Given the amount of games that he has started recently it is no surprise that Coach Ken Hitchcock today officially named Robert Esche as the starting goalie for the playoffs.

Ken Hitchcock – “I really wanted to see if Robert, who has missed a year could get his game in order. This wasn’t a competition between two goalies. This was watching a veteran goalie to see if he could get his game in order, and he did. He found his game and personality and accepted the responsibility with the position so we’re going to go with him.”

NHL stats were very very similar between the two goalies. Goals against average was identical, Esche had a .002 edge on save percentage. The fact that Esche came within a game taking the Flyers to the finals was a factor in the decision. What wasn’t factored in was Antero Niittymaki’s stellar play in the Olympics and his great play in last years AHL Calder Cup being named MVP.

Robert Esche “It was really my first experience with media. I took something to heart that I probably shouldn’t have prior to the playoffs. It was stupid. You can’t worry about that kind of stuff. I’ve been dealing with the media a lot through the lockout, being the player rep, and I know a lot of them and have gotten to like a lot of them. I realize they have a job to do. I’d never be that guy I was in 04 again.”

Looks like Silent Bob won’t be back.

The Philadelphia Flyers beat the New York Islanders 4-1 in the last game of the season. With the New Jersey Devils win and the New York Rangers loss the Flyers finished in 5th place in the Eastern Conference which means they play the Buffalo Sabres in the first round of the playoffs.

This had to be the most painful win to watch the entire year. The officiating was about as horrid as I have seen this year. The broadcast quality of Fox Sports Net New York wasn’t any better. NHL Center Ice showed the New York feed.

First off this guy below is NOT Jeff Carter. That is Mike Richards.

This is Jeff Carter.

Besides this little production error what made the game painful to watch was the lack of play by play and the ramblings FSN commentators Howie Rose and Joe Micheletti. Do these guys know how to call a game right or they just not care since it was the last game of the season? With the teams playing each other 8 times I got to hear again for the 8th time about how Freddy Meyer is actually Fredrick Meyer IV and oh that’s like royalty. Also all about the Forsberg/Lindros trade again for the 8th time. It doesn’t matter that a game is going on, let’s just talk and it doesn’¢t have to pertain to the game we are calling. “Hey, did you hear about the latest GM firing… You know the first two Swedes that played in the NHL…” This wouldn’t have been bad except that’s all they talked about during the first half of the game. Yeah let’s not call the game, let’s just talk about hockey news. I was tempted to just mute the audio but I figured at some point they would run out of crap to talk about and call the freakin game. But they didn’t, they spent the second half of the game thanking themselves and everyone I guess that works at FSN NY. The entire second half of the game this was done, pretty much no play by play at all. The only time they actually called the game was if the Islanders had a scoring opportunity or after the Flyers scored. This was very apparent when Rose was in mid-sentence talking about someone on their crew when Umberger scored. He actually had to stop and talk about the game, imagine that! Some advice for Rose and Micheletti and actually P.J. Stock too, listen to and take notes from Doc Emerick and Gary Thorne. There is a reason these guys do the national and international games.

The Flyers play thru the first 2 periods didn’t help this pain either. Just 7 shots in the first period, only 5 shots in the second while being down by a goal. To me they were just scoreboard watching. If the Devils and Rangers would have been winning their games the Flyers probably would have packed it in going into the third. But they saw they still had a chance at the division championship and pushed just enough to get the win in the 3rd period. R.J. Umberger and Jeff Carter scored to tie and take the lead for the Flyers. Simon Gagne and Michal Handzus both scored shorthanded empty netters to finish it off.

Umbergers goal was his 20th of the year. This is the first time in Flyer history that two rookies, Umberger and Carter, have scored at least 20 goals in a year.
Ken Hitchcock has coached 8 straight seasons earning at least 100 points.

Ben Eager got the start replacing Sami Kapanen who missed the game with an upper body injury. Robert Esche played a strong game in goal.

Jeff Carter, R.J. Umberger and Garth Snow where the three stars.

Right after the game with the Devils 3 goals down in their last game the Flyers figured they won it, the Altantic Division. They won home ice and a chance to play a red hot Devils team that has won 10 straight, but it didn’t work out like that. The Devils came back from a 3 goal deficit to beat Montreal thus giving them the Atlantic Division championship. So instead of the Devils, the Flyers start on the road against the Sabres. I have to say I am a bit relieved. I would rather the Flyers play the Sabres than the Devils considering how hot the Devils are currently.

The Philadelphia Flyers head to New York for the last game of the regular season to take on the Islanders. The Flyers are coming off a horrible 5-1 lost to the Devils on Sunday. The Islanders are coming off a 6-1 lost to the Penguins on Monday.

