Flyers had a great year, it was a learning experience. ill give kimmo alot of credit for showing alot of balls playing today.

wings will destory pens in 5.

Posted by FlyersFan on 05/18/08 at 05:04 PM ET

If Detroit can get by Dallas then they will play Pittsburgh.It will be a nailbiter with Pittsburgh winning game 7 in OT with Malkin scoring the winner.

Posted by davomack34 on 05/18/08 at 05:11 PM ET

Pittsburgh has the playoff success trifecta going right now - they are talented, playing well, and healthy.

Either Detroit or Dallas is going to have a tremendous fight on their hands.

Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 05/18/08 at 05:16 PM ET

i dont see that way if look at pens played in playoffs, they didnt play a team like detriot that has scoring on all four lines. Bobby Orr, Cough, excuse me, Hal Gil, hasnt played against fast forwards that detriot has it’s arsnel.

the only thing pens have going for the them right is a team for full of #1 picks and a rental player buying into a 2-2-1 trap.

sad thing about todays game is that it might of been hatcher’s last game in nhl. talk about a warrior.

Posted by FlyersFan on 05/18/08 at 05:32 PM ET

Great way to shut down the Flyers at home today! To knock Hal Gil and then give a shout out to Hatcher is quite ironic to me. In any case, Gil did a fantastic job in the Ranger series against skilled forwards. I’d expect him and Holmstrom to have quite a battle in front of the net.

On the flip side, the Red Wings haven’t played a team with two #1 lines, a fantastic shutdown center in the Staal line, and grinders that can both fight, annoy, and hem in the other team’s #1 line in their own zone with the cycle. Sure, the Penguins haven’t played a team as good as Detroit either, but that’s a cop-out being that Detroit finished #1 in the league. It’ll be a great series! The hardest part is that the Penguins will have to steal a game at the Joe to win. Both teams have the talent to have one player put the game on their shoulders and win a game. Who’s it going to be?

Oh, and to Dallas, keep them occupied for another game or two, thanks!

Posted by penguinsfan on 05/18/08 at 05:41 PM ET

there is a reason why i gave a shout out to hatcher, the guy played the entire playoffs with NO cartlidge in his legs. i would like to see if you can play hockey with no cartileadge.

the reason i knocked on hal gill is that i have zero respect for the penguins organization in general because year after year given an #1 pick, basically handed a new arena by taxpayer, like me, by threatening to leave by their owner and not even attempting to improve their team through free agency deserves respect? come on.

as for pens fans in general, they dont know NOTHING about hockey. the pens fans i talk to think timmneon and colburn are a fifth or sixth defenseman on nhl teams and hal gill is the second coming of bobby orr. During the years they pens were horrible, they only drew what devils draw annually every season.

look what the flyers did. they suck like a pee wee team last year and did they expect the league to bail them out? no. they got creative, traded a has been player for great value players and robbed a top flight prospect away from atlanta and went out and got a top free agent.

i think the flyers future is more brighter than pens because pens have all those #1 picks expecting big money after this season.

Posted by FlyersFan on 05/18/08 at 06:07 PM ET

Well, I’d like to see any of us fans play hockey the way these professional do—putting up with the pain and daily grind. It’s not going to happen. See, it just so happens that we both see each other’s teams through tainted glasses.

To me, Hatcher is a goon that can’t/never has been able to skate, cartilage or not. You see the Penguins organization in a poor light, I see a hockey team wanting equal footing as the Steelers, or more appropriately, the Pirates. You can judge their lack of free agent splashes as you want, but it’s a difference of philosophy, and the difference of the team owner not owning a huge corporation like Comcast. They also weren’t handed #1 picks for nothing—they suffered the loss of fans, respect, and standing that you mention. At least give Pittsburgh fans and the organization credit for recognizing a fantastic team right now, and supporting them with sellouts all year and in the playoffs. Plus, one of the best TV ratings in the league.

I’ll give Timmenon and Colburn their due. They’re talented players, one up and coming, but they’re no Bobby Orr either. Hal Gil isn’t either, but he’s played well, doing what has been asked of him, within his talents and limitations. There’s no doubt that the Flyers had a hell of a turnaround from last season, and all the credit goes to the Flyers organization for orchestrating that.

