Point/Counterpoint: What to do when confronted with a Cup you didn't win

Photo courtesy of Crossing Broad

Welcome to another edition of Point/Counterpoint, where yours truly and another poor schmuck...er...hockey writer... duke it out over matters of extreme hockey importance. 

This time around, heading into the ring with me, it's the mastermind @4who4whatsports, as we discuss proper fan protocol when you're in the presence of a major professional sports trophy located in a likely place during an unlikely situation. 

One significant part of hockey's "Code," whether you believe it or not, revolves around the public and its right to handle the Stanley Cup once a team -- and it doesn't necessarily have to be the one you like or that's representing your hometown -- wins it and it is put on display or is carried by a winning player for their one day with the trophy. 

The Los Angeles Kings have wrapped up their second title in the last three seasons, and that means ex-Flyers and Jersey Shore homeowners Justin Williams and Jeff Carter will be bringing their silver, 35-pound reward to Margate and Sea Isle, respectively. It may be unlikely that the Philadelphia Flyers will win the Cup in our lifetimes, so what happened in 2012 with the Cup's tour of the Shore and what is likely to occur again this Summer is the closest many fans may get to see the oldest and most prestigious trophy in professional sports up close.

Is it your right to touch the Cup or not?

Point, Bob: It's been told and shown to me over the years by various hockey personnel (including Chris Therien and Keith Jones) that the "Code" is most likely to be obeyed, no matter how ridiculous the "rules" are at the moment -- like the furor and superstition about touching/not touching the Prince of Wales Trophy or Campbell Bowl before reaching the Stanley Cup Finals. Therefore, no member of the public should just up and touch the Cup when presented, and it should only be done once a player who has won it gives express permission.

Even then, it's verboten to lift it or drink from it, because the hard work and sacrifice as a fan to wait however long it was to witness the Cup up close isn't anything compared to the same experienced by the player who put in his time to win it. So, when you're out at the Jerome Avenue playground or sitting on a deck somewhere off Landis Avenue, just wait until a signal is given. If none is forthcoming, tough luck. See with your eyes, not with your hands.

Counterpoint, 4Who: Did I just play through the most emotionally and physically demanding tournament in the Big Four to win the best looking trophy in all of sports? No, I'm just some schlub who tweets during those games and makes snide remarks. But if you think that if I'm going to be in the immediate vicinity of the Stanley Cup and not touch it you're dead wrong, "Code" be damned. 

That being said, being the respectful person that I am, I definitely don't have the gall or stupidity to grab Lord Stanley's Cup without permission. Will it take every fiber in my being not to run over and lay a finger on it? Probably. Then again I didn't win the thing. So out of respect I'll wait until a member of the team offers the opportunity to touch, and if I'm lucky enough drink from, the Cup because they are the ones who put their blood, sweat and tears into winning the thing. If they so choose to let some random guy have that opportunity who am I to say no?

Bob: Scenario: we're finished with the SeaGoal Cup and through some machinations, bribery, internet stalking and plain ol' good luck, we end up at a certain Sea Isle condo owned by a certain Los Angeles King and the Cup...it's right there in the living room. Every other partygoer, male and female, is fawning over the Cup, taking shots from the bowl, passing it around,. feeling it up, whatever. 

What do you do...what do you do?

I do nothing. Well, I try and locate at least one member of the winning team and make my intentions clear: one picture of me drinking out of the Cup, but only if two persons connected with the team lift it for me. If they agree to the plan, then I get one of the thrill moments of my life and a picture to last forever. But...if a winning member just waves it off and says they don't care what I do, then it's time to spring into action.

I quote the "Code" back and express my disappointment that a professional hockey player wouldn't abide by the rules, bacchanalia or not. This lack of aggression will not stand, man. Without the go-ahead, the closest I get is right next to the Cup, hands folded behind my back. Anything less would be uncivilized. 

4Who: You're worried about being civil at a house party in Sea Isle?

Alcohol adds a different variable to this argument. The deeper in the hole you are the more inhibition goes out the window. But let's say I'm fairly with it by the time we grace the Carter house and the Cup is being passed around (among other things), I may be feeling a little bullish and straight up ask if I can drink from it. Now, if they say no I might get us kicked out of said party but when they say yes I will be doing the holding. It is my Hockey Gods-given right to do so, in my opinion, because that might be the only way I ever get to be with the pristine 35 pounds of sterling silver. 

Don't give me that this would jinx the Flyers chance to win it all for years to come. For the same reasons no person should ever use "we" when discussing their favorite sports team, a fan has NOTHING to do with a teams success. Not that I don't believe in jinxes and bad juju but that is for players in the National Hockey League. Neither you or I are members the league nor the organ-eye-zation and because we are not we have zero involvement of the fortune and mojo of the Philadelphia Flyers. 

Bob: Ills, you ignorant slut.

