Travis Konecny's Hat Trick, Nolan Patrick's Revenge Tour, Jake Voracek's media slam, a two game sweep of the Penguins, it's been a busy first week in the return of Flyers hockey and we're breaking it all down for you in a shorty.
Author and hockey historian, Alan Bass visits the show to talk about his new book, Professional Hockey in Philadelphia: A History. We talk about the ways hockey fans have stayed the same over the years, Philadelphia's problems with keeping hockey arenas intact, and the hardest parts of digging up information on teams that existed so long ago. You can buy Alan's book now: https://www.amazon.com/Professional-Hockey-Philadelphia-Alan-Bass/dp/1476682690
The Flyers are out so we're moving on and talking about Free Agency. We've also got an In Memoriam for the Flyers 2019-2020 season.
The Flyers have passed the first round of the playoffs for the first time in eight years, but we didn't know that yet during this episode. We talk about the power play struggles, goaltending, and what the series had looked like up to game five.
The NHL playoffs are really, actually started now that the qualifying round and round-robin seeding are over. A couple of teams missing out on the playoffs has hockey fans and media reconsidering everything they have said about hockey for forever to make some confusing claims about the playoff format and star players. The Flyers continue to roll in the Toronto bubble, Rod Brind'Amour gets in trouble, and Connor McDavid might be boring, but that doesn't make him uninspiring. Also, the NHL playoffs aren't uninteresting just because Crosby and McDavid aren't in them.
Hockey is back and we're talking about the Flyers performance in an exhibition game and going over the Flyers nominees for end of season awards, way after the fact of them being announced. New Jersey Native and former ACHL/ECHL player Marc Straub joins us to talk about his experiences as a hockey player, his one-game call up to the AHL, and how he thinks players will be dealing with the season pause going into the playoffs.
We're detailing a few more grudges we've picked up over the past week and talking about hockey before the hub cities. Aj's social media policies and the Penguins potential bullying issues.
The NHL has finally picked their hub cities and created the most amount of chaos possible with the draft. The Flyers are losing a few depth players. Gritty is having his charity run online and we're coming up with ways to make it interesting and more of a team effort.
There are some hockey things happening so we decided to sit down and talk about them. Oskar Lindblom skates with his teammates and that has caused some discourse about the safety of the league and hockey players. There are also repeat incidents of beat writers claiming Lindblom's treatment is done before it actually is. Aj has a galaxy-brained idea for why multiple sports leagues are insisting on playing in infected hotbed areas, and Brian has an idea for filling a roster when a team is inevitably hit hard by the virus.
The guys from Five Minute Major join us to talk about problematic hockey culture, the newest way hockey execs plan on bringing the sport back, and travel stories about Las Vegas when times were good.
The sports shutdown has quietly brought the second end of the XFL and made Wrestlemania even more entertaining in an eery, bizarre way. We do get to hockey eventually and try to predict which teams will surge after some time off and which ones won't be able to continue their success.
Are the Flyers doing enough social media things to keep up with the other Philly sports? Which players will be out TikTok entertainment? Isolation buddies, and the player's proposal to start the season late are in here too.
What does a sports network wit no major sports look like? Well, we decided to create our own alternative sports that are (mostly) playable while social distancing. We get into potential Flyers Hall of Fame candidates and lose a bit off the back end.
A shortage of sports has left us with a shortage of things to talk about. In this, kind-of-a-primer-for-the-rest-of-quarantine episode, we talk through some alternative sports and other bits of things
A day before the NHL decided to suspend the season, 4 idiots got together to talk about empty NHL arenas, fan contests to be the only fan watching a home game live, and the bright, exciting future of the Flyers season and very probable playoff run.
Bandwagon fans welcome aboard! Unless you're a radio personality, then you can screw off. The Flyers continue to win and of course, that's gonna get some people in the city interested in them. The more the merrier. We're talking about the GM meetings, the EBUG rule, the new offsides rule, and the return of the glow puck. The Hurricanes have a tough schedule, but it's not so much worse than the Flyers. Also, the team is melding on the ice and in the locker room, duh it's fun.
The Flyers are on a winning streak and climbing the Metro standings. There are two new faces on the Flyers roster and we're talking about what they add to the team. There's a few feel-good stories around the NHL this week including the Leafs getting embarrassed and fans being happy for Ottawa. But the NHL is trying to...avoid lawsuits? Make the fun moments less fun? It's unclear. The dignity of cheesesteaks is betrayed by a company inside Philadelphia and we're talking about the Flyers brand beers in the Happy Hour.
The Flyers are rolling and climbing the Metro ladder. We can finally say that it's a possibility they'll get to first in the division, but will they? Does a playoff team need to make moves at the deadline, or do they know what they have? How about those Jeff Carter rumors? No? We're not gonna even make fun of it? There are a couple of hockey-related food deals if you wanna have a cheat day in the city, and we're watching women's hockey when it comes to the Flyers Skate Zone.
Fantasy hockey brings everyone together, best frenemies. Fitz and Ryne don't trust themselves to steer the episode in the right direction so they're letting Brian do it. Talking about the loss to the Devils and trying to feel better about it. Respecting the hell out of Sean Couturier. A scary moment for Jay Bouwmeester. Is Kevin Hayes gonna drink with us?
Here's a question, is Alain Vigneault in consideration for coach of the year? Has he done enough, and what does he have to do to be considered? The way to get fans interested in the Flyers again might be Kevin Hayes' big personality, something that is lacking around hockey in general. There's always plenty of discourse about Shayne Gostisbehere, so why the hell not talk about his place in the lineup again? Gritty is innocent, but we didn't need the cops to tell us that.
