Dammit!

In a moment that was both tense and anticlimactic for the Philadelphia Flyers, Patrick Kane's (1 G, 2 asts., +2) bloop single of a shot slipped past Michael Leighton (37 svs., 4 GA) in overtime of Game 6 to give the Chicago Blackhawks the victory and the Stanley Cup.

No horn or red light went off after Kane's goal, but he still raised his arms in triumph as his teammates poured onto the ice. Meanwhile Flyers players, and fans alike, sat there in dumbfounded silence as the Blackhawks celebration began.

"I thought he was going to pass it but he threw it at my feet and it went underneath me," said Leighton after the game, about the series-clinching goal.

"There you go thinkin'," said our Engineer.

It would be easy to look at Leighton as a goat in the Flyers defeat. However, his role in Philly's postseason run cannot be ignored. The truth is that the journeyman goalie earned his 15 minutes of fame as the Flyers rode him for as long as they could.

Before the presentation of The Stanley Cup and Conn Smythe Trophy, Flyers fans thanked their squad for the fun ride by chanting, "Let's go Flyers."

It was a classy moment for fans that are not known as such. So they will have to be forgiven for when, according to frequent D-train Passenger & Flyers season-ticket holder Andrew P., they booing NHL Commisioner Gary Bettman during the the presentation of the aforementioned trophies.

The reason for booing Bettman? Andrew eloquently stated the reason, "Because there us a hate/hate relationship between Philadelphia and Bettman. Which stems from his homosexual love affair with Cindy Crysby (Sydney Crosby)."

Jonathan Toews (1 ast., 3 BS, -1) was named the Conn Smythe winner as MVP of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Philly's top line's play tapered off as The Finals ran on. Meanwhile, Chicago's top line's play escalated, particularly as the Blackhawks won the last two games of the series.

Today, many of our passengers will go to work and have to endure pessimistic words from co-workers such as, "I knew they were gonna blow it; Philly teams always do."

Please dear passengers, in a civil manner that belies the reputation of Philly fans, tell them to "lock it up" with regards to that sort of talk. Do not attempt to engage such ignorance with intelligent debate. They cannot be reached. Instead, speak with like-thinking folks who share your disappointed optimism, and keep rolling down the track.

This is What We Heard

Last night, the angelic (and crazy) Erykah Badu was at the Tower Theater in Upper Darby and thus, so were the guys D-train Staff. They are afflicted with a deep affection for crazy women.

Therefore, no one was around to view the L.A. Lakers dramatic 91-84 victory over the Boston Celtics in Game 3 of the NBA Finals. The Lakers took a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series.

We heard that Boston fans were rude to Lamar Odom (12 pts., 5 rebs.). Whenever he had the ball they chanted, "Ugly Sister."

It was a hard dig at Odom's wife Khloe Kardashian.

In Boston fans defense, she is the grossest Kardashian.

We heard that Ray Allen (2 pts., 4 rebs.) followed up his record setting shooting display from game one with a most tepid scoring display.

It sounds as if Allen climaxed too soon from the pleasurable experience of shooting the lights out in Game 2.

Derek Fisher(11 of 16 pts. in the 4th quarter, 5 rebs.) served as a life preserver for the Lakers, who surrendered the better part of a 14-point lead, "they" told us.

Then, they said Fisher got verlempt like Mike Myers as Linda Richman on SNL skit "Coffee Talk," during the post game interview.

Then the staff asked about Steven Strassburg's debut (14 SO, 0 BB).

It sounded like he was impressive. Could it be that the hype may equal the reality?

Wanna get Flyered up for tonight's game? Check out this poster in today's Chicago Tribune by copying the link below in your browser. That's what we heard anyways.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/hockey/blackhawks/ct-chris-pronger-poster-flyers-blackhawks,0,6571141.photo

A Word for the Dearly Departed

Legendary former UCLA Men's Basketball Coach John Wooden passed away over the weekend.

We once had the chance to interview The Wizard of Westwood. By "interview" we mean watch an HBO documentary** about the legend and his 10 championships at UCLA.

