Where is the love? A Penguins / Flyers discussion

Every team has a rival where the games are intense and the hatred flows.  As much as the rival is despised, the rivalry itself should be appreciated.

Some would say the Pens main rival these days is the Washington Capitals.

I think they’re mistaken.

The Penguins main rival has been, and will continue to be, the Philadelphia Flyers.

Why?  We’re going to take a look at a few possible reasons.

Keep in mind this is written from a Pittsburgh perspective.  Philly fans, please avert your eyes because I know you’re easily offended.

1.  Crosby doesn’t suck.

For those of you who don’t know what I’m talking about, when the Pens and Flyers play in Philadelphia, the organist plays music to lead a chant.  The notes he plays leads directly to the three syllable chant of “Crosby sucks!”

As a quick aside, I think it’s really embarrassing for the NHL, especially when the game is on national TV, for the Philadelphia organist to lead the chant.  Crosby is one of the top stars in the game and easily the most marketable.  He is, for better or worse, the face of the NHL.

Crosby, for his part, seems to get highly motivated when hearing this.  His career numbers at the Wachovia Center, in 15 games, are 10 goals and 13 assists.  I’d say that’s definitive proof the chant is dumb.

Each time I hear the chant, the respect-o-meter for Philadelphia drops another few digits (surprisingly, no bottom has been found yet).

2.  A different approach to hockey

The Broad Street Bullies may have been the worst thing ever to happen to the Flyers franchise.  Every Flyers team seems to want to live up to it, but that style simply doesn’t work any more.  Living proof of that failure is Daniel Carcillo.  In the playoffs last year, the Flyers had the Penguins on the ropes in Game 6.  They were up 3-0 and had everything going for them.  Carcillo picked that time to fight Max Talbot.  Max was taking one for the team – he (and everyone watching) knew he would be a human punching bag for Carcillo, but the Pens badly needed a spark.  There was no reason for Carcillo to fight, but the Philly fans loved it and Carcillo egged them on, gesturing after the fight.  Everyone knows the rest of the story – five unanswered goals by the Pens and the Carcillo was picking meaningless fights on the golf course (not really).

Did you know the Flyers season with the most wins (since the lockout) was the one they had the fewest penalty minutes by far?  The 2005-06 Flyers were a tough team that didn’t take too many penalties (and there were more called that season).  Every Flyers team since then has been at or near the top in terms of most penalty minutes per game.  With the firepower they had last year, you’d think they wouldn’t need the nonsense.

Pittsburgh fans grew frustrated by years of watching Mario get mugged on a regular basis.  We’ve been fortunate to have some amazing skill players here in Pittsburgh, and hockey is (to me) at it’s most entertaining as a game of skill.  That doesn’t compare well to having all five guys drop the gloves in the playoffs, as the Flyers did several years back.

This discussion could go on forever.  Other events like Hatcher butt-ending Crosby in his rookie year or Hartnell biting Letang don’t help engender warm and fuzzy feelings.

Every team needs a rival, a game where the team (and it’s fans) get amped up.  The Pens are lucky to have one of those in the Flyers.