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2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs: Flyers vs. Canadiens Game 2 recap, analysis – Broad Street Hockey

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1. Montreal isn’t going to roll over

If the Flyers want to win this series, and I fully believe they do, they need to find a way to match the compete level of the Canadiens. They didn’t do that nearly enough in either of the first two games, especially not yesterday. We knew coming into this series this was going to be their gameplan, because it’s been their gameplan all season. Grind and outwork your opponent, play fast, win puck battles, be opportunistic, etc.

Simply put, the Montreal Canadiens outworked the Flyers and that’s why they’re in this series. They’re not going to roll over and die at the first sign of trouble. The good news is that we know this Flyers team is capable of doing exactly what the Canadiens did, because they’ve done it all season. They just need to do it.

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2. The Gostisbehere/Braun pairing isn’t going to cut it

One change that seemingly has to be made is splitting up the Shayne Gostisbehere and Justin Braun pairing. It’s not getting the job done and it’s not just one of them that’s struggling. Gostisbehere struggled again failing to find the form from the final game of the round robin, and while you hope that doesn’t result in him being scratched for game three, it wouldn’t shock me.

We all know at his peak, Gostisbehere is a better option to have in the lineup than a guy like Robert Hagg, however it’s clear he still isn’t at his peak. The pairing posted Corsi-For percentages under 42 percent for the second straight game and frankly, that isn’t good enough. Not even close. But to be fair to these guys, it’s not like anyone else is really looking all that great at the moment either. Something has to — and probably will given what we’ve seen from Alain Vigneault this year — change for game three.

3. The first playoff adversity for Carter Hart

By no means is Hart to blame for any of what happened yesterday. He was left hung out to dry by his teammates and it unfortunately resulted in him getting yanked prior to the end of the second period. How he responds to this will be vital to the Flyers chances of going far, but as he and the team have done all year, they’ve bounced back after kicks to the gut like this.

4. Need more traffic in front of Price

It’s pretty obvious through just two games that Carey Price came to play this series. When Price comes to play, he’s arguably the toughest goalie to beat in the entire NHL, and if the Flyers are going to beat him, they need bodies blocking his view. This was an issue in Game 1 as well at times, but especially yesterday. Look at how they got their two goals on Wednesday night: a shot from the point that went off Jakub Voracek who was screening Price, and then a rebound goal from Joel Farabee. The theme: bodies in front of Price.

You’re not going to beat this guy with wristers from the faceoff dots; hell even the slot is probably not going to work, it’s Carey freaking Price. The Flyers have plenty of guys big enough and good enough at screening the goalie to do this, they just need to implement it.

5. Get back to what you do best

Something I’ve noticed in these first two games is for some reason the Flyers are trying more stretch passes to get out of their own zone. This is something they’ve gotten away from compared to the Hakstol Flyers, with breakouts centering around a close support system. So it’s a tad confusing why this is happening against a team like Montreal, who would be susceptible to short, quick passes on the breakout.

If the Flyers do get back to this, I think you see them dominate the game from start to finish. We saw in the third period on Wednesday, they really got back to the close support breakout method, and it was no coincidence they looked much better in the third. Montreal isn’t going to stop coming with their aggressive forecheck, so it’s time to get back to doing what this team does best on the breakout.

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Shane Pinto has a goal, three assists as the Senators roll over the Sabres – Sportsnet.ca

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Here’s what we know about the allegations against Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara

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LOS ANGELES –

Only a week has passed since the Los Angeles Dodgers abruptly fired Ippei Mizuhara, the interpreter and constant companion of their new $700 million slugger, Shohei Ohtani.

But the biggest story of baseball’s spring is still murky — and shocking — as the regular season begins in earnest Thursday.

The scandal encompasses gambling, alleged theft, extensive deceit and the breakup of an enduring partnership between the majors’ biggest star and his right-hand man. Investigations are underway by the IRS and Major League Baseball, and Ohtani publicly laid out a version of events Monday that placed the responsibility entirely on Mizuhara.

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Here are the basics as Ohtani and the Dodgers prepare for their home opener against St. Louis on Thursday:

Why was Ippei Mizuhara fired by the Dodgers?

Ohtani claims his close friend repeatedly took money from his accounts to fund his illegal sports gambling habit. Ohtani also says he was completely unaware of the “massive theft,” as his lawyers termed it, until Mizuhara confessed to him and the Dodgers last week in South Korea, where the team opened its regular season against the San Diego Padres.

Mizuhara has given more than one version of his path to this trouble, which was catalyzed by the IRS’ investigation of Mathew Bowyer, an alleged illegal bookmaker. Mizuhara has consistently said he has a gambling addiction, and he abused his close friendship with the Dodgers superstar to feed it.

Did Shohei Ohtani ever bet on sports?

That’s the biggest question to be answered in Major League Baseball’s investigation, and the two-time AL MVP emphatically says he has never gambled on sports or asked anybody to bet on sports for him.

Further, Ohtani said Monday he has never knowingly paid a bookie to cover somebody else’s bets. Mizuhara also said Ohtani does not bet, and Bowyer’s attorney said the same.

