The Flyers are in the Caps' domes..
Posted: Tue Jan 06, 2009 9:12 pm
Caps coach takes shot at Flyers
By Sam Carchidi
INQUIRER STAFF WRITER
WASHINGTON - Still stung by his team's 7-1 defeat at the Wachovia Center last month, Washington Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau recently took some verbal shots at the Flyers for what he perceived as running up the score.
It was the Caps' worst loss since 2006, and Boudreau thought the Flyers rubbed it in by playing some of their top forwards in the closing minutes.
"What goes around comes around eventually," he told NHL.com. "And it will."
Boudreau's Caps play host to the Flyers tonight.
Relayed Boudreau's comments, Flyers coach John Stevens bristled after today's morning skate.
"You guys can take this Boudreau stuff and you can take it somewhere else," Stevens told reporters. "I'm not getting drawn in tit-for-tat stuff. I don't know where this is going. Bruce coaches the Washington Capitals. I don't care what he says. I've got my team to get ready here. This is obviously an important game, a hard game, and I don't care what he said, to be honest with you. He can say what he wants. Our team plays the way we play. We're a standup, honest hockey team, and he can save that stuff for the media outside of me because I don't really care to hear it."
The teams met in a memorable playoff series last year, with the Flyers emerging victorious on Joffrey Lupul's overtime goal in Game 7. In their only meeting this season, the Flyers won by six goals despite getting outshot, 48-28, on Dec. 20.
"We don't need any more motivation other than the fact that we put a Flyers jersey on, to be honest with you," Stevens said. "We thought last game they would come out hard _ and they did _ because we ended their season the year before. . . . The fact we beat them the way we did last time and the fact we ended their season last year will serve as motivation of them. There's no question we have to come out ready to play."
In today's Washington Post, Boudreau said, "I don't know how much they like us, but we don't like them. I think the animosity [at the end of last month's game] was more frustration on our part. We thought we had played a pretty good game, but yet we were down, 7-1. There were a lot of boiling points.
"They wanted to pile it on as much as possible. They were probably bummed out that their tough guy got beat up twice, so they started coming after our guys."
He was referring to the Flyers' Riley Cote being decisioned by Donald Brashear. Twice.
"That's their coach. It doesn't matter to me what he says," Flyers defenseman Kimmo Timonen said. "He's trying to pump his team up, probably. That's all right by me. To me, the biggest thing is we have to worry about ourselves and they can worry about themselves."
Stevens was perturbed by Boudreau's comments.
"Bruce shouldn't speak about tough guys," Stevens said. "Riley Cote is one of the toughest guys in the league, and there's not many guys that would take on Brashear two times in a hockey game, so I have nothing but respect for Donald Brashear and nothing but respect for Riley Cote."
Today's Post story also criticized Flyers fans, saying they rocked one of the Caps' employees' buses back and forth and covered it with mustard, ketchup and shaving cream in last year's playoffs.
In the Post story, Washington defenseman Shaone Morrisonn said Flyers fans were mooning the Caps' team bus last year and throwing beer bottles "and whatever they had in their hands. It's to be expected from Philly fans. Didn't they boo Santa Claus?"
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