"Top 10 Most Painful Moments" #8: Biron the Boob

We continue our "Top 10 Most Painful Moments" feature, counting down the ten times that the Penguins have caused Flyers fans the most pain over the past few years. Before continuing, here's a rundown of the previous moments we've counted down on OBG...
#10: Sykora's Called Shot
#9: Letang's OT Winner

#8: Biron the Boob

When the Flyers acquired Martin Biron at the 2007 trade deadline, it was considered a big acquisition. Biron was a career backup that many in Philadelphia believed had the stuff to be a number one goaltender. However, Biron never really cemented himself as a number one. It was because of instances like moment number eight on our list that Biron failed to clearly prove his worth as anything more than an above-average career backup...

It was February 21, 2009, and things couldn't have been much better for the Flyers. They were 31-16-9, but the Penguins, at 28-25-6, were down in the dumps. They had just fired head coach Michel Therrien, and were in the midst of a horrible 12-19-1 streak caused in large part by dropping nine of their last ten road games. The Penguins were slowly dropping out of the playoff race, while the Flyers were in fantastic position, as the two met for an afternoon showdown in Philadelphia.

The Flyers got things off on the right foot, scoring first thanks to a backhander from Joffery Lupul. However, the second period brought trouble for the Flyers as it so often had that season, as the Penguins got goals from their three players probably liked least by Flyers fans- Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Ruslan Fedotenko. The third period saw the Flyers tie the game twice- once on a shorthander from Mike Richards, and then after another Fedotenko tally, Mike Knuble knotted the game up at four with 5:35 to go.

It was clear that a fantastic ending was in store. I'll give you one guess who that ending benefitted...

With just under three minutes left, Pascal Dupuis plowed through the Philadelphia defense and tried to get a good angle at the net. Now, what was Martin Biron thinking at the time? Let's look back at the brain archives (don't even ask how I got this- I just know a guy) of good old Marty...

Wow, I really should pick up milk at the Wawa. I've had enough with that A-Plus store, especially after they ran out of 2% milk three weeks in a row. That's a load of bull-...

Oh crap, there's a man skating at me with the puck! What was that thing I learned in goalie school- something about cutting off the angle? Yeah, that was it...

Reminiscing about his many years of making honor roll at goalie school, Marty skated right out towards Dupuis, probably yelling "BOO!" when he got a couple feet away from him. Realizing that what he was trying only works on five-year olds in pee-wee hockey; he slid out on his bottom, and momentarily broke up the play. Pascal Dupuis just stood there, in disbelief that Biron had just slid out to stop him when he didn't even have an angle to shoot from. He then calmly just backhanded the puck to Sidney Crosby, who knocked it home, and did a little victory jig.

And what did Sid the Kid have to say about the play?

"It was really a good break. You can't really blame the goalie."

I just laughed so hard that I popped a blood vessel.

Pittsburgh went on to win the game in stunning fashion, and their victory set them off on a tear, as they won seven of their next eight, including winning five of their next six road games. This trend lead to the Penguins eventually overtaking the Flyers in the standings on the final day of the season, and because of that they got home-ice advantage in their playoff series against the Flyers- all of this because, without a shadow of a doubt, Martin Biron is a boob.

Next time on "Top 10 Most Painful Moments": I get so frustrated at the Penguins that I actually turn the television off- and I don't think I can stress how shocking of a thing that is for me to do.

"Top 10 Most Painful Moments" #9: Letang's OT Winner

We continue our "Top 10 Most Painful Moments" feature, counting down the ten times that the Penguins have caused Flyers fans the most pain over the past few years. Before continuing, here's a rundown of the previous moments we've counted down on OBG...

#10: Sykora's Called Shot

#9: Letang's OT Winner

After the Penguins defeat of the Flyers in the first round of the 2009 playoffs, I found myself strongly hoping that the Capitals would be able to knock off the Penguins in the second round. It would be a double victory- not only would the Penguins be eliminated from the playoffs, but they would be knocked out by a team the Flyers had beaten in the first round the year before. If the Capitals could earn the victory, it would make the Flyers' botched playoff run that much less painful.

The Capitals started off the series well in Game 1, with a come-from-behind, 3-2 victory. Game 2 was one of the most incredible games of the entire playoffs, a game in which both Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby notched hat tricks. It was a huge game that got a lot of coverage in the following days- and that made the Capitals' 4-3 victory that much sweeter. Crosby had been edged by Ovechkin- who now had as many goals as he had managed in the Capitals' entire seven-game series against my Flyers the year before- and the Penguins were in a 2-0 hole. Everything seemed to be going the Caps' way.

Game 3 got off to a fantastic start. Under 90 seconds into the game, Marc-Andre Fleury made an embarrassing mistake when he tried to play a puck behind the net. He completely misplayed it, and it ricocheted right out in front of the net where Alex Ovechkin knocked it home to give the Caps the early lead. Ruslan Fedotenko would tie the game in the second period, and the game remained tied going into the third. It remained tied until late in the third period, when Evgeni Malkin scored one of the more electrifying goals I've seen, cutting back behind Washington forward Brooks Laich and snapping home the go-ahead, power-play goal. He showboated a bit on the celebration, but the electricity was short-lived. Nicklas Backstrom put a smile back on my face with an impressive power-play goal of his own, as he scored from an impossible angle on a rebound shot with 1:50 left to tie the game.

So the stage was set for overtime- the Penguins, without a shadow of a doubt, needed to win the game to have any chance in the series. If they won they'd still have a lot of work to do if they wanted to win the series, but the thought of the Penguins being all but eliminated by an overtime goal was irresistible. Even now, I smile at the very thought of it.

However, as always, my dreams weren't meant to be. With a little over eight minutes to go in overtime, Kristopher Letang scored on a point shot right off the faceoff, putting the Penguins back in the series. While I knew that the Capitals were still the heavy favorites, I felt very uneasy about the Penguins, despite their being down 2-1 in the series. Sure enough, the Penguins won the next two games, and eventually blew out the Capitals in Game 7 by a score of 6-2.

So, it was a 3-2 victory for the Penguins, starting a 3 game winning streak that launched them into the 3rd round. I hate the number three...

Next Time on "Top 10 Most Painful Moments": Concrete evidence as to why Martin Biron is currently the third-string goaltender for hockey's worst team, the New York Islanders...