Nine months ago, Petr Sykora scored one of the most important goals in Pittsburgh Penguins playoff history, roofing a laser of a wrist shot behind Chris Osgood in the third overtime of game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final, forcing a game 6 in Pittsburgh (in case you didn't know, Detroit won). Fast forward to this year's opening round playoff series with Philadelphia -- and the past month of the regular season -- and Sykora is nowhere to be found on the score sheet, or the ice, for that matter.
On Thursday, the NHL suspended Flyers forward Daniel Carcillo for his actions in the closing seconds of Pittsburgh's 4-1 win on Wednesday night. It was part of a somewhat embarrassing end to the game, as the Flyers racked up 23 penalty minutes in just 19 seconds.
Carcillo admitted that the official dropping the puck warned him not to try anything.
Every day from Monday to Saturday, The Ice Sheet will take a look at the biggest stories in the league that happened on the ice and elsewhere the night before.
It's been a rather frustrating year for Sidney Crosby as he's fought an ankle injury and watched as Evgeni Malkin and Alexander Ovechkin steal his spotlight. With just six points in six March games, Crosby wasn't much of a factor as the Penguins battled the likes of the New Jersey Devils and New York Rangers to Atlantic Division supremacy.
Last night, Sidney finally put his stamp back on the team with a two-goal performance in the Penguins 4-2 win over the Flyers. With the win, the Pens win the division for the first time since 1998, and can finish no lower than second place in the Eastern Conference.
"We ended up losing Crosby (for 28 games) and Marc-Andre Fleury (for three months) and so many other guys during the course of the season, and we were just trying to focus and maintain our position to make the playoffs," coach Michel Therrien said. "The guys surprised me with their commitment."
Another interesting note: The Penguins sold out all 41 home games for the first time in their 41 year history. Given the team's past attendance problems, this is just more icing on the cake for the revived antarctic dwellers. Still, I find it amazing that they never sold out a season back when Mario Lemieux and the Pens were winning Stanley Cups. What the hell?
Here at FanHouse we're very open about our admiration for Hockeyfights.com. As it turns out, we're not the only fans of the work of our friend David Singer. Who am I talking about?
How about Philadelphia Flyers enforcer, Riley Cote:
Thanks to FanHouse colleague Enrico Campitelli, blogging at The 700 Level, for the tip.
Lost in the bar room brawl that was last night's Flyers/Penguins game (that's really the only way to describe the chaos and cheap shots that went on), was the significance that the game had off the ice. It was the 28th game of the Flyers' season and marked the last game that Philadelphia goons Jesse Boulerice and Riley Cote had to serve as part of their suspensions. If you remember, Cote was suspended three games for taking a shot at Matt Niskanen's head and Boulerice received 25 games for decking Vancouver's Ryan Kesler, which equaled the regular season record for suspension length. With two goons back in the mix, it may only be a matter of time until the next suspension is handed out in Philadelphia.
There's no word from the Flyers on whether or not these two will be back in the lineup anytime soon. Nonetheless, it leads me to wonder if there could be some serious confrontations the next time the Bruins and Penguins face off against Philly. It was an amazing exercise of self control that the Bruins did to not take any action during their first contest against the Flyers following the Bergeron hit. It will be unthinkable, at least to me, if there is no form of retribution this time around thanks to the nasty hit handed out by Scott Hartnell in that very game.
As Stephen Colbert would say, Boston and Pittsburgh -- you're on notice!
The teams will have some time to cool off, as the next meeting doesn't take place until January 12th when the Bruins visit Philadelphia. Pittsburgh will travel to Philly on the 24th of January.
The league handed Flyers forward Riley Cote a three-game suspension on Monday for his match penalty following a high head shot to Stars defenceman Matt Niskanen Saturday night. Any player assessed a match penalty is automatically suspended pending a review by the league.
"I talked to (Bettman) today," Holmgren told the Philadelphia Daily News. "He thinks, like I do, that these are different coincidences, different situations, that have to be viewed differently, but the question was raised about ramifications if it happens again.
