Flyers Finish a Philly Sports Miracle

With just over 7 minutes left to play in the decisive 7th game of their NHL playoff series at the TD Garden in Boston, Philadelphia Flyers' winger Simon Gagne, himself an inspirational comeback story, beat Bruins' goalie Tuukka Rask for a power play goal to put Philly on top by a 4-3 score.

That the Flyers were even still playing hockey on May 15th after the predicament in which they found themselves just 10 days earlier was a minor miracle. What they accomplished by holding on to that 4-3 lead for a game and series victory was nothing short of a major Philly sports miracle.

On May 5th, the Bruins defeated the Flyers in Philadelphia by a 4-1 margin to take an overwhelming 3 games to none lead in a best-of-7 Stanley Cup playoff series. Two days later, the Bruins took the Flyers into overtime, needing just a goal to sweep a Philly squad that had been inconsistent all season long out of the post-season.

Boston would not get that overtime goal to win the series. In fact, they would never get any goal to win the series. That night, Gagne returned from a broken foot that had kept him off the ice for the first three losses to score the overtime game-winner for the Flyers, sending the series back to Boston. Most felt it was just a temporary reprieve for Philly, and that the Bruins would put the series away back on their home ice in the 5th game.

Back in Boston, Flyers' goalies Brian Boucher and Michael Leighton stood tall in the visitors net, combining to shut out the Bruins by a 4-0 margin. The Flyers' complete dominance had taken the hometown crowd out of the game, and left them disheartened at having missed a chance to witness their team clinch the series on home ice. Still up though by a 3-2 margin in the series, surely the Bruins would regroup to finish off the Flyers back in Philly. And even in a worst-case scenario, the decisive 7th game would be back in Boston where the Bruins couldn't possibly lose.

In Philly for the 6th game, Leighton would get his first playoff start. The former backup had bailed out the Flyers regular season, but an injury had knocked him out, and Boucher had stepped in to lead the Flyers into post-season action. Boucher had made the big save in the shootout victory in the season's final game that had allowed the Flyers to get into the playoffs. He had been marvelous in the Flyers opening round upset of the New Jersey Devils. But in that 5th game in Boston he had suffered an injury and had to leave the game. Luckily for the Flyers, Leighton was just returning that night from his own injury.

Leighton showed no nerves and was solid in the Flyers net, and goals by captain Mike Richards and Danny Briere led the home team to a 2-1 victory that evened the series up at 3 games apiece. Only two teams in NHL history and three in major North American professional sports had ever come back from an 0-3 deficit to actually win the series. It had not happened in the NHL playoffs in 35 years. This was the history that Philly would try to make happen back in Boston.

In the penultimate Game 7, the hometown Bruins stormed out behind their boisterous fans at the Garden, pouncing on the Flyers for an early lead and extending that lead out to 3-0. Surely here was the final stake in the Flyers hearts. But these Flyers kept coming, kept playing the game hard, and incredibly worked their way back to a 3-3 tie. It was then that Gagne struck for the goal that silenced the Garden.

The Bruins made one last charge at avoiding their historic meltdown. In the final minute, they stormed the Flyers end of the ice, looking for the equalizer, trying to take the heart out of the Flyers with a stunner and then steal the series back for themselves. But it was not to be for the home team. The visiting Flyers held on for the 4-3 win to complete the miracle comeback from a 3-0 series deficit with a miracle comeback from a 3-0 game deficit on the road.

On May 5th, the Bruins had taken a seemingly insurmountable 3 games to 0 lead with a win at the Wachovia Center. On May 15th, the Flyers finished a Philly sports miracle with the 7th game win at the TD Garden. What a difference 10 days can make, possibly the most inspirational 10 days in the storied history of the Philadelphia Flyers as they made their mark in hockey history.

