Flyers 2010 Eulogy: A season to remember

As DGB and Bloge Salming did for the Habs, I will eulogize the Flyers. Here we go.


Philadelphia Flyers Eulogy 2010

Flyers Season 09-10 Campaign:
Born October 1, 2009
Died June 9, 2010

Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to remember, or possibly forget, a season that was magical, and sucktastic, all at the same time.
We had our ups, trading for Chris Pronger, signing Ray Emery, beating the Rangers in a shootout to earn a playoff birth, spotting the Bruins 3 game and 3 goal leads before crushing their dreams and aiding and abetting riots on the streets of Montreal, having Lavi call the perfect timouts, losing Stevens, Danny Briere and Ville Leino’s post season play, and Dan Carcillo meeting Marian Gaborik for the first time

Word Just In: Montreal riots would have happened anyway…

Then there were the downs: Having to look at Sidney Crosby, listening to Pierre McGuire during the Finals on tv, wondering what happened to the offense, losing Stevens, the regular season play of Leino and Briere, seeing Rick Tocchet on my TV.

And of course, the downright wacky: the goaltender situations…Emery, Boucher, Leighton, Backlund, Duchesne, will be remembered for getting onto the ice, while, Hutton, Caron and Teslak will be remembered for dressing, Pittsburgh’s video guy not sending in the goal, Stephane Auger getting Carcillo, Pronger waving at Eager, Leighton tossing 3 SOs against the Habs, Lavi magically turning games around with a timeout, Chris Pronger stealing pucks and Dan Carcillo flopping around like a fish out water, Cindy Crosby.
But with all that said, it doesn’t surprise me that the Flyers bowed out the way they did. Coming so close, teasing us the whole way with great comebacks and pulling miracles out of helmet-masks. I guess it’s time to talk about some of the memorable moments from birth to death of this season. So without further ado, let’s run down [DAMMIT CARCILLO, NOT THAT WAY!] the biggest moments of the season.

Opening Night:
To be honest I didn’t know what to expect, I knew we had Pronger on D and that made me happy. We had Ray Emery in net, a huge risk and a backup in Boucher which I thought was a huge mistake. Razor had a shutout to open the season and I was happy.
And then it unraveled rather quickly, December rolled around and Stevens was out. Hartnell was sucking, Emery got hurt and Boucher sucked a lot. But then Leighton was claimed on waivers and I felt like the towel was tossed in on this year.
Boucher went down and there was Leighton and, he’s not bad…he’s winning…WE HAVE A GOALIE! Leighton is here to save us all…and OH MY GOD HE’S DEAD! Err…crippled. NO! NO! NO! NOT BOUCHER! Please NOT BOUCHER! Give us Backlund please! Hell, give us Toskala…wait, I’m not gonna say things that I cannot take back. Granted, I think Toskala had a higher save percentage than Jeremy Duchesne...so...but Duchesne stopped every shot from over 150ft.

The ultimate highlight...what if Broad St didn't fight back?




Humor aside, it was a great year, and to everyone else, I leave this season with a few questions.

1. What if Carter didn’t have 2 broken feet during the post season?
2. What if Gagne didn’t have 2 broken toes during the post season?
3. What if the goalies were healthy?

Fact is, we’ll be back next year. BACK WITH A VENGEANCE! LOOK OUT NHL, Flyers will win it all in 2010, and starting next week, I will explain why.