I was not at the Wachovia Center for tonight's Flyers game. My wife and I were out at dinner with friends, as I tried not to stay focused on the conversation at the table and not at the TV broadcast of the game above the bar about 10 feet away.
But between listening to most of the first period and overtime on the car radio and stealing glimpses at the screen at dinner, I caught enough of the game to see that Martin Biron continued to give Philadelphia stellar goaltending and even when the Flyers trailed 2-1 in the second period, there was no sense of panic.
The Flyers are playing with a winning team's mentality right now-- an intangible, but still palpable feeling that the game is there to be won.
By contrast, even when the game was tied heading into the third period last season, there was always an unspoken fear of adversity; a sense that the next scoring chance might be the last, and disaster loomed around the bend at the next Flyers penalty or turnover.
As much as the club has upgraded its talent level across the board, the change in game-day attitude is every bit as important.
***
This weekend marks the 40th Anniversary of the Flyers' first ever home game at the Spectrum. Philadlephiaflyers.com will be continuing its look back in club history with a new bi-weekly feature called Great Moments.
The first installment looks at Bernie Parent's
triumphant return to the Flyers.
Specifically, the article focuses on the events of opening night of the 1973-74 season. That night Parent shut out his former team, Toronto by a 2-0 score, beating former Flyers goalie Doug Favell.
The win marked the beginning of a magical two-season run for the Flyers, culminating in a pair of Stanley Cups.
Hockeybuzz's Bill Clement, of course, was a part of those Flyers Cup teams, but he did not play in the game covered in the story.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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