Give Blood and Get Goods

I recently saw a commercial during a Flyers game that promoted an upcoming blood drive at the Wachovia Center on January 24th, benefiting the American Red Cross. The bonus is that all blood donors will receive a free replica jersey from the Flyers, Sixers, Phantoms, or Wings. But then I looked for it online for more information and had the darnedest time trying to find it. So if you're interested in helping save a life or two by giving blood, and you want to get a free sports jersey out of the deal, here's the link to sign up:

http://www.pleasegiveblood.org/feature/flyers-and-76ers--2009-blood-drive.html

This is a great event, but I'm not sure why it was so secretive to find online. Anyway, sign up today!

I Love the Flyers, but...

I love the Flyers but I have one issue with the team.

Right now I'm watching the game against the Habs (what's a Hab, by the way??) and the fans are decked out in orange shirts... an "orange crush" as they call it.

But here's the issue I have...the Flyers hardly even have any orange in their freakin jerseys anymore!

For whatever reason, a couple of years ago, the Philadelphia Flyers management and marketing mavens decided to take out the classic orange color out of the sweaters. Now their home jerseys are black just like 68% of the other teams out there. (Okay, that's an unofficial calculation, but probably close to being true.)

When the Flyers wore the orange uni's, you KNEW the Flyers were playing. Now, the Flyers look like every other team out there. I miss the orange identity.

But at least the orange lives on in the stands...

Thank the gods of hockey for...

...Mike Knuble!

Nice goal Mikey baby... big win for the Flyers tonight.

For those of you keeping score, here are the only other players in NHL history, according to hockey-reference.com to have names that begin with "Kn":

Bill Knibbs (great name by the way)
Rick Knickle (another one)
Fred Knipscheer (wow, they just keep getting better!)
Nick Knott
Paul Knox
Espen Knutsen

Other point of note here: Mr. Knuble is also the NHL's all-time leading scorer for "Kn" players with 182 career regular season goals. In second is Espen Knutsen with 30.

So that's just me trying to drop some KNowledge on ya. Now you KNow...

(Thanks to the Knew York Times for the great photo from '06, BTW.)

Flyers, Penguins and 107,000 Puckheads

Yesterday, local (Philly-area) media reported that the Philadelphia Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins are dabbling with the notion of playing a regular season game at Penn State University in Happy Valley in January of 2009. Outdoors. In Beaver Stadium.

Let me just say that this would be the wildest game I could possibly imagine.

Not only is the Flyers/Pens rivalry building steam especially after last week's scrappy 8-2 battle that the Flyers won, but having it at a neutral location that State College provides, and having it at the country's second largest stadium in the dead of winter just sounds like the a recipe for mayhem. Up to 107,000 fans cheering on a bitter rivalry would be crazy. But in a good way.

Having gone to Penn State I realize that roughly 1/3 of the students are Philly sports fans, 1/3 are Pittsburgh sports fans, and the rest are "miscellaneous"... mostly New York sports fans and a mix of others. So the built-in battleground between the two Pennsylvania cities is already there, and the party scene would be well-represented on both sides.

My only real question is... if you're sitting at the top row of Beaver Stadium in a full house... how in the H-E-double-hockey-sticks would you be able to see the puck???

Other than that, I say... play on!

A Look Back at Murray Craven

I don't know why, but Murray Craven's name popped into my head this morning. Just one of those catchy names I guess. So I did some research on him online. Here's the scoop about this former Flyer:

-Craven was born on 7/20/1964 in Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada.

-Drafted by Detroit Red Wings in 1982, Craven was traded to the Flyers in 1984 in exchange for the aging Darryl Sittler. It turned out to be a steal, according to Legends of Hockey.

-According to Database Hockey, Craven played seven years for the Flyers from 1984-1991 and then again for a brief stint in the 1991-2 season, playing in 523 regular season games-- out of a total of about 572-- making him a very dependable player. A consistent left winger, Craven scored 152 goals plus 245 assists for 397 points during his Flyers career.

