Here4ThaLids
“Sunshine has always been our enemy.”
- Sep 28, 2018
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Top 10 Flyers Social Media Moments from the Pre-Social Media Era
Reminiscent of a BiggE summer list, we’re talking (a) short, sharp shocks that could trend nationally on Twitter with 25K tweets in the first hour, and (b) major story lines that spill across HF team and main boards and threaten to knock the site out of commission.
For my sanity let’s exclude the obvious: the Cups and celebrations, general wins and losses (Game 7, Overtime, etc.), most trades and ‘hockey’ injuries – things that are expected to happen every year. As always, the ranks don’t matter, but your contribution does!
1. The Lindros Trade. It’s not just a trade that causes enormous waves and lasting ripples, it’s a legal thriller with twists, turns, and double crosses, and the devil is in the details: imagine the meltdown when it’s revealed someone (an unknown, mysterious figure) had entered the closet of the hotel where the Flyers were staying/negotiating the deal and [the mystery man] removed from a telephone computer the record of a phone call to the Lindros cottage – a key piece of evidence in establishing the timeline of the deal. Ron Ryan had to go to Bell Canada for proof the call was made! Aubut! Rangers!!! Ziegler!!!
2. The 1980 Playoffs. Not just The Stickle Game, it should be pointed out, but speaking of that one, imagine today’s technology laid over that experience – new replay angles with better clarity, multiple video reviews – and the NHL still unconcerned with truth or justice.
3. The Death of Pelle.
4. 1976 Red Army Game.
5. The Entire Dang 99-00 Season
(Subsections: The Tertyshny Tragedy, The Roger Neilson Fiasco, Clarke vs the Parents, Brind’Amour for Primeau, Incredible 15-Point Comeback to Win the Division, The Five-Overtime Game, The Stevens Hit)
This one is cheating, and I certainly wasn’t on any Flyers boards at the time to see if the hive was properly stirred, but today’s digital reaction would be fierce and I think sustained with intensity for the entire year. A decade of drama condensed into a single season.
6. The Streak. Another extended reaction to an utterly huge (and largely forgotten, sadly) sports story that would be magnified tenfold by our modern lenses. The most recent examples we have to grab onto might be the Warriors drive for 73 wins, then the Patriots trying for perfection – but at that stage the Flyers were probably more hated in-sport than either of those teams and had to survive more close calls along the way.
7. Losing on the Last Day of the Season. Oh, you remember beating the Rags in the shootout on the last day of the 2009-10 season – but do you recall the last day of the 1971-72 season? The Flyers needed to take a point off the Sabres to make the playoffs, were tied late in the game, but allowed a goal from the blue line with four seconds left on the clock, to a former Flyer I might add, lost the game to the Sabres, lost the tiebreaker to the Penguins, missed the playoffs (the last time they’d miss for the next 18 years, incidentally). The heartbreak. The rage quitting.
Two years earlier, they’d lost a final day 1-0 game against Minnesota on a soft lob from the red line late in the third, and that had also cost them a spot in the playoffs. This one was much worse: “It was like getting shot,” Clement remembered. “I feel dead inside,” Clarke said, “I’ll bet if you look back since hockey’s started, there’s never been anything like that happen. I’ll bet you’ll never see it again in fifty years.” [ ] Shero said he felt the same way he did when his mother and father died. Keith Allen called it “the worst thing that has happened to me in hockey.”
8. The 1991-92 Playoff Format Travesty. Missing the playoffs despite having earned more points than two (not one, but two) teams who did make it in, including a Hartford team they outpaced by ten points. This may be a little more personal to me, but we do love to complain about format and how the NHL can’t get out of its own way. The looming sense of dread in the last weeks of the season would have poisoned the Flyers board with trolling (e.g., “why should they be entitled to a spot if they can only manage sixth in their own division?” and “should of won five more games in October and November, they deserve to be out”).
9. Hextall Scores. Insanity. The absolute madlad.
10. Intense, Specific Violence and Tribal Outrage. Honestly there could be hundreds of examples: Dave Schultz pulling Dale Rolfe’s hair; Claude Loiselle takes a two-hander to Clarke’s head; Chelios/Propp and Hextall/Chelios; Brown/Sandström. The dishonorable Leafs: Domi doubles teams Burt, hides from Richardson; Tucker pretends to die before popping right back up.
HM: Fan Falls into Penalty Box with Tie Domi. Meme away.
HM: Lorentz Kills the Bat. Custom-made for a polarized Twitter. No Corona tie-ins but the lil flapper may have unleashed the fog.
HM: Gamble Has Heart Attack, Beats Canucks. A story that should be better known among the faithful, goaltender Bruce Gamble had to retire after his second heart attack occurred the morning after a practice. But his first confirmed heart attack happened earlier, during the first period of a game against Vancouver in 1972. He stayed in and finished the game, only losing a shutout with 1:58 remaining! Bobby Taylor was called up from the minors to replace Gamble and made his first start.
HM: The Roof Blows off the Sucker. We have precedent for this: the Metrodome’s roof collapse in 2010 was a big deal!
HM: A Player Sleeps with His Teammate’s Wife. Sorry, hypothetical mods.
HM: The Trap Ruins Hockey. An exaggeration, of course, but great message board fodder! The NZ Trap had been a page in every team’s playbook for decades. Everyone groaned when the Devils won in ‘95 and then missed the playoffs the next season – but the crystallizing moment came in the ‘96 playoffs when a no-talent Panthers team used the trap (and were allowed to clutch-and-grab to obscene levels) to take out two superior 100-point division winners and win the conference. Year of the Rat, indeed.
[Sneaky opinion: that ‘95-96 Flyers team may have been the best of the Lindros era, with the best or second-best chance to win it all. We just don’t have the late round heartbreak to remember it by.]
