Flyers' History: Top 10s in Flyers history and other recollections

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

@BiggE

Back when ESPN used to be an actual sports network, Game 6 of 1987 vs. Edmonton was shown on a rerun at 3:00 a.m. or so. I was so buzzed on excitement, I stayed up to watch the replay.

Your recollection should never be forgotten. That is a wonderful moment to share.

I can tell you a friend who worked for an opposing team told me the next day that he had "never heard an arena that loud" and he attended games going back to the 1960s (not that far removed from 1987) but that was a compliment. While 1980 was criminal, 1987 was most disconsolate.

 

[Captain Dave Poulin]

@BiggE

Back when ESPN used to be an actual sports network, Game 6 of 1987 vs. Edmonton was shown on a rerun at 3:00 a.m. or so. I was so buzzed on excitement, I stayed up to watch the replay.

Your recollection should never be forgotten. That is a wonderful moment to share.

I can tell you a friend who worked for an opposing team told me the next day that he had "never heard an arena that loud" and he attended games going back to the 1960s (not that far removed from 1987) but that was a compliment. While 1980 was criminal, 1987 was most disconsolate.

We can't say it enough, or remind people enough. Those who weren't born yet or were too young to remember have to be made aware how much that season's playoff run meant, and what it was really like. The highest compliment I can pay that team is that it reminded me of - and still holds a place in my heart beside - the 1980 US Olympic team. It was very, very special. And extremely heartbreaking. You can almost feel it when you see Ron Hextall's face as he was accepting the Conn Smythe, but not quite. It was heavier even than that look.

 

[BiggE]

Another enormous effort. @BiggE

I won't correct you on the typo -- auto-correct perhaps -- with the Dave Brown reference as goon when you meant god. But that is OK.

Game 4 1988 vs. Washington was mesmerizing and that was the game I indicated in a hushed reference in an earlier post. It led to one of the most iconic photos in team history, one that Hollywood couldn't script with the best direction. The Flyers used the Tocchet-Craven hug on promotional material for the following season.

As it turned out, the last win under Mike Keenan. There was a certain buzz in the Spectrum that night. "Here we go again" as in a repeat of 1987. Never say die. Then came the infernal collapse. Overlooked (not by you but in general) in Game 7 of that series was Washington went ahead with four straight goals but it was Brad Marsh's tally that tied it 4-4 before the vomit-inducing OT.

I won't challenge the rankings because we can debate "without Game 2 in 1974, Game 6 wouldn't/didn't matter.." or other such occurrences but the 1987 Finals Game 6 would be a bit higher on my list.

Also, though it wasn't a multi-goal comeback and we all know about Game 7, I do think Game 6 2004 against Tampa Bay deserves an HM slot.

Good call on 2004 game 6 vs TB. It was in my original lists of HMs but it got lost in the shuffle.

And trust me, I meant no disrespect to Brownie! It’s just that I’m pretty sure no one in Philly, or the entire hockey world was expecting the Flyers first goal that night to be scored by Carson on assists from Brown and Marsh.

 

[BiggE]

@BiggE

Back when ESPN used to be an actual sports network, Game 6 of 1987 vs. Edmonton was shown on a rerun at 3:00 a.m. or so. I was so buzzed on excitement, I stayed up to watch the replay.

Your recollection should never be forgotten. That is a wonderful moment to share.

I can tell you a friend who worked for an opposing team told me the next day that he had "never heard an arena that loud" and he attended games going back to the 1960s (not that far removed from 1987) but that was a compliment. While 1980 was criminal, 1987 was most disconsolate.

Absolutely. 1980 left me furious, 1987 left me in tears.

 

[BiggE]

We can't say it enough, or remind people enough. Those who weren't born yet or were too young to remember have to be made aware how much that season's playoff run meant, and what it was really like. The highest compliment I can pay that team is that it reminded me of - and still holds a place in my heart beside - the 1980 US Olympic team. It was very, very special. And extremely heartbreaking. You can almost feel it when you see Ron Hextall's face as he was accepting the Conn Smythe, but not quite. It was heavier even than that look.

I honestly think it cast a pall over the entire 87-88 season. After coming oh so close, they struggled that entire season to ramp it back up, but to no avail.

