Broad Street Hockey Radio

The most creative man any of us know, the one-and-only Mr. Mike Five, joined the show this week to re-claim his trivia title. We won't give away the results, but Mr. Five is a smart man. Has a memory like a fox. What, foxes aren't known for their memory? Oh, whatever.We also did discuss the Versteeg trade a bit. What's his impact on this team as they prepare for the stretch run? What's his contract mean forVille Leino and the team next year? How valuable is a first round pick? All that and lots of Ovechtricks on this week's BSH Radio. Get the show below. 

Hey, we're back. We'll get this semi-regular thing down eventually. It's just so hard to find things to talk about since our hockey team is damned good, ya know?Anyway, we did find a few things to talk about this week, although Ben, Geoff and I seemed to agree on just about everything this week, so it actually turned out being one of the shorter shows we've done. We chat about Matt Carle's donation drive and how people are silly to criticize him for that.We open the show with a chat about the Flyers' top opponents in the Eastern Conference -- Pittsburgh and Tampa Bay. Evgeni Malkin's injury and the Lightning's apparent dominance of the Flyers are just a few of the discussion points. Eventually, we stumble our way into a conversation about Ville Leino's contract offer and what that means for the team as they move forward. We also touch on the "Do we need a No. 1 goalie?" debate. 

This is weird.The Flyers are in first place in the National Hockey League, and really, there's nothing to complain about. But we're Flyers fans. We need something to complain about, right?On this week's BSH Radio, Ben, Geoff and I try our hardest to find something to ridicule, but in the end, we basically just wind up making fun of other teams' misfortunes. In between, though, we find our way to a few meaningful discussions on Paul Holmgren's contract extension and Chris Pronger's planned (now official) return.When judging Homer's legacy (I was tempted to write Homer's Odyssey here, you can thank me later), how much blame does he deserve for last season? Was it his fault, and if the Flyers lost that shootout, would he have been fired? It's so weird because, really, the line between Holmgren potentially losing his job and him being GM Of The Year seems so thin, doesn't it?We discuss all that in great depth (and more!) on this week's BSH Radio, which you can get after the jump.

After more than a year, perhaps longer depending on your perspective, of nonstop goalie debate, it appears as though with the demotion of Michael Leighton, the goalie carousel in Philadelphia has stopped spinning. We lead off this week's BSH Radio, our first show since October, with a detailed discussion of Leighton's demotion to the Phantoms,  it's impact on the team and on the salary cap.  We also discuss the fact the Flyers are apparently the most stable team in the Eastern Conference. Bruce Boudreau and his saucy beard leading the Caps is a blessing in disguise for us, while the Tampa Bay Lightning win close games but lose in blowout fashion. Ben apparently is a soothsayer, because his theory on this subject was discussed before the Penguins crushed the Bolts, 8-1. Oh, and the Devils. They're terrible on an epic level, what with their minus-55 goal differential and everything. We play them twice back-to-back coming up, and that's something to celebrate. 

I had cholera yesterday (apparently), so Ben and Geoff pulled off the first-ever edition of BSH Radio that doesn't feature me. So, needless to say, it's better than usual -- you'll want to listen. Ohio jokes abound. In this weeks edition, Ben and Geoff break down the terrible Columbus game, the much better Buffalo game, and what to look for in tonight's game in Pittsburgh. (Side note: what is this? Flyers-play-teams-from-depressing-cities week?) Geoff tries to compare Brian Boucher to Cole Hamels... one's the 2008 World Series MVP, the other is a career journeyman goaltender. But is there actually some truth to it? Their teams seemingly can't score for them and, as a result, they usually get the blame for losing games that should have fallen in the win column. Ben makes me nervous about taking my hosting gig with an incredible segue from discussing the Buffalo game and the Flyers inconsistent offense to Jeff Carter and his role on the team going forward. (See, I did actually listen to the show. J

After a few months off on the podcast, we're back in style this week as we discuss the new season and it's first few games. Ben, Geoff and myself talk about the Flyers defense and how much better they are when Chris Pronger is around. We talk about the offense and, in particular the penalty kill, two things that aren't supposed to go together. So far this year for the Flyers, they've certainly gone together quite well. Also, we discuss the improvements made by James van Riemsdyk and Claude Giroux over the offseason and how much of an impact they will have on the team this season. Oh, and we can't forget our dramatic reading of the little Twitter battle that went off between Sarah Baicker of CSN Philly and Frank Seravalli of the Daily News yesterday. We started it, we make fun of it. And Ben plays the part of a girl. Do tune in. Thanks to mikefive, as well, for putting together our new theme. It's rockin'.

