The Flyers were eliminated from the Stanley Cup Playoffs Saturday night. At home, in four games. But they were actually IN the playoffs. And in the second round. So my message to the team, the fans and the rest of the NHL is HEADS UP.
To the team: Hold your heads high. You brought the playoffs back to Philadelphia, and won a round against a team that you weren’t supposed to beat.
To my fellow fans, hold your heads up high, knowing that this team is young and talented. We have a goaltender who can lead this team, a Captain who apparently found the fountain of youth, and a Coach who believes in his team.
To the NHL, heads up…the Flyers are back, and will be back in the playoffs next season. Mark it down now.
I was amongst the minority of people who knew this team would be in the playoffs…I was certainly in the minority on this blog. I also am in the minority who feel that Tocchet remains the coach to help this team grow and work towards a deeper playoff run.
This was a difficult year for me personally. I joke often that men is too headache, but this year taught me that women is too headache as well. A crazy woman neighbor who thinks I turned her into adult protective services for abuse of her disabled husband, another crazy woman neighbor who felt I needed to wait on her children, a crazy female ‘friend’ who is mad at me because her actions ended up with me being investigated for insurance fraud, and the coup de gras being the fiancé of my ex husband who wanted his ashes because he was ‘the love of her life’.
As per usual, I turned to hockey as my distraction. Hockey has seen me through an abusive marriage, dating men who lied to me like their lives depended upon it, the loss of my stillborn daughter and nine rounds of in patient chemotherapy.
This year, with the official ‘in remission’ call, it was the men in orange and black who gave me joy. They were, the men I needed this year. I adore Rick Tocchet that’s not a secret. Danny Briere? He was another of my favorite players..I believe I said that I would follow that little elf eared bastard through the depths of hell. Oh, and Wayne Simmonds? I have several of his sweaters and was in tears when the GM who shall remain nameless traded him. All of them are now back with my team.
Many fans fear that the connection to the team’s past will hurt their future. In my opinion those who refuse to learn from the past are doomed to repeat it.
Porter Martone was a Flyers fan as a child. Pictures of him smiling next to Wayne Simmonds melted hearts. He respects the legacy of this team and wants to bring back the glory days of his team.
Much has been said about Tocchet’s treatment of Matvei Michkov and I’m not going to rehash it because I’m one of those who have written about that. I will only summarize that his treatment of MM39 is based on his love of his team and that he wants to help Michkov be the best player that he can.
When major pundits gave this team less than a 3.8% chance of making the playoffs, Tocchet believed in his players. The players believed in themselves even when no one else did. When they punched their ticket to the postseason, I was literally in tears.
When Cam York scored the game winner in Game 6 against the Penguins my scream was described by my son as ‘blood curdling’. I DVR’d the replay of that game and will watch it to get through the days until training camp starts.
By: Phyllis Ceci (@flyersfan1129)
brotherlypuck.com 