As
we said in this morning's post, it's only been two games, but man does
it feel good to see the Flyers get off to a great start. How much worse
would things feel right now if, in addition to the Phillies debaculous
crash, the Eagles WTF season, and the NBA deciding it cares as much
about playing games as most of our commenters, the Flyers were 0-2 and
Ilya Bryzgalov had a 4+GAA?
Well thankfully, one of those things isn't true. The Flyers will
open their home schedule tonight with a 2-0-0 record, and all the new
guys look pretty freaking great so far. When the Orange & Black take
the Wells Fargo Center ice tonight, they'll feature nine players who
weren't on it the last time the team skated in Philly. Hopefully the
conversation will continue to be about moving on from the past and being
excited about the present. We'll get into the future when it's
appropriate. For now we're just ready to settle in for some hockey, let
the new guys know how we do.
Tonight's opponent is obviously a team that could have us singing a slightly less melodic tune tomorrow, the Vancouver Canucks.
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Before
meeting their fate at the hands of the Boston Bruins in the Stanley Cup
Finals, the Canucks racked up a mind-blowing, league-leading 117
points.
We know about the Sedins. We know about Roberto Luongo. These guys
are as good an opponent as the Flyers will face, especially offensively,
just two games after being tasked with opening the season in Boston
against one of the better teams at stifling opposing attacks. Good. It's
a great time to send the boys up against the best. With all the new
faces, the expectations aren't too crazy around the league. Let the
newbies play the reigning Western Conference champs with a little house
money in the minds of the analysts, and get their game together on their
own terms.
One thing's for sure though—the fans in the building expect to be
slipping an undefeated Flyers team into their mental rolodex before
going to bed tonight.