The dog days are here. To help get through them, we welcome Frank Seravalli of the Philadelphia Daily News on to our little radio program this week to help wade through the mess that was the Simon Gagne trade. Paul Holmgren has made a bit of a mess of our team in the last few weeks, and Frank joins the show to help us figure out exactly what the general manager has up his sleeve. Will the Flyers chase a goalie, perhaps one who's name begins with Marty and ends with Turco? Will they be after another winger? mikefive also joins the program and we play a rousing match of trivia. Does Ben finally go down in defeat? Find out by listening to this week's episode. We've hit the quarter-pole!

We've been scratching our heads over the last few weeks trying to understand exactly what Paul Holmgren has up his sleeve. Whether it's signing goons to long term deals, planning on trading a fan favorite who's spent 11 years here, signing a goalie before the seeing what was available on the open market, trading for a defenseman who makes a lot of money when more financially friendly options were clearly available, etc., Homer has made more than a few questionable moves so far this summer. On this week's episode of BSH Radio, Ben, Geoff and myself try to make sense of everything that's been done this summer. What moves were solid? What moves were dumb? Why were they all made? And what should we expect the rest of the offseason on the transaction front? Also, we play more games and we try to come up with a name for Geoff's new cat.

Another show, another discussion about goalies. Maybe it'll end someday. Sigh. We welcome Jason Plank and Matt Taylor from Fear The Fin onto the show this week to discuss everything Evgeni Nabokov. The big question, is he a playoff dud? After the Nabokov talk, we discuss the Flyers other goaltending hopes, as well as what else they should do tomorrow when free agency opens. Defensemen, forwards, etc. Geoff and I discuss it all in our first show ever without Ben. Sad.

The first show of the offseason is chock full of hockey talk. In fact, it might be the longest show we've ever put together. To open, we're joined by Tim McManus of the Glens Falls Post Star. Tim was kind enough to join us for quite some time while we discussed the Flyers recent signing of Johan Backlund. What does Backlund's signing mean for the rest of the organization's goaltending prospects? What does it mean for the Flyers goaltending search this summer? We also talk about the new news regarding the Phantoms eventual move to Allentown. What does the timetable look like? The Hershey Bears won another Calder Cup this week. We talk about what that means for the rest of the league, and we talk about how awesome an organization the Bears are. After Tim leaves us, we turn our focus back to the Flyers. No time to reminisce, really: it's full speed ahead to the offseason. We talk goaltending for a while, we talk Jeff Carter for a bit, and then we play a game. It's more interesting than this blurb sug

Well, here we are. One game left in the Flyers season, perhaps. They're 5-0 in this situation, but this Finals thing is a different animal. We don't know how this will turn out, and honestly, the Boston series and the entire past doesn't matter at this point. We do, however, know a few things. We know that the Flyers lost Game 5, for example. On this week's BSH Radio, Ben, Geoff and I talk about how the Flyers got here. What went wrong in Game 5? Was pulling Michael Leighton the right move? Can they take the performance from the second half of that game and improve upon it for Game 6? And what about Game 6? Will we see any line shuffling? Will Chris Pronger return to form? Will Dustin Byfuglien, then, revert to his Game 1 thru 4 form? Ultimately, can the Flyers force a Game 7 back in Chicago on Friday night?

The Flyers are down 0-2 in the Stanley Cup Final, but do not fear. BSH Radio is here. Or something. On this week's program, we break down the Flyers pair of losses in Chicago to open the series. What went wrong? Should the Flyers feel fortunate that the games were close? Should the Blackhawks feel lucky that they squeaked them both out? What about matchups? Was putting Dan Carcillo back in the right idea? But most of the focus of the show is on tonight's Game 3. The Flyers return home with a chance to either make this a series or hand the Blackhawks a Cup this evening, but returning home gives the boys in orange and black reason for optimism. They get the crowd boost, of course, and they'll hopefully get some bounces in their favor on home ice. Ben, Geoff and myself discuss the hopes for the series and what we think happens from here on out. Oh, and lots of Oskars Bartulis talk. Never anything wrong with that, now.

