Let me set the scene. It’s preseason. Fade into Coach Hitchcock. He’s talking about how the Flyers will be a tough team to beat on home ice. Other teams will not want to come into Philly because it will be a battle every night. Segue into a collage of jarring hits. Sprinkle in a few shots of Donald Brashear and Todd Fedoruk throwing bombs. Back to Hitchcock. Now he’s telling me that I shouldn’t miss a minute of this exciting and physical Flyers team. The commercial ends and I’m on the floor in hysterics. My mind drifts to Rich Pilon taking cheap shots at John LeClair and Eric Lindros every shift and never having to answer for it. I think back to Darius Kasparitis’s first game at the Boring Center after beginning the end of Big E’s career and how there were 20,000 people who wanted him smashed and the 20 who could did not care to. I conjure up more recent memories of Darcy Tucker and Tyson Nash given free reign to take out knees and come in high and late. Now my mind is in full recall mode and I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen a Flyer go after another team’s player for some retribution. Home ice advantage? Tough and physical? Surely they are not speaking of my beloved Flyers. So, I file away the plea to buy tickets as some sort of cruel joke being played on me by the organization’s ad people. After all, those people probably still think they’re in the Broad Street Bully days. I know that it will be business as usual in 2003-2004 and that the “home ice advantage” is just a marketing ploy.
Well, spank my ass and call me Sally-I am here to tell you that maybe they were onto something. After fourteen home games, through the first two months of the season, the Flyers stand unbeaten at 12-0-2, including 11 straight wins. More importantly is how they’ve been winning those contests. They have outworked all fourteen visitors. This includes teams like the Thrashers and Wild who are known throughout the NHL to play harder than their opponents on a nightly basis. They have been scoring goals consistently and have outscored talented offensive teams like the Canucks and Bruins. They have played physical and tough, just as the preseason ads promised they would. There have been seven fights on home ice and all have been the result of challenging guys who had taken liberties on Flyer ice.
All of the above are promising developments in the early stages of a long season. Could the ads be correct after all? Maybe there really is a home ice advantage in Philadelphia this year? Its too early to know for sure but, stayed tuned…
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