The Pennsylvania Cold War
April 11th 2012 16:31
Under ordinary circumstances, a natural rivalry exists between the cities of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. There is always some general dislike - city P's tax dollars flowing to City P, that kind of thing. Both cities want to be the brightest in the state for obvious reasons. Speaking for me alone, I think it's nice when Pittsburgh gets national recognition. I like seeing/reading that. I believe that those in Philly would say the same thing! And thus, a low-level jealousy must therefore exist between the two cities. When that jealousy extends to sports, and you add in a nation of anonymous users on the internet, things tend to get pretty damn interesting.
Philly fans abhor Sidney Crosby. Much of it comes from one incident: Darien Hatcher clobbered Crosby in the mouth, knocking out 3 of Crosby's teeth. No penalty was called. Crosby complained. Got a penalty for complaining. Threw a temper tantrum in the penalty box. In Philly's eyes, his character was signed, sealed and delivered in that one act. It had much to do with the fact Crosby was a Penguin, and even in his rookie year at the tender age of 18, he was being ballyhooed as the "savior" of the NHL (this in the year after the NHL went dark due to the lockout). What self-respecting Philly fan would a: want a divisional rival opponent player as the "face of the NHL", b: see that same boy throw hissy fits when he didn't get this way? Thus, Cindy Crosby was born in the eyes of Philly fans. Now Crosby's reputation as a "whiner" has spread nationwide, and he himself admitted as much - that he complained too much. Thing is, Crosby's been in the league now for 7 years. When you start playing full-time and achieve stardom before you're legally allowed to drink alcohol in this country, it does something. You make the mistakes of the youth that would otherwise be hidden in the AHL.
The BS leveled by all fans about "whining" and "diving" is just anonymous user drivel. Hockey in particular fosters this attitude about diving. It's all well and good when your guy does it and draws a penalty, but a frothing, foaming mouth occurs when the other guy does it to your team. So no matter what idiocy is printed on the internet regarding that kind of stuff, it's all just fan BS. No one cares. It amounts to nothing. And sadly, both Penguin and Flyer fans are guilty of being stupid on the internet, and hiding behind their anonymous screen names. I'd really like them all to shut up, but unfortunately even the dumb have access to the internet.
To the series itself, this is about as unfair a draw as either team could get. The West has the same unfortunate affair. Philly and Pittsburgh were, point-wise, the 2nd and 3rd best teams in the East this year. Yet Boston and Florida are rewarded home ice and a higher seeding because they won their respective divisions. So it's unfortunate that one of these two Cup-contending teams will be outed this early. But it is what it is, and there's no complaining about it.
Both teams play an aggressive style of hockey that leads to a lot of scoring, and occasionally hanging the goalie out to dry. No one would mistake either team with say the St. Louis Blues. It seems that for both teams, the best defense is to play a heavy puck-possession game in the other end. And it has worked, as the two teams are the 1st and 2nd in total scoring in the regular season.
The Flyers have an edge to their game. They led the league in PIMs. Yet they led the league in PP goals. Go figure. What it tells me is that Philly is always an in-your-face team. They don't mind taking penalties figuring (usually rightly) that their exceptional PP will keep them in the game. With guys who can pass the puck with precision (Giroux) and guys who can finish (Jagr, Hartnell), and guys with a nasty streak (Hartnell), the Flyers PP is difficult. Not even two weeks ago the Flyers PP looked sensational against the Pens PK. But, as Philly fans can attest, playing with an edge means knowing how to play up to the line and not one step over. In the playoffs, stepping over that line is dangerous. It's not like the Flyers are playing the Blue Jackets - and who cares if they take runs at guys and take a ton of PIMs. Do that against an elite PP like Pittsburgh's and before long the Flyers will be down.
For Pittsburgh, I don't know what adjective best describes this team. They aren't finesse but they aren't physical. They have both. They aren't defensive minded and aren't solely offensive minded. Maybe...balanced. It helps that they have the deepest and best group of centers in the NHL. It helps that they have wingers who have adapted their games to playing with the cadre of centers on this team. It helps that they have defense pairings that can assist in exploiting the offensive play.
