* The Flyers pounded the Florida Panthers last night at the Wells Fargo Center, 5-1. In two home games Philly has outscored their opponents 13-3.
The Flyers go to 4-2 on the season. They are showcasing their speed and youth, mixed in with veteran leadership Wayne Simmonds and Claude Giroux are playing great. They are 2-0 at home and really should've won their away game at Nashville.
Philadelphia has 3 more home games coming up: tomorrow night in a rematch with the Predators, a Saturday night clash with Connor McDavid and Edmonton, and next Tuesday with the Anaheim Ducks.
Philly stands with 7 points in the Metropolitian division. just behind Columbus, New Jersey and Pittsburgh.
Surprising so far: The Rangers are off to a slow start with a 1-5-1 record. So is Montreal, at 1-4-1. The expansion Vegas Golden Knights are leading the Pacific with a 5-1 record. The only undefeated team in the NHL is the LA Kings, going 4-0-1, while the only winless club is the Arizona Coyotes, starting off 0-5-1
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* The Sixers' organization is really clueless. The team begins the NBA season tonight in Washington against the Wizards. Instead of an exciting season ahead the fans are forced to focus on an unwanted situation between star center Joel Embiid and the 76'ers front office and medical staff.
The Sixers' doctors are recommending that Embiid play on more than 16 minutes tonight vs the Wizard. Embiid feels good and labels those minutes restrictions as "bullshit.' He's right. Let the player tell you how he feels. Why should an inept medical staff, led by an Australian zoologist, tell the $147 million young star how he feels and put him on a time restriction? He is 23 and wants to play. Isn't that better than a guy dogging it?
Once again, the Sixers organization shows itself to be the stupid, classless group that they are. Trust the Process? Why don't you trust your own players first?
What happens if the Sixers are in a tight game in the 4th quarter and Embiid has exceeded his time limit? Does he sit or play?
It's not fair to the fans, who have waited so long for a winner, or to the coaches, who want to win yet want to follow the company line, and to Embiid himself, who recently signed a contract extension but must feel the organization is clueless and has no faith in him.
* The NBA season kicked-off last night in dramatic fashion. The Cavs beat the Celtics and in an intriguing West Coast game, the defending champion Golden State Warriors lost by a point to the Houston Rockets.
Playing at home in front of a sold-out crowd, the Warriors raised their championship banner and received their rings. New Warrior ( and ex-Sixer) Nick Young made 6 three-pointers. But James Hardin and the Rockets withstood Golden State and pulled out an early key statement game. The Rockets should contend in the west and beating Golden State- in their home opener ( the second straight home opener that the Warriors have lost)- gets Houston off to a strong start.
* My NBA picks? Will the Sixers make the playoffs?
It really depends on how healthy the Sixers are. That's the bottom line. I think the team also needs time to jell, especially if their key players are in and out of the line-up.
So, I say yes, the Sixers make the playoffs, but only win 40 games to sneak in. Too much turmoil and uncertainty surrounds this team. The team will waffle around .500 all year, and coach Brett brown will be on the hot seat, now that he is expected to win.
Despite the loss on Tuesday night, the Warriors are too good not to win the West at least one more time.
A surprise team to keep an eye on is the Minnesota Timberwolves, who should not only make the playoffs, but should make some noise this season with their young and talented crew.
The East is a tough call. Can LeBron James rise Cleveland once again for a championship run/ Does Boston finally break thru after reshuffling the deck? Who is the surprise team in the East- Toronto? Atlanta? or the Sixers?
Golden State wins a second straight title, their third ion four years. They might be too full of themselves. Plus winning back-to-back titles is tough to do in any sport. But they have what it takes to step up when they have to, as witnessed by their playoff run last season, when they won 16 of 17 games.
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The Yankees tied their American League Championship Series vs Houston, two games apiece, overcoming a late 4-0 deficit, winning 6-4. Baby Bombers Aaron Judge and Gary Sanchez both hit home runs. ( are you watching, Matt Klentak?).
New York plays tonight in Yankee Stadium in pivotal Game 5 vs the Astros. Win and the Yanks take a 3-2 lead going back to Houston. Lose and the Astros only need to take one home game to win the pennant and move on to the World Series.
* Meanwhile, the Dodgers all but wrapped up the National League flag by defeating the Cubs at Wrigley Field, going up 3-0 in the Championship Series. Even if the Cubbies win the next two nights in Chicago, they still need to go back to LA and sweep the Dodgers. Not going to happen.
Way back in spring training I picked the Dodgers to win the World Championship. I didn't think the Cubs would get back to the Series. They had their one year of glory. They broke their jinx. They still have a good, young team, and should win more titles in the near future. Just not this year.
Their manager, Joe Madden, mismanaged Game 7 vs the Indians last October He got lucky when Chicago won anyway. He mismanaged his bullpen in the Dodger series and it's coming back to bite him.
* By the way, it was nice to see the Yankee-Astro game end before 9:00 Little kids could watch the end of the game yet still get some sleep for school the next morning.
It won't happen, but why not play the weekend World Series games during the day, like old times?
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The Eagles have started practicing for their big Monday night match-up with division rival Washington.Beat the Redskins again, after defeating them in the opening game of the season, 30-17, would mean a sweep of Washington and a 3-0 record in NFC East.
Going 6-1, with home games against San Francisco and Denver looming, would look good for the Birds. A loss wouldn't be devastating ( Washington needs the game more)but a win would makes things a hell of a lot easier on Philly. With Dallas in flux and their star running back Zeke Elliot about to do his six-game suspension, and with the Giants still sucking, the Birds would all but dispatch their main rival in the division.
I'll make my Eagles-Redskins prediction tomorrow.
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