By now I think you get the idea that I’m the historical standard-bearer for the site as I’m required to write about childhood experiences with hockey, or I’m dashing off the occasional piece comparing the plight of current athletes in the city to old-school Flyers. I want to continue in that vein this Christmas Eve, and lay out my own state of mind, as a fan, regarding how the 2010-11 Philadelphia Flyers season is progressing. The buzz around this team after playing less than one-half of their schedule is one that I don’t think has been as constant and as …
Panthers take down Flyers in rare lackluster Philly effort
It would be easy to see how the best team in the NHL playing at home, and one mired in last place in its division on a road swing, might produce record-setting results. The only problem is, the last-place Florida Panthers set the records, as 26 saves from Tomas Vokoun plus a late two-goal surge in the first period sent them to a shocking 5-0 victory over the Flyers on Monday night. Vokoun posted his first career shutout against Philadelphia, while Bill Thomas, Evgeny Dadonov, Shawn Matthias, Mike Santorelli and Dmitry Kulikov tallied for the visitors. It was the Panthers’ …
Spectrum memories: Holiday cheer/jeer
To celebrate my 25th year of hockey fandom, I will occasionally step into the way-back machine and write about events in the Flyers’ past. For the balance of the season, I will be dipping into the well to ruminate about some things related to my love of the Philadelphia Flyers, and in general about the fan experience as a youngster. This is the fourth in the series of Spectrum Memories. Much like the third installment in this series, my second batch of December recollections centers not around game attendance at the Spectrum, but on home and away games watched on …
Don’t Panic: Pronger out with broken foot
It wouldn’t be the middle of the season without some disconcerting news in Flyerland… Defenseman Chris Pronger is expected to be sidelined 4-to-6 weeks because of a broken foot. General manager Paul Holmgren said Pronger will undergo surgery to repair a broken first metatarsal in his right foot. The six-time All-Star was hurt late in the second period during Wednesday’s 5-3 victory in Montreal. Pronger leads all Philadelphia defensemen with four goals and has added 11 assists for 15 points in 31 games. He is also a plus-six for the NHL’s top team. The Flyers have a league-best 47 points …
Richards finally gets OT redemption as Flyers clip Bruins
Mike Richards notched the deciding score with three seconds left in overtime to lift the Philadelphia Flyers past the Boston Bruins, 2-1, at TD Garden. As time wound down in the extra session, Richards found a loose puck in the neutral zone and worked one-on-one with Bruins defenseman Dennis Seidenberg towards the Boston net. As he cruised down the right wing, two more Flyers forwards joined the rush, but the Philadelphia captain whipped a wrister through Tim Thomas to end the contest. “I just, you know, I just threw it back to the point and obviously, it was my fault …
Spectrum Memories: December weekend afternoons
To celebrate my 25th year of hockey fandom, I will occasionally step into the way-back machine and write about events in the Flyers’ past. For the balance of the season, I will be dipping into the well to ruminate about some things related to my love of the Philadelphia Flyers, and in general about the fan experience as a youngster. This is the third in the series of Spectrum Memories. One of the statistical, or actually, calendrical oddities of having a Flyers single-season matinee ticket plan in the years my family did was that there never seemed to be any December …
Bobrovsky wins NHL Rookie of the Month
So what about “Bob?” Well, he’s been named the NHL’s Rookie of the Month for November! The 22-year-old Russian went 7-1-2 in 11 appearances during November, allowing two goals or less in eight of those games for a 2.03 goals-against. For the season, the rookie has compiled a 12-4-2 mark with a 2.18 GAA and .926 save percentage. He is the first Flyers rookie netminder to win a Rookie of the Month honor this early in the season since Ron Hextall took home top rookie honors for October and November in 1986.
Bruins get “revenge” on Flyers, as Thomas turns in shutout
One of the key components of the Bruins’ success two years ago was absent for the Flyers’ dramatic comeback from an 0-3 series deficit last May in the Eastern Conference Semifinals: Tim Thomas.
Tuukka Rask won the starting job from Thomas midway through last season, but also bears some of the blame for the epic collapse.
Thomas, though, was in rare form as he stopped all 41 shots he faced to record his fifth shutout of the season to get his club past the Philadelphia Flyers, 3-0, on Wednesday night.
Spectrum memories: Paul must go
To celebrate my 25th year of hockey fandom, I will occasionally step into the way-back machine and write about events in the Flyers’ past. For the balance of the season, I will be dipping into the well to ruminate about some things related to my love of the Philadelphia Flyers, and in general about the fan experience as a youngster. This is the second in the series of Spectrum Memories. …and Paul eventually went. In most years my family bought tickets, the first game in the matinee plan was the semi-regular Friday-after-Thanksgiving afternoon contest. The opponent always varied, as these …
Remembering Pelle: Personal thoughts on the tragedy and its impact 25 years later
Remembering Pelle is a five part series honoring the memory of former Flyers’ goaltender, Pelle Lindbergh, whose life was tragically cut short on November 11, 1985. A new article will run each day over the course of five days. This is the last part of the series. I really don’t know how to begin, so I’ll lead with this: YouTube is one of the many modern-day technological miracles. If it didn’t exist, I’d have had to produce this entire series from memory, archival reports, microfiche and whatever skill I possess as a writer. It certainly wouldn’t be this long, over …