February 12, 2016
Matt Slocum/AP
Philadelphia Flyers forward R.J. Umberger scores on Buffalo Sabres goalie Robin Lehner.
On Thursday night, Flyers winger R.J. Umberger found the back of the net for the first time in roughly 9,119 hours.
That's 547,140 minutes or, if you prefer, 32,828,400 seconds. But for the sake of making it a more comprehensible amount of time, let's call it 379 days.
"It was a great feeling," Umberger said after the game. "Definitely can give you some jump and feel good. It’s been a crazy 50 games not scoring. It became a mental challenge. It can really get the best of you. I think the best part of it was just how excited the teammates were for me; probably more excited than I was. That was pretty cool.”
Umberger's goal in the second period of the Flyers' 5-1 win over the Sabres was his first in over a year -- the last came on January 27, 2015 -- and the 33-year-old went 50 games between his 178th and 179th career goals. For some, that scoring drought may not seem like big deal. However, Umberger, for his career, had averaged a goal once every 4.06 games prior to the year-plus gap in scoring.
“It was tough," he added. "Eleven years in this league you see these things and you have to be a pro, you have to go to the rink looking for any kind of fun, anything you can do. You have to remember you’re playing hockey. It’s still a sport, still having fun out there; it’s a game. It’s not life or death. It’s a game, and you got to get back to that."
But you could see the relief on his face the second he beat Robin Lehner.
You’re Um-believeable #BUFvsPHI pic.twitter.com/W7qMskiG9P
— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) February 12, 2016
“I was praying to the hockey gods ‘thank you,’" Umberger said. "You finish last season with a pretty long drought and then you go through surgery. I felt great coming into the year. It was really in the back of my mind. Obviously I wasn't able to get one early in the year, and here we are. Glad to get it over.”
Just to put some perspective around his drought, here's a look at some of the things that have happened in the time between Umberger's last two goals:
Umberger ...
• saw more than 535 minutes of ice time.
• played more than 775 shifts.
• took more than 75 shots.
• recorded eight assists
• and, despite that lack of scoring, still had a plus-2 rating.
The Flyers ...
• went 37-29-20.
• fired Craig Berube and hired Dave Hakstol.
• scored more than 200 goals as a team.
• got at least one goal from all these players: Wayne Simmonds, Claude Giroux, Brayden Schenn, Shayne Gostisbehere, Sean Couturier, Matt Read, Jakub Voracek, Michael Raffl, Ryan White, Scott Laughton, Michael Del Zotto, Mark Streit, Evgeny Medvedev, Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, Chris VandeVelde, Sam Gagner, Luke Schenn*, Nick Schultz, Colin McDonald, Vinny Lecavalier*, Nicklas Grossmann*, Carlo Colaiacovo*, and Zac Rinaldo*. [* indicates player is no longer on the team.]
• saw goalie Michal Neuvirth record an assist.
• scored 5 shorthanded goals.
• got 31 goals from Wayne Simmonds, 25 from Claude Giroux, and 23 from Brayden Schenn.
Across the NHL ...
• 621 other players scored a goal (and that's just since the start of the 2015-16 season).
• Alexander Ovechkin found the back of the net 60 times.
• Patrick Kane scored 16 goals during his 26-game point streak alone.
Meanwhile, here in Philly ...
• the Eagles gave Chip Kelly the power Howie Roseman once had.
• Kelly ditched LeSean McCoy and Nick Foles in favor of DeMarco Murray and Sam Bradford.
• owner Jeff Lurie fired Kelly, and gave Roseman the GM role again.
• the Eagles hired Doug Pederson as the next coach.
• the Phillies fired Ryne Sandberg and GM Ruben Amaro, named Pete Mackanin manager, hired Andy MacPhail to run the front office, and named Matt Klentak as GM.
• the Phillies traded Cole Hamels, Chase Utley, Jonathan Papelbon, and pretty much every other player you've heard of, except Ryan Howard.
• the Sixers drafted Jahlil Okafor and brought in Jerry Colangelo to help run the front office.
• Mayor Nutter has been replaced by Mayor Kenney.
• the Pope came to visit.
And that's just off the top of my head.
It's been a long time coming for Umberger, and now that he's got the proverbial monkey off his back, he's hoping 50 games worth of scoring suddenly start pouring out of him. More so, he's just happy it's over.
"We all go through slumps. I’ve had some in my career 10-15 games, but that was just a different animal.”
Follow Matt on Twitter: @matt_mullin
