24/7 Episode Two Review

Part Two of 24/7 Road to the Winter Classic aired last night it's becoming clear to me that the Rangers are more interesting than the Flyers (with the obvious exception to Ilya Bryzgalov, who's more interesting than anyone). Last year, no one on the Caps and Pens talk about themselves on the show and the Rangers didn't either. Why are the Flyers? Seems like the Flyers are forcing Bryzgalov to be Bryzgalov, instead of it being natural. I fully agree with Steve Lepore from Puck The Media's point about the Flyers, that they are almost too aware of being on camera when not on the ice.

The best part on-ice part of last night's episode was anything that dealt with the officials. We see Peter Laviolette say "typical Montreal" on his perceived bias in some calls against the Flyers. Something my father has said on more than one occasion. Then you have the refs locker room during last week's Rangers-Coyotes game, which was like last year when the refs discussed a goal disallowed in a Rangers-Penguins game. And the interaction with the players, like when Tim Peel tells Raffi Torres it was a clean hit that Mike Rupp made and when Max Talbot gets warned he's going to get a penalty, then after getting called for one, is told it was a bad call.

More random thoughts:

-Tortorella looked very good on the show, very much like Bruce Boudreau as we see him absolutely pissed during the first intermission when he laid into the Rangers for a lackluster first period. Then we see him and Liam who has cerebral palsy and we see he has a heart of gold. Now all he has to do is look for a Haagen-Daaz and it would be good. Also, Liam is in my dream bedroom (though mine would include some Giants stuff as well).

-Favorite part of Torts' rant;"If you're not going to be stiff, you're not going to play". I expect a line like that to show up on Cinemax at midnight. Also, I'd like to thank HBO for not letting us know if Brian Boyle was stiff before the game in his hotel room scene with Brandon Prust.

-Bryzgalov was great again as he compares the husky to a hot blonde in his typical (Montreal) style. Then you see his thoughts about goaltending and defensemen, which I won't quote, but instead will leave the video here. Tell me if your mind that exploded last week didn't just burst again.

-It's nice to see Danny Briere take in young players to live with him, but having new teammate with his old, divorced teammate and his kids together is very sitcomish (even though Sean Couturier.

-Landon Girardi is adorable. Better scene than Hank playing guitar with John McEnroe, though my mother will love both equally (huge McEnore fan back in the day and probably the one person in the world who watched his show on CNBC).

-Tough to take as a Rangers fan, but all those shots with Mike Rupp getting cut (great editing to have the thud when the blood dripped on his face) as well as Ruslan Fedotenko and the injured shoulder to Steve Eminger are just more evidence to why 24/7 is the best reality series on TV.

-Liked the soundtrack HBO played tonight. I'm not entirely sure why.

-What I want to see next time; all three Rangers games (particularly the Devils win), Peter Laviolette to show that he's more than a hockey coach, some more natural interaction off the ice by the Flyers.

Rushed for time because of work (can't wait for holiday to be over), so I'm sure I left out other great and not-so-great footage in need of discussion. Meanwhile, the Colts will cover tonight against Houston.