Flyers Alumni vx Bruins Alumni
Photo Credits: FNG’s Rob Windfelder
The Philadelphia Flyers Alumni Team beat the Boston Bruins Alum 6-2 on a night celebrating the team, its history, its fans, and the great game of ice hockey.
The night began with a ceremony to honor the Stanley Cup Championship teams of 1974 and 1975. Many of the players were on hand to take part in the festivities. There was a great feeling in the building as they were introduced and made their way to center ice where they were eventually reunited once again with The Stanley Cup. It was epic.
Philly is a unique hockey town where the history of the Flyers and their Stanley Cup victories have been handed down for generations. In a lot of places you would not expect to have little kids recognizing and excited to see players who made their greatest mark on the sport 50 years ago. For many Flyers Fans it is a family tradition at this point.
By the time they introduced Bernie Parent and Bobby Clarke it sounded like Santa had just shown up at the end of the Thanksgiving day parade. Philly loves hockey, and these are the guys that taught us how to love it.
Highlights of the 74-75 seasons were shown on the jumbotron. We had just watched Dave The Hammer Schultz punching every face he could get ahold of. Then we saw his eyes well up as Lauren Hart stood next to The Stanley Cup and sang God Bless America before the opening faceoff of the Alumni game.
The Alumni coaching staff was announced to much applause, the biggest reaction went to Flyers general manager Danny Briere. If you were wondering how the fanbase feels about his performance so far this was like an instant poll and his job approval rating is apparently pretty high.
Brian Boucher started in net for Philadelphia. Chants of “Boosh” went up every time he made a save. And he made quite a few of them.
Mark Recchi, who will be inducted into the Flyers Hall of Fame before tomorrow’s Flyers game against the Bruins, opened up the scoring.
Joe Watson came to the ice late as he had been changing out of his suit and tie from the Cup ceremony. Joe was playing in his 40th Flyers Alumni Game. Watson has said this is his last one. He looked good out there and took control of the puck right off the faceoff on his first shift. Joe is 80 years of age. It was great to see him sitting on the Flyers bench in between shifts next to Eric Lindros. In fact was absolutely inspirational.
Another amazing Philly Thing took place when the Flyers Alum went on the power play. They put out the line of Eric Lindros, John LeClair, and Mark Recchi. There was a buzz going around the crowd as the Flyers Alum entered the zone and set up. Within no time at all the home town Philly crowd was yelling “shoot” at the legends on the ice. It was one of many great light hearted moments on the night.
By the end of the 2nd period Mike Richards had scored a goal to put the Flyers Alum up 2-1 going into the 3rd.
Mark Recchi scored his second goal of the game on a breakaway. He skated in with the puck and faked a shot. TJ Lesky committed to it and Recchi put it top shelf. Donald Brashear made it 4-1 with a pretty backhanded goal. Brashear looks like he hasn’t skated since yesterday. In other words he’s still “got wheels”.
Bryan Smolinski made it 4-2 when he put one passed Michael Leighton. Boucher and Leighton made a good tandem and were key to the win.
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Eric Lindros drew big cheers when he scored on a tic tac toe. Recchi to LeClair to Lindros, backhander in. Scott Hartnell looked like he was itching for a goal as the game was winding down. He went into the offensive zone with a good head of steam. He skated around the back of the net going for the wrap around. Lesky slid from side to side and just beat him with a toe to the post.
Patrick Sharp scored the final goal of the game with a fine individual effort making the final score 6-2. The crowd was chanting “we want Recchi” as time was running down hoping for the hattrick.
All in all it was a fantastic night full of good vibes and great sportsmanship. Steve Coates was on hand interviewing players on the bench. Lou Nolan was the master of ceremonies. It was a night to celebrate the great game of ice hockey, the Philadelphia Flyers and their faithful fanbase. You could not beat the mood at the rink. A great time was had by all.