Starting in goal tonight is Robert Esche, so even after the little outburst when he was pulled last game, he gets the start tonight. Which means Robert Esche will be starting in the playoffs.

Injuries for the Flyers include Keith Primeau, Kim Johnsson and Chris Therein. Peter Forsberg again will be a game time decision.
Injuries for the Islanders include Joel Bouchard, Eric Godard, Arron Asham, Alexei Zhitnik and Petteri Nokelainen.

Ben Eager was called up from the Phantoms. The Phantoms are done for the year.

A meaningless game for the Islanders in regards to the standings. For the Flyers besides the potential for winning the division, the game is about building some confidence and a bit of momentum heading into the playoffs. Given the Islanders play last night, it would be only bad news for the Flyers if they don’t come out on top.

It is, quite simply, as spectacular a rookie class as there has been in the NHL, both in terms of quality and quantity.

There is Alexander Ovechkin’s 51-goal, 103-point, big-hit, lift you out of your seat every time he touches the puck season.

There is 18-year-old Sidney Crosby’s passionate pursuit of 100 points, a feat that if not for Ovechkin’s pyrotechnics would be one for the ages. [.continue.]

Bob McKenzie comes up with this years all rookie team. He has Jeff Carter centering the 2nd line with Mike Richards centering the 3rd. A Flyers rookie that is often forgotten is R.J. Umberger. His offense number equals Carters and Richards with a few less games played. I also think that Freddy Meyer could get some sort of honorable mention. For a small guy he is done ok. Being compared to a Brian Rafalski is a good thing.
And if you are going to give Pascal Leclaire an honorable mention, you got to give one to Antero Niittymaki. Leclaire’s save percentage is 0.015 better, but Niitty’s goals against, shutouts and wins stats are better.

The Devils easily beat the Flyers 5-1 in New Jersey yesterday afternoon. The Flyers have turned essentially into Jekyll and Hyde. The Saturday afternoon game in Philly the Flyers looked great. Sunday afternoon in the Meadowlands the Flyers looked really, really bad. So what happened, what was the difference? Saturday they had Forsberg, Sunday they did not. Saturday playing at home the fans were huge giving the Flyers a ton of energy, Sunday playing in Jersey no energy to pull from. Keven Weekes vs Martin Broudeur. Offensively the Devils are a more balanced team then the Rangers. Rangers do have Jagr, but if you shut him out you shutdown the Rangers. Devils are defensively a better team than the Rangers. Devils are also hot winning their last 10 straight beating Ottawa, Buffalo, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Montreal, Rangers and Carolina. Besides Pittsburgh all playoff bound teams, if Montreal makes it in.
So yeah the Flyers play wasn’t up to par, but they were playing a much better team.

Robert Esche who got the start in goal gave up 3 goals on 12 shots and was pulled in the 2nd period. About 30 seconds later Simon Gagne scored the only Flyer goal. Interesting point though when Esche was pulled he seem to yell at the bench.

Donald Brashear- “He was very ticked off to get pulled, we weren’t playing good, and he was trying to fire up the bench, obviously, it didn’t work too much.
It wasn’t directed at me. He told us to get our head [in the game]. I said, ‘Yeah, you’re right.’ He was looking at me, and I thought it was personal. Then I sat next to him on the bench. He said to me it wasn’t personal…
It was frustration. We had a good game against the Rangers. We were trying to follow it up with another good game, and we had a bad performance from a lot of players. If we’re going to make it to the playoffs, we are not going to go far playing like that.”

I remember a certain Czech Republic goalie playing for the Flyers doing the same thing in game 5 of the 2003 playoffs in Ottawa. He wasn’t seen again in a Flyers uniform. In a way one has to defend what Cechmanek and Esche did. Goalies play every game, they stand it goal and watch the team play in front of them. In big games like yesterdays when they see the team playing like ass it tends to get frustrating and you have these types of outbursts. It will be interesting to see if this outburst plays into who will be starting in the playoffs.
Antero Niittymaki didn’t do much when better put into the game giving up 2 goals on 8 shots.

The Carter-Dimitrakos-Umberger line while being hot the past 10 games when cold with no goals and also being on the ice for 4 of the Devils goals, each being -4 in the game. Derian Hatcher was also -4, making him -11 for the month of April.

One fight in the game with Denis Gauthier vs Grant Marshall. I don’t understand why Gauthier drops the gloves if he isn’t going to throw. This is the second fight as a Flyer where he drops the gloves but does not thru a punch. Fight win to Marshall. Gauthier suffered cut cartilage in his ear during the fight.

So we are down to one game left in regular season, a Tuesday game in New York against the Islanders. At this point the Flyers, Rangers or Devils can still win the division. For the Flyers to win the division they need to beat the Islanders, the Rangers and Devils need to lose. For the Rangers to win the division they need to beat Ottawa. For the Devils to win the division they need to beat Montreal and the Rangers have to lose to Ottawa. This doesn’t take into consideration overtime losses which make it a bit more complicated.

