Ouch! Flyers get Waxed in Buffalo

Over the past few hockey seasons, the Buffalo Sabres have initiated a rich tradition of truly and utterly embarrassing the Philadelphia Flyers. I can't be the only person that remembers the 8-0 drubbing in the playoffs a few seasons ago when ESPN decided to pull the plug on the game in the third period, or the pair of beatings from the playoffs last season, 8-2 and 7-1 respectively. Tonight, however, the Sabres took it to a new level of spanktitude, taking the Flyers to the woodshed 9-1 ^...

The scary thing is that it could have easily been 12 or 13 to 1 if not for some stellar net minding by Esche in the first period. Seriously, Esche actually played OK hockey, stopping 12 first period shots, including many point-blank attempts.

If you are a Flyers fan, what can you possibly take away from this game and their overall 1W 5L start? They are getting out-skated, out-worked and ultimately, out-scored each and every game. Looks like they have completely tuned-out Hitchcock, who pulled a real 'classy' move by sacrificing Esche tonight.

Would anyone else be surprised to see Hitchcock, or for that matter, GM Bob 'Don't Call me Bobby' Clarke get the axe? This is a team without direction, with a lumbering defence, below average goaltending and a disinterested captain in Forsberg.

It will be interesting to see how things shake out in Philly over the coming days...