The Cup Finals are here, and while we'll likely be stepping up the radio game during the next two weeks or so, we're here with our typical Wednesday show this week. On the show this week, Ben, Geoff and I spend a few minutes on the celebration of an Eastern Conference Championship, but much like the team itself, we quickly turn the page to the Chicago Blackhawks. What are their strengths? Their weaknesses? What are the big matchups we should keep an eye on? Do the Flyers stand a chance? We'll tell you right now that, yes, we make our predictions for the Final on this week's show, and yes, Geoff does pick against the Flyers again. It's working. But for Ben and myself, it's a pretty insane question. It's not just making a prediction. It's asking the question "will the Flyers win the Stanley Cup? Absolutely wild.

A lost episode of BSH Radio from May 20, 2010. Flyers lead Montreal 2-0 in the Eastern Conference Finals.

While it's still hard to believe that the Flyers have moved on to the Eastern Conference Finals, and it's even harder to believe that they have home-ice advantage in those Conference Finals, reality says it's happening. The Flyers will take on the Habs at Wachovia Center this evening, and to get you ready for the game, we bring you a special weekend edition of BSH Radio. To begin, we contemplate the history the Flyers made over the weekend. Ben, Geoff and I talk about the madness that was Game 7 and the unbelievable feat this Flyers team put together. But we must look ahead eventually, and we do as we try to break down the Montreal series as best we can. We also make our picks for the next round, in which Geoff picks against the Flyers for the third straight series. The team is clearly using his picks as bulletin board material, so for this, we thank him.

It's incredible, isn't it? Brian Boucher goes down to injury, Michael Leighton steps in, the Flyers go on to win Game 5 in dominating fashion, and somehow, someway, our confidence is at an all-time high in this series with the Bruins. Really, truly incredible. This week on BSH Radio, Ben, Geoff and I discuss the pretty surreal circumstances that surround the Flyers right now. We talk about Boucher's injury, Gagne's return, Krejci's loss and the slim-but-ever-growing chance that the Flyers can actually pull off something amazing in this series. If the Flyers lose in Game 6, is the season a success? If the Flyers force Game 7 and lose, is the season a success? If the Flyers win the series and then lose, is the season a success? We try to answer these questions on this week's show. In addition to the usual plethora of Flyers talk, we discuss the other happenings around the NHL, from the Canucks-Blackhawks series to the San Jose Sharks eliminating the defending Western Conference champions, to the oth

We pick the second round and review our round 1 prognostications. Short show -- 20 minutesish.

Anthony SanFillippo of the Delaware County Times is our guest this week on BSH Radio. Our first ever repeat guest, SanFillippo is the one writer on the Flyers beat who actually gives our humble little site the time of day. In fact, he actually has shown up to commune with us a few times, soi n that regard, we respect him more than just about anybody else on the beat. But it's not like we had him on the show again because he gets internet media. No, he knows the Flyers pretty damn well too, and he's actually a pretty timely guest since he's been at the core of a few mini-controversies lately. Late last week, SanFillippo threw a post up on his blog saying he was "embarrassed to be a hockey writer" after his colleagues from the Professional Hockey Writers Association named Capitals defenseman Mike Green as a finalist for the Norris Trophy. We talk about those criticisms and the harsh words he had for his fellow writers on this weeks show. We also take a step back to the week prior and discuss his criti

The Flyers have a 3-1 series lead of the New Jersey Devils. This is very, very good. Jeff Carter and Simon Gagne are both injured, though, and this is kind of on the opposite side of the happiness spectrum. On this week's edition of Broad Street Hockey Radio, we discuss all of these things. From the impact of the injuries to Carts and Gags (or Gaggy, as the kids are calling him), to the phenomenal play of Brian Boucher and Claude Giroux, to the invisible play of Ilya Kovalchuk and Zach Parise. We also discuss some action from around the NHL playoffs and we report on Mike Richards' Lady Byng scare.

The playoffs are here, and we cover them on this week's edition of Broad Street Hockey Radio. To kick off the show, Geoff, Ben and I were joined by Steve Lepore. He writes the wonderful hockey media blog Puck The Media, which covers all things surrounding the coverage of the sport. Lepore is also a Devil(s fan), and he writes over at SBN's Devils' blog, In Lou We Trust. We talked to Steve about why the Flyers-Devils quarterfinal series is being ignored by national television, much to the dismay of displaced Philadelphians. We also talked about the Devils team, of course. Why should we be worried about the Devils? Does the regular season matter? After he signed off, the BSH trio talked about the series a little more in-depth. Will the excitement of this past weekend carry over and translate into playoff success? How will Jeff Carter help the Flyers? Can our defense shut down Zach Parise and Ilya Kovalchuk? ... Boosh? Get the show after the jump. The hour-ish-long program is a perfect lead in to get you pumped