Broad Street Bullies 2.0

You know what they say, you can’t teach an old dog new tricks. And for the past 41 years, the Philadelphia Flyers have been a prime example of that old saying. The Flyers have always been known as the scrappy team that will never back down from a fight. From the 1970’s when Dave “The Hammer” Shultz and Bob “Hound dog” Kelly would take on any challenger to Ben Eager and Mike Richards, the Flyers have always been the hit anything that moves kind of team. Gary Bettman’s new NHL has tried to take that away, emphasizing speed and puck movement. But in year 3 A.L. (After Lockout) the Flyers are once again a model for physical play.

Now I know there are people out there who claim the Flyers are nothing but a bunch of cheap shot artists. Yes Jesse Boulerice hit a defenseless Ryan Kessler and I will in no way condone that hit, the 25-game suspension was the right move. But try to convince me that hit was worse than Chris Simon’s impression of Barry Bonds. Now THAT was worth way more than 25 games. What about Steve Downie’s check on Dean McCamond? Yes he did leave his feet, but McCamond was carrying the puck and it was his own fault his head was done. Unfortunately Dean was injured on the play, but had he not been would it still be a 20-game suspension? The answer is obviously no. Patrice Bergeron was only in a bad situation where he was facing the boards and unfortunately got hurt. Randy Jones should have backed off the hit but he is not a dirty player. So everyone out there who is hating on the Flyers, claiming that they are playing dirty, take a look at a video from the 1970’s and tell me that these Flyers don’t resemble the ones who brought exciting, physical play to the world of ice hockey. Welcome to the Broad Street Bullies version 2.0