07-08 Philadelphia Flyers Season Thread

[BigEd76]

TSN trying to play up the "USA vs Canada" angle in their recap while taking shots at us

Perhaps those ill feelings [of the sucker punch at the end of game 2] were to blame for the few hundred fans who booed the beginning of O Canada before the game, despite a taped message on the jumbotron from Gatineau, Que., native Daniel Briere of the Flyers. Those same fans probably forgot 11 players in their lineup Monday night hailed from Canada.
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Flyers bad boy Steve Downie got the crowd going again near the end of the first period, tripping Price behind the net and attracting several Canadiens as a melee ensued. The crowd shouted ''U-S-A, U-S-A,'' during the fight. Their hero, Downie, is from Newmarket, Ont.

[PhillyGirl]

In response to a Washington Post column that described Flyers fans as "women and children could be security for Megedeth," lead singer Dave Mustaine sent a videotaped message of support. He wore Jason Smith's sweate

[phillymic2000]

again, the flyers should be leading this shtein 3-0.  i can't understand why others are saying the canadiens are that much better than the flyers, though.  maybe they are but they sure as hell haven't played that way thus far.

I'm going with your comment

[Seabiscuit36]

I probably shouldn't have let up...when I let up my hands got a little bit ahead of me...If I had known I would have gotten 5 minutes I wouldn't have let up....(were you in disbelief?)...i was...I was...He came over and said you got two minutes...and then the guy got up and pushed me from behind there ...and he had a little speck of blood on him and the referee said you got 5 minutes for boarding...and that's exactly how it went..and uh...(how do you feel right now)...I don't feel that bad


lol hatcher

[PoopyfaceMcGee]

In response to a Washington Post column that described Flyers fans as "women and children could be security for Megedeth," lead singer Dave Mustaine sent a videotaped message of support. He wore Jason Smith's sweater

Ha - was just going to post that.  Awesome.

[Cerevant]

TSN trying to play up the "USA vs Canada" angle in their recap while taking shots at us

Perhaps those ill feelings [of the sucker punch at the end of game 2] were to blame for the few hundred fans who booed the beginning of O Canada before the game, despite a taped message on the jumbotron from Gatineau, Que., native Daniel Briere of the Flyers. Those same fans probably forgot 11 players in their lineup Monday night hailed from Canada.
.
.
Flyers bad boy Steve Downie got the crowd going again near the end of the first period, tripping Price behind the net and attracting several Canadiens as a melee ensued. The crowd shouted ''U-S-A, U-S-A,'' during the fight. Their hero, Downie, is from Newmarket, Ont.

Taking shots at who?  Were you at the game booing the Canadian National Anthem?

Boo the team.  Boo the players.  Don't boo the country, especially when half of the home team comes from there.

I don't know if the fans in Montreal boo'd the US national anthem, but if they did, they are ignorant iceholes too.

As for the penalties - conspiracy?  No.  Bias? Yes.  Did the Flyers earn it?  Yes.

Ever wonder why the Raiders are usually the most penalized team in the NFL?  It is because they foster the view that they play dirty.  I thought Stevens did a good job talking about the cheap shot after game 2 - trying to distance the flyers from that kind of play, and very clearly pointing out the double-standard.

Then the Flyers goons come along and start talking about how they are going to go after Koivu and Kovalev. 

"If I knew it was 5, I wouldn't have let up"

Yep, get used to it.  If the Flyers want to foster the perception that they want to physically hurt the other team, to be the bullies again, they shouldn't be shocked when they get called for it.

[rjs246]

Whiney. Bitches.

[Seabiscuit36]

Cerevant, the French Canadians boo'd the national anthem then entire Boston Series, and booed it when the flyers played in Montreal,  But it doesnt make th news when the anthem is showered with boos, meanwhile a few hundred by their estimation boo in philly and we are savages.  farg them. 

[Rome]

wow - cerevant has turned into a full blooded canuck, i see.

nice, eh?!

[Seabiscuit36]

hopefully next time the driver doesnt miss

[SD_Eagle5]

Does it really bother people that fans from another team boo their national anthem? Its just another way to boo the opposing team...if there were a bunch of Americans visiting Canada or vice versa and it wasn't at a sporting event does anyone really believe there would be boo's?

