Posted by Scott Burnside
PITTSBURGH -- Bless Philadelphia coach John Stevens for his perspective on receiving a $10,000 fine in conjunction with the one-game suspension handed out to Flyers tough guy Daniel Carcillo for his end-of-game dust-up with Maxime Talbot of the Pittsburgh Penguins in Wednesday night's Game 1.
"Well, first of all, I had to call my son this morning, my son John turned 15 today, and I told him I had to take all of his gifts back because I can't afford them anymore. He's a little upset," Stevens joked Friday morning before the series' second game.
It was the first fine of Stevens' professional coaching career.
Stevens explained that he put Carcillo out after Pittsburgh forward Bill Guerin fought with defenseman Braydon Coburn.
"My interpretation of that at that point was I thought Guerin's probably thinking he's going to play against Coburn a lot out there in the series and maybe send a message," Stevens said. "So, my thinking as a coach at that point is let's just get somebody out there that's not going to be taken advantage of and get through the six seconds.
"Well, obviously it didn't turn out that way, and just like the Flyers always do, we take our punishment and we move on and that's that. Obviously, the standard's been set and we'd like to see some consistency on that call the rest of the way."
The Flyers will use 19-year-old Luca Sbisa, born in Ozieri, Italy, in Carcillo's place. Although Sbisa is primarily a defenseman, Stevens said he told the 6-foot-2 rookie to prepare to play forward.
"He was extremely excited. I think he'll do fine," Stevens said. "I think he's a big kid with a really good skill set. Strong on the puck, can get in on the forecheck and I really expect him to be fine."
'The Hair' checks in
One player looking forward to Game 2 will be Philadelphia's Scott Hartnell, who has been answering questions about the Flyers' discipline issues since taking three minor penalties and a 10-minute misconduct in Game 1.
"It's the playoffs, that's what it's all about," Hartnell said. "It's all about you guys having your fun with your storylines: who played bad and who played good and who had the best turnover of the night. You guys have fun with that.
"It seems like there's always a day and a half to think about it, but we're ready to go tonight and hopefully the Philly papers will have their excellent little headline up there instead of the Pittsburgh papers."
No questions here
For the first time in Marc-Andre Fleury's young playoff life, no one is bothering the Pittsburgh Penguins netminder with questions about whether he can get the job done. It's a moot point in this, his third playoff season, after he turned in a sparkling 14-6 record with a 1.96 GAA in last season's run to the Cup finals.
"I don't feel like I've got it all," Fleury said with a smile before Game 2. "I think a guy like Marty Brodeur, he might have it all. Last year was a great experience, though. I'm glad that I did it. I'm sure it will help me out this year."
Making the move
Philadelphia defenseman Matt Carle has had a crash course on the business end of the game, having been a top prospect with the San Jose Sharks before being dealt to Tampa Bay for Dan Boyle in July 2008. Then, after just 12 games this season, the 2006 Hobey Baker winner was dealt to the Flyers.
"Every time you get to a team, you hope it's the last move," Carle said. "But you've got to take it in stride and look at the positives."
The most obvious positive for Carle is being in the playoffs, something that wouldn't have happened if he had stayed in Tampa.
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