The SBP Archives - Your less than frequent dose of SBP!

There are four teams remaining in the quest for the Stanley Cup this year, and there is one team in particular that I have no interest in seeing raise Lord Stanley.

And that is the Philadelphia Flyers.

I totally admit, I have financial interests in Philly beating the Pittsburgh Penguins to make some cash in one of my hockey pools, but really, I think the Flyers are the worst ambassador for the NHL.

There are a handful of skilled guys like Daniel Briere on the team, but for the most part, they are a bunch of dirty cheap shot artists that, for some reason, the referees tend to look the other way when deciding if they're going to be calling penalties.

Of course, some things can be so blatant things will be called, such as Derian Hatcher's elbow to the back of Francois Bouillon's head that almost cost the Flyers the game when Montreal scored two goals on the ensuing powerplay, but for the most part they get away with their shenanigans. And to me, it's just cheating, plain and simple.

I want to see skill win. I want to see some fast skating, crisp faces, nice dekes...solid hits are fine, but when the Flyers do it, most of the time the rulebook is thrown out the door.

Because one of the NHL's top stars in Sidney Crosby will be facing the Flyers, along with other skilled guys like Evgeni Malkin and Marian Hossa, I'm really hoping the referees will clamp down on the underhanded stuff and make sure none of those guys will get carried off on a stretcher before the series is done. And with pylons like Hatcher who are too slow to keep up with them, they compensate by trying to injure the opposition, and this must not happen.

I know I was a bit of a hypocrite wanting Montreal to lose to them, but, I've had enough. Go Penguins!