Reminiscent of a BiggE summer list, we’re talking (a) short, sharp shocks that could trend nationally on Twitter with 25K tweets in the first hour, and (b) major story lines that spill across HF team and main boards and threaten to knock the site out of commission.
For my sanity let’s exclude the obvious: the Cups and celebrations, general wins and losses (Game 7, Overtime, etc.), most trades and ‘hockey’ injuries – things that are expected to happen every year. As always, the ranks don’t matter, but your contribution does!
1. The Lindros Trade. It’s not just a trade that causes enormous waves and lasting ripples, it’s a legal thriller with twists, turns, and double crosses, and the devil is in the details: imagine the meltdown when it’s revealed someone (an unknown, mysterious figure) had entered the closet of the hotel where the Flyers were staying/negotiating the deal and [the mystery man] removed from a telephone computer the record of a phone call to the Lindros cottage – a key piece of evidence in establishing the timeline of the deal. Ron Ryan had to go to Bell Canada for proof the call was made! Aubut! Rangers!!! Ziegler!!!
2. The 1980 Playoffs. Not just The Stickle Game, it should be pointed out, but speaking of that one, imagine today’s technology laid over that experience – new replay angles with better clarity, multiple video reviews – and the NHL still unconcerned with truth or justice.
3. The Death of Pelle.
4. 1976 Red Army Game.
5. The Entire Dang 99-00 Season
(Subsections: The Tertyshny Tragedy, The Roger Neilson Fiasco, Clarke vs the Parents, Brind’Amour for Primeau, Incredible 15-Point Comeback to Win the Division, The Five-Overtime Game, The Stevens Hit)
This one is cheating, and I certainly wasn’t on any Flyers boards at the time to see if the hive was properly stirred, but today’s digital reaction would be fierce and I think sustained with intensity for the entire year. A decade of drama condensed into a single season.
6. The Streak. Another extended reaction to an utterly huge (and largely forgotten, sadly) sports story that would be magnified tenfold by our modern lenses. The most recent examples we have to grab onto might be the Warriors drive for 73 wins, then the Patriots trying for perfection – but at that stage the Flyers were probably more hated in-sport than either of those teams and had to survive more close calls along the way.
7. Losing on the Last Day of the Season. Oh, you remember beating the Rags in the shootout on the last day of the 2009-10 season – but do you recall the last day of the 1971-72 season? The Flyers needed to take a point off the Sabres to make the playoffs, were tied late in the game, but allowed a goal from the blue line with four seconds left on the clock, to a former Flyer I might add, lost the game to the Sabres, lost the tiebreaker to the Penguins, missed the playoffs (the last time they’d miss for the next 18 years, incidentally). The heartbreak. The rage quitting.
Two years earlier, they’d lost a final day 1-0 game against Minnesota on a soft lob from the red line late in the third, and that had also cost them a spot in the playoffs. This one was much worse: “It was like getting shot,” Clement remembered. “I feel dead inside,” Clarke said, “I’ll bet if you look back since hockey’s started, there’s never been anything like that happen. I’ll bet you’ll never see it again in fifty years.” [ ] Shero said he felt the same way he did when his mother and father died. Keith Allen called it “the worst thing that has happened to me in hockey.”
8. The 1991-92 Playoff Format Travesty. Missing the playoffs despite having earned more points than two (not one, but two) teams who did make it in, including a Hartford team they outpaced by ten points. This may be a little more personal to me, but we do love to complain about format and how the NHL can’t get out of its own way. The looming sense of dread in the last weeks of the season would have poisoned the Flyers board with trolling (e.g., “why should they be entitled to a spot if they can only manage sixth in their own division?” and “should of won five more games in October and November, they deserve to be out”).
9. Hextall Scores. Insanity. The absolute madlad.
10. Intense, Specific Violence and Tribal Outrage. Honestly there could be hundreds of examples: Dave Schultz pulling Dale Rolfe’s hair; Claude Loiselle takes a two-hander to Clarke’s head; Chelios/Propp and Hextall/Chelios; Brown/Sandström. The dishonorable Leafs: Domi doubles teams Burt, hides from Richardson; Tucker pretends to die before popping right back up.
HM: Fan Falls into Penalty Box with Tie Domi. Meme away.
HM: Lorentz Kills the Bat. Custom-made for a polarized Twitter. No Corona tie-ins but the lil flapper may have unleashed the fog.
HM: Gamble Has Heart Attack, Beats Canucks. A story that should be better known among the faithful, goaltender Bruce Gamble had to retire after his second heart attack occurred the morning after a practice. But his first confirmed heart attack happened earlier, during the first period of a game against Vancouver in 1972. He stayed in and finished the game, only losing a shutout with 1:58 remaining! Bobby Taylor was called up from the minors to replace Gamble and made his first start.
HM: The Roof Blows off the Sucker. We have precedent for this: the Metrodome’s roof collapse in 2010 was a big deal!
HM: A Player Sleeps with His Teammate’s Wife. Sorry, hypothetical mods.
HM: The Trap Ruins Hockey. An exaggeration, of course, but great message board fodder! The NZ Trap had been a page in every team’s playbook for decades. Everyone groaned when the Devils won in ‘95 and then missed the playoffs the next season – but the crystallizing moment came in the ‘96 playoffs when a no-talent Panthers team used the trap (and were allowed to clutch-and-grab to obscene levels) to take out two superior 100-point division winners and win the conference. Year of the Rat, indeed.
[Sneaky opinion: that ‘95-96 Flyers team may have been the best of the Lindros era, with the best or second-best chance to win it all. We just don’t have the late round heartbreak to remember it by.]