MONTREAL -- Peter Laviolettes wife, Kristen, watched the opening minutes of Episode 1 of HBOs 247 and couldnt help herself.
She texted me after the first, two minutes, Laviolette said, laughing. He didnt see the show.
Why the text?
Seems there were a couple of Lavy F-bombs right off the top that Kristen didnt like.
Still, it was a pretty good episode to kick off the pre-Winter Classic hype between the Flyers and Rangers on Jan. 2 at Citizens Bank Park.
Theyve been pretty good here, Laviolette said of HBOs daily camera presence. At the beginning, the locker room, nobodys allowed in there. There are no cameras. Certainly, its different.
Youre accustomed to the doors being shut and dealing with the same people and only allowing in and out what you want in and out. Their presence is fairly significant on a day to-day basis but theyre good guys. They do a terrific job. The show I watched last year was outstanding.
NHL
Laviolette said no matter how good HBO might be in staying out of his way, he is well aware they are always present.
Are they intrusive?
This guy has his camera practically in you ear, he said. You tell me. Is that intrusive to you?
Three rookies -- Matt Read, Zac Rinaldo and Harry Zolnierczyk -- apparently were the only three Flyers who actually saw the episode.
Theres a lot of camera time and how much work those guys put into it and how much time they spend around our team, its kind of interesting, Read said.
How much work theyve done, to see the final product, the first episode was great. It sent chills down my back. I thought it was very well done.
Love that Bob
Sergei Bobrovsky got the start against Montreal on Thursday night. He collected a 3-1 victory on Nov. 25 when these two teams last played in Philadelphia.
Laviolette said that didnt factor into his decision to use Bobrovsky over Ilya Bryzgalov, who has a six-game win streak going.
Were just managing a busy schedule this month, he said. And Im excited to get him in there. Hes a great goaltender. He has a good record, hes played well for us and I want to get him a game.
E-mail Tim Panaccio at tpanotch@comcast.net