Friday’s game, 4-1. They won Saturday’s as well, 2-1 in a shootout. My Flyer karma preceded me, so now the Rockets are in front and the Royals are runners-up.

We had a good time, though. Live hockey games are not for fans who want to watch the game undisturbed, that’s for sure. There was more going on in the stands than on the ice: Marty the Marmot banged his drum; pizza and potato chips were doled out to fans in select sections; there was the local “dance for your dinner” promo where randomly selected spectators competed for audience approval and a gift certificate at a local eatery. Royals t-shirts were bazooka’d into the crowd, more gift cards were handed out to winners of “where’s the doughnut?” (Tim Horton’s) and “who has a BMO Master Card?” (Ter wondered if her government purchasing card would be accepted, but she didn’t test the theory), and all the while, 44 strapping young bucks on skates duked it out for top spot in the division.

There were penalties for delay of game (the stupidest call ever invented), roughing, and an actual pair of fighting majors; the Rockets scored first, Victoria tied it in the second, and there was enough board-crunching to elicit the occasional audible wince from the crowd. The game itself, however, was surprisingly so-so. The Royals were half a pace off the beat despite lobbing more shots at the Kelowna goalie – our seats were in the opposing end zone so we got a good look at a lot of missed chances in the guise of fine saves. I was most impressed by #18 for Victoria; a little guy named Brandon McGee, who tried to make something happen on every shift. I kept hoping he’d pop the winning goal, but it was not to be. At least they got a point for pushing the game to OT and a shootout. As fans, we were treated to everything a grown-up game has to offer … except the outrageous ticket prices!