Where is the Heart?

Saturday, March 15, 2008 ·

Editor's Note: Pope Pogo II (Mike) has joined the We Hate to Lose team and he will post blogs and recaps on the Flyers.

For the third straight game, the Flyers have lost a meaningful game. They have lost an opportunity to solidify their playoff chances, have given the Sabres an excellent shot at making the playoffs, and have given the Washington Capitals and the Florida Panthers a shot to sneak in as well. Two of those 3 games the Flyers have been beaten without the opponent's captain, Mats Sundin for Toronto, and Zdeno Chara for Boston. This stretch could have easily been three straight wins for the Flyers; having Toronto down 3-0 and letting them get away with an improbable comeback is unacceptable for a playoff caliber team.

How they could have gone from 2nd in the conference, to struggling against teams they should beat to barely hold the 8th seed is beyond me. I, personally, am still trying to figure out the Eager for Vandermeer, the 3rd rounder for Modry and the Vandermeer for a 3rd rounder debacle myself. Both Vandermeer and Modry should be healthy scratches. I still have not seen anything from Modry that has made me feel happy with Kukkonen being a scratch. Everyone who watches the Flyers with any kind of consistency knows Lasse Kukkonen should be playing every night.

Still this goes beyond what Paul Holmgren and John Stevens do in terms of their decisions. For huge portions of games, and hell for the most part of the year, this team plays without "heart" and at times, while losing, seems to play without a care. They seem to have a "maybe next game" mentality, and that is what makes me sick. It is not the losing, (who am I kidding? I hate to lose.) it is a lack of heart. It isn't the entire team playing without it. There are a few players who do play with that fire that we as Philadelphians love and they are Richards, Hartnell, and Carter (over the last 15 games).

This season isn't lost yet, but tomorrow doesn't get any easier as we face a rested Evgeni Malkin and the red hot Pittsburgh Penguins. The question of heart will most assuredly be answered tomorrow and in the coming weeks with 10 games remaining, including nine divisional games.

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A small introduction...

We Hate to Lose began in October 2007. The initial purpose of the website was to provide news updates and commentary on all four major sports teams in Philadelphia. Because of time-constraints, in April of 2009, I decided to post only on my first-love, the Philadelphia Phillies.

My name is Justin Evans and I hope you enjoy the site.

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