"That" Team

My brother called me at the end of Caps-Flyers regulation last night. "So we're 'that' team," he said. I knew exactly what he meant by "that" team, as probably anybody that has watched Flyers over the past two decades.

The Flyers are now, finally, the team they have always seemed to play against in the playoffs, really since the Gretzky, Coffey and Kurri skated circles around them in the late '80s. The Flyers transition well. They counterattack beautifully. They hit the blue line with speed. They get odd man and even man rushes. They have tic-tac passing.

What a refreshing change from twenty years worth of dump and chase hockey. From endlessly cycling the puck, from mucking in the corners. From constantly working, working, working not just to get a goal but just to get a shot. Unfortunately from an aesthetics point of view it was as effective for the Flyers as it was ugly to watch. And it was especially frustrating while watching the other team (like the Red Wings or Sabres) appear to work half as hard for twice the results.

Oddly, though, there is a difference of opinion about the Flyers' new style. While my brother and I enjoy the freewheeling Flyers - and think that, Alex Ovechkin notwithstanding - it is the Caps who are now the grinders, Capitals fans and their reporters think it is the same old "Broad Street Bulllies" just because the Flyers have been fun and physical and the Caps have shrunk from the challenge.

"The tenor of this rugged series is terrible news for hockey progressives everywhere, the way the Flyers have punked a nice bunch of free skaters who train in Ballston and used to be among the most feared offensive teams in the NHL...When the Caps' offensive-minded defenseman lost it, Philly had won: Washington was trying to play the Flyers' bump-and-grind game," writes the Washington Post's Mike Wise.

Says Wise, in a second column, "The tired cliches about Europeans being soft skaters, unprepared to handle the physical and mental grind of April the way good, old Canadian farm boys do, went out the window in the first 20 minutes. For the first time in four games, the postseason neophytes were finally making the Flyers' hit men pay for their crimes."

And more, "The Flyers act like they would rather demoralize a psychologically wounded offense than score a short-handed goal...The Flyers are an instant repudiation of what Gary Bettman wanted the league to become. They are a reminder of the NHL's pugilistic past that just won't go away."

Jeez, you'd think Danny Briere and Mike Richards are Dave Schultz and Bob "Hound Dog" Kelly.

But we know better. Plus, it's the Caps who have Donald Brashear - not the Flyers anymore.