Hard to believe it was 22 years ago today that Ron Hextall really lost it for the first time in his career. Unlike his slash across the back of Kent Nilsson’s legs in Game 4 of the ’87 Finals against Edmonton that was a spur-of-the-moment brain cramp, Hextall’s attack on Montreal Canadiens defenseman Chris Chelios in the waning moments of Game 6 in the 1989 Wales Conference Finals was payback for a specific incident earlier in the series. In Game 1 at Montreal, in the second period, Chelios unloads onto Flyers forward Brian Propp: Even though we’ve been desensitized to …
It Never Ends
Terry Murray must have thought he was a genius in the Spring of 1997. He had two quality goaltenders: Ron Hextall and Garth Snow. He had the benefit of home-ice advantage in the first round against a mediocre opponent — the Pittsburgh Penguins. Since Hextall faltered a bit down the stretch as the Flyers eventually lost the Atlantic Division lead and fell to third in the East, Murray hatched a plan so simple it was stupid: Start Snow and let him go as long as he performed well, and when he didn’t turn to the veteran Hextall. It managed to …
Five Reasons I love the Flyers: David Strehle
David Strehle covers the Philadelphia Flyers for NHL Hot Stove and he may be one of the most welcoming and easily likable people on Twitter. He is also a diehard fan of the Flyers. Below, he gives us the five reasons he loves the Flyers. 5. The fans In all sports, there are fans of teams that are described as loyal and even passionate. Philadelphia sports fans in general have a certain stigma throughout the sports world, but Philly hockey fans take the meaning of “fan” to another level. The Flyers faithful have been named the craziest in the NHL by The Hockey News, and they might just …
Spectrum Memories: Sometimes They Come Back
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 sixth in the series of Spectrum Memories. Losing a family member or a friend to relocations, sickness or death is never a good experience, and the emotions are very raw and fresh when you’re a kid. Thankfully, my rather small family …
Milestone Madness
It’s amazing to think the Flyers are on pace to reach 1,000 home wins in franchise history. It would have been sweet to see the Orange and Black do it this past Saturday against the rival New Jersey Devils, but Johan Hedberg and Patrik Elias had a little something to say in that regard. Anywhoo…Philly gets another crack at a grand tonight against the Montreal Canadiens, in the final meeting of a four-game regular-season series which serves as the Flyers’ final contest before the All-Star Break. Since our hockey club, which sits atop the NHL standings, is so close to this momentous occasion, it’s …
Spectrum Memories: A view from above
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 fifth in the series of Spectrum Memories. As I’ve established in previous posts, I was a nosebleed dweller at the Spectrum throughout my youth. That was the deal if my parents were going to front the tickets for a whole season. Still, there were …
Five Reasons I Love the Flyers: Dan
Dan is a huge Flyers and overall hockey fan, contributing to The Home of Hockey blog every Friday, as well as its’ forum. You can follow him on Twitter. 1. In My Blood Growing up, Flyers hockey was always a part of my life. I grew up watching the Flyers on PRISM & Philly 57 with my dad and playing hand hockey during intermission. He took me to games at the Spectrum every so often, and seeing the game live definitely kept me hooked. He told me stories about the glory days in the ‘70s. As I grew up, my …
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 …
Five Reasons I love the Flyers: Zoo With Roy
You may know and love Zoo With Roy from his blog, I Want to go to the Zoo with Roy Halladay, which features stick figure drawing and animations — among other things — about the Philadelphia Phillies. Here, he offers the five reasons he loves the Flyers. 1. PRISM They had a network made (far as I can recall, yo) specifically for their home games and late-night boobie movies. Yes, please. 2. Sergei Bobrovsky No lie, I’m absolutely fascinated with Bob. And it’s not just the idea of an obscure kid from an awful Russian team that doesn’t speak English …
Remembering Pelle: What would have happened to the Flyers if Pelle lived?
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 part four of the series. Now that the Debbie Downer portion of the series is through, let’s get to the fun part. What would have happened to the Flyers if Pelle Lindbergh never had his fatal accident? All things being equal, there’s a huge case for Philadelphia to have experienced at least on Stanley Cup parade in the ensuing …