Rules are rules and someone clean and sober has to enforce them. All the Hockey Gods do is based upon how we treat things down on Earth.  Maybe it's not about sinking any chances of this city winning or losing a Stanley Cup, but just for us to win or lose a SeaGoal Cup or league title. Either way, I'm not hedging.

See this? This is a major violation. It's TSN of Canada "reporter" Cabbie partying with the Cup, filled with

M&M's and he's holding it with both hands.

Last I checked, this guy is not a member of the Los Angeles Kings, its coaching staff, front office, nor does he hold a position in any NHL organization which has won it previously.

Media personages, myself included, are not exempt from the "Code." Maybe he received permission, but maybe not. My guess is, in this instance, he was just allowed to handle the thing in the middle of a celebration, which does not fly.

Therefore, Toronto gets five more years tacked onto its title drought, which has already reached 47 years. Can't risk that for the team I was taught to love and which I cover on a semi-regular basis.

Surging Sharks feasting on unsuspecting Kings

The Phanatic presents a perspective from the West Coast, for the surprising Western Conference Quarterfinal which pits the Sharks against the stunned Kings, who find themselves down 2-0 heading into tonight's Game 3 in Los Angeles. 

San Jose, CA -- If you predicted that the San Jose Sharks and Los Angeles Kings would play seven low-scoring games in their Western Conference Quarterfinal, many people would have agreed with you.

Of the eight first-round matchups in the 2014 playoffs, this one could have been voted most likely to be close. After all, last year's Western semifinal between the clubs featured only 24 red lights in a seven-game series.

Instead, it began with the Sharks veering wildly off course and defeating the Kings in two surprisingly lopsided home contests. Perhaps it is Los Angeles which went wildly off script, launching into a poorly-planned and even less well-executed improv performance. Either way, it has been a memorable start to the postseason for the South Bay predators.

After a 7-2 rout in Sunday night's Game 2, Sharks head coach Todd McLellan talked about his impressions of the opposition after taking a 2-0 series edge:

"After Game One, I talked about the fact that I don’t think we’ll be in this situation again and we ended up there. I don’t think that this series is going to play out in blowouts like this night after night. They’re a very good hockey club and they’re going to find their game."

In Thursday's opener, the Sharks jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first two periods. The Kings rallied in the third with three straight markers, but fell 6-3 after a late empty-net goal for the hosts. Three days later, the Kings worked their way to a 2-0 lead in the first despite being outshot 15-10 by the Sharks. The Sharks responded in the second and third periods with seven unanswered goals.

You have to go back to the 2011 playoffs to find more than one game in a series between these teams (playoff or regular season) that ended with a difference of more than two goals. That series included a wild comeback from 0-4 down which eventually ended up as a 6-5 OT win for the Sharks. Now, the teams head south to Los Angeles, where history tells us the Kings will bounce back. That is putting a lot of stock in the past.

Before the series began, neither team expected any surprises. LA ehad coach Darryl Sutter said before the first game:

"What happens in playoff time, a lot of time what separates winner or loser is not the team part of it, it’s the individual part of it. So there’s somebody that steps up and goes to another level or somebody that doesn’t, that’s usually at the end, what … when you call it a surprise or whatever that is, that’s usually what happens."

The first two games have certainly featured some individuals stepping up, and some failing to play their part. The Sharks' fourth line, for example, has been uncommonly productive. That isn’t entirely surprising. As the final pairing up front, they are somewhat overqualified.

That grouping includes Raffi Torres, Andrew Desjardins and Mike Brown. Torres started on the fourth line this season primarily to limit his minutes as he came back from knee surgery. Prior to that, the feisty veteran who is never far from crossing lines of conduct could usually be found among the top six. Desjardins has proven to be more skilled than most grinders -- and showed it on his second-period assists two days prior -- and he's perfectly capable of filling in on other lines in a pinch.

Of the line’s performance in the second game, Torres said:

"I thought Brownie had one of the best games I’ve seen him play, and Desi tonight was great with the puck, you know, getting his head up. I’ve told Desi a bunch of times that he’s got a lot of skill. It shows in practice, he’s been working on it. So it’s good to see those guys get rewarded."

For these unlikely suspects to score two goals in the space of five minutes -- pretty goals even -- looks like a surprise but it was far from improbable.

Sharks rookie Tomas Hertl, freshly back from injury, was supposed to ease his way into the playoffs in a third-line role. It took him four periods to be promoted back to the top line with Joe Thornton, after scoring his first playoff goal in his first playoff game. For him, it was not so much a matter of stepping up as picking up where he left off before being injured by Kings captain Dustin Brown last November.