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

Good call on 2004 game 6 vs TB. It was in my original lists of HMs but it got lost in the shuffle.

And trust me, I meant no disrespect to Brownie! It’s just that I’m pretty sure no one in Philly, or the entire hockey world was expecting the Flyers first goal that night to be scored by Carson on assists from Brown and Marsh.

I know.

 

[Philly Fanatik]

When Craven banked the puck in off Fuhr on that 5-3 power play early in the first...I could see the Flyers 3rd Cup raised but those Oilers hung on....
f***!

 

[BiggE]

When Craven banked the puck in off Fuhr on that 5-3 power play early in the first...I could see the Flyers 3rd Cup raised but those Oilers hung on....
f***!

When Propp rang one off the post a few moments after Craven’s tally, I started to get a bad feeling. f*** I’m depressed just thinking about that damn game. f***

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

When Craven banked the puck in off Fuhr on that 5-3 power play early in the first...I could see the Flyers 3rd Cup raised but those Oilers hung on....
f***!

And I would hazard to guess most of us thought it would be 2-0 on the second half of the 5-on-3 when Doug Crossman was near the crease.

Around 7:30 on this clip:

 

[BiggE]

And I would hazard to guess most of us thought it would be 2-0 on the second half of the 5-on-3 when Doug Crossman was near the crease.

Around 7:30 on this clip:

I just, I just can’t. It’s too painful, even 34 years later, it’s too damn painful.

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

I just, I just can’t. It’s too painful, even 34 years later, it’s too damn painful.

I refuse to believe it is 34 years ago.

 

[Captain Dave Poulin]

I just, I just can’t. It’s too painful, even 34 years later, it’s too damn painful.

I refuse to believe it is 34 years ago.

I knew as the seconds ticked down that I would never get over it, ever. It felt like a heavy physical weight. It still feels like a heavy physical weight, and I still haven't gotten over it, at all.

 

[Philly Fanatik]

When Propp rang one off the post a few moments after Craven’s tally, I started to get a bad feeling. f*** I’m depressed just thinking about that damn game. f***

...I’m opening another beer and drowning my sorrows again!
I know injuries happen in hockey but Kerr(out)and Poulin playing with busted ribs...Hockey Gods turned atheist against the Flyers in that Game #7...

 

[Kermit the Prog]

That '87 team reminded me of the Bad News Bears (the original movie, with Walter Matthau), and, later, the '93 Phillies. Such a Philly story.

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

I knew as the seconds ticked down that I would never get over it, ever. It felt like a heavy physical weight. It still feels like a heavy physical weight, and I still haven't gotten over it, at all.

It was a special team with a unique relationship with the city. I kept this quote from Bobby Clarke on the day Mike Keenan was introduced to Philadelphia.

"Mike is the type of coach the Flyers want and the city will like. He's young. He's innovative. He's very dedicated. He will provide the leadership and the discipline that the Flyers are going to need. I don't want to evaluate Bob McCammon, but I do believe that we did not develop a personality over the last few years. From the way Mike coaches, I think we'll play disciplined hockey. He'll have ways of reprimanding our players. If there's one thing I believe, it's that a team has to have personality. And live up to it. You don't want to be just an ordinary team."

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

...I’m opening another beer and drowning my sorrows again!
I know injuries happen in hockey but Kerr(out)and Poulin playing with busted ribs...Hockey Gods turned atheist against the Flyers in that Game #7...

It is easy to say all teams have and play with injuries during lengthy playoff runs, but there was a mention that night that six Flyers in uniform for Game 7 wouldn't have played in a regulation game. Six. The team was gassed as the game progressed -- or regressed -- but that was largely in part of emotion as well as injury.

 

[Philly Fanatik]

It is easy to say all teams have and play with injuries during lengthy playoff runs, but there was a mention that night that six Flyers in uniform for Game 7 wouldn't have played in a regulation game. Six. The team was gassed as the game progressed -- or regressed -- but that was largely in part of emotion as well as injury.

...almost pulled a rabbit...though!

 

[BiggE]

It was a special team with a unique relationship with the city. I kept this quote from Bobby Clarke on the day Mike Keenan was introduced to Philadelphia.

