Other than Kane getting arrested for hitting a cab driver, It’s been a pretty slow week as far as hockey news goes (at least for the Flyers that is). I could sit here and write about Chris Pronger arriving in Philadelphia. But that would be all of about two paragraphs and be generally boring unless you’re one of those obsessive fans who needs to know what Chris Pronger and the rest of the Flyers do every minute of every day. Just in case you are, Riley and Holly Cote checked out a Snoop Dog concert and the UFC event in Philly this past week.
So, I’m sitting around the house today, trying to come up with something to write when my air conditioner in my living room decides to die on me. After my wife comes home from work, I decide to go to a cooler climate and get a little exercise. Hello, Lehigh Valley Mall. While I’m window shopping, I decide to turn my digital camera into an audio recorder (I love how that works) and do a little “Man On The Street” reporting. For those of you who don’t know what that is, it’s when some random stranger walks up to you and starts asking you questions about a specific topic. My topic, of course, is the Flyers. After going through roughly 20 people who don’t follow hockey, I finally find someone who watches hockey and knows enough to answer a couple questions. But, just my luck, he was a Rangers fan. While I can’t repeat a lot of what he said, he did say that the Emery signing will, “Make or break the Flyers.”
Thanks man. That’s what we’ve been saying for the past month.
After about 90 minutes, I finally find a fan who is willing to take a couple minutes to talk about his beloved Flyers. 🙂 His name is Tom and he’s from Emmaus, PA. He even took the time to show me his Flyers tattoo (the flying P with some tribal around it) on the back of his calf. So here we went…
On the new additions – Pronger: “I’m obviously excited about Chris. Him on defense will cut down the number of shots we face per game.” Emery and Boucher: “We’re finally solid in net with Ray and Brian . Brian has shown time and time again that he’s an NHL caliber goaltender, I don’t know why they keep trading him.” Laperierre: “We’ve needed a guy like Ian on the team for a while. They tried to do the same kinda thing with Carcillo, but it just hasn’t panned out.” Tollefsen: “Tollefsen could be a wild card. I just hope they wait to see how Jones is doing before they make any sudden moves that can’t be fixed.”
On losing Lupul, Sbisa and Knuble: “If I get started on Lupul, I could be here all day. Losing Sbisa bothered me for a while. It still does. He’s gonna be a great d-man long after Pronger retires. As far as Mike (Knuble) goes, he had to know what he was going to get offered. I’ll miss him, but I’m not going to lose sleep over him not being here.”
Biron and Niittymaki: “Good riddance. Marty got a big head and now he’s battling for a back-up job. That seemed to work out well. I don’t like that Niittymaki went to the KHL, but if you don’t have it, you don’t have it.”
Who would you rather see go? John Stevens or Paul Holmgren: “Stevens.”
Who do you think should wear the “C” this season?: “I think Richards should keep it. I know Pronger had it in Anaheim, but they didn’t have anyone like Richards there.”
Do you think the Flyers should make any more moves before the season starts: “No. The team looks really good the way it is. Use the pre-season to tinker around with lines and defensive pairings and then if they need someone, make a move after the first month of the regular season.”
Then I shook his hand and didn’t think I needed to bother anyone else so I came home. 🙂