Our man Rev is back for another guest post. You may remember him from his "Lost and the Philly Sports Scene" series. These are his words.
In his book Outliers Malcolm Gladwell asserts that if you start at an early enough age it takes approximately 10,000 hours of practice or repetition to truly master a given discipline. Upon hearing this I immediately realized why, despite putting in a serious 47 minutes of practice over the course of a year, my 8 year old flute playing self never morphed into Ian Anderson from Jethro Tull. I was only 9,999.13 hours short of reaching the requisite 10,000 hours. This realization got me to thinking about whether I’ve spent 10,000 hours doing anything. I thought about it and realized that I’ve blown past the 10,000 hour mark in only one discipline; watching sports. I suppose it is worth mentioning that I did not actually read Gladwell’s book. My wife read it and told me about it. Naturally, I was too busy watching sports.
The realization that I’ve eclipsed the 10,000 hour mark got me to thinking about exactly what it was that made all of those glorious hours watching sports worthwhile. I’ve consumed a ****-ton of beer and food while watching. That’s been positive. I’ve gone on some truly memorable road trips and bachelor parties in order to watch, which have been a blast. However, the question I wanted to answer was which moments do I truly remember about the games I’ve watched. What are the things that stand out and stay with me? Could I boil down a lifetime of watching into a few snapshots that capture the reasons I devote so much time to the four local teams?
What follows is a Flyers image/snapshot which has been seared into my Philadelphia sports watching memory. I know I am not alone in having memories like these. Feel free to share your similar Flyers memories in the comments.
The Flyers
The NHL should scrap their playoff promos wherein they tout virtues such as courage, honor, and sacrifice and simply show this video of Sami Kapanen struggling to get off the ice after being absolutely annihilated by Darcy Tucker. I’ll spare you, but I could honestly write 5,000 words about this. There is so much going on as it relates to this image.
If I remember correctly the Flyers were short a defenseman and Sami was thrust into playing on the blue line in this playoff series against Toronto. He was willing to switch positions during the most grueling, physical, pressure packed playoffs in sports. He was the ultimate team-first guy, which reminds me why I love hockey and hockey players. They’re just a different breed. Hockey players get up after absorbing hits like that. Obviously, Sami could have stayed down on the ice and waited for a whistle. No human being could have blamed him had he chosen to do so. But he didn’t. Why? Again, because he’s a hockey player. So, because he wobbles his way towards the Flyers bench play continues on.
After falling and staggering towards the bench Captain Keith Primeau, like a concerned parent, reaches out with the blade of his stick trying to hook him in and fish/guide him into the bench. Now, in 2002, Primeau, as the captain, was blamed for getting Flyers legend Bill Barber fired as head coach. He’d been much maligned, but was in the midst of one of the most startlingly productive postseasons in Flyers history. Finally, he was answering all of the lingering questions about his leadership and talent. He went on to tally 16 points (9 goals, 7 assists) in 18 postseason games. The captain, who had almost been buried by blame, had emerged during this postseason and was now literally reaching out to help his injured teammate. All the while play continued.
Meanwhile, after trading odd man rushes up the ice (including a missed chance by the Flyers following a two on one with Mark Recchi and John LeClair) the Maple Leafs head back up ice and carry the puck into the Flyers zone. Mats Sundin turns the puck over in front of the Flyers net and all of a sudden Jeremy Roenick is sprung on a two on one with Tony Amonte. Roenick, who came to the Flyers as a free agent from Phoenix, was a hockey anomaly. He was a hockey player who had a personality. The guy actually had opinions and was not afraid to express them. I cannot think of another Flyer who craved the spotlight as much as JR. He wanted to be, needed to be, the story. His style of play demanded you notice him. He could was a highly skilled player who could skate and played 100 miles an hour. On and off the ice he was a one-man entertainment package. Needless to say, all eyes were on JR as he streaked down the right side and water bottled Ed Belfour – thus clinching the series and advancing the Flyers to the Eastern Conference Finals.
Besides the obvious why has this one image stuck with me over all these years? I think it’s because it personifies what I love about Flyers hockey. Sure, there are plenty of things wrong with the sport. There are franchises in cities that have zero business having an NHL team. There are too many teams. The regular season is too long. I get all that. Still, there is nothing that compares to when the Flyers make a playoff run.
I love the beards, the gamesmanship, the coaches arguing with each other while lobbying for calls in between games, the inevitable point at which the series escalates due to a late hit or someone shooting the puck after the whistle blows. I love the gloves to face after stoppages in play and the refusal to disclose exactly where a player is injured so as to not give the opposing team a target to aim for like a boxer exploits a cut above his opponent’s eye. I love the hatred that you develop for opposing players over the course of a seven game series.
There is a code in hockey that does not exist in other sports. You don’t throw punches when a guy is down on the ice. You don’t engage the other team’s skill players in fights (unless it’s Marian Gaborik and for some reason he drops his gloves against Dan Carcillo). Above all there is honor in hockey. I cannot think of anything more honorable than what Sami Kapanen did after absorbing that hellacious hit from Darcy Tucker. He got up. He made his way to the bench. Who was there to help him? Who else would it be but the Captain? That’s how hockey works. The Captain stands up and does whatever is necessary for his teammates. And who ends up with the puck as a result of play continuing thanks to Sami’s struggle to get to the bench? Of course, the-look-at-me-star with the outsized personality who wants nothing more than the puck on his stick in a potential playoff overtime series-clinching moment.
Why is this the moment that sticks with me? Because Sami is a hockey player and instinctively made his way back to his skates. Because Primeau was the Captain and was showing his teammates the way. Because the puck ended up on JR’s stick. Because the three main actors in this drama acted exactly how we like hockey players to act. The sequence of events encapsulated everything I love about watching the Flyers play hockey. It’s why I watch.
Original Story:
http://www.the700level.com/2010/02/ou...
