by Amy, AllHabs.net
My predictions came to a crashing halt twenty four hours later — the worst-case scenario had happened — my beloved Habs were out of the playoffs. I was devastated.. sad, angry, disappointed, deflated, let down, numb. As I sat in shock for the next couple of hours and kept up with the conversations on Twitter, I could see that most others were feeling the same, if not worse. It’s hard to watch your team’s season come to end, and sometimes even harder to watch your friends grieve right along side you.
But then, before the handshake line was even completed, something happened that is typically unheard of in my Twitter timeline: I started seeing and receiving an outpouring of support from Habs fans…for the FLYERS. At first I thought it was just a few kind friends simply being supportive. It didn’t take long for me to realize that I wasn’t dreaming, hundreds of Habs fans were legitimately rooting for my “other” team.
It’s not easy to be a Flyers fan in a Habs world — I’ve always lived in the greater Philadelphia area (which is where my Flyers allegiance comes from) but a majority of the people I follow on Twitter and who follow me are Habs fans. (I should go on the record here to say that I support that Habs just as much as the Flyers — I’m not a bandwagon supporter!) Needless to say, I endure plenty of friendly jibes (and sometimes not-so-friendly ones during Habs/Flyers games.. last year’s Eastern Conference Final? Yeahhhhh, not so nice.) and it’s common for me to hear the phrase “I’m happy for you if your team wins, but I still hate your team”.
But now I’m receiving messages like “Biggest Flyers fan in the world right here”(from a Habs fan), “..destroy those Bruins in the next series”, “Flyers better crush the Bruins and they better crush them GOOD”, “Let’s go Flyers, kill me them Bruins please”, “Please take care of the Bruins, the Flyers know how”, “…I just want the Bruins to get beat. Badly. Pronger, Carcillo, Richards….do your thing”, and one of my favourites, “I’m now on the orange side of hockey”.
Usually people complain about the physical nature of the Flyers gameplay, now they’re calling out some of the gooniest of the goon squad to get down and dirty and give the Bruins a big ‘ole taste of their own medicine. The Bruins were nasty during their series with the Canadiens (both regular season AND post season) and now it’s time for the tables to turn against them.
They may be coming off of a Game 7 Round 1 win, but the Bruins are still haunted by their last second elimination from the playoffs last year at the hands of the Flyers. Sure they’ll be looking for revenge this year, but the Flyers will be looking to serve up some more humiliation to the B’s. Games between these two teams are always chippy and the playoffs promise to ratchet that up substantially.
So for all you Habs fans out there, I’d like to give you a short intro/primer to land of Orange Crush and get you ready to temporarily cheer for Philly as they start their series against those nasty Bruins.
First and foremost – our post season anthem has been called “the best in the league” by folks everywhere (yes, even Canadians). Lauren Hart is an inspiring and talented singer and begins every Flyers game with a beautiful rendition of our National Anthem. However, during the playoffs – we in South Philly switch to “God Bless America”, a tradition started by Kate Smith back in the ’70s which led the Flyers to a Stanley Cup win. It’s now revered as the most important good luck charm before any big game, with Lauren starting the song and singing a virtual “duet” with the playback of Kate’s video recording of singing alongside her on the Jumbotron. It’s a performance like none other, giving me chills and making my eyes water every single time I hear it. Take THAT Rene Rancourt!!! (Also, Lauren usually dresses in a black leather jacket…with no goofy fist pump. She wins, hands down.)
Next we have the lineup. I’ll get you familiar with some of the more notable players. Starting in goal, we’ve got….well….ummmm…..maybe we shouldn’t start in goal. That’s a bit of a hot mess. It’s our one true weakness, a weakness that hasn’t been addressed for YEARS. I keep praying that someday management will smarten up and finally land the team a solid, consistent #1 goaltender. (I’ll leave my lamenting about Martin Biron not being on the team anymore for another day.) Leighton should stay home, Boucher is “OK” at best, and Bobrovsky shows a lot of promise – he just needs to get more experience and training.
This team has a lot of scoring depth – and I mean A LOT. All four lines can score goals and that’s been a major contributor to Philly’s success this season. You’re all familiar with Jeff Carter, Danny Briere (I know, he’s not a fav), Scott Hartnell (who also falls down at least eight times per game), Kris Versteeg, Nikolay Zherdev, and Mike Richards. Claude Giroux is dangerous, as is James Van Riemsdyk and Ville Leino. (And no, I don’t share well. Montreal may NOT have Leino after this season!)
But the defense also serves up more than just punishing hits and blocked shots, they can actually score a lot of goals…in some instances even more than the forwards. Chris Pronger is back on the ice and I guarantee he’s got Zdeno Chara and Milan Lucic in his crosshairs. Kimmo Timonen, Danny Syvret and Andrej Meszaros all find ways to sneak pucks past goalies. Timmy Thomas is gonna be fish-floppin’ all over that crease.
And keep an eye on guys like Braydon Coburn, Sean O’Donnell, Darroll Powe and Daniel Carcillo – you might not like them, but they protect the puck and deliver punishment like crazy.
I wish the circumstances could be different to get words of support like this from fellow Habs fan (and I know the support most likely won’t carry over to next season) but hey, I’ll take it. Luckily most of the Habs fans I know have come to the realization that I’m a true Canadiens supporter too – in fact, most of them call me a “crazy” fan for driving fourteen hours roundtrip on a regular basis to help organize and attend Habs Tweetups in Montreal, Toronto, etc.
Believe me, the Flyers plan on doing just what’s being requested of them by Habs fans everywhere. The Bruins are in for a bumpy ride! I’m truly sorry to see the bleu, blanc et rouge done for the season, but I believe the orange and black will do Habs fans proud in takin’ care of business with the B’s. *cue stereotypical “Rocky” music* Let’s go Flyers!