Wooden would begin the first practice of every season at UCLA by having his team assemble in the gym barefoot, with sock and sneakers by their side. He'd enter in the same fashion. And then he addressed his squad.

"Gentleman, a good basketball player has good feet," he would say. "A guy cannot play with blisters, so we will practice how to properly put on our shoes."

Imagine the faces of the first-year players, some of whom were McDonald's All Americans, as Wooden continued on.

"Roll the sock up good and bring it over your toes. Nice and snug. Now, roll the sock down your foot, and slowly bring it up the ankle. Nice and snug, nice and snug.

"Now put on your shoes. Tighten the laces starting from the front of the shoe. Nice and snug..."

Starting every season, defending National Champion or otherwise, with such order and precision toward something so seemingly mundane goes a long way towards explaining Wooden's success.

"It's the little details that are vital. Little things make big things happen." -John Wooden

R.I.P. Coach.

The Pac-10, Big 12, Big 10 Conferences, and maybe the Philadelphia Public League are Looking into expansion possibilities.

Okay, the "Public League" bit was an exaggeration. However, do not be surprised if this whole expanding thing trickles down to the high school level, and one day Camden schools get offers to join the city in an urban "super conference."

It is not a question of "if" this will happen, but "when." After all, it is about money. It seems at the moment that sweeping change is inevitable to college football.

After just witnessing what happened recently with banks and our economy, expansion talk makes us uneasy on the D-train. We can hear it now when the system collapses because fans boycotted the BCMess championship game, "These conferences are two big two fail."

We propose that Athletic Directors from around the country play a round of the board game Risk to determine how to break up the entire nation into four obese conferences.

What really blows the steam on this locomotive about the possibilities of expansion is that we are not hearing the "purist" view from Directors on this subject. Yet they bemoan playoffs because bowls are important because of tradition.

It's time to call the NCAA what it is, a corporation.

This past Saturday the world had its eyes on the sport it loves second to soccer, Beer Pong. The Annual Passo Pong Tournament convened in a new stadium with a great mountainside view in Montgomery County. "Sexual Chocolate" emerged as the victor in a sharpshooting duel that thrilled and amazed the throng of folk in attendance. Comprised of D-train Passenger Andy P. (the white chocolate) and our Fireman Dave Euwings (the dark chocolate), Sexual Chocolate used timely marksmanship and distracting hip gyrations to triumph.

In related news, the rest of the staff have picked up some plywood and plastic cups to train for victory at next year's tourney.

**The UCLA Dynasty

Creature Double Feature

Sunday night was a proffesional Winter sports finals double feature. One movie was a horror movie with blood and gore to spare. The other film, a tense political action thriller with the standard plot twists.

It was reminiscent of a double play at the old Capitol Theatre on 52nd St. or the "Dollar Movie" in Yaden.

IN THE FIRST FEATURE: A bunch of hard working, fun loving Flyers from Philadelphia travelled to Chicago on a business trip. They thought that stopping for a skate at the United Center would be a really cool idea.

They never bargained for the terror that lay in store for them in the form of a menacing gang, hatchet-wielding gang known as the Blackhawks.

Of course the first character slaughtered was the nice guy. Cornered by the killers from Chicago, Michael Leighton (3 GA) was aggressively and relentlessly sliced with shots in a scene that made the Philadelphia audience queasy.

As the Flyers slipped and slid in Leighton's blood and a 3-0 deficit, the next character to catch the business end of Chicago's hatchets was the guy who most antagonized the Blackhawks and their followers.

Chris Pronger (-5)was not vanquished quickly. The Blackhawks were desperate to defend their home turf and Pronger had been (and we mean this as PC as possible) really pissing them off. Thus the killers took their time on Pronger.

The conclusion of the macabre first feature came as the good guys tried to make a distressed last stand. Brian Boucher (3 GA) screamed to Peter Laviolette, "Go! I'll hold these bastards off! Save yourself!"

IN THE SECOND FILM: The Celtic commandos were dropped deep behind enemy lines to rescue the team's self-respect after the thumping they took in Game 1 against the L.A. Laker cartel.