R.I.P. Peter Zezel

When the terrible news about Peter Zezel began to break here yesterday afternoon, it was hard for your mind not to wander. Zezel died yesterday from a rare blood disorder at the age of 44. He hadn't played for the Flyers in 2 decades and, no, it does not seem like yesterday - but he was a meaningful player at a meaningful time, one of the faces of an era.

You go back and look at the players on the roster and, my God, they were so young. Mark Howe was the old man on defense, 31. Dave Poulin and Brian Propp were veterans in the group, too, at 27, and Tim Kerr was 26. And then there was this wave of kids: Pelle Eklund and Dave Brown (23), Rick Tocchet, Ron Sutter, Murray Craven and Ron Hextall (22), Zezel and Derrick Smith (21), and Scott Mellanby was 20.

They were just kids, and they went to the Stanley Cup finals in 1987 and took the Edmonton Oilers dynasty to seven games (after losing to the Oilers in five games in the '85 finals). Coach Mike Keenan rode them hard to the finish line and then they were too sore from the whip. Keenan was gone after the next season. The parts began being disassembled. The wilderness years followed for the franchise, followed by Eric Lindros.

But that young group really did make an era its own - and Zezel was there in the middle of it. His death after a decadelong struggle with hemolytic anemia - Zezel was in critical condition with the disease in 2001 - cannot help but remind everyone who was there about that time in the Flyers' history, and about their youthful face.

"I'm personally very, very sad today with the news of Peter's passing," said Ed Snider, the Flyers' chairman. "I spoke to him last week when I first learned he was having problems. He was hopeful, as was I and all of those who loved him. Peter was a good friend of mine and this is a real tragedy. He was a wonderful young man and a great member of the Flyers organization. We are all saddened by his passing and we want to send our condolences to his loved ones."

Zezel was a good enough athlete to have played professional soccer in Canada, and was known for being able to kick the puck to teammates. He and Keenan seemed to clash at times, as they all did, but Keenan would reacquire Zezel twice more after they both left the Flyers.

"I remember Peter coming to the Flyers in 1985 along with Rick Tocchet, Derrick Smith and Scott Mellanby," Propp said last night in an e-mail. "Peter was the most sensitive of the bunch.

"Peter was great on faceoffs and a very good passer. He wasn't as aggressive as the others but was solid on his skates. We had a strong leadership group on our team in those years and Peter matured into a very reliable two-way player. Mike Keenan was always on him, which bothered Peter, but as he got older he learned from it and became one of Mike's players wherever Mike went.

"Peter was very good with the fans and would take time to talk to all of them for as long as they wanted to talk. Peter has run hockey camps in Toronto for children the past few years and given back to the community. We will miss him."

And here is the trivia question: The guy for whom the Flyers traded Zezel was Mike Bullard.

Women wept at the news. He was not the Flyers' best player, but his female legions would indicate he might have been their best-looking. Zezel was an honest, two-way center who showed scoring flashes but was not able to sustain them for his career.

The end of that career told you plenty about the man, too: Zezel retired so he could be close to a niece who was dying of cancer in Toronto rather than play out the string for another few months in Anaheim.

