Philadelphia is a fickle city. The Philadelphia Flyers have started the season 2-3-0, and some fans are calling for Dave Hakstol’s job. The defense is struggling, the penalty kill is bad, and people are blaming the coach. Overall, the Flyers early struggles are visible everywhere.
YWT #42- Optimism and Pessimism
The same thing is happening on the other side of Broad Street. Or it was, until the Philadelphia Eagles stomped the New York Giants on Thursday Night Football. The rhetoric on Philadelphia sports radio in the early portion of the week was that the Eagles are bad, and might limp into the postseason. By Friday, callers were planning the parade.
A similar approach must be taken with the hockey club in town. The Flyers are good. Short of an outstanding performance by Vegas Golden Knights‘ goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, Philadelphia beats them on Saturday. The Flyers, playing their most complete game of the season, held Vegas to 21 shots. One single shot beat Brian Elliott, and the Flyers lost. Sitting a game below .500 feels significantly worse than being a game above the mark. Fans tend to forget that a five game sample size is a very small portion of the season.
This Philadelphia Flyers team is still finding their identity, and is now dealing with significant injuries to Nolan Patrick (upper body, seven to 10 days), James van Riemsdyk (leg/knee, five to six weeks), Scott Laughton (left Saturday’s game, upper body, later returned), and Oskar Lindblom (upper body, suspected concussion).
The guys talk about Philadelphia fans, the problems with the Flyers and Eagles, and more on this week’s You Would Think podcast. Mike’s father, Mike Giletto, Sr., joins the guys to give his opinion on the current state of Philadelphia sports.
Main Photo by Kate Frese (@KateFresePhoto), licensed to Last Word on Hockey. The Photographer retains all rights to the photograph.
