The following is a recount of the Flyers great playoff run through the eyes of my buddy Rick, a man having a great deal of success getting me to succumb to the hockey bug partly by persistence and partly by bringing me to Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals. Thanks Rick.
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What a season! Going into the 09/10 season expectations were high. New goalie, Chris Pronger and the bulk of the talent coming back, the Cup had to be ours. Soon after a good start something went amiss. An unprecedented fall to the basement, 14th in the conference and a need for a major shakeup, sent the Flyers fans into a state of disbelief. Talks about locker room issues, no leadership and a bunch of guys playing undisciplined hockey, making the playoffs was fading as this season quickly became a wasted dream. But as I sat at Peter Laviolette’s 1st home game and watched the Caps rip the Flyers wounds wide open I said this will be like Pittsburgh’s run last year. Soon things began to gel and nothing was going to stop them, (except the Olympics) 7 different goalies, 5 who stood between the pipes, key injuries late in the season, but somehow on April 11 the impossible dream and improbable run began to take shape.
Winning on a shootout was just the start of the heart in my throat moments. Needing to win to get in, the Flyers forced an OT and a shootout. Up by 1 goal, I watched the puck slip off of Jokinen’s stick and gently into the pads of Boucher, the playoff dream suddenly became a reality. The once favored to win the East limped into the playoffs by stretching the season as far as it could go. Many of us thought, maybe a round 1 win, after all we had the Devils’ number all year, but no way could we beat the Caps or Pens.
Who knew our friends from the North would take care of that issue, but an old rival stood in the way. The Bruins, who took the hard fought Winter Classic from us, seemed to be destined to keep the streak of a Classic team playing for the cup alive. Meanwhile, the Flyers were to be watching from the links. After driving home from that devastating game 3, I remorsefully took down my Flyers flag, it didn’t hang before this series and down 3-0 I didn’t want it up now. Who knew what history the Flyers would make in the next few days.The comeback started again with an OT winner, this time by Gagne who returned from a broken foot. This wasn’t supposed to happen, it was over, the Flyers had nothing, but their pride and 19,000+ fans said otherwise. Then back to Boston, Leighton returns from injury to back up Boucher, who knew it would help save the Flyers season as Boucher writhed in pain on the ice, Leighton skated to the crease to calmly complete the shutout. Oh how the hockey gods have blessed the Flyers. With the Bruins squeezing their sticks tighter and the Flyers believing, game 7 arrived. Down 3-0 with 5:50 left in the 1st, game 7 quickly put doubt in our hearts. For some reason I didn’t change the channel, maybe I too was beginning to believe. I said come on Flyers we can do this. Laviolette too, knew his team could do it, calling one of his prototypical time outs he calmed his team, told Leighton "don’t worry about it and let’s get one before this period ends." JVR, a rookie would answer that call, scoring with just under 3 left in the 1st. You could see the fear in the Bruins eyes, Laviollete must of seen this too, as he told Bob Harwood from VS during an 2nd period in-game interview, “we’re going to win this game.” Win it they did, from 3-0 down in the series and down 3-0 in game 7, destiny continued.
Now the match up of the Cinderellas, #7 Flyers VS # 8 Canadians, who in their own right had an amazing run, coming back down 3 games to 1 vs. the top two seeds in the East. Montreal’s magic had run out though as Flyer comebacks continued. Carter returned form a 2nd broken foot and Laperriere returning from an insane display of sacrifice vs. the Devils, would help drive the Flyers to a game 5 home clinching game. As I screamed my heart and soul out throughout game 5, I too believed this was destiny. Richards showed he deserved the C on his jersey, his determination alone could of beat Montreal in game 5, running over player after player to get the puck, his shorthanded goal was one of the best examples of determination ever displayed on the rink.
Next, it was on to the Finals and my first ever Stanley Cup finals game. The Flyers already let two games slip away and the crowd, while boisterous, was nervous and apprehensive even with a 1-0 lead going into the 2nd. Chicago would prove they too had a heart of steel and took a 2-1 lead into the 3rd, but Hartnell who went from the dog house to the penthouse, with his line mates of Briere and Leino, tied it up. But that Chicago team refused to concede, taking an early lead in the 3rd. Once again thoughts of being down 3-0 crept in, but not in the minds of the Flyers, Leino quickly took us from a state of panic to a state of nervous excitement tying it up less than a minute later. After 60 minutes of back and forth hockey and the tension of a reviewed goal, OT was where this game would be decided. The Flyers quickly scored a seemingly winning goal just to see it overturned in OT. The Flyers continued though with relentless pressure and finally buried the winning goal a few moments later. The Flyers were back in this series. That momentum carried them through game 4 with a convincing win and now all we needed was one win in Chicago right?
Game 5 was a tough pill to swallow, Leighton pulled again, Pronger was treated like a rag doll and Chicago crushed the Flyers with their will. The series was now back in our house and with a 9-1 playoff record at home this was our game, after all drama was a requirement this playoff year.
This was how the Flyers do it, they made history by coming back down 3-0 vs. Boston, now they would make history again becoming only the 3rd team to come back after losing the 1st two road games. Byfuglien (somehow pronounced Bufflin) quickly put doubt into all our minds giving Chicago a 1-0 lead, but that would not stand. The Briere line once again rose the occasion and Hartnell whose head was wanted by most Flyer fans mid season tied the game and sent the Wach into frenzy. Back and forth we went, but going into the final moments of the 3rd the Flyers were down, still this is how the Flyers do it, always climbing the mountain in front of them. Sure enough Hartnell once again became the hero, tying the game 3-3 with 4 mins left. With my ears ringing, we stood cheering the Flyers the last few minutes trying to will the puck into the net. Unfortunately, Carter forgot his Viagra and shot a puck low into a sprawled Niemi, with the top of the net begging for a deposit. Once again OT was needed, but Chicago was reeling and the Flyers were imposing their will, OT would be ours.
With most of the action down in the Chicago zone, the win was there for the taking. Good chances and Chicago seemed to have no answers. With 15:54 left in the OT Kane slipped an innocent looking shot towards Leighton, and with an ending similar to the Sopranos finale the crowd fell silent. No horn, no whistle, no red lights, just Kane skating down the rink with his hands in the air. Never knowing what hapenned, I drove home with my buddy Joe, sharing only a few awkward one-liners, still in shock of what transpired. It wasn't until this morning I saw how it went in. After seeing it on TV, I repeated my words from the night before, not like this, not like this…
