Articles by Kevin Durso (5321)
When the Flyers and Oilers met in the Stanley Cup Final in 1987, what ensued was a battle of wills that featured two epic comebacks and nearly saw the Flyers top a legendary team in a seven-game war, quite possibly the best Stanley Cup Final ever to take place. Even the greatest player in the league called Flyers netminder Ron Hextall the toughest he ever faced.
According to a report from Greg Wyshynski at ESPN, the scenario of neutral sites is no longer being considered by the NHL for a return and instead the league has shifted to targeting neutral NHL arenas by division to host the remainder of the games.
After the Eric Lindros-led went through Mario Lemieux and the Penguins, another passing of the torch took place when the Flyers faced the Rangers in the conference final. Here is a closer look at the 1997 Eastern Conference Final between the Flyers and Rangers.
In the 2000 Eastern Conference semi-finals against Pittsburgh, the Flyers fell into a hole and were one mistake away from facing the near-impossible 3-0 deficit. An unlikely hero emerged and gave the Flyers some life. When the Flyers evened the series up in an all-time classic game, all momentum had shifted for good. The Flyers rolled back at home and finished off the series in six games.
With everything going their way, pushing pause had to be difficult. Flyers GM Chuck Fletcher joined Mike Gill on The Sports Bash on 97.3 ESPN on Monday afternoon and offered his thoughts.
Ron Hextall was fired as Flyers GM over a year ago in late November of 2018 and yet his fingerprints remain all over this roster. In an interview with NBC Sports Philadelphia’s John Clark, Hextall expressed his feelings for the current team and the young players experiencing some success.
In the end, the Flyers 2000 Eastern Conference Final appearance against the Devils marked the turning of a page and end of an era and another crushing defeat in the Flyers pursuit to end a Stanley Cup drought that has spanned another 20 years since this series.
There was plenty of excitement in the air as the Flyers played host to the opening games of the series and there were certainly moments of doubt within the series where it seemed like the Flyers would not make it out and continue their quest for the Cup. They needed to find a way to win in Toronto to get it done, and finally did in Game 6, which became a monumental moment for the Flyers.
This series was a seven-game showdown that truly went back and forth. When the Flyers had their backs against the wall in Game 6, a late goal flipped the series back around and helped it reach the distance. In the end, just two goals separated the teams in the seven-game series and it was a one-goal margin in Game 7 that decided the series.
It is a series that proved why every game of the series matters and how many little moments can shift the momentum or make a team rise to the occasion. Here is a look back at the Flyers improbable comeback against the Boston Bruins in 2010 as we continue our Series in Review series.