Losing Rod Brind'Amour via trade has always been a sensitive issue for Flyers fans, and probably for Brindy himself. We're very thankful that Carolina is letting us share in tonight's ceremony, because even though his name was etched into the Cup as a Hurricane, most fans here were rooting for him to succeed so long as it wasn't at the Flyers' expense. When his number goes up to the rafters in Raleigh tonight, it will be a celebration of his entire career, nearly half of which was in Philly.
Earlier this week, Rod Brind'Amour spoke with reporters about his career and the honor the Carolina Hurricanes will bestow on him Friday night in retiring his number 17. Almost every line he uttered was worthy of its own post, but these two responses, on the Flyers and specifically the fans in Philly, were pretty awesome. Here's what he had to say:
"I loved my time in Philadelphia. There are certain players that play in that city that really do well and love it, and I think I was one of them. I’ve said this many times - the day I got traded from Philadelphia was one of the worst days of my career. Up until that point I bled orange and black. It was an extremely tough time for me to leave that place because I loved it so much. They’ve got tremendous loyal fans there that every player, if there’s a list of a couple teams they wish they could play on, Philadelphia's always at the top of that list because of the organization and because of the following and the reception that you get there. They keep you on your toes and they keep you honest, but they’re always there for you, and I think that says a lot about that Flyer fan base.”
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When asked how special it is to have the Flyers in town for this game:
“It's really special to me. They're the team I played the other half of my career, essentially, with. There’s so many great memories there. I'm grateful that the team would pick that night to do that. It couldn't really be better timing for me. Like I said, I had a lot of great memories with the Flyers, and hopefully I’ll be able to have enough time that I can thank the right people with the Flyers who really helped me to get to the point of having this night.”
Comcast Sporstnet will carry the event during Flyers Pregame Live and during the opening of the telecast. Brind'Amour loyalists won't want to miss this one.