A second rookie in the Sharks’ playoff lineup is Boston University product Matt Nieto, who stepped in when Hertl was injured and never gave the club a reason to send him back. His tenacious and speedy style earned him a steady spot in the top six. He represents a change in playing style that the Sharks have been working on for some time now. Todd McLellan talked about the team’s emphasis on speed:

"It’s been a focus of our organization over the last few years to up the speed element. The Matt Nietos and those type of players come in, we want to play a fast game. We feel that that’s what we need to do to have success."

While sitting playoff veterans Martin Havlat and Tyler Kennedy, McLellan has used these rookies in the roles those two would normally fill. That will not necessarily be the case throughout the playoffs, but for now the Sharks are in the enviable position of having too many capable players. They are not asking anyone to do more than they have done before, but everyone has shown up ready to play.

Only three Sharks skaters have no points so far: defensemen Jason Demers, Brad Stuart and Scott Hannan. Five skaters have accumulated three-or-more points. Joe Pavelski leads the team with four. The Sharks have allowed five goals in two games. In the first game, the goals against came in a span of less than 12 minutes. In the second game, the goals against came in less than ten minutes. The Sharks have played a tight defensive game, with a few hiccups, so far. 

For the Kings’ part, the individual difference has been worse than failing to go to another level. Too many of their regulars have underperformed badly. The Kings do not have a history of scoring a lot, but timely goals are stock-in-trade and they are supposed to have a formidable defensive game. In the 2013-14 regular season, the Kings averaged  2.05 goals against, the fewest in the league. In these two games that average ballooned to 6.5. 

Despite that, the Kings still have a reputation as a good defensive team. After the second game, Brown alluded to that, saying:

"We have to play solid defense and not let any goals in because we know that they’re capable of not letting that many goals in."

One has to wonder if the club which won the Cup two short years ago can recall all that. They have only played two games, a mathematically insignificant number, unless the goal is to win four.

Of the lopsided scores, McLellan said:

"The scores are irrelevant. They’re over, these could have been two triple overtime wins for us. That’s all you get is a win. You don’t get goals for or goals against that count for anything."

Nonetheless, those goal differentials do tell us something about who has and who has not performed up to par.

In previous meetings, Justin Williams was the Kings’ points leader against the Sharks. The Kings top five in points this season were Anze Kopitar (70), Jeff Carter (50), Justin Williams (43), Mike Richards (41) and Drew Doughty (37). In the first two games, Kopitar, Carter, Jake Muzzin and Trevor Lewis have two points each, Doughty has one, Williams and Richards have none. Just seven Kings have any points, only four have more than one.

Those numbers indicate that the Kings could very well turn this series around quickly. The Sharks expect as much in the next two games at Staples Center. Torres admitted the following:

"We’re kidding ourselves if we think that it’s going to be like this for seven games. We’ve been fortunate the first two games but then we’re really going to find out what kind of team they have going in to LA. It’s tough to win on the road, especially going in to LA."

Return of a King: Gagne comes back to Philly

From the "You think about it but never see it coming" file: the Flyers announced on Tuesday they have re-acquired winger Simon Gagne from the Los Angeles Kings for a conditional 2013 fourth-round draft pick, previously acquired from Phoenix.  

"Simon is an experienced veteran who will help us in a lot of areas,” Flyers GM Paul Holmgren said in making the announcement.  “We are glad to have him back. He improves our depth up front automatically. Obviously with the injury bug and Matt Read being out and now we lost Tye McGinn last night for a few weeks. We have some holes.  Simon is a guy who has a lot of experience and played in a lot of positions, penalty kill, power play and regular shifts.  He is a good two way player that can skate.   We think he will add to us a lot.”

Lisa Dillman of the LA Times reported that it will be a third-round pick if Peter Laviolette's team makes the playoffs and a fourth-round pick if not.

Gagne last suited up for the Orange and Black on June 9, 2010 in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals against Chicago. He played the good solider and acquiesced to be dealt to the Tampa Bay Lightning several weeks later for the disaster that is Matt Walker, and then found himself on the Kings' Cup winners last season despite suffering a late-season concussion that kept him out for all but the final games of the playoffs.

"I'm happy to get that chance. It was tough not to play. I'm going to a place I know well. It's like going back home. I know everybody there and I'm going back where it all started," Gagne said to Renaud Lavoie from RDS of Canada.

The Quebec native returns to Philadelphia as the franchise's 10th-leading point producer (524), ninth in goals (259) and 16th in assists (265), and 15th in total playoff points (47) in 664 games over 10 seasons (1999-2004; 2005-10).

Gagne, 33, has totaled just five assists over 11 games for the defending champs this year. He is on the way back from offseason neck surgery and a concussion which wiped out the latter half of last season plus all but four playoff games during the Kings' title run.

Holmgren is now a Peter Forsberg acquisition away from reassembling the club's top line from 2005-07.

The move became clearer in context later in the afternoon as Holmgren announced that McGinn will miss at least two weeks after suffering a broken orbital bone in a fight during Monday's 4-2 loss to Toronto.It is expected he will be placed on injured reserve, while Jody Shelley and possibly Andrej Meszaros will head to LTIR to fall into cap compliance.