WRITTEN by Rich Hoffman at Philly.com on May 27th, 2009

The Best There Ever Was

At age 36 and still competing at the highest level, he is the best there ever was at his position in professional sports. And this isn't some easy position either. Take the biggest and baddest NFL lineman, the toughest NBA front court player, or any hard-nosed MLB catcher and put them in his position for just one practice and that player would be running for the bench within seconds. Well, not running, more like skating. Because the sport that we are talking about is professional ice hockey, the position is that of the goaltender, and the player is named Martin Brodeur. He is the goaltender for the New Jersey Devils in the National Hockey League, a position which he has manned for that fortunate team for the past 15 seasons. The lucky local favorites, our own Philadelphia Flyers, have been forced to play in the same division as Brodeur and the Devils for the entirety of his career, and more often than not his presence has been the difference. In those 15 seasons the Devils have won the NHL's Atlantic Division title 7 times while the Flyers have won 5 division titles. The two teams have finished 1-2 in the division nine times in that span. This is what is termed a legitimate rivalry, folks, and so the Flyers and we fans have gotten to see far more of Marty Brodeur between the pipes than most any other opposition goaltender. Lucky us. While the regular season battles have been epic and usually tight, there is no comparison when it comes to the post-season. Brodeur has led the Devils to three Stanley Cup championships in his career: his rookie year in the spring of 1995, again in 2000, and most recently in 2003. The Devils also reached the Cup finals in 2001 before losing to Colorado. In that same time span the Flyers have played for Lord Stanley's Cup only one time, over a decade ago now in the spring of 1997 when they were drubbed in four straight games by the Detroit Red Wings. Before the arrival of Brodeur, the Devils were almost a hockey laughingstock. Born in 1974 as the Kansas City Scouts, they played two seasons in KC before relocating and becoming the Colorado Rockies. It was here in Colorado that the Flyers got their first taste of real competition with the franchise, eliminating the Rockies in a 2-game mini-playoff sweep in 1978. The franchise then finally moved to North Jersey for the 1982-83 season and did not make the playoffs for its first five seasons in New Jersey. The Devils finally began to become a regular playoff team in the early 90's, and it was then that Martin Brodeur came on the scene. He had been the Devils 1st round draft choice, the 20th player selected overall, back in the 1990 NHL Draft. The Flyers selected Mike Ricci as the 4th overall pick that same year, and a number of future NHL greats went before Brodeur including Jaromir Jagr, Keith Primeau, Owen Nolan, Derian Hatcher and Keith Tkachuk. In 1994, Brodeur won the Calder Trophy as the NHL's Rookie of the Year and led the underdog club to a dramatic 7th game loss in the Eastern Conference finals against the New York Rangers. The following season the Devils eliminated the Flyers in six games in the conference finals before defeating the Detroit Red Wings for their first-ever Stanley Cup victory. This period launched the great pro career of Martin Brodeur, one that has included those 3 Stanley Cups, 4 Vezina Trophy awards as the NHL's top goaltender, 4 Jennings Trophy awards for allowing the least goals in the NHL. Brodeur has also starred internationally for his native Canada, leading them to a 2002 Olympic gold medal and a 2004 World Cup championship as the starting goalie. He also shares the distinction with the Flyers' Ron Hextall in being the only two goalies to score goals themselves in both the regular season and the playoffs. Brodeur is the only goalie in NHL history to score a game-winning goal. And last night, Martin Brodeur became the winningest goaltender in NHL history when he made 30 saves as the Devils defeated the Chicago Black Hawks by a 3-2 score in front of his home fans at the Prudential Center in Newark. I became a hockey fan as a 10-year old at the end of the 1972 season when the Flyers missed the playoffs by allowing a last-second goal in the final game of the season, and have enjoyed almost four decades of the best goaltending in NHL history. I watched the greatest 2-year display of playoff goaltending in the games' history by the Flyers Bernie Parent, who won back-to-back Stanley Cups and playoff MVP's in 1974 & 1975. I have seen some of the greatest goaltenders in the history of the game play in the prime of their careers including Parent, Hextall, Ken Dryden, Tony Esposito, Grant Fuhr, Dominik Hasek, Billy Smith, Pelle Lindbergh, Eddie Belfour, Tom Barrasso, and the great Patrick Roy. But for my money none was greater over a sustained period of time than Martin Brodeur. With his 552nd victory and the achievement in becoming the NHL's all-time winningest goaltender added to all of his other team and individual achievements, and in appreciation of him as a tremendous rival to my own beloved Philadelphia Flyers, it is no stretch at all for me to consider Martin Brodeur as the best there ever was.