In the films first act, the cartel had the Celtic commandos pinned down against a ridge. Luckily Ray Allen (32 pts, Finals record 8 three-pointers) had taken a strategic sniper position on higher ground. Allen layed down a suppressing cover fire that allowed his team to get through the first half.

In the second act, the L.A. cartel rallied behind a guy code-named "The Spaniard" (Pau Gasol, 25 pts., 8 rebs., 6 blks.) and Andrew Bynum (21 pts., 6 rebs.), code-named "Baby Boy". Then, Rabid Rajon Rondo (19 pts., 12 rebs., 10 asts.), sporting neon green boots then led the charge to the chopper as his team escaped victoriously with their self-respect intact.

Following with tonight's theme, does anyone know of a close by drive-in theater close to Philly, and have a car with plenty of trunk space?

Who Knew a Heart Attack Could be So Much Fun

In one of the most apprehensive two-goal victories in Philadelphia Flyers' history, the orange and black defeated the Chicago Blackhawks 5-3 last night at the Wachovia Center to even the Stanley Cup Finals 2-2.

Flyer Captain Mike Richards (1 G) had to perform a heist to get his team started. After the Blackhawks (on the penalty kill) won a face off in their zone, Niklas Hjalmarsson (-1) was skating behind the net with the puck. Richards snuck up, picked Hjalmarsson's pocket, and immediately put the puck past an unsuspecting Antti Niemi (26 saves, 4 GA). Hjalmarsson filed a police report against Richards during the first intermission alleging theft.

A strange phenomenon occurred after play resumed following Richards' goal; the crowd of 20, 304 were practically silent with nerves. Their stress despite the advantage was understandable. No lead had been safe in these Cup Finals as neither team in victory thus far had been able to get some breathing room on the scoreboard. The Philly fans were locked in on this game, where a victory meant a new series and defeat would bring the odds against their team.

Ten minutes later Hjalmarsson, who was trying to be one of Philly's Three Stars (two unofficial assists), was attempting to clear the puck from his team's crease when he handed it directly to Matt Carle (1 G, +2, 4 BS) on the doorstep. Carle had no other choice but to put the puck in the net, and the crowd exhaled as if they were hanging with Whitney Houston and Angela Bassett.

Of course the stress was not over for Flyer fans, or the Flyers for that matter.

In the third period the Flyers put themselves up by 3 goals when Ville Leino (1 G, +1) shot the puck off of Kris Versteeg's (-1) rump and it ricocheted past Niemi .

Cue furious Chicago rally.

A power play goal by Dave Bolland (1 G, -2) brought Chi-town to within two. By the way it was three on five so they HAD to score or team morale would have died. Then Brian Campbell (1 G, 2 BS) took advantage of traffic in front of Michael Leighton (31 saves, 3 GA) to bring the Blackhawks to within one goal, and once again stress levels were high.

The scariest moment came when a puck played toward the Philly net by Chicago went off the skate of Braydon Coburn (-2) and hit the post rather than go into the net. Acknowledging the seriousness of that moment, Coburn threw his stick down and put his gloves on the puck.

And a lot of guys in the stands were probably wishing they brought backup underwear.

The Rich Get Richer

Clearly the Boston Celtics will have to try something different after the L.A. Lakers emphatically defeated them 102-89 to take a 1-0 lead in the NBA Finals. Perhaps Boston forward Rasheed Wallace (9 pts.)will comb his hair.

The bully took a shot to the nose and did not like it. Celtics Head Coach Doc Rivers summed it up best after the game when he said, "I thought the Lakers were clearly the more physical team today. I thought they were more aggressive. I thought they attacked us the entire night. I didn't think we handled it very well. They killed us on the glass."

The time had finally arrived to move on from this "toughness" debate.

Then Boston players were at the mic for post-game press sessions when they were fielding questions about THEIR toughness.

What ever happened to a team simply being better that night?

They say, "Nobody remembers second place," but that's not true anymore. Now second place is remembered, for being a bunch of sugar filled pastries.