“Any concern?  We can't make the trade if you can’t fit it in. Obviously it adds to our salary cap but because of the guys we have on long term injury we can make it work," added Holmgren when asked about Gagne's pro-rated $3.5 million cap hit for the season.

Terry Murray on cusp of return to Flyers organization

With all standing between Terry Murray and a return to the Flyers organization is the right word from Kings general manager Dean Lombardi, it's nearly a lock that Murray will be behind another bench next season.

This time, it is expected to be with the Adirondack Phantoms of the AHL. The Phantoms have a vacancy created when Joe Paterson was fired shortly after the end of this past season.

Murray had been fired as head coach of the Kings on December 12 after LA started the year 13-12-4 and sported a paltry 2.21 goals-per-game.

The 61-year-old native of Shawville, Quebec previously served the Flyers organization as an assistant coach from 2004-08 before leaving to take the Kings' head coaching position, was a scout from 2001-03, head coach from 1994-97, and suited up as a defenseman with the franchise from 1975-77, 1978-79 and 1980-81.

Despite the good which emerged from Murray's tenure in Philadelphia, he will be best remembered for a misconstrued comment following Game 3 of the 1997 Stanley Cup Finals, where he admitted his club, down 0-3 in the series, was in a "choking situation."

The Flyers dropped Game 4 in Detroit, and Murray was dismissed just seven days later over what then-GM Bob Clarke cited as "an accumulation of problems that could not be resolved."

Aided by the rise to prominence of the "Legion of Doom" comprising Eric Lindros, John LeClair and Mikael Renberg, Murray compiled a 118-64-30 regular-season record with a 28-18 playoff mark in three seasons here.

Crowning achievement: Kings rip Devils, win Stanley Cup

Special to the Phanatic

The City of Angels has a new star in town.

Thanks to a goal and two assists from Dustin Brown, two goals each from Trevor Lewis and Jeff Carter and 17 saves from Conn Smythe winner Jonathan Quick, the Los Angeles Kings took a 6-1 win over the New Jersey Devils in Game 6 on Monday to win the Stanley Cup for the first time in franchise history.

The first eighth seed to win the Cup, the Kings had held a 3-0 lead in this series after a pair of wins in New Jersey then one at home, but the Devils had won Games 4 and 5 to force a Game 6. It was the first time since 1945 in which a team that was down 3-0 in the finals made it to a sixth game.

There would be no seventh game, though, as Los Angeles scored three times in the first period thanks to a major penalty from New Jersey to take command of the game and Quick took it from there.

The third American-born player to win the Conn Smythe as MVP of the playoffs, Quick finished the postseason with a mark of 16-4 along with three shutouts. He posted a league-best .946 save percentage and a 1.41 goals-against average in the playoffs.

New Jersey was in the Cup Finals for the first time since 2003 and was looking for its fourth championship in team history, but it was not to be as the team failed to rally from the hole it had dug itself in.

Martin Brodeur, a four-time Vezina winner, gave up five goals on 24 shots while Adam Henrique scored the only goal of the game for the Devils, who were in the Cup Finals for the fifth time since 1995.

The five-minute power play in the first period was awarded to the Kings as Steve Bernier was given a major and misconduct for boarding defenseman Rob Scuderi.

Scuderi was playing the puck behind his own net when Bernier came charging in and slammed him face-first into the boards. Scuderi was bleeding from a cut on his nose after the hit and the Kings power play went to work at the 10:10 mark.

The first goal came less than a minute later as a Drew Doughty shot from the left point was redirected past Brodeur by Brown in the low slot.

The Kings continued to skate on the advantage and made it a 2-0 game with 7:15 to play in the period. The puck was chipped down low and Los Angeles won the battle deep to the left of the net. Mike Richards was able to slip it to the low left circle for Brown, who cut to the front and snapped a wrister that Carter tipped past Brodeur for his seventh of the playoffs.

In the final seconds of the power play, Dwight King rushed the puck down the left wing and charged the net. He lost control of the puck, but it slid over to the right and Lewis was able to slam it home with 4:59 left in the period.

New Jersey wasn't able to generate much offensively in the first period and Quick stopped all four shots he faced. The Kings, though, did benefit from the right post late in the frame when Patrik Elias' shot from the slot rang off the iron.

It took just 90 seconds for the Kings to make it a 4-0 game in the second period. A turnover behind the New Jersey net saw Brown come away with the puck and skate it to the boards at the left circle. He snapped a pass to the slot where Carter wristed the puck home for his second of the game.

At the six-minute mark, Bryce Salvador was given a double-minor for high sticking and the Kings peppered Brodeur with shots, but he turned all of them aside to keep the game from becoming even more lopsided.

