The Grudge Match

What's been all-but-inevitable has now become official.  The Flyers will play the hated Pens in the first round. 

It will be a nasty series.  I have to say it was very gratifying to hear some piling on the Pens in the last week.  First, Berube said Malkin and Crosby were the dirtiest players on their team.  Then Milbury called out Crosby (for which the league and network leaned on him to apologize), and Tortorella said they were the most arrogant team in the league for their hypocrisy in whining about cheap shots.  Lastly, Cherry called out Crosby for slashing and giving it out to guys.

Personally, I have been harping on these guys for years, mostly Malkin, for being total weasels.  When Crosby came into the league, he dove and cried all the time.  He mostly cleaned that up.  Malkin has flown totally under most people's radar, and I think he's a total punk.  Play him physically, and he will respond with sucker punches, slashes and elbows.  He will not square up physically--he only takes shots on unsuspecting players.  He's been doing this for years.

I also don't really care for Crosby complaining after the Flyers game last weekend about the Schenn cross-check (even though seconds before he hit Schenn late, high, and with more force), basically called out the Flyers for whining about the Briere hit ("maybe [Laviolette] shouldn't have put him out here"), and only then later admitting he was slashing the Flyers like crazy that game.

I don't like the Pens one bit, and this series could be a real slugfest, especially early on when each team is trying to set the tone and has some breathing room.  And all this is without even mentioning the Pens usual parade of players known to throw more than their share of cheapshots over the last few years---Kunitz, Ruutu, Cooke.  Whatever happens in this series physically, the Pens deserve it and I'm sick of their holier-than-thou attitude.