Yes, in the 2008 finals Pau Gasol (23 pts. 14 rebs. 3 blks.) and L.A. literally got muscled off the court by the Celtics culminating in a 37 point whuppin' in the decisive Game 6. However Gasol responded vociferously with his performance in last year's playoffs as he improved in every statistical category from the previous year except assists. Even in this year's playoffs Gasol has been stout, especially when one considers how limited Andrew Bynum (10 pts. 6 rebs.) had been. His effort last night was the reason that the Celtics looked so meek with respect to inside play.

And yes, we are looking at you Kevin Garnett (16 pts. 4 rebs.). Honestly, four rebounds in 35 minutes?! If Garnett had to deliver forearm shivers to Magic center Dwight Howard in his team's last series, judging from last night's game, he's gonna have to give Gasol a drop-kick from the top rope to get an edge.

With regard to toughness, Gasol is singled out. We think Gasol's heart would hardly be questioned if he was from Eastern Russia rather than Spain. Spain just doesn't have that kind of reputation.

Speaking of tough after Ron Artest (15 pts.) and Paul Pierce (24 pts. 9 rebs.) did their MMA* impression 28 seconds into the game, the refs knew they had to quickly get this potential riot under control. The refs accomplished that end with their most effective crowd-control device, their whistles. Both teams combined for 18 personal fouls in the first period.

After his team closed out the Magic to reach The Finals, Doc Rivers proudly reminded everyone that, "This starting five has never lost a playoff series together."

Did you get the feeling that he had just jinxed his with that statement?

*MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Watching Game 3 Tire You Out?

We won! No we didn't! We won!

Whew! They are gonna need a fresh crowd off the bench after the Philadelphia Flyers rollercoaster 4-3 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Finals yesterday in Philly.

The home crowd was in a mood to start a little ruckus as D-train Daily Passenger, and Flyers season-ticket holder, Andrew P. posted on Faceook, "This is by far the loudest game of the playoff season, yet."

And the Flyers gave the home faithful reason to stay fired up with inspired play. On defense the were everywhere, and on offense they kept up the pressure on Chicago goalie Antti Niemi firing shots in waves.

Marian Hossa (we hate that guy) was called for slashing after swinging his stick down on Chris Pronger's. Hossa's penalty was further evidence that Pronger and his difficult nature is getting to Chicago forwards. Speaking of which, we love how Pronger has this microscope on him which in turn keeps it off his teammates. It's one of those intangibles that can help his team towards a series victory.

The Flyers cashed in almost a minute into the ensuing power play. Scott Hartnell, about to lose his skates, flipped the puck backdoor to Danny Briere and the roof came off the Wachovia Center as Philly a 1-0 lead.

Speaking of the call on Hossa, and calls in general, the refs are missing a ton of penalties on both teams. It is more than likely that due to the stakes (the calls would probably be made during the regular season), the refs are "lettin' 'em play" however, that does not account for the quick whistles whenever it even looks like Niemi has a whiff of possession of the puck.

Yes, we are being partial. This is the United States of Litigation, so fee free to sue us.

With respect to Hartnell's power play goal in the second period, why does play have to continue for so long before a goal is reviewed? Not wanting to interrupt a scoring chance for a team is understandable, but can't play be stopped once the puck is in say the neutral zone? And what of the almost two minutes of game-time that elapsed before play was stopped? The jury must disregard that time?

When Patrick Kane's wrister went high stick side on Michael Leighton to put the Blackhawks up 3-2 early in the third period, you could feel the collective tension throughout the Delaware Valley. The reality of a another 3-0 series deficit was staring Philly in the face. Surely the hockey gods would not be so kind twice in the same post-season to the Flyers. And considering the team's journey, it could not end like this. It wouldn't.

An immensely tense twenty seconds would pass before Ville Leino would put the puck in the net to force overtime.

The refs would have to use replay again to overturn a Philadelphia goal, but it may have been a case of delaying the inevitable. Claude Giroux sealed a Flyer victory and an exhausted D-train Staff could hardly stay awake.

On NBC-10, a report will be done on how Chicago fans were treated here in Philly.

Spoiler alert: rudely to say the least.