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Monday 2 April 2012

A Nasty playoff preview

Alright just before I dive into this blog; I just want to give you guys a quick update of whats going on! If you already know what's happening just skip this paragraph!
So I applied and got the job to write for The Hockey Writers, I am their official Sabres writer. You can check out my profile which shows you all my posts right here ---> Caitlin Campbell. This is a great opportunity and I am super excited for this! I will still be making posts here on my main blog, which you are currently reading. On this blog I will be covering a broad range of teams like usual (Leafs, Sabres, the rest of the East and playoff match ups) where as at the Hockey Writers I will mainly be covering the Sabres. To stay up to date on every post I'm making like our fanpage ---> The Puck Stops Here. There is also a contest coming up and in order to win you must like the fanpage!
On the right side under the blogs, there is a little box leading to a bunch of different sites, that I visit, get information from or have featured my work. I will post a link to my profile at The Hockey Writers there as well. Alright enough jibber jabber time to write;

In the title I called this playoff preview nasty, now I mean that in the best way possible and if you watched the game between the Penguins and the Flyers you know exactly what I mean! With 1 minute left in the game, there was a huge brawl, everyone grabbed a dance partner, even the coaches were going at it, players were taunting fans, and it all added up to 52 penalty minutes! It was a crazy scene but it reminded me of old time hockey, when teams didn't like each other they fought it out, and last night it was clear their was no love lost between the Flyers and Penguins.

How it all started!
Now everyone is blaming little baby Schenn, Brayden for cross checking Crosby after a play, but I say good for Schenn! When you watch the video and see the cross check it's easy to see why everyone is all upset and how the tiff at the end got sparked. But what the camera operators failed to replay and show the fans, is the run Crosby took at Schenn just moments before Crosby was sent flying. What they also failed to replay were the slashes that Crosby was doing all game, whether you believe it or not Crosby GETS AWAY WITH EVERYTHING! So good on Schenn for stepping up and letting Crosby know not everyone is going to let his dirty cheap shots go!

Here's what I can't stand about Crosby, yes he's a phenomenal, perhaps even one of the best ever hockey players, he's got unreal talent and ability but has a horrible character. He tries to play all tough by hitting guys from behind and slashing them all game, then when one of them gives it back, he drops to the ice and cries for a penalty. Like seriously grow up Crosby, if you're going to dish it you have to be able to take it.

Moments before the brawl
Penguins head coach Dan Bylsma sent out his checking line right after the Flyers made it 6-3; all the sudden Craig Adams, Joe Vitale and Arron Asham were lined up at centre to take the faceoff. This was done for 2 reasons; 1. Bylsma didn't like the "cheap" shot on Crosby (maybe he should open up his eyes) and 2. He wanted to send a message that they wouldn't just get beat up by the Flyers. The second part was really stupid, if the Pens think they can out hit, and out tough the Flyers they need to think again.

Next up Joe Vitale leveled Daniel Briere with a CLEAN hit, no chicken wing, no elbow to head, just a solid check. This hit started a chain reaction of events, that lead to all 10 players on the ice dropping the gloves and Flyers coach Peter Laviolette throwing a part of a stick on the ice, then moving in between the benches to yell at Byslma. It was quite a scene, no one can try to justify to me that hockey is boring, not when we could possibly have a full 7 games of this old time awesome hockey!
Heres a link to the video, words can not describe how awesome this sequence was!

The future...
The best part about the rivalry between these two teams is the fact it's not done for the season just yet! The Pens and Flyers meet again next Saturday in the final game of the regular season. Pierre McGuire, who had a front row seat for the brawl, said that players were telling him they couldn't wait for the game next weekend! It should be a doozy, and if Crosby could grow up a little it would be even better!
For fans who like to see this type of hard hitting hockey, or want to see the plot thicken between these two your in luck! Theses two teams are currently sitting 4th and 5th respectively in the East, which means we could see the battle of Pennsylvania really heat up in the first round of the playoffs!
This would be an exciting, thrilling, energetic best of 7 series; I'd never leave my TV!


This epic playoff battle could be just what the NHL needs to garner the attention of Americans who aren't all that into hockey. I mean come on who doesn't like to see a good old hockey fight, and what's better than a fight, and two coaches screaming at each other between the benches!

This is the type of hockey that's fun to watch, yeah it's awesome to see some sick dangles, and nice snipes, but what really brings in non hockey fans is the fights. I've repeatedly had friends say to me that their favorite part of the game is when the teams fight!
All the bozo's who want fighting out of the game don't know what they're talking about.

I sure hope the Penguins and Flyers face-off in the opening round of the playoffs, think about it. Sunday's game already had a playoff atmosphere and there is still 10 games before the playoffs officially kick of!

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