"Mike is the type of coach the Flyers want and the city will like. He's young. He's innovative. He's very dedicated. He will provide the leadership and the discipline that the Flyers are going to need. I don't want to evaluate Bob McCammon, but I do believe that we did not develop a personality over the last few years. From the way Mike coaches, I think we'll play disciplined hockey. He'll have ways of reprimanding our players. If there's one thing I believe, it's that a team has to have personality. And live up to it. You don't want to be just an ordinary team."

We loved those kids just as much as we loved the Bullies. The era of Flyers hockey from 1972-1989 will never be duplicated. It was just tremendous.

 

[Philly Fanatik]

We loved those kids just as much as we loved the Bullies. The era of Flyers hockey from 1972-1989 will never be duplicated. It was just tremendous.

...Those years were exciting...to say the least!

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

...almost pulled a rabbit...though!

It was gut-wrenching. One forgotten stat about 1987 was Gretzky had zero goals in the last five games thanks mostly to Dave Poulin's defense.

At the time, playing 26 playoff games was a record. It just exasperated the team.

 

[mja]

Thank you all for helping me to re-live one of the most painful experiences of my childhood, you bastards. I only really remember games 5, 6, & 7, and only the latter two in great detail. I have no real sports memories before 85 and only really got serious in 87, with those 87 Flyers being my first true love. It was just the start of the trials and tribulations that awaited me as a Philadelphia sports fan. The Mike Keenan and Buddy Ryan eras fizzling out, the 93 Phils, the unsatisfying conclusion of the Lindros years, coming up short against the Lakers. Sure, I finally got the Phils in 08 and then the Eagles in 2018, but both of those felt almost anti-climactic to me. I felt more unabashed joy on beating the Rangers in 97, for example, than for the Super Bowl win. I still haven't gotten over 87, and I won't until I'm able to see that cup paraded on Broad Street.

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

@BiggE

Next task? There's always more.

10 biggest (or most memorable) regular season games/wins [or the finale losses in 1970 and 1972 if you want to include those as needed victories to make the playoffs]

You can reiterate some individual and/or rare achievements (Bladon, Hill, etc.) but more so important wins. What comes to mind immediately...

• Shootout vs. Rangers.
• The loss at Buffalo in the swan songs for Hitchcock and Clarke
• 1974 vs. Boston that ended the 27 game winless streak (before the Cup Finals).
• The record-breaker in Boston Dec. 1979.
• The 1989-90 season finale in which Yzerman scored late to tie and that altered draft slots in the year of the Big 5. Primeau, Jagr, Nolan, Nedved and Ricci.
• First win?
• First game post-Pelle Lindbergh's death vs. EDM.
• The game during the same week against the Islanders that extended the massive winning streak.
• Lindros's first?
• The brawl against the Blues in the Spectrum that spilled into the crowd.
• The Ottawa fight.
• The Domi-fan encounter
• The game in Vancouver the same night the US beat the Soviets in the Olympics. 314 PIMs including 20 5-minute majors. That was when the Canucks started games at 11:00 p.m. ET. I think the game ended after 2:00 a.m. Best double header in hockey history.

 

[BiggE]

@BiggE

Next task? There's always more.

10 biggest (or most memorable) regular season wins [or the finale losses in 1970 and 1972 if you want to include those as needed victories to make the playoffs]

You can reiterate some individual and/or rare achievements (Bladon, Hill, etc.) but more so important wins. What comes to mind immediately...

• Shootout vs. Rangers.
• 1974 vs. Boston that ended the 27 game winless streak (before the Cup Finals).
• The record-breaker in Boston Dec. 1979.
• First win?
• First game post-Pelle Lindbergh's death vs. EDM.
• The game that week against the Islanders that extended the massive winning streak.
• Lindros's first?
• The game in Vancouver the same night the US beat the Soviets in the Olympics. 314 PIMs including 20 5-minute majors. That was when the Canucks started games at 11:00 p.m. ET. I think the game ended after 2:00 a.m. Best double header in hockey history.

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

View attachment 391804

The price of fame and notoriety. And you got a good head start. Now take the baton to the finish line

 

[BiggE]

The price of fame and notoriety. And you got a good head start. Now take the baton to the finish line

Gonna need a little time, busy couple of days.