New Jersey avoided another bullet as Los Angeles was unable to take advantage of another power play when Ryan Carter was called for roughing and given a misconduct at the 14:23 mark.

The Devils got some life with 1:15 to play in the second when a left-circle faceoff win saw the puck come to the net and Henrique jam it in for his fifth of the playoffs.

A roughing call on LA's Dustin Penner with 16.1 seconds to play in the second period gave New Jersey a power play that carried over into the third, but the team was unable to take advantage.

Much of the third period played out without much fanfare as the Kings were intent on holding off the New Jersey attack that managed just eight shots in the final period.

The Devils pulled Brodeur with around four minutes to play in a desperate attempt to rally, but Lewis sealed the win with the empty-netter at the 16:15 mark and Matt Greene scored 15 seconds later on Brodeur and the building began the celebrations.

Notes: Quick joined Tim Thomas of the Boston Bruins in 2011 and Brian Leetch of the New York Rangers in 1994 as the only Americans to win the MVP trophy...The 2006 Edmonton Oilers were the only other team to make the Cup Finals as an eighth seed. They lost in seven games to the Carolina Hurricanes...Los Angeles' Anze Kopitar had an assist in the game and finished the playoffs with 20 points to lead all skaters. He finished one point ahead of New Jersey's Ilya Kovalchuk...It was the largest margin of victory in a Cup clinching game since 1991 when the Pittsburgh Penguins took an 8-0 win in Game 6 over the Minnesota North Stars...The Kings are the 18th active franchise to win the Stanley Cup...The last championship for the city of Los Angeles was in 2010 when the NBA's Lakers defeated the Boston Celtics in seven games...LA lost a five-game Finals to Montreal in 1993...New Jersey was the third team in NHL history to push a series to six games after losing the first three. The 1945 Detroit Red Wings rallied for three straight but lost a game seven to the Toronto Maple Leafs, while the 1942 Maple Leafs turned the trick against the Red Wings, winning the final four games to become the only team to rally from a 3-0 hole in the finals.

Season over for Flyers fans' divisiveness with Kings

by Bob Herpen
Phanatic Hockey Editor 

No matter how you feel about Mike Richards or Jeff Carter or Simon Gagne (though public sentiment is overwhelmingly in the third name's corner as opposed to the first two), I hope you recall their initial foray into the glory that is the Stanley Cup Finals ended like this:

That was two years ago tonight.

For many of us, it qualifies as the worst ending to a Flyers season in our lifetimes, and it doubles as a hail of blows to the solar plexus because it was a sequence of events which blew up the club's hopes to stay alive in the finals, in sudden-death overtime, in front of the ever-hopeful home crowd.

Add to that the fact that nobody outside of Patrick Kane and Patrick Sharp -- not the television personalities of NBC and CBC and least of all the radio crews in both cities -- knew what really transpired for moments afterward, you have the makings of a memory where time seems to stop, stand still and then warp like taffy beyond anyone's control.

Worst of all, you never could shake the feeling that once everyone came to their senses and put the pieces together, the true outcome would never be favorable.

Had Kane's shot been somehow squeezed off between Michael Leighton's pads, or had gone through only to trickle out to the far side of the net, there were no guarantees the Flyers could score thereafter to win it. Even less certain, the possibility of riding that wave to a Game 7 victory in Chicago, where the Blackhawks tallied 15 goals in winning their first three tries in the series at United Center.

So, when you add up all the transgressions, real or imagined, particularly of the Terror Twins both on and off the ice while they roamed Philadelphia, know that there's a slight karmic debt that has to be paid by the hockey gods for living through that nightmare.

It's going to happen whether you like it or not, so all the haters should find some place in their souls to heal and to forgive. You only have three more opportunities: tonight, Monday and Wednesday.

It's time to forget, because you have to realize, none of the ex-Flyers on the Los Angeles Kings really care if you wish them ill. It may even ease the burdens you carry from witnessing the thing that dare not be mentioned, which occurred at either 4:06 or 4:10 or 4:06 of the extra session on June 9, 2010.

Ask yourselves if there ever any time in your lives while playing sports you wish you had back because things beyond your influence conspired against your team?

Making that bucket to put your school ahead, only to see the other side drain a winning three as time expired. Hitting a line drive sure to score two when you're behind by one in the championship, only to see the shortstop make a lunging grab? And yes, thinking you have an open net only to see the goaltender dive across in time at point-blank range.

I've had enough of the endless blather between fan pitted against fan trying to prove who's a fan and who's not or who's got the high ground dissing the Carter/Richards binary star for whatever reasons. Though I hate telling people who invest their hearts, minds and dollars in their favorite pastimes how to react on a visceral level, I'm excepting myself this once because I see how some commenters love to do it to my colleagues:


Get over it. With 60 minutes of winning hockey standing between three ex-Flyers and their first Stanley Cup, you're either all in or all out. And I strongly suggest you go all in.

