Here's a question for hockey fans who once played the game: how old were you when you were first told to never, under any circumstances, attempt to clear the puck up the middle of the ice while you're in your own defensive zone?
Was it age 6? Maybe 7? Well, however, early on you first heard the word, it seemed a few moments ago if Tampa Bay's Daryl Sydor had forgotten, and it cost his team a goal.
With Jeremy Roenick harassing Sydor as he retreated behind his own net, Sydor absentmindedly backhanded the puck straight up the slot, where Vlad Malakhov intercepted it and found an open Keith Primeau in front of Tampa Bay's net. The result -- Philly 2 Tampa Bay 1.
UPDATE: What is it with ex-players coming back to haunt the teams that traded them? Out West, we have Miikkaa Kiprusoff, but in the East we have Ruslan Fedotenko, who has now scored five goals against Philly in this series. The guy was essentially an afterthought in a draft day trade a couple of years back when Tampa Bay realized they didn't have enough money to sign a first round draft pick. Amazing. . .
OT UPDATE: Keith Primeau seems determined to keep the Flyers in the playoffs. On the game tying goal, the puck actually caromed off his skate and through the crease behind Nik Khabibulin travelling left to right. Primeau shuffled behind the net, and tapped in the rebound before Khabibulin could figure out where it was. Welcome to the fourth period.
ANOTHER OT UPDATE: One move too many, and Jeremy Roenick misses an opportunity to put the game away. . .
TAMPA BAY CALLS TIMEOUT: Not a bad idea, as Philly has absolutley dominated the first OT period.
SIMOOOOON GAGNEEEEE SCORES!!!: And we're going to GAME SEVEN!
OT WRAP-UP: ESPN just showed some footage of Rasheed Wallace of the Detroit Pistons wearing a Reggie Leach Flyers throwback jersey (NB: it was Orange, like the team's road jerseys should be) as he arrived for Game Seven of the Pistons' series with the Nets. Turns out he's a Philly native, and a big Flyers fan. The cameras were in the locker room when as Wallace watched Gagne score the OT winner, and he celebrated like a little kid.
And the NHL love continues -- now Pistons coach Larry Brown is wearing a Steve Yzerman jersey during his post-game press conference.
In the Northeast and Midwest USA you learn this at about 5 to 7 years old. In Canada it is a pre-natal learned function!
Oh, crappy late goal…darn it…I hate Philly
I started playing at 5, I think my coach told me three days later…
I was 14 — but we didn’t have a rink in Richmond until then.
I’m wondering if Brown and Wallace aren’t asking to be fired/traded…. Bill Davidson owns both the Pistons and the Lightning, so Wallace is wearing a throwback jersey of the team that the Bolts are battling for a trip to the Cup Finals, and Brown is wearing a jersey of a team whose owner (Ilitch) Davidson hates.
Perhaps a nighttime visit from one of Davidson’s flunkies, carrying a bag of oranges, might be in order
Brown wore a Tiger jersey at a post-game presser earlier this year, right after the Tigers opener, and this is actually the second time that he’s worn the Wings sweater. He’s big on supporting all of the other local teams…he becomes most animated in his weekly interviews with the local sports talk station when he’s discussing the Tigers fortunes, the Wings all too brief playoff run, and the Lions’ recent draft.
It may have also been a nod to the support from Yzerman, who was in the house last night, along with Darren McCarty, Dave Lewis, amongst lots of other Detroit athletes.