Explaining the recent flyers success in two words

[tiantonio]

Two words for the Flyers recent success:

Flyers Hockey


I hate the Flyers. Having lived in South or Central Jersey most of my life, I am so tired of them and their style. For a couple of years it has disappeared but they have made a point to become the Anti-Colin Campbell. The are reckless and mean, and sometimes dirty, but are under a magnifying glass for every move they make. Downie, Cote, Hartnell and even Jason Smith are a return to the kind of Hockey that makes Flyers Fans Rabid. Flyers Fans are NOT Dummies. They appreciate good hockey but they LOVE NASTY HOCKEY. Of course, they want to win but Win Or Lose, if they knock you around and you take the pain away with you, they love every minute of it. Devils have pretty much owned them for a decade or so but they always get into those games. Ottawa is the Enemy. The Rangers are the Enemy. The Bolts are the Enemy. Pittsburgh is more the Enemy NOW than I can every remember due to Crosby\'s sissy antics. Montreal is still the enemy from recent years. Familiarity breeds contempt and in the Flyers case, the uneven schedule has given their fans a chance to HATE other teasm. Whether you think that is a good thing or bad, try wearing a visiting jersey into a Flyers game. Go ahead. They boo girls and women. Some dude with a beer and a Jagr jersey is just going to get his ass beat. Not even free tickets are worth overpaying for food and beer and getting yelled at for an entire game, let alone if a drunk fan wants to get physical in the third. No Thanks. I just sit at home and root against them NO MATTER who they are playing.

[Rusty Pickles]

I have worn my flyers jersey on the road and received the same treatment in other NHL cities Tiantonio; that is the plight of the road fan. I will still go to the arena and risk getting wet to cheer on my team. Black eyes fade if I get sucker punched, because I would never start a fight over a sporting event.

I will say that the level of crudeness and yapping at opposing fans rises when certain teams come to town (Rags are still public enemy #1). Any sporting event vs any NY team always has a rough edge. The cities are so close and so many fans travel and both are the passionate type who like to run their mouths and rub it in when their team wins. God I hope the Patriots SMOKE the Gnats. :lol: Go to a flyers/kings or flyers/wild tilt with a jersey on and no one would care or say a thing. They\'d more than likely welcome you with open arms because you\'re a fan coming from so far away or out of place living away from your team. There would be more of an interest/kindness and less of a we want to throw stuff at you. I had a few great chats with Bruins fans at a game last year. No animosity, and good times, this was all pre-Bergeron incident of course. I doubt they would be so jovial this year! I would still make the attempt though to be nice.

I may be of the opinion that Crosby is a sissy crying little bitch; but god do I respect and fear his skill. He is worth the price of admission alone. No one would ever mention him as cheap, but he is. He just only likes dishing it out and not taking any back and having someone else fight his battles. Yes, everyone wanted Richards and Crosby to fight so we could watch Richy ragdoll that future band aid boy. I never want to see the flyers hurt Sid because that would mean a lifetime ban for someone wearing our sweater, but I wouldn\'t mind seeing him get a punch in the face or two.

[Flyer Fan]

This is actually the first year in as long as I can remember that the Flyers weren\'t out west on a prolonged road trip over the holidays.

Normally this happens because there\'s a two week block of time when their building is unavailable every year due to the ice capades coming to town (No, not the Tampa Bay Lightning, ...the REAL Ice Capades )

I think geographical proximity does give the Eastern teams, and particularly the North Eastern teams some advantage over the course of the season, but remember alot of the travel between those closer cities like Philly, New York, The Meadowlands, Long Island etc. is conducted via BUS so it\'s not quite as advantageous as it would first appear.

I think a much more important factor, and one thats easily overlooked is the teams status in their own building.

Since most teams are playing in a multi-use facility; factors such as the Ice Capades, or the circus, or the frequency of music concerts etc, the presence of an NBA team, or even an indoor soccer team that uses the same building, ....are all factors that can influence the hockey teams schedule.

The Devils opened this season on a prolonged road trip because their building wasn\'t avaialable. It showed in their record, and their individual performances.

A heavily used building means less flexibility in scheduling games, which leads to more back to back games, more sunday afternoon at home, after a saturday night on the road etc... game day skates have to be moved across town, which adds two hours to every players day...

It all factors in to be sure. Obviously a good night\'s sleep at home followed by 10 minute drive to a morning skate on the ice, and with the boards, based out of your own locker, in your own locker room, then a nap back at home; seems far conducive to a good performance than landing at some airport at 1:00 AM climbing onto a bus and trying to catch 15 minutes of sleep on the ride to the airport, then checking into the hotel room at 1:30 ish , getting a wakeup call at 9:30, dressing out of bag, eating at a coffee shop, climbing back on a bus driving across town to some university\'s rink for practice, dressing in a strange, and too small locker room, with no hot water, climbing back on the bus, riding back to the hotel, waiting around bored silly all afternoon till dinner time, when you can eat at the same coffee shop, then catch a bus to the rink, get dressed in another strange locker room, get out on that ice for the first time during the a shootaround, and preparing to face your well rested, well fed, well adjusted, friendly crowd supported opponent, who\'ve spent the last two days in this rink being taught how to disect your forechecking scheme. :P

[angus]

Crosby, a future band aid boy. That is a laugher.

[Rusty Pickles]

Crosby, a future band aid boy.

One can dream right? lol:laugh:

Just trying to rile up all of Canada.

[fzusher]

Unbalanced schedule? too much travel time? just quit yer whining, Westerners. All you gotta do is get rid of your stupid useless mountains, deserts, and prairies, re-build your cities 1 hour apart instead of 12 hours apart, and you\'ll get your balanced schedule.


Of course, the rational solution to this is simple. The problem, really, is that there are too many teams out East and not enough out west and midwest. So, take a few teams from the East, move them to Kansas City, Oklahoma City, Seattle, Portland, and Vegas, and you\'ll have yourself a much more balanced schedule. I hear Buttman is working on this as we speak :S

[duballstar014]

no offense...but i wouldnt put much stock in the \"improvements\" that gary bettman is currently working on...

[fzusher]

Dude, I was being sarcastic

[duballstar014]

good deal! I\'ve got this shirt from www.freedownie.net it\'s hilarious. bettman across the top. picture of a guy with his head up his ass. classic