[from a flyer fan]

That's "Three cups, ten years."

[from a flyer fan]

What pain? Three Cups, nine years.

That's "Three cups, ten years."

And why be a jack-ass when someone tries to send a nice message to the Devils? The Devils are still a good team and the Flyers accomplished a lot by beating them, but obviously they are not satisfied. All the games were great and the Flyers were lucky to win in five, imo....

[Steve Levy: Comedian]

But Levy--and admitted Ranger$ fan who used to do the Ranger$ pregame show on WFAN--did have one good kneeslapper during Game 5 of the Devils/Flyers series. He called the Devils' loss to the Flyers in five games "the end of an era."

I don't remember exactly what else he said, but I thought he meant that it was an end of an era for the Flyers, i.e. they finally got the monkey off their back by beating the Devils in the playoffs. This really did mean a lot for the Flyers org and fans...

[Esche = Boucher??]

You can't compare Esche to Boucher--Boucher is a legitimate headcase and still is to this day. Witness his record shutout streak this year surrounded by subpar play at other times.

Esche has his ups and downs, but is better than most goalies. He's been consistently good this year and he is pretty stable for a goalie.

["Forget a repeat."]

First line of TSN's article from last night:

"Forget a repeat."

TSN, who picked us as #2-#5 in their power rankings all year long, putting us at #2 just before the playoffs started, has already declared us out.

It's not over til the fat lady sings! And they should know better than to count us out vs. Philadelphia!

source

Boys, use this (and similar articles) for inspiration!

Do Devils fans know how to read? This article was written by an Associated Press writer, not a TSN writer. I went on Google News and found the same article in the Atlanta Journal Constitution among other papers -- http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/shared/s...evils-Flye.html

This has nothing to do with the supposed anti-Devils sentiment in Canada or the TSN people. This forum is overfilled with insecurity and conspiracy theories.

And anyway, if you read the statement "forget a repeat" in context with the next sentence then it is obvious that the author is not saying that the Devils have zero chance of repeating. Rather, the article is saying that the Devils and their fans should take their focus of repeating as SC champs, but rather they should worry about getting out of the hole they are in against the Flyers. First things first and worry about the cup when you get the chance.

Either way it is a stupid statement. I'm a Flyers fan and while I don't think the Devils are the best team in the league this year, I know that this series is far from over!

[Serious Question from Flyer Fan]

Yeah Pitkanen is a REAL experience player.....

Have fun watching Malakhov play for your team. You are going to see real soon how much he sucks and how many badly timed stupid penalties he takes.

Ragnerson gets BEAT on a consistent basis. It's actually quite funny.

Kim Johnsson is good on offense, mediocre on defensemen. He charge at him, he will cough up the puck, just like Malakhov.

Markov I like. He's nasty, and he seems to have good positioning. Easily the best Flyer D man. With that being said, he alone wasn't worth Justin Williams.

Desjardins is out, so Timander plays I assume. Good. Timander isn't that good.

No matter which way you look at it, the Devils defense is just simply BETTER. This team still broke the modern NHL record for least goals allowed without their hardnose captain for half the season. Still they break the record and win the Jennings again.

I'll give you that the Flyers offense is lightyears better than the Devils, but don't compare the defense. It just isn't that close. Closer than the goaltending comparison, we all know that is LIGHTTTTTTTYEARS apart, but don't compare the Flyers D to the Devils D, you will lose everytime.

And it's just that simple.

Pitkanen isn't playing in the first game and will be switching with Timander through the playoffs. He has some defensive lapses, but the guy is great on the powerplay and knows how to move the puck up the ice. I think you are underestimating Ragnersson's defensive abilities and I'll have to wait and see on Malakhov.

Much to your surprise, Desjardin is back and has been playing for a couple of games now. He is the Flyers' core on defense and it means a lot to have him back.

The Flyers were not that far away from the Devils in total goals allowed and they have worse goaltending, I think everyone will agree. So I don't think that the Devils defense (minus Stevens) is much more than a little bit better than the Flyers as far as keeping pucks out of their own net. The Flyers defense are much better (in my opinion) on the powerplay, getting the puck up the ice (which is key against the trap) and in the offensive zone generally. So that's why I think that the Flyers defensemen are better than the Devils defense. Of course, the Devils team defense is better than the Flyers, but I'm talking about the overall picture.

[Serious Question from Flyer Fan]

The Devil defensemen are still better. Does Philly have ANY Canadian or U.S. defensemen? All or most are Euros.

I don't understand what that has to do with anything but yes Desjardin is Canadian. I remember watching the last Flyers-Devils game (or maybe the second to last) and Paul Martin being schooled left and right. The Flyers have a lot of veterans and a hell of a lot of offensive talent from the blueline (Desjardin, Pitkanen, Johnson especially and Ragnerson, Markov and Malakhov also have skills). That is different from Flyers teams of the recent past. The Devils are going to be playing some inexperienced players. I don't think there is a huge difference between the two teams' defensemen and Neidermayer will be the best guy on the ice, but still the Flyers are better IMO...

[Serious Question from Flyer Fan]

Blasphemer. You live in the greatest city in the world and you root for a team from the lamest city in the world? I'd respect you more if you were a Ranger fan.

Philly is cool and I'd rate it somewhere higher than Newark, Winnipeg or Portland where Devils will be playing their home games soon...and do we really need more Rangers fans in this world???

Thanks for the serious responses...I'm not looking to troll around, but I just wanted to poke a little fun...and yes, I do think the Flyers will win the series--without Stevens, the Devils are a much different team, they can't score and Brodeur's stats since Stevens went out are pretty average. The Flyers have better forwards, better defensemen (or at least I think so), a great powerplay (especially compared to the Devils) and they've been playing the Devils really well recently.

The only thing that really would be stopping the Flyers is potentialy iffy goaltending and history. Which sadly might be enough to doom them...

I think it will be a good series either way and I can't imagine it going to less than six games. The keys in my eyes are who scores first--that is what has allowed the Flyers to win the past three--and whether the Flyers can score a good amount more powerplay goals than the devils do...

[Serious Question from Flyer Fan]

I live in NYC and I'm thinking about getting tickets to game 6 at the swamp to see the Flyers close out the Devils, but I'm worried that the Flyers will win in 5 or fewer so my question is:

What happens to my tickets if the Devils don't make it to Game 6? I've never bought playoff tickets before so I don't know if it is a refund or credit towards tickets next season.

Also, to get there I just take a bus out from the Port Authority, right?