Crossing Broad

The Complete Peter Laviolette

We are revisiting this post from early January-- The Complete Peter Laviolette, all of Lavs' baby-punch inspiring scenes from 24/7. Get fully torqued and watch.

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There were many highlights of HBO’s 24/7, the most notable of which, in my opinion, was the network’s outstanding portrayal of Flyers head coach Peter Laviolette, who witnessed his team’s ups and downs throughout December.

The entire series was 240 minutes long-- roughly 11 featured Laviolette speaking to his team, cameras, or individual players. These are those 11 minutes. 

Watch it before you workout. Or before you run, go to work, eat breakfast, shower, shit, have sex... or, hell, even before you masturbate, if this is the sort of thing that gets you from zero to hero.  Never again will we get such an up-close glimpse inside Peter Laviolette’s Dry Island, which might not be filled with alcohol, but certainly contains its share of piss and vinegar. And jam. Lavs loves jam.

Hop it for the video. Fuckin' right.

Claude Giroux is F$&@ing Hilarious

Video: Scott Hartnell Calls Evgeni Malkin The Ugliest Player in the League

That was funny, and so was Max Talbot talking about getting speared in the fucking penis, but we'll have more later on Giroux's on-ice stand-up routine.

Video is copyright HBO via FlyersinHD on YouTube

Winter Classic Loose Ends: Fake Jerseys Seized, An Interview with HBO Producer Dave Harmon

Where China goes to die

You didn’t think the game would be played and then we’d be done with the Winter Classic, did you? 

Truth is, it’s been the only meaningful Philly sports game played this year (...), so it’s tail will continue to grow... sort of like Brian Boyle’s hair and ego.

Here now are two stories: one hilarious, one outstanding. 

Federal officials finally tracked down some propagators of all those fake Winter Classic jerseys you see being worn: [NBC Philadelphia]

Federal officials seized almost $350,000 worth of counterfeit sports merchandise set to be sold during the NHL Winter Classic Monday, authorities say.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigation announced the seizure of 1,649 fake items being sold for the same price at which the genuine merchandise is sold, officials say.

 

Not many details were given, but we’d imagine that several of the Tony The Tiger knockoffs were included in the raid... if they weren’t already sold out to thousands of buy-first, think-later fans, who proudly sported their Winter Classic sweaters before anyone else.

Number two: Philly Sports Daily’s Dave Isaac wrote a tremendous article which gives us a behind the scenes look of HBO’s editing process for 24/7. Here’s an excerpt from his Q & A with producer Dave Harmon:

That saves 40 minutes for a lot of other things and one of the things that’s important to us is how many female viewers we have. We really have people who care about the off-the-ice stuff as much as on-the-ice stuff. We want to have enough on-the-ice stuff for the hockey fan. But there are also people — I don’t want to lump it just with women, because I like when I see about [John] Tortorella and the kid he’s befriended. You see a different side of Tortorella. But anyway, we still need to show that these guys are human and these guys have their own Christmas Eve’s and their own experiences. Bryzgalov had a bad game and he had a press conference where he was pretty disconsolate afterward. It’s showing him in a different light that way. So we need to chronicle our characters of who we’ve been following in different ways to get here even before we get to the game. 

 

Basically, women want to see Claude Giroux in a towel and men want to watch Peter Laviolette curse. If only somehow they could combine the two, and Lavs could curse at a naked Giroux, then we’d have a real ratings bonanza. Guess we have one episode left to find out.

Read:

Dave Isaac’s article on the HBO 24/7 editing process and his full Q & A with producer Dave Harmon.

My (Unexpected) Trip to The Winter Classic

Photo: Getty

I wasn’t supposed to go to the Winter Classic. 

I wanted to, but I wasn't supposed to.

I didn’t have tickets, nor a credential. I’m not a season-ticket holder, didn’t win any sort of lottery or contest, and despite running the best sports blog in Philly (your words, not mine), wasn’t credentialed. That last one is mostly because - generally speaking... - teams don’t appreciate when you write about who Max Talbot may or may not have fucked at Pat Burrell’s old condo... and because you can cover an event more effectively from behind a computer screen (really).

Anyway, it was 2 p.m., Monday, and I wasn’t going. I was seated on the couch, geeked out in a way that would have made Ace Ventura jealous on his visit to Shady Acres: pom poms, rosy cheeks, face paint, Winter Classic gnome, and performing hockey movements in slow-motion instant replay-- only two of those are true. Ms. CB was frightened, I was ready to go... yet I was still checking our own ticket site to see if there was anything available for below $350-- there wasn’t. 

