The Kids Are Alright

This episode covers the Flyers’ playoff push, including their series win over the Penguins, the early battle with Carolina, the value of playoff experience for the young guys, and why the future still feels bright even with some bumps along the way.

We also touch on the Sixers’ ongoing playoff frustrations, the Phillies trying to turn things around after a rough stretch, and some quick Eagles talk with offseason additions, AJ Brown speculation, and what the offense may look like moving forward.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:01

Philadelphia Flyers knocked out the Pittsburgh Penguins in game six of the NHL playoffs. However, they're now getting punched in the mouth by the Carolina Hurricane. Phillies are being booed out of their own stadium. Have since turned it around since the firing of Rob Thompson and the Sixers. As you guys know, I'm not the basketball guy. But they took down the Boston Celtics in seven games. This is Brotherly Love Sports. My name's John Fry. I'm filling in for Adam Curran while he is away. And I'll be with you for this episode. Sit back, grab a cold one, and let's get into it. Welcome to the next episode of Brotherly Love Sports. Alright. As I take a sip of a little liquid coverage and do a solo episode for Adam while he is away, as I mentioned a couple seconds ago, we're going to take a look at some of the news around Philly Sports this week. Obviously, everybody knows Flyers beat the Penguins in six games. Absolutely dominating performance. Minus the two losses. I figured it was six. I said six from the beginning, and I'm extremely happy by the way they played. Everything from here on out is just bonus experience for all the young guns. I if they get swept by the hurricane, it will hurt. We're still Philly sports fans and we expect perfection. But getting playoff experience for the likes of 21-year-old Denver Barkey, 19-year-old Porter Martone, 22-year-old Alex Bump. It's the value in the fact that they made the playoffs this season is going to pay off next year and the year after. I don't know how Tocket is not in the talks for Coach of the Year getting these kids after the Olympic break to go on a 16-game run, a win, 16 wins for the last half of the season and squeak into the playoffs when in March they had a 3% chance. That's just the NHL's hate for Philadelphia. It will always happen. I know they just last night, or the night before, excuse me, Monday night. Recording this on Wednesday, the uh 6th of May. Monday night's overtime loss. They should have stole that game. I do like Tock putting out an all rookie lineup. As mentioned before, Barkey, Martone, Bump, a 19, a 21, and a 22-year-old were a line for that game. They did, however, give up both of the non-power play goals scored by Carolina. Seth Jarvis's game tying tally in the third, and Taylor Hall's winning goal late in overtime. I think it could have been. They talked to internally or whatnot. I know Vladdy Daddy was out of the crease. Looked like he still had the puck covered. I gotta move on. We can't say what if, what if, what if. I did like Tox's quote to Bill Meltzer for PhiladelphiaFlyers.com. And this is a quote from Tox. It says, I know the kids were upset after the last game. A couple of guys were upset because they were on the ice for the two 5-1-5 goals, but they can't be upset because they're gonna get another shot at it. They're going to go right back on the ice. They've got a lot of support from the organization and their teammates. I think they're gonna even help their development, also. That last part, help their development. Let them make mistakes. In all honesty, these playoffs don't matter to the Flyers. Nobody expects them to do anything. They're not even a Cinderella run. They got really good goaltending down late. They got snuck into the playoffs. Pittsburgh's old, can't play with their speed. They did what they had to do. They won a playoff series. Got six games against the Penguins under their belt, two more now against Carolina, and at least two more left. They're gonna come out of here with a minimum of ten playoff hockey games for all these kids. Some of you, Martin, was playing college hockey a month ago. They did play better in game two. Game one, let's not talk about that. We all know what happened. Put up a goose egg. We'll leave it at that. That was just a rough game. That was that was Carolina going out there, big dick swinging. We're faster, we're stronger, we can pass better. But game two, in my eyes, prove the Flyers can skate with them. Noah would tippet. Could have changed the game. He's got the speed, he's got the talent, he's got the hockey mindset. Now, I would like to see more of some of the fellow youngsters stepping up, like Mitch Cuff, Z. And then again, TK. TK's parent, I've watched a lot of his interviews. He's very hard on himself by not scoring. And I like that from him. He he is a Philly flyer. He's not this 200. What have they been saying for the last 10-year rebuild, we felt like as fans. It's a 200 way forward. No. Connect these a flyer. And everybody needs to realize that. It was a 16-7-1 run to make the playoffs late in the season. 16 wins, seven losses, one overtime defeat. They also know they can skate with Carolina from the four games they played with them this year in the regular season when they all went to overtime. I do think a better start to each game, which they had in game two. They scored two goals in the first ten minutes. And then it felt like Carolina woke up. And every time I looked up at my TV or looked at the app on the phone or whatever I was doing at the time, I wasn't able to tune in fully to the last game. The puck was in the Flyers defensive zone. I think I looked up at one point, shots were like 22 to 6. But it was 2-0. Shots don't matter. Once that final horn blows, it could have been 40 to 6. But if Vlodar stood on his head and put up another shutout, that's a win. I do I do believe game two, we could have stole. We should have stole. They had their chances in the third and in overtime. Too many missed nets. At least put the puck on goal. Uh make the goalie, make a save. It's very similar to what I tell my son for baseball. Put the ball and play. Just hit the ball hard. He still plays little league. These kids all make mistakes. Just hit the ball hard. See what happens. Good things happen. Oh, my adult softball league. It's the same thing. Down and hard. Down and hard. Don't strike out men's league softball. Sometimes do. We need at least one per game so that we have beer coming for the next one. But make them play their sport. If a goalie knows the puck's going wide, he's not going to make any mistakes. As for going back to game six against the Pittsburgh Penguins, Lodar stood on his head. That's what they need it. They let Pittsburgh sneak in. They let him come back. They had him up 3-0. Let him come back to 3-2. And I was very, very scared to go play a game seven. If you gave up 3 straight to Pittsburgh, give them the momentum. Not what I wanted to see. And neither did Vladar. Stood in his head. 42 saves. Shut out. Everything they needed. Now there's some bad news for the Flyers. Noah Cates. He's out. He's ruled out for the rest of the series. Lower body injury. Not something we want to deal with. Not really uh news you wanted to hear. I was hoping to hear something about Tip coming back. I haven't really heard anything about that. I haven't heard actually anything about his injury. Um CBS Sports right now is reporting another game time decision for Thursday. Don't like the sound of it. I also do not like how the NHL does their injury reports.

