Do you ever feel like everyone’s been invited to the party but you, and you’re stuck looking in through the windows, wishing you were able to partake in the fun?
That’s what I’m feeling like right now. Because the Stanley Cup Playoffs are in full swing, and my team, my beloved Philadelphia Flyers are mired in a rebuild, and have missed the postseason for a fifth straight season.
Now, there is hope, as the unexpected early arrival of Russian rookie Matvei Michkov has given the Orange and Black an offensive jolt they’ve sorely needed. And some of the other young players, like Tyson Foerster, Noah Cates and Bobby Brink are providing some hope that the club is moving in the right direction.
But, that doesn’t make sitting the chase for Lord Stanley’s mug any easier. I love watching playoff hockey, but it’s hard to really get int it, when you don’t have a real rooting interest.
I mean, for the first time in a long time, the archrival Pittsburgh Penguins are awful, too, so they’re on the outside looking in too. Even though they at least have some recent Stanley Cups to show for it! (Grrrrr….)
So, looking at who’s left, and specifically, at Canadian teams, who do I root for?
I don’t mind the Montreal Canadiens, but there are better choices out there. And Habs fans? Sure, you’ve won 24 Cups. But most were in the Original 6 era, and the last one was in 1993. 32 years ago. As Janet Jackson sings, “what have you done for me lately?
The Toronto Maple Leafs? Even though they have former Flyers Scott Laughton and Anthony Stolarz, when it comes to rooting for the buds? Not now… not ever. ABT. Anybody but Toronto.
Now, the Ottawa Senators? They’re an interesting case. They’ve always been a team I’ve been relatively indifferent about. Don’t really like ’em, don’t hate ’em. They’re just… there. BUT, to this Flyer fan, they DO have our old pal Claude Giroux, one of the greatest to don the Orange and Black, and wear the “C”
And I would love to see G and the Sens make a deep run in the playoffs, but that’d also mean having to root for Brady Tkachuk. Gross. But if Giroux could get his name on the Cup, I’d be okay with that!
Winnipeg? It’s great to see the Jets have a year like what they’ve enjoyed in 2024-25. Finishing first overall is a great start, but it’s be cool to see them break through and win it all.
And the Edmonton Oilers. Before I saw the light and became a Flyer fan, I, like many kids of my vintage, was an Oiler fan. It was right in the heyday of Gretzky, Messier, Kurri, Anderson, Coffey, Lowe, Semenko, and one of my favourite goalies of all-time, the one and only Grant Fuhr!
A trailblazer, #31 had a wicked mask, the reflexes of a cat, and he was the one goalie that if you had to play one game, winner-take-all, for everything you own, you’d want him between the pipes.
The Oilers wound up heartbroken last season, falling to the Panthers in seven in the Stanley Cup Finals, but it’d be nice to see them get over the hump.
But both the Sens and Oilers are in tough in their respective first round series. If they manage to survive Round One, I’ll ride with ’em, but I just might have to adopt the Jets as my hope this time around. Let’s hope they can end Canada’s Cup drought!
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