Then MVP CB reader (she already won for 2012) Victoria, mother of Pocket Utley, who was featured on site here, came through. She sent me an email - one that was sent an hour earlier, but didn't find its way to my screen right away thanks to Verizon service at CBP - saying that a member of her small group, whom I’m dubbing the most awesomely generous person in the world, had a last-minute ticket available... for free. 

I quickly ditched the pom poms, fuck me smile and Jose The Gnome, and was on my way to Citizens Bank Park, breaking a Delco to CBP record in the process.

I arrived, met Victoria and The Saint at McFadden's, and we got to our seats, which were perfectly positioned high-above the Rangers' goal, just as the opening faceoff was about to take place.  

Perfect. Timing. 

Local Winter Classic Ratings Were Very Strong: Main Event Crushed New York, Alumni Game Beat Every Regular Season Flyers Game

Well, the Winter Classic may have been a moderate disappointment nationally, drawing its lowest rating ever, but it did just fine in Philadelphia. 

John Ourand of the Sports Business Journal reports that the game received an 11.9 overnight rating in Philly. To put that in perspective, the Phillies averaged a 9.1 local rating (276,000 households) this season, according to The Journal. 

That part sounds good for hockey... but not this next part: 

The Eagles generally hover in the mid-twenties, and Game 2 of the Phillies-Cardinals series this fall received a 21.9 rating.

Still, the 11.9 rating in Philadelphia is tremendous for hockey, and it more than doubled the 4.3 rating the Winter Classic got in New York, which is more of a melting pot of humanity.... and filled with not that great hockey fans. 

More sweet goodness-- According to a Comcast SportsNet press release, the Flyers-Rangers Alumni Game, at 3 p.m. on New Year’s Eve, received a 6.2 local rating (186,000 households) on CSN. That comes in a full point higher than the 5.1 rating (155,000 households) the Flyers got for their home opener in October, which was their highest rated regular season game in the network’s history.

So, yeah, more people watched the Alumni Game on CSN than any Flyers regular season game... ever.

Video: Mike Milbury Calls Rangers "The Blue Shits"

Video via Awful Announcing, thanks to everyone on the entire Internet for sending

Winter Classic Was Lowest Rated Ever

Where's everbody else?

Bob Costas sad.

Not even Philly and New York, or HBO, or two of the best teams in the NHL could save the 2012 Winter Classic from being the lowest rated yet. 

The overnight ratings via Sports Business Daily and Puck The Media:

Winter Classic Overnights

2008, Pittsburgh vs. Buffalo, 1/1/08: 2.6
2009, Detroit vs. Chicago, 1/1/09: 2.9
2010, Philadelphia vs. Boston, 1/1/10: 2.6
2011, Washington vs. Pittsburgh, 1/1/11: 2.8
2012, NY Rangers vs. Philadelphia, 1/2/12: 2.4 

 

Reasons (unofficial): The moved start time, competition from the Outback Bowl on ABC, and the fact that the game was played the day after New Year’s Day, when some (few, but some) had work and school. Still, though, that’s disappointing. We’ll await the results from Philly and New York, which I would imagine were off the charts compared to the rest of the pigskin-loving country.

The Flyers Didn't Appreciate Mike Rupp's Salute

Yeah, so remember that post from last week in which we celebrated Jaromir Jagr saluting fat and crying Penguins fans? Well, what’s that saying? What goes around... comes around to bite Jagr in the ass in front of 46,000 fans? 

Or something like that.

Mike Rupp performed his own version of Jagr’s salute - which had him trending worldwide on Twitter - after he scored his first of two goals. Braydon Coburn wasn’t a fan. Former Flyers beat writer Chuck Gormley provides the quotes from Coburn:

"He's probably got the same amount of goals as Jags, right?" Flyers defenseman Braydon Coburn said after seeing Rupp score his second and third goals of the season in New York's 3-2 win.

"So he can do a salute? I don't care. It is what it is. He got the last laugh because he got two goals." 

"I don't know if (the salute) is something that was premeditated on his part or what," Coburn said. "They won the game and he got two goals, so what can you say? We've got a rivalry brewing with these guys. There's some bad blood now."

 

Oh, it just now got some bad blood? OK, don't tell HBO.

Scott Hartnell also had a problem with Rupp's celebration. More from Gormley’s article on CSNWashington.com:

Flyers winger Scott Hartnell didn't appreciate the gesture and before the start of the third period the two had words at center ice. According to NBC television analyst Darren Pang, Hartnell told Rupp to "show some respect. Jaromir Jagr is a Hall of Famer."

