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Guest Post: "Flyers, one hell of a season"

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.

Flyers Make Run as a Team, Go Down as a Team

What a ride, fun while it lasted, right?

I'm relatively new to hockey. Didn't get exposed to it much as a kid, and now as an adult, I'm being exposed to it by a friend who is probably best described as a "hockey pusher" [who I hope will write something up for this space to do this season justice]. It's been a lot of fun to watch and I'm sorry the season is over and I'm already looking forward to the fall when it starts up again.

So with that background caveat in mind, my naiveté, I have to say, I can't for the life of me figure out why some are blaming Michael Leighton for the loss of the Stanley Cup. It was pretty obvious by the disparity of shots on goal between the two teams that he was having to do far too much work, he needed more help from his defense.

This isn't to say that I think that Leighton should go down as one of the greatest playoff goalies of all time, because he certainly let some easy ones in, particularly the final goal of the series, but some help from his defense at times in Game 6 certainly may have resulted in a different outcome.

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GIROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOUX!

The new "RAAUUUUUUUUUUUL!"

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Updated: Get 'em while they're hot from Zoo With Roy.

Awww, Isn't that Cute

Apparently, the folks in Tampa Bay can really hold a grudge.

As I'm sure you'll recall, the Tampa Bay Rays made a wonderful run in 2008, reaching the World Series before falling to our Fightins. WFC, as they say, WFC. Good times.

At any rate, after nearly two years, it seems as if the folks down in Tampa have grown to hate all things Philly. Before embarking on a road trip to Toronto, Rays manager Joe Maddon orchestrated a photograph in which the entire team donned anti-Philly hockey attire. Take a look, courtesy of RaysIndex.com:

I'd call this a behavior a "rivalry", but to be a rivalry, don't both sides have to know about it? What's odd about this is that Joe Maddon probably grew up rooting for the Phillies and Flyers. His birthplace is Hazelton, Pa, which is just 20 minutes north of my roots. Plus, this smacks of a stunt by a little brother looking to get attention, not a team that is leading the A.L. East by 3.5 games with a 34-17 record and has a run differential of +89.

Lets go, Flyers, lets go. Beat Chicago [and Tampa, apparently, I guess...]

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Video: The Flyers Reach the Stanley Cup!

Filmed by yours truly. What a great, great night.

Not to Pile On, But This Picture Says Well Over 1,000 Words [FLYERS]

Photo from fOTOGLIF

While Gagne and Richards celebrate, the Bruins fan looks to be pulling a Jim Tracy.

Help Me Get Flyer-ed Up

Photo from fOTOGLIF

For the most part, you tend to follow the sports and teams that your father followed. For instance, a good friend of mine that grew up in rural, upstate New York is a Dodgers fan. Why? Because his father roots for the Dodgers. Why? Because when his father was growing up, the Dodgers were still in Brooklyn. And so it goes.

In the house in which I grew up in Pennsylvania coal country, we followed the Phillies, the Eagles, the 76ers, and the PGA Tour.  For whatever reason, we didn't watch hockey.  Since we were a Philadelphia sports-oriented family, the Flyers were our hockey team of choice, but really, I can't think of a single instance when the Orange and Black was displayed on our television.

Tonight, I've been invited to take in the Flyers/Capitals matchup at the Wachovia Center in a rented party suite.  While I'm looking forward to it given the company I'll be with and the sweet suite we'll be in, I'm not very familiar at all with the nature of the contest.  Sure, I know the absolute basics -- core of Jeff Carter and Mike Richards, yesterday's coaching change, and the elite status of Alexander Ovechkin -- but other than that, I'm at a bit of a loss.

Dear readers, what do I need to pay attention to tonight, other than how full my cup is?