The bottom line is that both teams are capable of winning this series. Both teams are clearly capable of winning the Cup. The road to the Finals is not easy - the Rangers, Devils and Bruins will have much to say about that - but if I had to guess I'd put the Pens and Flyers above those other three squads. Both teams can beat the Rangers, both teams can match the physicality and relentlessness of Boston and both teams can beat Brodeur. They first need to win this series, however. And recover quickly.
Philly fans abhor Sidney Crosby. Much of it comes from one incident: Darien Hatcher clobbered Crosby in the mouth, knocking out 3 of Crosby's teeth. No penalty was called. Crosby complained. Got a penalty for complaining. Threw a temper tantrum in the penalty box. In Philly's eyes, his character was signed, sealed and delivered in that one act. It had much to do with the fact Crosby was a Penguin, and even in his rookie year at the tender age of 18, he was being ballyhooed as the "savior" of the NHL (this in the year after the NHL went dark due to the lockout). What self-respecting Philly fan would a: want a divisional rival opponent player as the "face of the NHL", b: see that same boy throw hissy fits when he didn't get this way? Thus, Cindy Crosby was born in the eyes of Philly fans. Now Crosby's reputation as a "whiner" has spread nationwide, and he himself admitted as much - that he complained too much. Thing is, Crosby's been in the league now for 7 years. When you start playing full-time and achieve stardom before you're legally allowed to drink alcohol in this country, it does something. You make the mistakes of the youth that would otherwise be hidden in the AHL.
The BS leveled by all fans about "whining" and "diving" is just anonymous user drivel. Hockey in particular fosters this attitude about diving. It's all well and good when your guy does it and draws a penalty, but a frothing, foaming mouth occurs when the other guy does it to your team. So no matter what idiocy is printed on the internet regarding that kind of stuff, it's all just fan BS. No one cares. It amounts to nothing. And sadly, both Penguin and Flyer fans are guilty of being stupid on the internet, and hiding behind their anonymous screen names. I'd really like them all to shut up, but unfortunately even the dumb have access to the internet.
To the series itself, this is about as unfair a draw as either team could get. The West has the same unfortunate affair. Philly and Pittsburgh were, point-wise, the 2nd and 3rd best teams in the East this year. Yet Boston and Florida are rewarded home ice and a higher seeding because they won their respective divisions. So it's unfortunate that one of these two Cup-contending teams will be outed this early. But it is what it is, and there's no complaining about it.
Both teams play an aggressive style of hockey that leads to a lot of scoring, and occasionally hanging the goalie out to dry. No one would mistake either team with say the St. Louis Blues. It seems that for both teams, the best defense is to play a heavy puck-possession game in the other end. And it has worked, as the two teams are the 1st and 2nd in total scoring in the regular season.
The Flyers have an edge to their game. They led the league in PIMs. Yet they led the league in PP goals. Go figure. What it tells me is that Philly is always an in-your-face team. They don't mind taking penalties figuring (usually rightly) that their exceptional PP will keep them in the game. With guys who can pass the puck with precision (Giroux) and guys who can finish (Jagr, Hartnell), and guys with a nasty streak (Hartnell), the Flyers PP is difficult. Not even two weeks ago the Flyers PP looked sensational against the Pens PK. But, as Philly fans can attest, playing with an edge means knowing how to play up to the line and not one step over. In the playoffs, stepping over that line is dangerous. It's not like the Flyers are playing the Blue Jackets - and who cares if they take runs at guys and take a ton of PIMs. Do that against an elite PP like Pittsburgh's and before long the Flyers will be down.
For Pittsburgh, I don't know what adjective best describes this team. They aren't finesse but they aren't physical. They have both. They aren't defensive minded and aren't solely offensive minded. Maybe...balanced. It helps that they have the deepest and best group of centers in the NHL. It helps that they have wingers who have adapted their games to playing with the cadre of centers on this team. It helps that they have defense pairings that can assist in exploiting the offensive play.
The bottom line is that both teams are capable of winning this series. Both teams are clearly capable of winning the Cup. The road to the Finals is not easy - the Rangers, Devils and Bruins will have much to say about that - but if I had to guess I'd put the Pens and Flyers above those other three squads. Both teams can beat the Rangers, both teams can match the physicality and relentlessness of Boston and both teams can beat Brodeur. They first need to win this series, however. And recover quickly.
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