"So obviously we're under watch."
Well, it's obvious that the NHL cannot see the obvious connection between the Philadelphia Flyers and violent incidents. One would have to be blind, or really dumb, to not see that the Flyers play a very dirty brand of hockey, and don't hold their players accountable for their actions. The Flyers now have more than 50% of all suspensions handed out this season (five for nine), and will likely just accumulate more of them as time goes on.
A three-game slap-on-the-wrist only reinforces that the Flyers can get away with dirty hockey. The fact that the Flyers on watch means little when the NHL's idea of a harsh punishment is a seaweed wrap facial treatment in Thailand.
Here is the Flyers rap sheet thus far this season: 1. Steve Downie got 20 games for a head shot on Ottawa's Dean McAmmond 2. Jesse Boulerice got 25 games for a crosscheck to the head of Vancouver's Ryan Kesler 3. Randy Jones got two games for a hit from behind on Boston's Patrice Bergeron 4. Scott Hartnell got two games for hitting Boston's Andrew Alberts' head into the boards 5. Riley Cote's high head-shot on Niskanen netted a three game suspension. Sorry, No Photos
Every day from Monday to Saturday, The Ice Sheet will take a look at the biggest stories in the league that happened on the ice and elsewhere the night before.
Can we possibly get through a weekend without seeing another member of the Philadelphia Flyers get rung up for a game misconduct and take his place in line for yet another disciplinary hearing with Colin Campbell? I guess the answer is no, as Philadelphia's Riley Cote took the opportunity to step up on Saturday night and go head hunting. His target: Matt Niskanen of the Dallas Stars.
Thankfully, Niskanen wasn't injured, but as you'll see in the video below, it wasn't for lack of trying.
It's clear that something is happening in Philadelphia, but the league, which has responded with individual suspensions of varying severity to four other members of the team, seems at a loss to know what to do about it.
The question that I put to my colleagues at FanHouse was one that was originally raised by Michael Farber over at Sports Illustrated: Is it time to start holding organizations accountable as a whole for the behavior of their players on the ice? What sort of punishment is appropriate and how high should it go?
A transcript of our roundtable discussion, which took place before Cote's hit on Niskanen, follows.
It is an obvious trend of dirty play by the Philadelphia Flyers when that franchise has 50% (four of eight) of all suspensions handed out this season. When you see one franchise continually dish out dirty hits, you cannot simply say that it's a cosmic coincidence.
Riley Cote slammed into defenseman Matt Niskanen and got his forearm high on the Dallas player, driving his head into the glass and dislodging his helmet with 2:14 to play in Saturday night's game.
Cote received a 10-minute match penalty, which is an automatic league review.
If Cote is suspended, he joins Steve Downie (whose 20-gamer ended), Jesse Boulerice (10 games left on a 25-gamer), Randy Jones (two games) and Scott Hartnell (two-gamer ending Saturday night) on the Flyer "hit'' list.
Yes, folks, the Broad Street Bullies are back, and the NHL is content to sit by and allow the Flyers to have their way with opposing players. You can just imagine that any player on another team is worrying about just surviving a match against the Flyers without getting bug-squashed into the boards. This is not good for the safety of the players nor the image of the league. Fighting is great, but cheap shots are not.
With Todd Fedoruk out of the lineup in Philadelphia, the role of enforcer falls to Riley Cote. Last night in New Jersey, he decided to challenge Cam Janssen to establish his bona fides. It wasn't a good idea.
Thanks to Hockey Fights.com for doing the dirty work of finding the clip.
On Thursday, the NHL suspended Flyers forward Daniel Carcillo for his actions in the closing seconds of Pittsburgh's 4-1 win on Wednesday night. It was part of a somewhat embarrassing end to the game, as the Flyers racked up 23 penalty minutes in just 19 seconds. 
Well, the idiots at the NHL's Head Offices, led by "Colon Cancer" Campbell, spun the random wheel of NHL suspensions and it landed on THREE GAMES for Flyers' goon Riley Cote.