No Soulful End to the Curse

The indoor Arena Football League played it's championship game yesterday, and the local boys, the Philadelphia Soul, took the Arena Bowl XXII title by downing something called the San Jose SaberCats by a final score of 59-56. The Soul are partly owned by famed New Jersey rocker Jon Bon Jovi, the very public face of the franchise, and have another local hero, former Eagles Super Bowl quarterback Ron Jaworski, among their official team hierarchy. So the club has found a niche in the local sports scene, much as the pro lacrosse Philadelphia Wings and indoor soccer Philadelphia Kixx have found. For those not from Philly, you may not be aware that we are in the midst of one of the worst major pro sports championship droughts in the history of such things. No major Philadelphia professional sports team has won a title since the 1983 NBA Philadelphia 76ers, led by Julius 'Dr. J' Erving and Moses Malone, took that championship from the LA Lakers. That makes it a full quarter-century since Philadelphians have experienced the thrill of a major title, and the ensuing victory parade down Broad Street. The Phillies last won the World Series in 1980, the Flyers last took the Stanley Cup in 1975, and the Eagles won the NFL championship in 1960 - they have never won a Super Bowl. We have come close, as each team made it to the championship series multiple times. The Flyers went to the Stanley Cup Finals in the springs of 1985, 1987, and 1997. The Sixers made the NBA Finals in 2001. The Phillies were in the World Series in both 1983 and 1993. The Eagles famously lost a close 2004 Super Bowl to the New England Patriots that was the city's best shot in recent years. Still, that makes just 7 seasons out of a possible 100 (25 years each for the 4 teams), or 7% for a top ten market to even appear in a championship, and that is beyond woeful. There were comments after the Soul win that the jinx may now be over, with Soul coach Bret Munsey saying "Now we can win championships in Philly. I hope that takes care of everything". Uh, don't think so Bret. Your boys did a nice job. Congratulations to you and game MVP Matt D'Orazio and Bon Jovi and Jaws and everyone in the organization. But it doesn't end a thing involving the jinx, or curse, or whatever you want to call this thing, because 'minor' pro sports teams have done it before. In lacrosse, the Philadelphia Barrage won MLL titles three times in four years between 2004-2007, and the Philadelphia Wings won six NLL titles between 1989 and 2001. In both 1998 & 2005, the Philadelphia Phantoms won AHL Calder Cup titles as the top farm club of the Flyers. The old Philadelphia Stars had won a pair of USFL titles in pro football back in the 80's. Perhaps the most famous Philly title since 1983 wasn't even won by a pro club, that being the Villanova Wildcats winning the NCAA basketball championship in a dramatic upset of Georgetown in the spring of 1985. In an online poll at Philly.com, local sports fans were asked "Does the Soul's championship affect the Philly sports jinx?" At the time of this article, over 4600 fans had placed votes, and more than 73% answered "NO, it has to be one of the 'big four' professional teams." The answer is clear, the jinx or curse is alive. The Soul did a nice job in their league, they should be proud of their accomplishment, and their fans should enjoy the victory. But the fact remains that the curse remains. One day, a major Philadelphia sports franchise will win a title. Perhaps Donovan McNabb of the Eagles will raise the Super Bowl trophy, or Mike Richards of the Flyers will hoist Lord Stanley's Cup, or Elton Brand will raise the NBA championship trophy, or maybe even Chris Coste will get to leap into Brad Lidge's arms as the Phils take the World Series. I was still a teen when Tugger and Schmitty and Charlie Hustle and Lefty won that 1980 World Series. I cheered Clarkie & Bernie and the boys on to a pair of Stanley Cups as a boy, and jumped for joy as Billy Cunningham's Sixers won that last '83 title. I have had the sports fan thrill, but it has been a long time. I was 21 years old when Mo Cheeks dribbled down the court, jumping for joy at yet another title in Philly. I thought that it would happen often, because at that point of my life in just the past seven years the Phils had been to the playoffs six times and won a Series, the Eagles were playoff regulars and had gone to a Super Bowl, the Flyers had been to the Cup finals four times and won twice, and the Sixers were regular title contenders and had now won one. Philly was Title Town in those days. Maybe one day I will live to see it all come around again.