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Meltzer's Musings: 5-15-10

May 14, 2010, 11:31 PM ET [ Comments]
Bill Meltzer
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Thank you to everyone who joined me on the Versus.com game-night chat. I had a lot of fun and it was great to share one of the most historic nights in Flyers' franchise history with so many Hockeybuzz readers and Flyers' fans.

On today's Daily Drop on Versus.com, I talk about how Game 7 was basically a microcosm of the entire series condensed into a single 60-minute game.

Apart from the themes discussed in that article, I would like to talk about some of the little things that made winning this game and series possible:

* Did you notice the way that Ville Leino not only made a nice pass to trigger the sequence that led to Simon Gagne's game-winner, he also did a great job of jockeying for position in front of the net, creating room for Gagne in the process?

* Likewise, Mike Richards took a big hit on the play that led to James Van Riemsdyk's critical goal that gave the Flyers something to build from after an awful start.

* It was nice to see Scott Hartnell and Danny Briere redeem themselves for the bad penalties they took that led to Boston jumping out early on the powerplay.

* Braydon Coburn played a whale of a game and a whale of a series.

* The Flyers made their own breaks in this game. Yes, both JVR and Briere's goals changed direction (the former off a broken stick, the latter off a skate) but that what eventually happens when you attack the net.

* The Flyers have a whole different mentality in the postseason than they did in the regular season. During the regular season, no one seemed to be having much fun, even when the club was winning. Now, they seem like a relaxed and loose bunch. I absolutely believe that has played into the fact that Philly struggled something awful in the comeback department during the regular season and have been so tough to put away in the postseason. It's as though they are playing with house money in the playoffs after barely squeaking into the playoffs and are having a blast.

* The play of Andreas Nodl on the fourth line reminded me of the work that Patrick Thoresen turned in a few years ago (that's a good thing).

****

On a CSN poll just now, it was asked if the Flyers win tonight was the greatest non-Cup winning victory in club history. Some 88% of respondents said yes.

Well, as much as I enjoyed this win and will forever recall the series and game comeback fondly no matter what happens the rest of the playoffs, Game 6 of the 1987 Finals still deserves the honor of the most glorious non-Cup win in club history.
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