Page 15 Professional The Lion’ S sve. April 13, 2011 EATER, SB Fo oh PRE DOR] Sports Flyers vs. Sabres Round 1 By Nick Corrato - Lion 5s°Eye Staff Writer - ncj5098@psu.edu The Flyers, Saturday, clinched their first Atlantic Divi- sion title since 2004 with a 7-4 win over the New York Islanders. They will face the Buffalo Sabres in the first round of the 2011 Stanley Cup Playoffs. “It was a long season,” said Andrej Meszaros, winner of the Flyers’ Barry Ashbee Trophy, awarded to the team’s most out- standing defenseman, “the last few - weeks weren’t that great, but over- all it was pretty good. Starting now it is a new season and everybody is excited” The two clubs last met in -2006, when the Sabres bounced the Flyers out of the Eastern Confer- ence Quarter Finals in 6 games. This will be the 9th playoff series between the Flyers and Sabres, the second most against any opponent in Flyers history. The Flyers and Sabres split their regular season series this year, with each team winning two games. They last met on April 8th, a 4-3 8 iz §deighaey / overtime win for the Sabres in Buf- falo. “They’re going to come in here with a lot of confidence and we are going to have to shut them down quick and be hard on them,” commented winger Scott Hartnell on the upcoming series, “they have young, skilled snipers with a lot of speed. A good counteract to that is hitting them, being physical, and knocking them off of the puck. That’s Flyers hockey so we match up well.” Despite the team’s 3-7 record through the last ten games of the regular season, Chairman Ed Snider is optimistic about the Fly- ers’ playoff chances. “I think they’re more ready than last year’s team,” said Snider, “they’re a good team, good players, and I’m confident we’ll do well in the playoffs.” The Atlantic Division championship is the 16th in fran- chise history. The Flyers will play post-season hockey for the 35th time in 43 seasons. 2011 NBA Playoffs By Ryvann O’Donnell - Lion's Eve Staff Writer - r005042@psu.edu Just like any other season of basket- ball there are favorites to compete for the championship, there are also many upsets that have happened through history. For the 2011 playoffs the top four predicted slots for the championship are the Boston Celtics, San Antonio Spurs, Los Angeles Lakers and Chicago Bulls. Every year it seems that an unex- pected team comes out of the wood work, and gives the top dog a run for their money. Just last season the Thunder, which was an eighth seed, made Los Angeles, shit their pants after playing six games. There was also a huge upset when the seventh seeded spurs ripped apart the seconded seeded mavericks. The playoffs this season look like it could be quite entertaining for basketball fans all over the country. One team this sea- son that has not done to great would be the Milwaukee Bucks, but seeing what they have done in past years should have fans holding on hope, considering it is the same line up from last season. Milwaukee seems to be coming back with vengeance winning five of their past eight games. People should really start talking about how the Houston Rockets are starting to dominate this late in the season. Maybe they were trying to make the season more entertaining, who knows? These boys are not giving up, over just a short period The Rock- ets won 11 of 14 games, even taking down the Boston Celtics. The only way Houston is going to stay in the competition though, is if there defense starts to step up to the plate. Now let’s talk PHILADELPHIA, with a record of 36-34 The Sixers should not be taken lightly. The Sixers are currently in sixth place in the east, and a half game away from the New York Knicks. The Sixers defense is what is going to keep them going. Something seems to have clicked this seasons that in past seasons has not. Andre Iguodala is not the only one Philadelphia can rely on this season. Elton Brand, Lou Williams, Jrue Holiday and Thaddeus Young all are ready to win, and they won’t give up without a fight. Philadelphia could have an exciting end to a relatively good season. It seems that this basketball sea- sons is starting to catch the interest of old basketball fans once again. Over the past couple year’s basketball began to fall off the map. This season seems to have caught the eye of people everywhere. The talent on the courts this year is phenomenal, and it is the talk everywhere. The playoffs are going to be extremely interesting. The NBA regular season will be ending on April 13, 2011; the following day will be when the rosters are set which will be at three o’clock in the afternoon. Finally what everyone has been waiting for on, April 16, 2011 everyone tune into the 2011 NBA Playoffs. Hopefully The Philadelphia Seventy-Sixers will bring Philly back into the spot light. LETS GO SIXERS! The Phillies Season Begins By Sean Morgan - Lions Eve Staff Writer - sdm5219@psu.edu The Phillies have started the season off with a 7-2 record and currently have a two game lead Ryan Howard, a traditionally slow starter, has busted out of the gate as one of the most feared hitters so far this season. Howard has started the Phillies star Roy Halladay. (photo courtesy google.com) over the Florida Marlins in the National League East Division. The team’s hitting and pitching have both clicked right out of the gate. Most people thought with the injuries to Chase Utley and Domonic Brown the Phillies’ of- fense would struggle this year, but this has not been the case. They currently lead the National League in hits, total bases, batting average, and slugging. Ryan Howard, Placido Polanco, Shane Victorino, and Carlos Ruiz are all in the top 20 in the National League in batting average, and they have knocked in a combined 34 runs through the first nine games of the season. One of the question marks this year was going to be the play of Ben Francisco, who is taking over for Jayson Werth in right field, but Francisco has started the season on a tear. Francisco already has 2 home runs and 7 RBIs, and he has a batting average of over .300. season with 2 home runs and 11 RBI’s, and has a high batting average of .361. Howard’s RBI’s has him tied with Prince Fielder and Paul Konerko for the most in the MLB. The Phillies pitching has been what every- one expected it to be. The big four of Roy Halla- day, Cliff Lee, Roy Oswalt, and Cole Hamels have put up a combined 5-2 record early inthe season. Hamels and Lee have both struggled in one start each, but the overall pitching performance of these four starters has been phenomenal. Roy Halladay is showing why he is s the reigning Cy Young Award winner. Halladay is 1-0 so far this season with an astonishing .69 ERA. He has 13 strikeouts in 13 innings pitched, and has only allowed one walk in his first two starts. He has set a pace to win yet another Cy Young Award. The Phillies bullpen was another question mark coming into the season, but they have started out strong as well. Jose Contreras has been filling in nicely for Brad Lidge with two saves, and Madson has been strong as the set-up man with two holds. Neither one of them has allowed a run yet this sea- son. : It is still very early in the season, but the Phillies have been playing too their potential and are going to be looking to have home field advantage throughout the playoffs if the National League wins the All-Star game in July.
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