The old enemy.
Playing Philadelphia in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs seems scripted. Miss the postseason for three years, then get re-introduced via the Battle of Pennsylvania. The Flyers hadn’t made the playoffs since 2020. It will be intense.
But the problem with this script is that we’re not sure about the ending.
The Penguins should win.
The Penguins have home ice, the better team, and a captain who destroys the Flyers as per his understanding of the rivalry and whatever personal animosity he denies but has. The Flyers took Sidney Crosby’s teeth when he was a rookie, but Crosby took their heart and never returned it. (He held onto the baton, too.)
But what if the Penguins lose?
Certain among us would carry that around like a disease.
There’s a fear factor.
Not physically. The Flyers still play on Broad Street, but they’re not bullies anymore. The face of the team is a whiny rat who specializes in shootouts and trick plays.
But they have a hot hand, winning six of their last seven, and are just good enough to maybe beat the Penguins.
They have a quality coach. Rick Tocchet won a Stanley Cup in 1992 playing for the Penguins, two more as an assistant coach with the team.
Tocchet recently said he bleeds orange and black.
But the only times Tocchet won, he was black and gold.
You need to be a bit older to realize how bitter this is.
The Flyers ruined hockey in the ’70s, making a mockery via organized goon tactics and cheating their way to Stanley Cups in 1974 and ‘75.
The super-power Montreal Canadiens put a stop to that.
But not to the Flyers beating up on the Penguins.
The Flyers posted a 42-game unbeaten streak (39-0-3) against the Penguins at Philadelphia from 1974-89. When the Penguins finally ended that, glory wasn’t far off. Thank you, Wendell Young.
Losing stinks, especially to a rival.
But the Flyers have always been punks. Never likeable, nor respectable.
There have been hiccups since the Penguins broke that winless streak at Philadelphia: The Flyers ended Mario Lemieux’s first playoff run in 1989 and the big part of his career in 1997. Keith Primeau scored in the fifth overtime in 2000. Marc-Andre Fleury imploded in 2012.
But the Penguins did the eliminating in 2008, ‘09 and ‘18.
Ryan Malone scored twice to knock out the Flyers in ‘08. A Pittsburgh-born kid whose father played for the Penguins against the Flyers’ goon squad. Malone lived it. It was a revenge tour for all of us. When Malone became a free agent, his representation got one instruction: No Flyers.
Max Talbot shushed Philadelphia in ‘09. Talbot got beat up, but reversed the momentum. (Talbot later played for the Flyers. I forgive him.)
Jake Guentzel scored four goals to eliminate the Flyers in ‘18, counting off each tally: “That’s three.” “That’s four.” In that squeaky, Muppet voice.
The Penguins went 8-0 vs. the Flyers in 2006-07. Michel Therrien was coach. He deserves a statue outside PPG Paints Arena for that.
The Penguins are a bigger brand than the Flyers. Original Six-level. Superstar-caked. What the Flyers used to pretend they were but can’t anymore.
The Penguins have won five Stanley Cups, the first in 1991.
The Flyers haven’t won since 1975. That’s 50 years going on 51.
The Penguins must personally deliver that 51st year. St. Fredericton’s Day. Celebrate good times, come on. Put the Flyers out of everyone’s misery.
It’s non-negotiable.
It won’t matter what happens after.
The Penguins came out of nowhere to make the playoffs after being projected to finish among the NHL’s bottom five.
But if the Penguins lose this series, the season’s a failure.
If you’re an old-timey Penguins fan, you understand.
Loss after loss.
Goal after goal.
Fight after fight.
Bullied into submission for years.
The Penguins got Bob “Battleship” Kelly in 1974. Arguably the best fighter ever. Total gangster. The Penguins got tougher in the attempt to battle the Flyers.
But when the Penguins blew a three-games-to-none lead vs. the New York Islanders in the 1975 quarterfinals, Kelly said years later that a lot of the Penguins were scared to play the Flyers in the semis. That it contributed to the collapse.
The Penguins aren’t scared now.
It’s a first-round series. A long way from winning a sixth Cup for the Penguins, or a third for the Flyers. That’s a pipe dream for both teams.
But it’s Penguins-Flyers.
This means more.