 

Yeah, but what did Jagr, who left the game in the second period with a calf strain (officially a lower-body injury, according to Paul Holmgren), think?

 

He said he didn’t care, but then passively dropped this gem: 

“Maybe he’s celebrating like that, I don’t know, he doesn’t score many goals, so...” 

 

Heh.

After the game, Rupp wrote on his blog on NHL.com:

People were asking me about the salute I gave after scoring. You may not believe this, but it was just a moment of excitement. I was really just excited to contribute offensively and hopefully at that time get us back in the game. I'm just glad we were able to get back in the game. 

 

We don’t really believe it, and thoroughly preferred Brayden Schenn’s boyish jubilance over his first NHL goal... but now our grapes are just sour. 

Why do I get the feeling these two teams will play in the Eastern Conference Finals?

Video of Jagr post-game is after the jump.

Rangers Win Winter Classic 3-2, John Tortorella Posits Conspiracy Theory

Unbelievable event. Tough loss, typical Flyers goaltender second-guessing, but still an unbelievable event. I managed to score a last-minute ticket (literally... 2 p.m.) and am still working on regaining feeling in my fingers, so we’ll have more later and tomorrow. For now, though, here’s John Tortorella raising his conspiracy theory about calls in the third period: [portions of quote via Puck Daddy]

"Well, I'm not sure if NBC got together with the refs to determine if it was an overtime game. It started with when Gabby gets pitch-forked in the stomach, and then everything starts going against us. They're two good referees. I thought the game was refereed horribly. So I'm not sure what happened there. Maybe they wanted to get it to an overtime. I'm not sure if they have meetings about that or what. But we stood in there. We stood in there. And again, I don’t want... because they're good guys. But in that third period, it was disgusting."

 

He’s right. Kimmo Timonen nearly mugged Ryan Callahan, and somehow both guys got a penalty. But Danny Briere's penalty shot was deserved... even if it did take 30 seconds for the officials to compute the time and place, and decide that "TV would like this"...

... I'm joking! Mostly.

Rangers GM Glen Sather had his panties in a bunch, too. He told reporters the following:

"You see three or four calls that are enough to blow your mind."

 

Oh shut up.

Video of Briere’s penalty shot and Tortorella's press conference is after the jump. Conspiracy theory starts at 8:50 mark.

Here's The Mask Sergei Bobrovsky Will Wear Today

So we exerted entirely too much effort on Bryz’s mask, which will likely be seated under a temporary bench this afternoon.

Here’s what Sergei Bobrovsky is wearing. It’s a bit more, um, classic than Bryz’s, and includes Independence Hall, but there’s none of that old-time Philly sports imagery.

Pics courtesy of the Flyers

Bryzgalov Tweets Picture of Thermos He Will Be Drinking Out of Tomorrow

Oh my. 

Earlier today, Ilya Bryzgalov’s odd media session (video here) informed us all that the Flyers’ $51 million experiment had hit its first measurable snag. 

Sergei Bobrovsky, whose inconsistent play at the end of last season was a major reason why the Flyers are paying Bryzgalov that $51 million over the next nine years, will start tomorrow. That reality will embarrass both Bryzgalov and the Flyers in front of millions of NBC viewers.

Where will Bryz be? His words:

“Make sure I not forget in the morning my thermos, put some nice tea [in it] and enjoy the bench.”

 

At around 6 p.m. on Sunday night, he tweeted the above picture of that aforementioned Thermos. Perhaps in Soviet Russia goaltender have dark sense of humor...

Without hyperbole, the Winter Classic is the biggest and most watched game of the NHL's regular season. Some would even argue it’s more important to the league, from a marketing standpoint, than the Stanley Cup Finals. As such, one might expect the league’s most notable offseason acquisition, and the star of HBO’s 24/7, to be given the start. 

Bryzgalov made us concerned when he said he was lost in the woods. He made us uneasy as he repeatedly suffered through bouts of giving up soft goals. He freaked us out when he talked about how he - at times - hates hockey, and when he came awfully close to telling HBO cameras that he gets homesick during road trips.

All of those are factual statements (subjectively speaking...), and none are ones you want to read about a goaltender charged with stabilizing a position that has been overlooked for the past 30 years.

We’ve hinted at the prospect of a goaltender controversy for the past month or so, but we didn't think it could become a reality. Not this quickly, at least. Tomorrow, though, when the puck drops just above second base at Citizens Bank Park, it will very much become a reality. But hey, what would a celebration of Flyers hockey be without a humongous goalie controversy?

H/T to (@garagooseo)