-His career totals amounted to 1071 games played from 1982-2000, 266 goals, 493 assists, 759 points, and 524 penalty minutes during the regular season. In 118 playoff games, he racked up 27 goals, 43 assists, and 66 penalty minutes.

-He made it to the Stanley Cup on three occasions-- twice with the Flyers and once with the Canucks-- but was never able to bring home the trophy.

-Lastly, here's a view of an excerpt about Murray Craven in "The Greatest Players and Moments of the Philadelphia Flyers", by Stan Fischler.

Thanks for the hard work you gave the Flyers, Murray. Hope you're doing well these days!

Tim Tookey Selected for the Hall...

Yesterday, former Flyer Tim Tookey got the call to the Hall of Fame... the AHL Hall of Fame, that is.

Tookey, a 5' 10" forward, was the fourth leading scorer all-time in AHL history. He squeezed out two regular season games with the Philadelphia Flyers in 1986-87, and played in 10 games during the playoffs that year. You can see his career stats here.

So, hat's off (or should I say helmet's off?) to Mr. Tookey. See ya in the Hall...

Bring It On

Philadelphia Flyers hockey is here and I hope you're ready. Because after watching the Phillies get manhandled to end their season and the Eagles get outplayed to begin their season, I for one am hoping the Flyers have a fighting chance.

Speaking of fighting, I thought these two clips might inspire you to get fired up for the start of hockey season.

A dash of Dave Schultz...


And a splash of Flyers vs. Senators...


Bring it on baby...

Welcome to Philadelphia, Jason Smith

Within the last week the Sixers drafted Jason Smith. And the Flyers traded for Jason Smith.

Yup, you heard right. Should be a fun year for sports news broadcasters in Philly.

I'm almost certain that players with the same full name playing on two different teams in Philadelphia has happened before, but I can't recall who that may have been.

Anybody with some help on this mind-bending issue?

Please?

Updates to follow if any are found!

Thanks for the Memories, Mellanby!

Well Flyers fans, our old buddy Scott Mellanby is hanging up the skates. He called it quits after 21 years of mucking and grinding, six of those years in the vaunted Spectrum of yesteryear. At age 40, Mr. Mellanby put in a solid career and had some memorable highlights, namely:

-364 goals, 476 assists, for 840 total points, and 2,479 minutes in the penalty box (that's almost 2 day's worth of penalties!) as a tough "never quit" right winger
-Made two trips to the Stanley Cup (one for the Flyers, one for the Panthers), though he never won it, honored as team captain, and earned an All-Star Game appearance; unfortunately he ended his career with the third most games played without winning the Cup, according to his Wikipedia entry
-A run in with a rat: He splattered a rat with his stick when it ran across the locker room, thus prompting his hometown Panthers fans to pelt the ice with rubber rats whenever he put the biscuit in the basket
-Founded Athletes Against Autism Foundation, to help fund research to cure Autism

Mellanby had a good run and played for one of the more exciting eras of Flyers hockey, from 1986-91.

De Ja Vu All Over Again?

Ok, take a gander at the following couple of paragraphs (and/or the entire article if you so desire) that I just saw on Philly.com's homepage:

A woeful season might be of comfort

By Frank Fitzpatrick

INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

If this woeful season winds up as the Flyers' worst, it may be comforting for their fans, players and officials to look back at the team it will have supplanted in franchise infamy.

Though 1969-70 produced just 17 Philadelphia victories - in addition to 35 losses and an NHL-record 24 ties - it laid most of the groundwork for the remarkable hockey success that was just around the corner.

Now I'm no conspiracy theorist, nor am I one to toot my own proverbial horn, but now take a look at the opening of this post I wrote on January 12, 2007:

Even in Philly, Patience is a Virtue

Any Flyers fan will recognize these names:

Bobby Clark
Gary Dornhoefer
Bernie Parent

Indeed, they are three of the more recognizable names in Flyers' history, since they were great players.

That, and they helped bring the first Stanley Cup to Philadelphia in the 1973-74 season.