The Flyers dominate the Rangers beating them 4-1.
For the last regular season home game, the Wachovia Center was jumping. The energy was huge. Starting off with the duet of Lauren Hart and Kate Smith singing God Bless America which always always always gets the fans going nuts.
The Flyers matched the fans energy and intensity on the ice which continues for most of the game. Mike Knuble scored first on the power play, 11 times this year he as scored first for the Flyers. Niko Dimitrakos, R.J. Umberger and Petr Nedved each added a goal. Three of the 4 lines scored with the Carter-Dimitrakos-Umberger line having 2. One thing that I think is important about that line is how Jeff Carter continues to improve. Both of those goals were the result of odd man rushes with Jeff Carter bring the puck up the ice. In that situation throughout the season Carter would always shoot, always. That had to be in the scouting report since I saw it every game. Carter on the rush, he is going to shoot, until yesterday. As Carter passed to Niko and he scored I thought to myself ‘Holy Crap, he actually passed’. I thought the same with Umberger’s goal. I think Carter has become a much more dangerous offensive threat now that he passes and shots instead of just always taking the shot.

Denis Gauthier was assigned the duty of defending Jaromir Jagr and was mostly successful with Jagr held pointless on three shots.

With Robert Esche having the flu, Antero Niittymaki got the start in goal and was very solid. Niittymaki did play well and did deserve a star, but the defensive play in front of him helped a great deal.

With less than 2 minutes remaining in the game Donald Brashear took a double minor for roughing and a 10 minute misconduct which essentially ejected him from the game. There are those that don’t like his style, his antics while play is stopped. Personally that stuff doesn’t bother me that much. There is one thing I saw from Brashear in the game that I really liked. Brashear took a high stick from Marek Malik in the 2nd period. Did Brashear’s head snap back like a bad pez dispenser, did his gloves and stick go flying, or did he fall to the ice covering his face motionless? No he just kept playing. Too much acting on the ice anytime sticks come up close to the face with your typical hockey player.

Turner Stevenson, Ryan Potulny and Branko Radivojevic were healthly scratches for the Flyers.

Jeff Carter, R.J. Umberger and Antero Niittymaki were there three stars.

With the win the Flyers are only 1 point behind the Rangers with 2 games remaining, the Rangers have 1. This means the Rangers, Devils and Flyers could each end up in 3rd, 5th, or 6th place. Each team could still win the Atlantic Division.

Being the last home game of the season, team awards were handed out. Simon Gagne won the Bobbly Clarke Trophy as team MVP. Joni Pitkanen picked up 2 trophies, the Barry Ashbee Trophy as the outstanding defenseman and Pelle Lindbergh Memorial Trophy as most improved player. Peter Forsberg won the Yanick Dupre Memorial Trophy as the Flyer who best illustrates character, dignity and respect for the sport on and off the ice.
Since the Flyers sell out so often this is tough to do, but they set a new attendance record with 805,783 fans for the season. If my math is correct that works out to 19,653 fans per game.

So this afternoon with the Flyers have the same energy going into Jersey? Personally I wouldn’t bet on it. The Devils are coming off 2 days rest, the Flyers played yesterday.
Robert Esche is expected to start recovered from the flu.

This afternoon the Rangers come to Philly to finish up the season series between the two teams. Rangers lead the series 4-3 winning the last meeting 3-2 going to a shootout on April 4 in New York. The Flyers are coming off a 4-1 loss to the Devils on Thursday. The Rangers are coming off a 5-3 loss to the Penguins on Thursday.

Both the Flyers and Devils are 3 points behind the Rangers for first in the division. The Rangers have only 2 games left. If they win this one, they will clinch the Atlantic Division Championship, the first time since 93-94. The Flyers have 3 games remaining, a win by the Flyers would pull them within a point of the Rangers.

Injuries for the Flyers include Keith Primeau, Kim Johnsson and Chris Therien. Robert Esche is also out with the flu. Jamie Storr has been called up from the Phantoms to back up Antero Niittymaki. Peter Forsberg who has missed 4 games with a lower body injury is expected to be back in the lineup. Denis Gauthier will also be back in the lineup after severing his 2 game suspension.

Injuries for the Rangers include Marek Malik, Daruis Kasparaitis, Steven Rucchin, Henrik Lundqvist and Martin Rucinksy. Most of those are considered day-to-day.

The Phantoms play their last game of the season tonight at Wilkes-Barre/Scanton. This is the first year they have not made the playoffs. Given the amount of players they lost to the Flyers this year I am not surprised by this.