We are well aware that no one likes us and we don’t care. The Flyers are not interested in a popularity contest, and the only contest they are interested in is the Race to the Cup. This year’s team is as strong as it gets. They have depth up front and on defense, have a solid Goaltender, Vets, and young guns. This team has it all, basically. The only thing missing is Lord Stanley’s Cup.
The last time the Flyers were this hot was back in 2010 led by Mike Richards. In hindsight, grabbing the Conference Trophy may not have been a good idea. They got into the playoffs on a shootout with the New York Rangers. The whole playoff run was a whirlwind, for instance, they beat the New Jersey Devils in five games, beat the Boston Bruins in seven games after being down 3-0 in the series, and they beat the Montreal Canadiens in in five games, en route to the Stanley Cup Final to which they lost four games two.
Today, even though the Flyers seem unstoppable they still need be better. They were victorious over Montreal in game 1, but it was not their best performance. The players and coaches know they can be better. Prior to yesterday’s game the Flyers had 32 wins, and Montreal had 29. Montreal is stacked with solid players, Tomas Tartar had 61 points, Phillip Danault had 47 points, Max Domi had 43 points, and Nick Suzuki had 41 points. The Flyers are stacked as well with Travis Konecny (61 points), Sean Couturier (59 points), Jakub Voracek (56 points), Kevin Hayes (41 points), and Claude Giroux (53 points). Last night it was obvious how evenly matched both teams, but the better team won (Flyers). Again, the Flyers will have to bring it a bit harder tomorrow.
If you know the Flyers like I do, then you know they are capable of great things. Just remember back to the 2010 Boston series. They were down 3-0 in the series, and 3-0 in game 7. The orange and black made such a historic and epic comeback. I get goosebumps when I think about that night, my daughter and I went to the viewing party at the Wells Fargo Center. Every single game in that series at that point was a do or die moment. The Flyers went, Boston did not.
The Flyers had a really close group of guys in 2010. It was obvious in the bonding activities they did, such as, the golf outings and team dinners. They appear to be even tighter now as a whole with bonding at BMO field on their off days, playing board games together, and playing Xbox together. It is obvious with the blind passes or drop passes. These guys sense each other on the ice, they make it look easy. They just have such an overall sense of each other on the ice, it is just ridiculously cool. In addition, Lindblom is in Toronto, and he is basically just an inch away from leaving his room and meeting his teammates. Think back to the losing streak after his diagnosis, then think back to the winning streak the Flyers went on after Lindblom visited the team at practice. With Lindblom now in Toronto, I can only imagine how much better the Flyers will be with his infectious smile present. This year’s Flyers team is truly something special so we will leave you with this message from Jason Kelce:
“No one likes us. No one likes us. No one likes us. We don’t care. We’re from Philly. F–ing Philly. No one likes us. We don’t care. No one likes us. No one likes us. No one likes us. We don’t care. We’re from Philly. F—ing Philly, No one likes us. We don’t care.”
