Some readers of this blog may remember when both the Flyers and Oilers used to be dominant. The Oilers built their dynasty in the late 1980's with Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier, and Grant Fuhr were in the primes of their careers. The two teams had an epic Stanley Cup Final in 1987 that saw the Oil win in seven games. Despite the defeat, rookie goaltender Ron Hextall won the Conn Smythe as playoff MVP.
Twenty four years later, the Oilers are at the rock bottom level of falling from grace. Since losing in Game 7 of the SC Final in 2006, their name and 15th place have been associated repeatedly.
The Flyers meanwhile, had their worst season in franchise history in 2006, but are now back in the top of the standings, still searching for the Holy Grail of sports trophies for the first time since 1975.
The orange and black are in the midst of their worst losing streak of the season which currently stands at four. To add insult to injury, the Flyers looked like they were playing pond hockey at Madison Square Garden yesterday, as they were shutout 7-0 by the New York Rangers.
Fans are hoping playing a team like the Oilers will get the Flyers back on track. While I'm inclined to agree this will be no easy task. The Oilers are a young, rebuilding team with players that have openly admitted they are not just trying to improve themselves. They are going out every night, going to compete, and trying to win for their own pride.
Head coach Peter Laviolette gave the team off today. Laviolette hinted at possibly pushing the team too hard in a tough stretch of the season. While this is justifiable, I could not agree more with GM Paul Holmgren's response to the matter.
"The players better not think they can use that as excuse," he said.
Expect Bob to be the starter tomorrow night. Brian Boucher did not look sharp against a team he has had tremendous success against in the past, but he did not have much help either. Puck drops at 7 p.m. tomorrow.
No comments:
Post a Comment