Friday, April 29, 2011
Posted: 2:19 p.m.
By Tim Panaccio and Sarah Baicker
CSNPhilly.com
Whenever a playoff series begins, it always seems to be about the other guy.
Face New Jersey and its Marty Brodeur. Face Pittsburgh and its Marc-Andre Fleury.
Face Buffalo and its Ryan Miller.
Now the Flyers are facing the Boston Bruins and its about Tim Thomas.
Hes among the most unorthodox goalies in the league. He comes into the series with a 2.25 goals against average and .926 save percentage.
NHL
Last year, it was the other Bruins goalie, Tuukka Rask, who gave the Flyers fits. But they solved him in seven games.
The 37-year-old Thomas is a real-life version of Gumby, a guy who can twist and turn his body like youve never seen.
There was a goalie, you guys obviously remember and women here, Grant Fuhr, who once let in goals like Tim, but they ended up winning, Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli said of Thomas.
I just saw a lot of poise in Tims game as the Montreal series progressed. He worked hard on his rebounds, he was playing and despite his acrobatics he was playing a quieter game relatively speaking.
And he made some huge saves when he had to and he just got better as the series went along. I told him after the game he had a terrific series.
Guess what?
Brian Boucher may not have won a Vezina Trophy, but he has the better numbers after one round: 2.10 and .934.
Hes become the Rodney Dangerfield of NHL goaltenders.
I guess if you want to say that you can that, Boucher laughed. Its fine with me. In just about every series I have played in my career, I have been the underdog in it. The other goalies probably got the edge.
Thats fine. We got a good hockey team in here. I believe in my teammates. I know that when push comes to shove we can score goals and keep it our of our net from a team standpoint.
The payback
Truth is, when the Bruins were up 3-0 in last years series, Chiarelli didnt think hed be going back to Philly for a Game 6.
Or that there would be a Game 7. Or that his team would blow the series. What a trifecta of bad luck.
Chiarelli was asked whether he relishes the rematch.
I do, of course, he said. I think the players do. Claude Julien, I think he mentioned it to them at one point prior to the game, that heres a chance, one chance to redeem yourselves.
Theres an interesting note, I believe in Game 7 of last year, there were nine players in that game that are on our team now, our roster now. So theres been over half the team thats turned over. But definitely the core players also lived through that, so youd have to ask them. Its been a consistent theme this year. Its fitting that were playing them.
On Boynton and Leighton
Right now, neither defenseman Nick Boynton nor goalie Michael Leighton have a stall at the Skate Zone lockerroom.
Their name plates are gone, so are their numbers on the stick rack.
Boynton had to leave the team for personal reasons to be with his family, a source said, and was told to be available when the series shifts to Boston next week.
Matt Walker now has stall where Boyntons was.
As for Leighton, he wrenched his back in Game 6 and hasnt been seen since. Despite reports that he went missing during Game 7, coach Peter Laviolette said that wasnt the case.
Flyers get "Dooped"
Anyone whos caught any of the Flyers home victories so far likely noticed a different song blasting through the Wells Fargo Center speakers after the Flyers scored goals. The Doop Song as its known was borrowed from the Unionwho use it during their games when they hit the back of the net.
I thought that was great, Danny Briere said. I loved how the crowd got fired up, especially in the last game where we got to play it a few times. I thought it was really cool.
I asked Mr. Luukko that I have been here for four years and it was always the same song after a goal, so I dont know if there was something else out there to get the crowd fired up. I loved it.
E-mail Tim Panaccio at tpanotch@comcast.net or Sarah Baicker at sbaicker@comcastsportsnet.com
Related: Physical fourth line key to Flyers' success vs. BruinsFlyers downplay Bruins' quest for playoff revenge