SPEAKER_00 10:17

It's just upper body, lower body, or undisclosed.

SPEAKER_01 10:21

No real idea. No real speculation on a timeline. I think the NHL would be better off if they changed that a little bit. So that us fans can water cooler talk. Oh, I've twisted my ankle before. It's a two to four week injury. Not lower body injury. What do you mean, lower body? Did he fracture his femur? Or has he got an ingrown toe and can't get his foot and escape? It's like how many licks does it take to get to the center of a tiltie pop? The world? May never know. But uh tomorrow night, Thursday night, the Flyers do return home for game three of the series against the Carolina Hurricane. And losing both in Raleigh. Def again. Should have stole game two. Uh Cates has a lower body injury. He does have a goal and three assists in the eight playoff games so far for the Flyers. Uh he did have one of his best offensive years. It was his best offensive year in his five NHL year career. 18 goals, 29 assists, so 42 total points in 82 games. Played about 16 minutes a game, and his his impact does go beyond his offense. He is a very good defensive forward. He averages the Flyers average 1.67 goals per 60 minutes with him on the ice. He's Mr. Consistency all year. Does a lot of things for us. Quote of Rick Pocket. So I would actually like to see Coots get bumped up from the fourth line. Katourier has been playing out of his mind this postseason. It's really taken akin to his role as a fourth line captain. I don't know who else could slide in there for the Flyers. I heard they did just call up Latenko. Is that I don't even know how you pronounce his name. I've heard him a couple times. They did call him up. His season's over with. Down in the minors. I believe he was in the juniors. So could he fill in? Could he just be another extra body in the building? Who knows? We'll find out tomorrow night. What I would like to see out of them tomorrow night again is a fast start, a good start, a more physical response. I think they played Pittsburgh extremely well as a physical team. The hits were there, checking was there. They were outnumbering them in the corners. And then they definitely have to spend more time in the offensive zone. And something has to be done about the power play.

SPEAKER_00 13:21

It's non-existent. It is the Doto Bird of the Flyers offense.

