will we ever win?

I want hockey back

I realize this complaint would carry alot more weight if it was the Flyers blowing out a team instead of the other way around, but I don't care. What the NHL calls hockey these days is not the hockey I grew up with and loved to watch. It's a timid game now, without personality. It's a boring special teams game, constant whistles followed by slow skates to the box and powerplay after powerplay. Strength is not rewarded and hard work on the boards is pretty much gone. Working through checks is gone and fighting for position in front of the net is gone because it's been legislated out of the game. No more rugby scrums has Gene Hart rolling over in his grave. There is no intimidation factor and teams like the Flyers are playing scared of taking penalties while teams like the Sabres can just skate around them in circles without fear or any impediment whatsoever. It's even a damn penalty if you hook a guys stick or chop it out of his hands. Ridiculous.

Instead of a No Hooking League the NHL has created a No Hitting League and a No Heart League. The game that now exists on NHL ice is the end result of the "let's eliminate fighting mentality." The same weaselly mentality that doesn't have the balls to actually come out and call for an outright ban. I've mostly been bored watching the Flyers games this year and I suspect many other Flyers fans and fans of "old time hockey" feel the same way.

As the Flyers continue in what looks to be a season mired in mediocrity and the version of hockey Flyers fans love is no longer being played, look for more and more empty seats and even some defections from the Flyers cult. So far the two Phantoms games I've attended have been much more exciting than the Flyers. The refs didn't call every minor thing and even let some stuff go in the last minutes of the game just like the good ol' days of the NHL. There have even been several good fights and players with flair and character. And Berube is the Phantoms coach.

Anyway, the Flyers lost 9-1 in a pathetic effort (although the Sabres were outshot) and at least Carter finally scored. This game was great for Sabres fans I suppose, but it's boring hockey to me.