[ice grillin you]

Those wacky Flyers fans
 
DAVE STUBBS
The Gazette

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Every Canadien was eagerly anticipating last night's Game 3 in their series against the Flyers, and a large part of that had to do with the atmosphere in the Wachovia Centre.

The Wacky Centre, for short.

Fans in this town can get pretty loopy, taking their hockey as seriously/obsessively as they do. And they love their Flyers nearly as much as they hate the guys in the other uniforms.

(Scary walking beneath the arena stands yesterday, among the hundreds of beer kegs - some branded Molson - that this morning will be returned as empties.)

More than a decade ago, NHL and minor-league hockey goon Billy Tibbetts spent three years behind bars for assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and for violating probation.

Sympathetic Philly fans rolled out the red carpet for him when he turned up here in the uniform of the American Hockey League's Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, having paid his debt to society, to play the hometown Phantoms.

"There were about 20 Philadelphia fans who dressed in jail suits because Billy was on our team," remembered Canadiens' Tom Kostopoulos, who played on that team. "That was pretty creative."

Of course, who knows whether Tibbetts wasn't a card-carrying, honorary member of the Broad Street Bullies? He surely had the credentials, his 378 penalty minutes taken in 62 games with Wilkes Barre making Slap Shot's Ogie Ogilthorpe a choirboy by comparison.

Habs defenceman Josh Gorges said both teams feed off the energy they feel in the Wachovia, no matter who's on the receiving end of the compliments. And Flyers fans can turn on their own as quickly as the fair-weather supporters of the Canadiens.

"They love their Flyers here, and it's great to see," Gorges said. "You look around and you see the people going crazy, see their passion.

You feed off that even if you're the road team. It makes the game a lot more enjoyable."

Gorges said it's not uncommon to start laughing at some twisted insult hurled a player's way.

"They come up with some pretty good stuff," he said, without elaboration. "You hear things constantly through the game, guys yelling things at you. It's entertaining.

"You can't help but laugh at the guy they're making fun of. Or it's so ridiculous that it

doesn't make any sense, so you just have to laugh it off."

The bigger the star, the more likely he's going to hear it. So Alex Kovalev has heard plenty from his days with the Rangers and, worse, the evil Penguins.

"I'm not really focused on what the fans are doing or saying," Kovy said, shrugging. "I'm not a fan of that."

Said Christopher Higgins: "You can't really hear it unless they're leaning over the glass. It's tough to identify a single taunt unless they're right in your face."

Even before the game, word around town was that defenceman Ryan O'Byrne was in for special treatment to celebrate his alleged Tampa purse-snatching incident of late December.

The heyday of the heckling would have been in the 1970s, when the Flyers were just as happy to beat you up as beat you. Some of the best fights in the old Spectrum were in the stands, or outside the arena.

"Fans in the past were maybe a little bit more physical," coach Guy Carbonneau recalled of the old Spectrum, the Phantoms home which stands in the shadow of the Wachovia.

"It was always kind of disturbing when you were in the warmup and on the scoreboard they were showing about 900 fights in the parking lot."

The fans (and their pints) will froth anew for Game 4 tomorrow. And should the Flyers get past the Canadiens to the Eastern Conference final, there's a wonderful chance they'll play state-rival Pittsburgh, whom Philly fans will abuse just for having DNA.

On the team's official fan forum, someone has asked: "I've heard that Flyers fans are the meanest in the NHL, but when I went to a game at Wachovia Centre in March, I didn't really think so. Anyone have thoughts on the subject?"

Comes the helpful reply beneath it:

"Screw off why don't ya!"

[Rome]

hopefully next time the driver doesnt miss

lmfao

[Seabiscuit36]

The fans (and their pints) will froth anew for Game 4 tomorrow. And should the Flyers get past the Canadiens to the Eastern Conference final, there's a wonderful chance they'll play state-rival Pittsburgh, whom Philly fans will abuse just for having DNA.

lol

[Rome]

i laughed at that too.  good stuff.