But what many people may not know (and I didn't know this until just now), is that these three players were on the second-to-worst team in the league just a few seasons before winning the Cup. In 1969-70, these players suffered through an ugly year as the team won just 17 out of 76 games, and tied with the now defunct, short-lived Oakland Seals in the NHL's Western Conference.

In 1973 they improved to the first place team, winning 50 out of 76 games.

Notice any similarities? What's up with that?

Ron Hextall: Stickin' It to the Man

Digging through a rarely-opened drawer in my home office, I happened upon an 8 1/2 x 11 photo of Ron Hextall, standing at his net with the old-school brown pads, white helmet, and blank boards in the background. It instantly brought back memories and, admittedly, a few goose bumps. Simply put, Ron Hextall was my boy.

Realizing, as a boy, that I shared a birthday (May 3) with Mr. Hextall, I developed an instant connection to the Flyers' goalie of the late 80s to early 90s, skip a couple years, and late 90s. I even grew up in the same town where he lived and practiced (Voorhees, NJ). But most importantly, he and I shared an innate love for swinging a stick and clanging the goalposts. I always got a mini-thrill of his mini-warmup routine where he would swing his stick back and forth against the posts, creating a distinct ring that echoed throughout the raucous Spectrum and would even be heard on TV. Ah, memories.

Of course the fact that he was an exciting and aggressive showman didn't hurt either.

I don't think anybody will forget Hextall's attack on Chris Chelios after Chelios took a cheap shot at Brian Propp in an earlier game, giving the unsuspecting Flyer a concussion to knock him out of the playoffs. This was the ultimate case of standing up for your teammates.

Nor will they forget Hextall's goal, as he launched the puck into an open net, the first time a goalie did so in NHL history.

Nor will anybody forget his slash on Ken Nilson in the Stanley Cup.

And let's not forget the 100+ penalty minutes that were assessed on him in two different seasons. No other goalie in history has come close to 100 in one season, mind you.

I could go on... but you get the drill.

Nowadays, the Flyers' goalkeepers are just downright dull and, well, forgettable, a far cry from Hextall, the Broad Street Bully/Goalie of recent years. I just can't help but wonder: Where did the goaltending passion go?

Perhaps somebody needs to take out a goalie stick and just start swingin...

Philly Sports Phun Phacts

For the 06-07 season, the Eagles have won 11 games (including a playoff
game), the Flyers have won 11 games, and the Sixers have won 11 games.
Combined together, that's
33 wins.  (I'm good at math.)

By the end of the year, the total number of games played between the
three teams (assuming the Sixers & Flyers miss the playoffs) will be 182
games played.  Combined, these teams could easily win fewer games than
the Phillies could win for the regular season.  I would have to think
this is pretty much unprecedented in Philly history.

Estimates:

11 wins for Birds.
22 wins for Sixers
22 wins for Flyers
=55 wins total in 184 games.... Yikes!

Maybe the Phils can even double that number.  Time will tell...

Even in Philly, Patience is a Virtue

Any Flyers fan will recognize these names:

Bobby Clark
Gary Dornhoefer
Bernie Parent

Indeed, they are three of the more recognizable names in Flyers' history, since they were great players.

That, and they helped bring the first Stanley Cup to Philadelphia in the 1973-74 season.

But what many people may not know (and I didn't know this until just now), is that these three players were on the second-to-worst team in the league just a few seasons before winning the Cup. In 1969-70, these players suffered through an ugly year as the team won just 17 out of 76 games, and tied with the now defunct, short-lived Oakland Seals in the NHL's Western Conference.

In 1973 they improved to the first place team, winning 50 out of 76 games.

Dare I say.... wow!

That is one whale of a turnaround right there. And without a doubt there are more than just a few turnaround stories like this in all of sports, but I think it's easy to forget just how quickly it can happen, especially when us Philly sports fans are so used to seeing a team struggle forever and then take a while to become a champion. But with a few good players, a strong coach, and the right attytood, anything is possible. Oh, and just a little thing called patience.

As Axl Rose so poetically once said:

"All we need is just a little patience."

"Yeah, yeah."

"Just a little patience."