Mizuhara told ESPN on March 19 that Ohtani paid his gambling debts at the interpreter’s request, saying the bets were on international soccer, the NBA, the NFL and college football. If that were true, Ohtani could face trouble even if he didn’t make the bets himself — but ESPN said Mizuhara dramatically changed his story the following day, claiming Ohtani had no knowledge of the gambling debts and had not transferred any money to bookmakers.

MLB rules prohibit players and team employees from wagering — even legally — on baseball. They also ban betting on other sports with illegal or offshore bookmakers.

What’s next for Ohtani?

Ohtani has played in every Dodgers game since the story broke, and he is expected to be their designated hitter in most regular-season games this season while baseball’s investigation continues.

Ohtani says his legal team has alerted authorities to the theft by Mizuhara, although his team has repeatedly declined to say which authorities have been told, according to ESPN.

Ohtani’s new interpreter is Will Ireton, a longtime Dodgers employee and fluent Japanese speaker who has filled several jobs with the team in everything from game preparation and analytics to recruiting free-agent pitches. But Ireton won’t be Ohtani’s constant companion, and manager Dave Roberts said Tuesday he’s optimistic that Ohtani will become closer to his teammates without the “buffer” provided for years by Mizuhara.

What don’t we know?

MLB’s investigation of Ohtani’s role in the events could last weeks or months, and it’s unlikely to be publicized until it’s complete. No one outside of Ohtani’s inner circle knows what it will find or how serious any repercussions could be, and nobody outside the circle is making informed speculation about the process.

One major question looms: How did Mizuhara have enough access to Ohtani’s bank accounts to get the alleged millions without Ohtani knowing? Is the slugger overly trusting, or is he wildly negligent in managing his vast fortune, which includes years of lavish endorsement deals in addition to his baseball salaries? Why didn’t the team around him, including his agent, do more to prevent the possibility of the theft he claims?

Finally, where is Mizuhara? Anybody who knows isn’t saying. He was fired in South Korea and apparently didn’t travel home with the Dodgers. Japanese media have visited his home in Southern California to look for him. Although he was born in Japan, Mizuhara’s life is in the U.S. — but his life will never be the same.

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NHL analyst gets absolutely roasted for ‘insanely rich’ take on Zach Hyman

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They say everyone is entitled to their opinion, but when you’re a member of the media and you share a truly awful take, you’re going to get called out for it.

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That’s what happened when NHL analyst/podcast host Andrew Berkshire decided to post a video on X (formerly known as Twitter) mainly attributing Zach Hyman’s success to the fact that he grew up “insanely rich.”

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The post came on the heels of the Oilers winger reaching the 50-goal milestone for the season and was rightly ripped apart by several notable colleagues, former players and fans in general.

In the video, which has been viewed more than 5.4 million times as of Wednesday morning, begins by stating that he has been in the sports media industry professionally since 2012 and that the industry “has to do a better job of telling truthful stories,” before discounting Hyman’s accomplishment.

“The story that’s being sold right now … is that, you know, if you work hard, if you stick to it, you can get there too, 31-year-old guy finally hits the 50-goal mark, harder worker, all that,” Berkshire said.

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“Yeah, great, except you’re missing the part of the story where Zach Hyman grew up insanely rich.”

Berkshire, who works as an analyst and host with the Steve Dangle Podcast Network, then details how Hyman’s parents bought a league to “guarantee him playing time,” and that he did “exclusive training that only a rich person … could afford.”

“This is a person that has had every single possible advantage to get where they are today,” Berkshire continued, before also bringing up the fact that Hyman has been fortunate enough to play on teams and lines with Auston Matthews and Connor McDavid most of his career.

While Berkshire does state that Hyman is a hard worker and brings grit when he plays, he also discounts it almost immediately.

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“Working hard, everybody works hard. You think every NHLer didn’t get there by working hard?” he asks. “Let’s not build this stupid narrative of ‘work hard, you’ll succeed.’ It’s just not true.

“There are people who’ve worked as hard as Zach Hyman their entire lives and never got a sniff of the American Hockey League, let alone the NHL because they didn’t have the advantages he had.”

Former Leafs defenceman turned NHL analyst Carlo Colaiacovo thought the whole take was ridiculous, posting the following: “Let me tell you something Andrew. You can’t buy your way to the NHL. You definitely can’t buy your way to having the career Hyman has had which includes scoring 50. Pretty ridiculous thing to say.”

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Retired NHLer Bobby Ryan was one of the first to weigh in, calling the opinion “purely false.”

“As someone who has maybe lived on both ends of the ‘financial edge’ I can say this is just purely false. Who cares, he accomplished a feat not many do and to downplay the way it’s reported is just wrong. You show up, do the work, good things happen,” Ryan posted on X.

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Jonathan Goodman, who claims he was Hyman’s personal trainer and tasked with getting the budding pro ready for the combine, had a glowing review of his former pupil’s work ethic.

“Yes, he had advantages. His family was wealthy and father obsessed with his success,” he said. “But the dude worked hard. Harder than anybody I’ve ever seen.”

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But, perhaps another former NHLer, Jason Strudwick said it best, replying to the video by asking: “Did Hyman not sign an autograph for you one time?”

 

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