Ah, Pittsburgh. A little yellow city in the middle of nowhere. Home to Primanti Bros., alcoholics, and the 2017 Coors Light Stadium Series between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Philadelphia Flyers.
I would be lying if I said I hated the city of Pittsburgh. It doesn’t smell like urine and sewage, everything is within walking distance, and the river front stadium area is one of the coolest sports venues I have been to.
The vibes on the streets of downtown Pittsburgh were definitely anti-Flyers. Two elderly women, headed to a showing of “The Book of Mormon”, stopped to tell my group that – and I quote “We’re going to beat your ass tonight!” Something about a 60+ aged woman yelling that dressed for a classy matinee really just set the tone for this event.
The vibes quickly changed however once we got to our first bar which, just minutes after ordering our first round, erupted in a “Let’s Go Flyers” chant. The first of many on the day. The mood and atmosphere of the Flyers fans was nothing different from being in Philadelphia – or at least for the pregame festivities. Drinks were had, arguments were made, and after all the insults, we still came to the conclusion that we love the Flyers and we hate the Penguins. And after crushing a solid paycheck on greasy food and light beer, it was time to enter Heinz Field.
I had an odd feeling walking into the stadium where Bane from The Dark Knight Rises began his ‘revolution’. Also, I couldn’t help but get more than frustrated at the price for domestic beers, even though they were the same as the Linc. But I digress.
There were A LOT more Penguins fans than Flyers fans. I expected us to be outnumbered, but not as much in comparison to what I saw in the bars downtown. I guess many Flyers fans came out for the weekend but didn’t actually have tickets to the game. Regardless, I found a couple people to high-five in our section.
The weather was, to put it simply, COLD. This may have been one of the coldest games I have ever been too, mainly in part due to the wind. We were looking at about low 20s at best. And it was snowing, definitely more than just a ‘Marc-Andre Fleury’ in the upper sections.
The spectacle of the stadium, the pregame fireworks, the star-spangled banner, and even the “USA” chant shared by both fan bases really helped put the cold out of my mind. Or it may have been the booze. It’s tough to tell sometimes. Either way, it was time for some hockey.
If you’re reading this, chances are you know what happened in this game. Flyers did what they could with the pieces they had, but took another outdoor loss by a tally of 4-2. It has been the same old song and dance for this group over the past couple of weeks.
Statistically speaking, the Flyers outplayed the Pens. Taking over the shot column, face-off percentage, and shots blocked. They were also able to kill four out of five man-advantages for Pittsburgh. Unfortunately, a lot of our offensive chances were generated from the perimeter (per usual), leaving Matt Murray to have some easy angles to cover and eventually anticipate.
Though I did witness about half of the stadium empty after the 2nd intermission, the mood of Flyers fandom stayed true throughout; always hoping that we had a chance.
A lot of people I spoke to throughout the course of the day expected a loss. Of course, there was always a slight stiffness in saying that. I feel like a part of being a Flyers fan (or a Philadelphia fan in general), is always having that slight glimmer of unreachable hope.
So where do the Flyers go from here? Technically, they could still make a late ‘March’ towards a playoff run, but is it even worth it? The trade deadline is this today. My best guess would be to sell one of our goalies to at least get something, anything, before they are both UFAs. If we don’t trade either of them, we will essentially be forced to sign one. And as of now, Steve Mason may be a little too expensive for our ‘futuristic’ mindset.
I would love to see Mark Streit, Michael Del Zotto, or even a cap-filling Andrew MacDonald get moved elsewhere. But realistically, this team is just caught in a bad spot with useless veterans, unmovable pieces, UFAs, and an upcoming expansion draft to really do a whole lot. We knew this going into the season, but just didn’t think the team would stoop so low. We can only hope Ron and Dave know what they’re doing with the future talent of this squad.
Flyers take on the Florida Panthers in the chase for the second wild card spot this tonight at 7.