SPEAKER_01 13:30

Well, we look forward to game two tomorrow night. Uh tonight, we'll transition right into the Sixers. I got it up on the TV right now. They played better than game one, but they still fell to the Knicks 108-102, with game three coming on Friday. Again, I'm not the big basketball guy on this podcast. I'll uh do my best. They always seem to have this hump. They just can't get over it. They haven't been able to in what feels like the 36 years that I've been on this earth. Jolan Bede's health, again, he was out tonight. But Maxie, we gotta build around Maxie. Do you believe the Sixers should have made it? Or another year of them not making it would have been better. I don't know if playoff experience works the same way it does in the NHL or in the MLB. NFL playoff experience is playoff experience. It's only one game. Again, it is a playoff game. But I'm also not the basketball guy. Moving to the Phillies, they were off. They were down bad. I'll be honest, I haven't had the chance to pay attention to them in the last couple of weeks. I've been getting clips here and there. Watched a few games here and there. I do know that Topper was fired, sacrificial lamb. And since then, they finally started to swing the ball well or swing the bat well. And the pitching has come around a bit. Wheeler came back. He didn't look too bad. Pitched tonight. He took a no decision. He was six and six and some change innings. Left the game was three to two. And the Phillies squeaked out a comfort-behind win. Six to three. Keller made it interesting in the ninth. Put some guys on base. Space is loaded. Two outs and pitcher fielded his position to get the third out. It was definitely a frustrating April for the Philadelphia Phillies. Things are turning around. Harper's been hitting the ball pretty well. Turner's been hitting the ball last couple last week. Schwarber, star on my fantasy team. That doubleheader the other day, 40 points fantasy-wise, just crushed the ball. I don't think he's had a hit since. Harper hit a home run last night. Garcia hit one tonight. Stott's been hitting lefties. Sosa is he's the sixth man. If baseball actually had a sixth man, that would be him. He's the bench guy. He's a big plug and play, and he can play anywhere. Again, Philly fans are hard on our teams. The Phillip Philadelphia Phillies deserved to be booed during that 10-game stretch. They played like dog shit. Thankfully, it seems like they're coming around. Some signs of life after an early disaster. Wheeler's back. Sanchez is still here. The last eight games, the Philly starters are posting a 1.53 ERA. Back to some Harper news. He's a two-run home run. Waking it, waking up. That's what we like to see. Hopefully they're turning the corner and it's just not a hot streak. I do like how they had Mattingley as the bench coach almost writing on the wall that he would take over instead of firing Topper the offseason. So that's the probably the best move that the Phillies organization made in the offseason. Would have liked to get some some better bats. See is heating up a little bit. Quick little move over to the Eagles before I let you guys go. Seems like all the AJ Brown speculation. Is it true or is it not true? June 1st. Couple weeks away.

SPEAKER_00 17:58

Is he gonna be in midnight green? Kelly green? Or black uniforms? Or is he gonna be wearing something else? Is he gonna end up as a patriot?

SPEAKER_01 18:11

Who knows? I do like that they have added Elijah Moore, uh, the red rifle, Andy Dalton's the backup QB. Those are some helpful additions. More soap Dalton for his mentorship. I think he did a really good job with Bryce Young in Carolina. Um, new weapons for Jalen Hurts. The um I was just watching the Eagles all access insider video on YouTube a couple hours ago, and getting Makai Lemon as the Steelers were calling him. Amazing. And apparently the Steelers might be in some trouble for it, too. That's the funniest part. Couldn't get him on the phone. They had to call a third or fourth phone number, I believe it was, to get somebody who was with him physically handing him the phone. So again, more offensive changes for the Eagles. Another new offensive coordinator for Jalen Hurts. We'll see how it goes. Um, do you think they improved to stay a Super Bowl contender? I don't know. I think it's gonna come down to the scheme.

SPEAKER_00 19:31

The offense looked bad last year compared to the year before. Looked very, very bad. I looked tired. Looked real tired.

SPEAKER_01 19:44

So that'll do it for my time here. Thank you for tuning in. Let's just fill it in for Adam this week. Hopefully, Adam will be back with us in a couple weeks. He is on some work duty stuff. Asked me to fill in last minute. I told him I could do it for him and I have no issues with that. Um, if you are interested in speaking about Philly Sports, find Brotherhood Love Sports Facebook page. Hit us up in the DMs. Love to chat, possibly have you on as a guest, even if it's a quick segment.

SPEAKER_00 20:17

Now we'll close it out with my coming of age story.

SPEAKER_01 20:26

Last night, at the ripe old age of 36 years old, I drove two and a half hours in almost bumper to bumper traffic up the Pennsylvania Turnpike to the lovely little city of Allentown, Pennsylvania. Take in a concert which is standing room only. I got out of my car and for the first time ever I stretched before going to a new metal, heavy metal, rock alt metal concert.

SPEAKER_00 21:06

Had a great time.

SPEAKER_01 21:09

A lot of jumping up and down, a lot of screaming, a lot of yelling, and then I got home after another two hours and fifteen minute ride with 45 minutes of it being in bumper to bumper traffic and my back hurts. Got to the point where I had to turn on my heated seats in my car just for back pain. Well, I guess I gotta go stretch again because my back hurts. I hope you guys had a good time. Now to end it, I'll leave you with a Philly sports trivia question. Which Phillies pitcher threw a no hitter and hit two home runs in the same game? If you know the answer, post it up to our social media pages, and we'll catch you guys on the next episode. Episode of Broadsville Love Sports. John Fry, it's been a pleasure. Hope everybody has a great day.