10 lbs of chips in a 5 lb bag

     That's exactly what's happened with this NHL season.  With disagreements between players and owners rising, the NHL commissioner, Gary Bettman (he is a very bad man that no on likes. No, not even his mother), put the NHL into a lockout.  That means exactly what it sounds like- no NHL.  Days turned to months as fans awaited an agreement so they could enjoy their beloved game and employees awaited an agreement so they could get back to work.  There was obviously a thirst to end the lockout as you can see the passion in this video:

     On January 6th, Gary Bettman's heart grew three times it's regular size and the lockout was officially ended.  Three days later, a schedule for the NHL was thrown together with the idea of fitting as many games as they could into a shortened season.  In most seasons, back-to-back games are extremely rare, but with the shortened season, an NHL team's schedule resembles more of an MLB team's schedule.  There is a large controversy over the idea of fitting 10 pounds of chips into a 5 pound bag this season, but the majority of players, fans, and employees are happy to be able to participate in the culture of NHL hockey again.

     So how did the Flyers handle this baseball-like schedule?  In short- not good.  Not good at all.  They quickly found themselves on the wrong end of the league's standings as they watched teams like the Blackhawks, Devils, and Ducks climb up to the top of the league's standings.  The sight of such would give any Flyers fan a headache, heart attack, and temporary insanity.  The Flyers have, however, turned around since then and have started to climb ever so slowly back up the standings. 

     Math time!  Let's go over exactly how the NHL breaks down into conferences and divisions.  There are two conferences: East and West.  Easy stuff.  Now, in each conference, there are three divisions.  The east calls them Atlantic (that's where our Flyers are), Northeast, and Southeast.  The west calls them Central, Northwest, and Pacific.  The Atlantic division is made up of our beloved Flyers, the Devils, Islanders, Rangers and certainly not least, the Penguins.  You can take a field trip now to the Standings link up top to go see the layout of the NHL and how the teams are doing.

Welcome

     Have you ever found yourself wearing your favorite Flyers shirt and a fellow Flyers fan approaches you and sparks a conversation about the Flyers and you realize that you have no clue what he's talking about?  He's going on about how he can't believe how Lavi pulled Bryz in that last game when it clearly wasn't his fault that we were getting torn apart.  Or maybe he's trying to get your opinion on who you really think should be Claude's partner during the PK.  And all you can do is just nod, because you have no clue what this guy is saying.  You're pretty sure that you recognize some of the words spilling out of his mouth, but you know that you're lost.  You panic.  You search through your brain trying to find something relevant to say, and all you can come up with is, "yeah man... couldn't have said it any better myself."
     Well this blog is here to help you.  I'm going to be talking about the Flyers as they barrel through this shortened season and will be explaining the game of hockey as I go along.  If you're new to the sport, welcome!  If you've been watching your whole life, well you're welcome here, too!