Philadelphia Flyers vs. New York Rangers - Black Friday 2014

 

(Pre-game at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)

Nov 28, 2014

New York Rangers at Philadelphia Flyers

Rangers 9-8-4

Flyers 8-10-3

Home-and-home – Tomorrow in New York. Then, February 28, in Philadelphia.

Steve Mason – Coming off a recent good stretch. Somewhat inconsistent, though defensive pairings and injury issues need to be considered. 4-7-2, 2.73 GAA, .918 save percentage.

Cam Talbot starts in net for the Rangers. Five game played so far this season. 1-2-1, .908 save percentage, 2.70 GAA.

Flyers hosting eighth consecutive “Black Friday” game. 3-1-3 during that time. Have played a day after Thanksgiving game every season since 1997. 13 at home and 2 on the road. 8-3-3 during that time.

Claude Giroux entered the game leading the NHL in faceoffs taken (558) and faceoffs won (314).

Flyers are 5-0-1 when scoring first, 3-10-2 when allowing the first goal.

Philadelphia has sold out 161 consecutive home games, including every game plus playoffs over the past three seasons. (Streak began November 18, 2010 vs. Tampa Bay.)

First Period

Goal Dan Boyle (Derek Stepan, Martin St. Louis) 6:10 on power play.

Some back-and-forth penalties through the period. Minimal scoring chances. Shots 10-8 Rangers.

Little action to comment on, to say the least.

Second Period

Martin St. Louis scored at 4:14. (Assists Stepan and Chris Kreider).

Shots 21-15 Rangers.

See the end note for the first period, as the same thought applied by the end of this frame.

Third Period

A four-minute high sticking penalty (Kreider against Couturier) at 4:33 into the period gave Craig Berube's team a chance to get back into the game. But, a short-handed goal by Rick Nash (Stepan and Ryan McDonagh) at 5:30 dashed those hopes. Philadelphia scored no goals on either end of the underpowered play.

A middling effort that further confirmed that this year's hockey team, based in the storied region of Philly, is no contender. While there's plenty of hockey left to play this season. Making a playoff push looks to be very challenging.

As general manager Ron Hextall continues to reshape this iconic NHL team time remains on his side. With that and the development of franchise patience there should be little doubt that he can make this team into a legitimate playoff contender. This is year one of the Hextall era. As of now, it appears that this season is clearly one of transition.

After he recently called out the entire team, it seems that a trade (or trades) could be on the way. 

Here's a recent post about some past transactions in history...

5 Stunning Philadelphia Flyers' Trades

The Philadelphia Flyers have made many trades in franchise history. Here are ten of their most surprising. Some of these deals are only known by the hardest of hardcore fans. Others, are enlightening because of the historic names that are about to be mentioned.

This list has been prepared in chronological order, verses that of chosen importance.

#5: Rick MacLeish “traded” to the Boston Bruins - October 18, 1967

Yes, this trade took place in the 1960s, but MacLeish didn't officially become a member of the Bruins until 1970.

The Flyers obtained Rosaire Paiment from the Boston Bruins for their number one pick in the 1970 National Hockey League amateur draft. That number one pick was used to select MacLeish with the fourth pick.

#4: Barry Ashbee obtained for two no-names – May 22, 1970

A vital part of the Flyers' first Stanley Cup team, Ashbee suffered a career-ending eye injury in April 1974. He was originally acquired from the Pittsburgh Penguins for Darryl Edestrand and Larry McKillop in the spring of 1970.

#3: Bernie Parent traded to Toronto Maple Leafs – January 31, 1971

Parent told me directly, during my one-on-one interview with him at his business office in the fall of 2010, that being traded from the Flyers to the Maple Leafs helped his career. While in Toronto he asked Hall of Fame goaltender Jacques Plante, who was the Maple Leafs' starting netminder at the time, to teach him how to play goal.

Plante's lessons helped Parent to turn his career around and helped him to set the bar for excellence upon his return to the Flyers in May 1973.

#2: Reggie Leach obtained from the California Golden Seals five days after the first Cup was won – May 24, 1974

It's not just that the Golden Seals dealt Leach after he had scored 51 goals for them in slightly over two seasons of play. But, they traded him to the Flyers for Larry Wright, Al MacAdam and the Flyers 1974 first-round draft pick. That draft pick was held by the team that had just won the Stanley Cup five days earlier.

Wright, who was a free agent, re-signed with the Flyers in September. MacAdam had only played five games for the Flyers until that point, but did later score 240 goals in his NHL career. The first round draft pick was used to select Ron Chipperfield, who jumped to the World Hockey Association and never played for the Seals.

#1: Fred Shero traded to New York Rangers – June 2, 1978

The Flyers received a first-round draft pick, as agreed upon compensation, in return for Shero being allowed to accept a job as the Rangers' head coach. The Flyers selected Ken Linseman with the seventh pick in the 1978 NHL amateur draft.

(My feature, which I hold all rights to, originally appeared on Yahoo Sports-YCN.)

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Let's connect on Twitter @SeanyOB, through Facebook, or on LinkedIn. Visit my Examiner Contributor Page.

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My illustrated children's book: Maddie: Teaching Tolerance with a Smile officially became a Top 10 Amazon best-seller as of January 29, 2014. The print and ebook editions were initially released in August, 2014.

Children's Alopecia Project

50% of all proceeds from the sale of our book (in both print and ebook forms) are being donated to the Children's Alopecia Project (CAP).

What a ride

This incredible and unexpected ride began in the spring of 2011. By August 2013, the book was published by the Children's Alopecia Project in print form. We have been very pleased with sales of that edition. Use, or share, this link --->>Maddie: Teaching Tolerance with a Smile to purchase the printed book directly from CAP.

I published a special ebook edition within weeks of the print book release. After starting in the tens of thousands (in terms of Amazon's children's book rankings), Maddie broke into the Top 50 just prior to Christmas. It climbed through the 30s and settled in the upper 20s before breaking into the Top 10.  

Use, or share, this link --->>Maddie: Teaching Tolerance with a Smile to see a 'free-view' of the special ebook edition. I've included extra bonus features in this version that provide background information, extra photos, and illustrations. Each item helps to tell the complete story of this book's birth. 

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Here's a link to this great (print and online) article that the Reading Eagle recently published about our story Maddie: Teaching Tolerance with a Smile: Book chronicles Wyomissing teen's journey since being diagnosed with alopecia

Thank you to Stacey Stauffer (Fox 29 Philadelphia). She interviewed Madison Woytovich, her parents (Jeff and Betsy Woytovich) and me about the latest chapter in this inspiring story. Here's a video link to Stacey's wonderful feature. 

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Amazon.com is the number 1 online publishing platform in the world. That's why I used it to publish my first ebook: Fast Fiction and Other Stuff.

This mini-tome is a collection of stories and poems for readers who don't take themselves too seriously. I hope that you enjoy it and am always interested in your feedback.