24/7 Recap: Ilya Bryzgalov’s Dog Is Actually a Hot Blonde Chick
Last night’s installment of HBO’s 24/7, which chronicles the Flyers and Rangers as they prepare for the January 2nd Winter Classic at Citizens Bank Park, included Philadelphia’s game against Washington, a tight one with Montreal, and the shellacking the Flyers took at the hands of the Bruins. It also featured some more gold from the mind of goalie Ilya Bryzgalov.
In the show’s premiere, we were blessed with the opportunity to hear Philly’s goaltender go off on a diatribe about the size of the universe (“humongous big”). Bryz continued to educate viewers last night by comparing his husky to a blonde-haired, blue-eyed bombshell before suggesting that he’s not as weird as his defensemen because they don’t wear as much padding. Yeah, you are Bryz. Yeah you are.
We also found out that Sean Couturier probably doesn’t have any issues with his landlord. The 19-year-old rookie is living in the spare bedroom at Danny Briere’s house. The idea is that the arrangement will make Couturier’s transition into pro hockey a bit easier. Briere’s previous tenant—Claude Giroux—seems to have adjusted just fine. The two Flyers and Briere’s kids spent their night off eating pizza and playing floor hockey and video games—the same thing my friends and I did twice weekly from 1994-2002 over Thanksgiving weekend.
But, life wasn’t all stuffed crust and Xbox for long. Couturier caught a slapshot off the stick of Kimmo Timonen with the back of his head in the game against Boston the next day. The rookie had to spend the night in the hospital for observation after the concussion and has been ruled out indefinitely—something the team appeared all to accustomed to dealing with throughout last night’s episode.
The Flyers were barely off of the ice after a hard-fought win in Montreal when the team learned that defenseman and captain Chris Pronger would not return this season due to severe post-concussion syndrome. Additionally, the 24/7 cameras followed Claude Giroux as the NHL’s top scorer underwent tests and evaluations to determine the severity of his own concussion. While Giroux made progress during last night’s episode—and was featured participating in light exercise before the show ended—we all know how that turns out because while he was on the stationary bike on HBO he was simultaneously racking up four points against the Stars.
Other high points of last night’s episode include Lavvy laying into the referees in Montreal for not calling a penalty when Jagr was tripped in the offensive zone and Scott Hartnell using his fists to take out his aggression on the Bruins before dropping a slew of F-bombs on his way off the ice.
The Rangers were shown dropping games to Dallas and St. Louis before scoring a game-winning goal with less than a second left against the Coyotes. Some of the Rangers discussed their affinity for afternoon naps, and we got a glimpse into the home life of defenseman Dan Girardi with his wife and son. Rangers coach John Tortorella discussed his relationship with a young Rangers fan who suffers from cerebral palsy. Tortorella says he keeps in touch with 10-year-old Liam Traynor regularly and surprised the boy and his family with tickets to attend the Winter Classic in Philly.
HBO’s third episode of 24/7 will air next Wednesday. Though, I’m not sure I can make it that long without some valuable life lessons from Ilya Bryzgalov.