Carter sacrificed feet and a leg and saw all but one of his playoffs here shortened. Richards had two torn labrums three years ago and could barely take a faceoff, remember? Their failures as "leaders" are less their own than by management that each year has a plan in place, then won't hesitate to jump the line and go for broke at the slightest sign of progress. Richards is even on the cusp of becoming a member of the exclusive Triple Gold club among North Americans.

Both players now exist in the best of all possible worlds -- seasoned veterans, healthy, asked to be part of the mix instead of the spoons that must whip it all together.

Gagne suffered through concussion issues and groin issues and the insult of being a pawn in Paul Holmgren's Good Soldier game, then more concussion issues this year. You can't keep a good man down, even after shipping him to Tampa Bay. I don't need to list all his accomplishments, but he has Game 6 in OT against the Bolts in 2004 and Games 4 and 7 in 2010 against the Bruins to his credit and that's more than sufficient.

All are deserving equally of success that's just within grasp.

Same goes for LA assistant GM Ron Hextall, who as a player we last remember a shot by Rangers defenseman Chris Tamer from center ice slipping from his grasp in 1999, and a handful of bad goals in the 1997 Finals against Detroit. I guess 15 years is too long to recount the flambe his name endured from the masses after one too many long-range biscuits cost the Orange and Black.

You weren't for him then, and you're for him now? Don't waste time being so contrarian, so...Philadelphian about it.

Throw down your (verbal) arms, release the burden and enjoy the moment for what it is. Or don't, but steer well clear and stew in it while the rest of us bask in the warmth of some reflected glory.

Kings' broom not quite big enough, but history still on their side

by Bob Herpen
Phanatic Hockey Editor

They say the fourth win is the hardest to get, especially so when you're up 3-0 in the Stanley Cup Finals.

I don't know where "they" came up with this, or why others parrot what "they" said, but as usual, the "they" who spout a lot of supposed conventional wisdom are totally off base.

So the Los Angeles Kings failed to sweep away the New Jersey Devils at home on Wednesday night, dropping a 3-1 decision which means they'll get another chance to win it all on the road -- where, coincidentally they're 10-0 and have a shot to break the all-time NHL record for road victories in one postseason -- this coming Saturday in Newark.

The degree of difficulty in closing out the terminal series after holding your opponent winless while you've won three straight can be argued. What can't be, is that it's apparently not so tough to pick up that fourth win in succession for the Stanley Cup.

Since the dawn of the expansion era in 1967, there have been 15 Finals which saw one club take the first three games and have the opportunity for a sweep. Twelve of those series ended in the fourth game:

1968  Montreal vs. St. Louis
1969  Montreal vs. St. Louis
1970  Boston vs. St. Louis
1976  Montreal vs. Philadelphia
1977  Montreal vs. Boston
1982  Islanders vs. Canucks
1983  Islanders vs. Oilers
1992  Penguins vs. Blackhawks
1995  Devils vs. Red Wings
1996  Avalanche vs. Panthers
1997  Red Wings vs. Flyers
1998  Red Wings vs. Capitals

Only the Islanders in 1981 against the North Stars and the Kings this year have failed to do so. New York, which lost Game 4 in Bloomington, eventually returned to Nassau Coliseum and closed out Minnesota in Game 5 for their second straight title.

The 1988 Oilers were the victims of a technicality, as power failure at the Boston Garden in the second period of Game 4 forced the postponement of a 3-3 tie and forced Edmonton back home, where it was triumphant in Game 5.

To steal from Pete Townshend, the Kings are all right. There's a long way to go before the approach to the fate which befell the 1942 Detroit Red Wings.

Devils lacking proper fire to overcome Kings

by Bob Herpen
Phanatic Hockey Editor

In Greek legend, Hephaistos (Vulcan in Roman mythology) toils endlessly in the fiery pits, fashioning anything and everything the Olympian Gods require in their daily soap operas with each other and on the planet Earth.

The reason he was kept down in the depths and well away from the world was that he possessed two decidedly un-godlike qualities: physical defects and diminished mental capacity.

So there he is, a Rocky-like laborer, hammering and blasting away for eternity with the tools of his trade, doing the most with what little he has, pausing every so often to let the land shake with a volcanic eruption or two.

By the way, he was also banished from Mount Olympus -- some versions of the myth say he was thrown down by Zeus himself and became crippled when he landed on one of the islands in the Mediterranean -- before eventually returning by machinations of his fellow gods.

Given that description, it's not hard to imagine how the New Jersey Devils have found themselves in an 0-2 hole in the Stanley Cup Finals with two games far away from home to try and survive.

The Horned Ones haven't done a great job thus far, opting for a deliberate path in the first part of each game. They have tried to draw out the Kings, to bait them, trying to force turnovers -- all methods that succeeded in the first three rounds. In the rare times it has worked, Jonathan Quick has proved to be the great equalizer, taking up the mantle Martin Brodeur once held.

