Larry Brown Sports

We here at LBS don’t really get the hype surrounding the Harlem Shake video phenomenon. I understand that social media trends have a mind of their own, but most of the Harlem Shake videos people are coming up with just aren’t that funny. However, there are always going to be exceptions.

Like this Philadelphia Flyers-Pittsburgh Penguins Harlem Shake video, for example. The folks at HockeyVideoHD decided to turn a dust-up that took place on Wednesday night during the Flyers’ win over the Penguins into a Harlem Shake mash-up. It may have originally been Paul Bissonette of the Minnesota Wild’s idea, but the execution was pretty flawless.

Don’t get me wrong, I still hate these things and am not going to be the least bit upset when the trend dies out. But as Deadspin’s Barry Petchesky put it, this is the first Harlem Shake video that doesn’t suck. I guess that counts for something.

Jaromir Jagr has returned to the NHL after playing three years in Russia’s KHL. There was speculation swirling for weeks regarding the team for whom he’d choose to play, and the Penguins, Red Wings, Canadiens and Rangers were all prominently mentioned.

In the end, Jagr chose to sign with the Flyers on a one-year $3.3 million deal — a move that shocked most folks.

Jagr’s deal with Philly was announced a few hours after the Penguins reportedly pulled their $2 million offer because they did not want to enter a bidding war. Jagr picked Philly, leaving the fans in Pittsburgh stunned.

I ask you the question: was it wrong of Jagr to pick one of Pittsburgh’s biggest rivals as his new team?

Jagr played 11 of his 17 NHL seasons with the Penguins. That’s the team that drafted him and paired him with Mario Lemieux when he was wee little mullet wearing lad from Czechoslovakia. That’s the same team that helped develop him into a star player in the league. And Jagr is the same guy who told The Hockey News in 2009 “I would play for the minimum salary. I would play for $350,000 just for [Mario Lemieux] because I owe him my hockey life.”

Something must have changed since then because Jagr left for more money elsewhere. I don’t know what happened and I never like to say that someone made the wrong move without knowing what we on behind the scenes, but it’s awfully strange that Jagr’s viewpoint changed so much in only two years. I’m inclined to say that signing with the Penguins was the wrong move, but we don’t know the whole story. What do you say?

Wednesday night, we not only had an MLB umpire blowing a perfect game for Tigers pitcher Armando Galarrgga, but apparently the NHL Stanley Cup referees were also out of it. The problem is the missed calls were not limited to Game 3 of the series — the referees have been missing calls against both the Chicago Blackhawks and the Philadelphia Flyers the entire series.

Now before you jump to conclusions that I’m angry because of some Blackhawks favoritism (and the fact that they lost), I want you to know that’s not the case; there are some plays that the Blackhawks got away with too. What stood out as the most egregious error was the refs missing a boarding call on this hit by Chris Pronger on Patrick Kane:

Kaner’s helmet was knocked off because of that hit from Pronger. What did the refs do? Well they didn’t call boarding like they should have. That was the second time that Pronger had gone after Kane and it was pretty obvious he had it out for him. But hey, that’s hockey.

I’m cool with players going after one another — that’s just adds to the competitive nature of the game. But when you have Pronger who is 6’6″ and 220 pounds targeting Kane who is 5’8″ and 178 pounds, there is something wrong with that. Flyers fans almost saw Kane’s bones break right in front of them. I guess that’s why they call them the “Orange Crush”.

The point of this is that NHL refs need to pay closer attention to some of these plays. Not just for the Blackhawks, but also for the Flyers too — this is the Stanley Cup Finals. The only positive I did see from Pronger going after Kane last night was that Kane wasn’t going to back down. It reminded me of the heart that he showed during the Gold Medal Game at the Vancover Olympics. The kid might actually be growing some cojones instead of shying away from every check that comes his way.

The Stanley Cup Finals begin on Saturday night at the United Center in Chicago with the Blackhawks hosting the Philadelphia Flyers. In an act of superstition, Blackhawks owner Rocky Wirtz is telling the people of Chicago to boycott everything orange — one of the primary colors of the Flyers.

“I’m taking every orange tie in my closet and throwing it out. Restaurants could take anything orange off the menu for the time being. Weekend, maybe. And no wearing orange.”

This is pretty cool. It would be even cooler if people actually listened and there was no orange around the city this weekend. It could very well happen. Blackhawks fever is rampant; even the famous Art Institute lions have gotten in the spirit and are sporting Blackhawks helmets.

So listen up Chicago, the following things are banned until the series is over: orange soda, orange juice, Doritos, Cheetos, carrots, goldfish (the actual fish and the delicious snack), any piece of orange clothing, sunsets, open flames, sherbet, actual oranges, and bad spray tans. Anything I left out that is orange is also prohibited.

As for Philadelphia, there are way too many things that are red to made a good list for you but apples, roses, strawberries, cherries, Coca Cola labels, ladybugs and traffic lights are a pretty good start. Although I wouldn’t really recommend boycotting red lights but hey, that’s your call.

Sources:
Blackhawks Boycott! Orange is Out [Chicago Sun-Times]

A lot of people don’t like the Flyers.  That comes with the territory of being a Philadelphia team, in the same way it does with Boston, New York and sometimes even Chicago teams.  People hate the teams where the fans are the craziest and most obnoxious.  Those four cities probably top that list.  However, you can’t discredit what the Philadelphia Flyers have been able to accomplish, regardless of your opinion of their team and/or fan base.  Any time a No. 7 seed is able to reach the Stanley Cup Finals — even if it meant only having to beat a No. 8 seed in the Conference Finals — you have to tip your hat to them and realize that they must have wanted it more than the other seven teams.

That certainly showed in their series with the Boston Bruins, when Philadelphia somehow managed to rally from three games down (and three goals down in Game 7) to defeat the Bruins, who were arguably the hottest team in the playoffs at the time.  Leadership takes on an enhanced role in postseason play in any sport, and Philly captain Mike Richards has shown he is more than willing to live up to the challenge.  Thanks in large part to his will to win, his Flyers are now headed to the Stanley Cup Finals to take on the Chicago Blackhawks.  Check out this video of Mike Richards laying it all on the line with a shorthanded goal and an assist in the clincher of the Eastern Conference Finals against Montreal, courtesy of The Sporting Blog.

Source:
Mike Richards’ Amazing Short-Handed Goal Propels Flyers To Finals, Likeability [The Sporting Blog]