Bill Clement on hockey sticks

It's quite amusing to hear all the "Crosby cries" pleas outta Philly when your organization and Cro-Magnon Man fan base does nothing but whine about officiating and blame every loss on the refs. The Pensblog did a great job of summing up this dichotomy yesterday (including a hilarious portrait of Pierre McGuire and Mike Richards).


Anyways...

Bill Clement, Flyer apologist, was heard on NHL Home Ice yesterday giving a different take (or excuse) on the OT slashing call to Claude Giroux in Game 2. According to Clement, hockey sticks aren't made the way they used to be (surely referring back to the Broad Street Bimbo days). No argument there. So if Chris Kunitz would've had a stronger stick, it could've absorbed the 2-handed chopping slash by Giroux, and no automatic penalty would've been called. Interesting.

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Interesting to hear some one's attitude once they leave Pumpkin Patch Land....

Ken Hitchcock, the former Flyer HC who started the whole "Sidney Dives" mantra which the Flyer faithful still cling to with an incredible lack of creativity, was asked about the officiating in the Detroit / Columbus series after Game 2. Hitch was basically being goaded into the blame game, as the reporter reminded him that Detroit was getting the majority of the PP's in the series.

Hitch had an interesting take, saying that Detroit had earned most of the power plays with their play, and that his Columbus team had taken a few penalties because of poor defensive position.

Seriously?!? A superior and more talented team actually "earned" a power play because of their play?? It wasn't a conspiracy?? Shocking.