Flyers Fall in Tampa

       Greetings all, hope you had a fun St. Patrick's Day.  While it was fun to drink all weekend in Philly/New York, I must admit I am excited for the coming week to take it easy and be sober, and there is nothing more sobering these days than Flyers hockey.  Tonight was another typical 2013 Flyers game.  In a game that was definitely winnable, and could have gained Philly some much needed ground, the team could barely get the puck out of their own zone, especially towards the end.  Heading into the third period tied 2-2 the Flyers gave up a 9th minute goal to Teddy Purcell and an empty-netter to Steven Stamkos to drive the final nail in the coffin.



       I'm not ready to write this season off completely yet, though the day is fast approaching.  With the trade deadline 15 days away it will be interesting to see what moves Paul Holmgren makes.  There is not going to be a quick fix with this team so if anyone gets dealt it should be one of the older guys.  There is no sense in breaking up our young nucleus with so little of this season left.  I love Danny Briere, believe me, but with 0 points and +/- of -9 over the last 6 games he needs to pick it up or it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world to see what we could get for him.

       Obviously defense is the Flyers biggest problem and that shown through again tonight.  The benefit of finishing out of playoff contention is that it will give Philadelphia a better pick in this year's draft, which is has one of the best classes in recent years.  It would be nice to pickup a stud young defenseman like Seth Jones to start a new defense nucleus to go with our young offensive guns.

        The lone bright spot for the Flyers tonight was Max Talbot.  He definitely looked like he was playing with more hustle than anyone else out there.  His goal in the first period was a nice one, totally faked out the Tampa Bay defense.

       The Flyers now have an extended break of 6 days.  While they will have to think about this loss going into it, they definitely look like they could use some time to relax.  Hopefully they come out refreshed and ready to play vs. Pittsburgh on Sunday.

       Also happy birthday to Kimmo Timonen and congratulations on reaching 1,000 career games.

       Thank you to my co-writer Kyle's sister for supplying us with some photos from the Tampa Bay Times Forum tonight.  The arena was over 97% full and it looks to be that way mostly thanks to the help of well-traveling Philadelphia fans.