Then comes the inevitable shockwaves: a short-handed chance, a power play, the desperation that results from a third-period deficit. Both times, a goal was in the offing that temporarily provided some life for the hosts, but no more. The Los Angeles Kings stole back the momentum, then called down the thunder by winning both in overtime for good measure.

What the Devils have apparently failed to realize, despite home-ice advantage throughout the best-of-seven set, is that the Kings can match them line-for-line, pass-for-pass, check-for-check and pace-for-pace.

Most importantly, LA is ahead of them shot-for-shot by a 2-to-1 margin and that's what has the club two wins away from the first championship in team history.

It's the worst nightmare for a club predicated on expert devotion to and precise execution of their system, squaring off against an opponent who strike back effectively simply by hoisting a mirror in the opposite direction.

You have to wonder what magical tool Peter DeBoer has on order to bolster his arsenal. If it exists, the obvious question is why wasn't it there to open up this most crucial of all times?

Ilya Kovalchuk, Patrik Elias, Zach Parise, who are all special parts of the machinery, haven't risen above their places as cogs in the wheel yet. Time is growing short. Although Henrik Tallinder is teetering on the brink of a comeback, the Kings have already countered with the addition of Simon Gagne -- who has scored the most goals of any active player against Brodeur.

They may have professed confidence on the eve of a Game 3 all the way across the continent, but if New Jersey doesn't want to get blown out of the series before it really gets rolling, it has to stop trying to turn each zone into a chessboard for the first portion of the game and then simply rely on one or two quick bursts of passion to stay in the contest.

So that part about being cast down suddenly from the heavens? A perfect allegory for a surprise run to the Finals abruptly halted by forces beyond the Devils' control but within their same.

It's especially fitting because Lucifer -- the Devil himself -- also found himself in the same predicament without the later ascension.

If the sudden underdogs from the East are satisfied that their game plan has gotten them this far, good on them. That's the way it's supposed to be when you've racked up 12 of the necessary 16 wins to take the Cup.

But if the game is to keep on waiting, keep on hoping, thinking that things will just turn like a blow on a hot piece of iron, then the same fate that befell a giant of antiquity will roar into the present with a vengeance.

The Kings won two; the Devils need four of five. The spark won't turn into fire with divine intervention, it has to come from within, at a time when harder and tougher souls have been forged than any work of a lame, slow blacksmith.

Carter, Richards and the Orange and Black oasis of LA

by Bob Herpen
Phanatic Hockey Editor

Now that Jeff Carter and Mike Richards have been reunited after a long, torturous eight months apart, the NHL's most passionate Bromance is free to continue.

In a serious understatement, Carter said this upon the revelation of the deal: "I am obviously excited. I am familiar with the team and a lot of guys on the team."

And how.

It's hard not to notice what's going on out in Los Angeles. It's as if the Kings are an incubator, or dare I say it, a rehab space, for former Philadelphia Flyers.

Though Serenity Knolls it's not -- and despite the fact that stories of the Terror Twins tearing through Olde City are legion -- it's becoming very obvious that the future of the Crowned Ones is hitched to Eastern stars.

With the addition of Carter from Columbus on Thursday night, that brings the total number of former Philadelphia players on the roster to four (Simon Gagne and Justin Williams are the others). Add to that, former head coach and assistant Terry Murray and John Stevens presided over the club at the start of the season, and that LA's assistant GM is none other than Ron Hextall and its general manager is former scout Dean Lombardi, and no wonder it's being called Philadelphia West.

So what if this is no accident? What if it really is meant to be that so many ex-Flyers wind up on the Left Coast? And what if this is just a pit stop for the one-time babyfaced assassins who roamed the ice, the bars and frat parties "back home?"

The New York Yankees wouldn't have been as good as they were in the late 1950s and early 1960's if the franchise hadn't struck an "agreement" with the Kansas City Athletics. The skids were greased because then-Yanks owner Dan Topping persuaded friend Arnold Johnson to buy the A's from Connie Mack and relocate to Western Missouri in 1954.

Over the next six seasons, a suspicious number of players saw "playing time" in Kansas City before being called back to the big leagues: Bob Cerv, Clete Boyer, Billy Martin, Ralph Terry, Hank Bauer and the most famous of all in the pipeline, Roger Maris.

The Flyers are notorious for finding willing trade partners whose influence will not affect the club's playoff hopes in the East. Phoenix and Nashville had gained Most Favored status in recent years, up until a virtual Breakaway Republic gravitated away from Philadelphia and out to Southern California.

Now, with the sweet set-up in Los Angeles, the possibility of being burned through trade has been eliminated. There's a ready-made feeder system in place. And two new projects have popped up on the radar.

“He made a long-term commitment to Philadelphia," said Jackets GM Scott Howson. "It was hard for him to deal with the trade [from Philadelphia to Columbus]."