The future is just that, however, the future. Both teams have players they’ll need to retain, and will have players come and go. That doesn’t mean they both can’t continue to have perennial trips to the playoffs, and maybe more. Still, I’ll take the Penguins scoring creativity with solid defense, over the Flyers crash the net and “tough guy” attitude anyday. Go Pens!

Posted by penguinsfan on 05/18/08 at 06:34 PM ET

“as for pens fans in general, they dont know NOTHING about hockey. the pens fans i talk to think timmneon and colburn are a fifth or sixth defenseman”

Yep.

Posted by Hooks Orpik on 05/18/08 at 07:29 PM ET

Flyersfan-sounds like you started drinking before the game.  Regardless of how much Hatcher played, the truth is he is severely over matched in this league and was a tremendous liability. I think its great he’ll be out of the game, he can’t skate, every hit he makes it to someones face, if you can get him out of his panties he’ll fight a smaller guy, but never someone his own size. Go home.  What surprised me was that the Flyers used him so much, I guess out of respect, because Denis Gauthier would have been far more effective...he is physical and he can actually skate.
Your underestimation of the Penguins chances against the west is in my opinion severely jaded, because they are a team with all the right parts.  The Penguins are certainly a team that benefited from bad seasons and good draft picks. Ironically, Crosby was the Powerball lottery, because every team had a chance coming out of the lockout and the Penguins had the winning ticket.  It is unfair to knock the team completely though.  The Pens are a team that had a terrible contract on an outdated arena that ruined their ability generate revenue and therefore keep their talent.  They had a lot of great, drafted talent but couldn’t afford to keep it. Remember drafting Ricci above Jagr? Meanwhile, the Flyers were like the Rangers, buying the talent they wanted, running one of the league’s highest payrolls, and still couldn’t win.  So, knock the managerial skill behind high draft choices, but look in the mirror at all of your losing investments. 
Lastly, and probably most embarrasing to you is that the big tough Flyers were not the dominant physical team this series, or, for that matter the last 4 games of the season series against the Pens. So the Pens are more skilled, have better goaltending, are better coached, and are tougher??  You’re lucky you won one game.

Posted by dip from philly on 05/18/08 at 08:04 PM ET

shits from Philthadelphia DON’T KNOW HOCKEY

Tee Time 8:00 AM tomorrow

FFFFFOOOOORRRRREEEEE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Posted by Evilpens on 05/18/08 at 08:15 PM ET

I was going to respond to the ridiculous, uninformed rant from “FlyersFan,” but it looks like “dip from philly” pretty much summed it all up.

Posted by NHLJeff from Boston, MA on 05/18/08 at 08:29 PM ET

dip,
so Denis Gauthier > Hatcher? ok whatever, there is reason why he was with phantoms all year besides his contract that clarke handed out to him. the only thing he could do is hit and take stupid penatlies at stupid times of the game and does a great job turning over the puck.

So the Pens are more skilled, have better goaltending, are better coached, and are tougher?? 

yeh, the better team this time around but flyers do have a strong young core coming around in JVR, Gioux, Nordl, etc.. so dont give me this crap that flyers dont have young players.

as for the coaching, therrien isnt the next scotty bowman. there is reason why mtl got rid of him when they did and he was in the minors for a period of time. he’s just like hitchcock, they devolop a team and their act gets tiring and embrassing after period of time. it’s pure luck that he;s surround around that kinda talent. anybody would of win with that kinda talent.

i dont know what games you were watching but hatcher,kimmo and colburn were the backbone of the flyers defense all year long. wasnt hatcher out during that ten game losing streak?

as for the finals, wings is a team i ever saw before in my life. they are playing at one level in the regular season and they went up two or three notches when the playoffs started. they can score from four differnt lines while pens are a two line team. the only reason why pens played that fourth line is because their oppnents. Detriot fourth line will eat those guys alive.

i think that lost saturday was great for wings on saturday because it gave them adversity they ever dealt with before in the playoffs and it will be benefit for them when they beatup on peguins in the finals.

Posted by FlyersFan on 05/18/08 at 09:05 PM ET