PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Flyers fans could have been excused for thinking they entered some kind of time warp as they grabbed their “Let's Go Flyers” rally towels on their way into the arena.
The Grateful Dead cover band Splintered Sunlight jammed out to hits from the 1970s and graybeards old enough to remember the Flyers' Stanley Cup victories swayed in their tie-dyed T-shirts. Just down the concourse, Flyers Hall of Famer Joe Watson signed copies of his
autobiography and all-time great Bobby Clarke was all smiles as he filled his cup — soda, not Stanley — at the press box fountain station.
The good old days.
The Flyers remained tethered for decades to the glory days like a dog on a leash because, well, what was there to really celebrate?
At last, plenty — and an unbridled optimism that even better seasons were ahead.
The youth moment skated at full blast on the ice Tuesday night in a 4-2 win over Montreal a day after the Flyers clinched their first playoff berth since 2020 and their first home playoff series since 2018.
Philadelphia's first goal was scored by 19-year-old sensation Porter Martone, who just weeks ago starred at Michigan State and now could be a dangerous weapon in the first-round series against Pittsburgh. Martone deflected a point shot from Matvei Michkov, the 21-year-old Russian who navigated an uneven first half of the season only to heat up as the games heightened in importance down the stretch.
Michkov scored the Flyers' third goal unassisted (20th overall) as one fan raised a “We Want More!” sign.
Architects of the lengthy rebuild, general manager Danny Briere and team president Keith Jones, could bask in the credit tossed their way from social media to talk radio to even the written word for never wavering from their plan to build a playoff team through the draft and shrewd acquisitions for 20-somethings over making moves for quick-fix veterans with no long-term fit.
Take a look at the clincher against Carolina: 2020 first-round pick Tyson Foerster, still just 24, scored the shootout winner that ignited pandemonium on the ice and in the stands.
Just how young are the Flyers?
Their last home playoff series came in the Year 2018 BG.
Before Gritty.
Gritty, the wild-haired, googly-eyed, fuzzy faced mascot, got his playoff reps in Tuesday night when he hurled a cake into the face of an unsuspecting (ahem) fan dressed in Penguins gear.
Gritty smashed dessert. Dan Vladar, the goalie who won the Bobby Clarke Trophy as the team’s most valuable player, spilled the tea.
Briere, who sparked the Flyers to their last Stanley Cup Final appearance in 2010, had publicly downplayed playoff possibilities all season.
He had a more upbeat message inside the Flyers' locker room.
“He told us at the beginning of the year, I hope he’s not going to get mad at me, but he said the goal is to make the playoffs,” Vladar said. “There was always a belief in this room. Obviously, we knew that, even if it was the media or outsiders who didn’t really believe in us, we always had the belief here since Day 1.”
Flyers captain Sean Couturier was once a key cog in rebuilding — back when he was the eighth overall pick in the 2011 draft. Couturier made his debut that season and has largely remained a steady presence in the lineup — save for injuries that cost him the 2022-2023 season — and is the only Flyer still here from their last home playoff series victory against, yes, the Penguins in 2012.
“You want things to turn around,” Couturier said. “I think that the management, the organization has done a great job of being patient and building assets and putting us in a great spot here for now and the future.”
The now actually seemed dire before the Olympic break when the Flyers lost 11 of their last 14 games before the shutdown and dropped one more once play resumed.
Whatever defensive adjustments coach Rick Tocchet made during the layoff worked.
The Flyers' season caught fire when they won three straight road games against the Anaheim Ducks, Los Angeles Kings and San Jose Sharks and they ended the season on an 18-6-1 tear that propelled them to 98 points and into third place in the Metropolitan Division.
Who knows, maybe it was the suburban Philadelphia family that gifted Pope Leo XIV his own customized Flyers jersey that truly the blessed the team.
The regular-season finale served more as a joyous pep rally than a game with any real consequences. The fans dancing to the Dead cover band cheered as the singer paused during “Jack Straw” after he hit the lyric “sun so hot, the clouds so low, the eagles filled the sky” in appreciation of the NFL team across the street.
The rest of the night belonged to the orange and black.
Gritty once issued a warning to the Penguins: “Sleep with one eye open tonight, bird.”
Led by one of the youngest teams in the NHL, the Flyers are going into the playoffs with eyes wide open and ready to prove to their fans, don’t you worry any more.
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