Given that obvious fact, it's hard not to think of the former 2003 draft picks as waiting to be molded back into the kind of players (and for that matter, men) who will be ready to return to the Flyers with more seasoning and maturity.

They're in the best possible environment now, far away from the passionate but fickle fans and the intrusive media here, under the wing of simpatico front office personnel. It's an audition as much as it is a convalescence. What happens from now on is up to them, and any distractions and blame can't be directed anywhere but on their own heads.

With any luck, in four or five years, sometime close to the end of their original decade-long contracts Paul Holmgren awarded them, Carter and Richards will ride back out of the sunset. It'll be a fiery orange ball of glory directed to the Quaker City. And, sufficiently chastened, they'll be able to capture the magic of the 2010 playoff run on a more consistent basis.

The waiting is always the hardest part.

Carter gets wish, reunited with Richards

Jeff Carter would never be and will never have become part of the Columbus Blue Jackets turn towards respectability, as much for the franchise's total inability to find success as much as for Carter's own dislike of the situation following the trade last Summer from Philadelphia for Jake Voracek and the pick which became Sean Couturier.

On Thursday night, the Kings pulled the trigger on a deal which sent defenseman Jack Johnson and a conditional first-round pick either 2012 or 2013 to the LA in exchange for the 27-year-old scorer, who was languishing in his first pro year away from the club which drafted him in 2003.

“Jeff is a proven goal scorer in our league. He brings goal-scoring abilities, speed and at his age he is entering the prime of his career. We also like his versatility as he can play both center and wing,” said Kings GM Dean Lombardi shortly after the deal was struck. “We also want to wish Jack Johnson the best going forward.”


Thus, exactly eight months to the day both men were liberated from Dry Island and shipped their separate ways, a reunion will take place in the shadow of Hollywood.

The sum total of Carter's production in Ohio's capital is 15 goals -- including two hat tricks -- and 25 points in 39 games.

Carter brings 500 games of NHL experience and 196 goals to a Kings team which has totaled a league-low 129 goals.

Both Carter and Richards bring to Southern California a two-man wrecking crew not seen since the Glimmer Twins were in their prime.

Royal Flush: Murray fired, Stevens hired in LA

by Jeff Kruczynski
Special to the Phanatic

The coaching carousel in the NHL is often a swift one, but it often makes its revolutions and sweeps up the same names over and over again. That was the case on Monday as a pair of ex-Flyers head coaches essentially swapped places.

Mired in a four-game losing streak with the lowest-scoring offense in the NHL, the Los Angeles Kings fired head coach Terry Murray on Monday, replacing him on an interim basis with assistant John Stevens.

"[The players are] accountable. The coach has to pay the price but make no mistake, they're the ones accountable for this," said Kings general manager Dean Lombardi.

The Kings, who are averaging just 2.21 goals per game, are 12th in the Western Conference with a 13-12-4 record.

After two straight playoff appearances and the acquisition of former Flyers captain Mike Richards in the offseason, expectations were elevated for the 2011-12 campaign.

Murray, 61, took over behind the Los Angeles bench for the 2008-09 season in place of Marc Crawford, and compiled a 139-106-30 mark during his tenure with the Kings.

"The team got younger and better under him. He did a lot for this franchise," Lombardi added.

Murray also has held head coaching positions with Washington (1990-94), Philadelphia (1994-97) and Florida (1998-2001).

The 45-year-old Stevens is in his second season with the franchise.

Prior to joining the Kings, Stevens posted a 120-109-34 record while serving as the Flyers head coach from 2006-2009. Philadelphia reached the Eastern Conference Finals in 2008 under Stevens, who won a Calder Cup championship in 2005 as the head coach of the Flyers' AHL affiliate, the Philadelphia Phantoms.

Canucks-Flyers breaks CSN viewing record

PHILADELPHIA (October 13, 2011) Last night’s Flyers home opener on Comcast SportsNet delivered a 5.1 household rating (155,000 HHs), making it the highest regular season Flyers game in Comcast SportsNet’s history.

Last night’s Flyers 5-4 victory was #1 in male demos with M18-49 posting a 4.93 HH rating and M25-54 a 5.04 rating.

“Flyers Postgame Live” also posted strong numbers with a 2.5 HH rating (76,000 HHs). The program was also #1 in M18-49 & M25-54 demos delivering 2.73 and 2.55 ratings respectively. “Flyers Pregame Live” delivered a 1.6 HH rating (49,000 HHs) for the first home game of the season.

During the 2010-11 season, Flyers games averaged a 2.4 rating on Comcast SportsNet and a 2.0 rating on The Comcast Network, a 9% and 25% increase respectively over the 2009-10 season.

The Flyers return to Comcast SportsNet on Saturday, October 15 when they take on the Los Angeles Kings.