I sat next to Marty Biron in the locker room as he unwrapped the packing tape that goes from knee to foot on top of his socks. Normally Marty would have all this tape off before the room even opens up, but on this night he was late getting his eqipment off after doing an array of TV and radio interviews.
About six feet away, one-time roomate, and Sabres teammate Danny Briere was holding court. As I talked to Marty the loud swishing of his tape became a part of the backdrop. But it was VERY loud.
"Hey Marty," Danny yells from the middle of the reporters. "We can't hear ourselves over here."
Marty stops for a second and looks up in silence. Biron is such a down to earth guy that I thought he might be embarrassed. Then I see him reaching up to the top of his locker and he pulls out another roll of tape, holds it up in the air, gets a wry smile, and starts to pull it off the roll. making the same sound...even louder now.
The reporters look over and laugh. Danny says, "Now he's just wasting money. They should take note of that when his next contract comes up."
A few minutes later I am talking to Danny about this amazing chemistry that he and Prospal already has and he glances over and sees Marty who is now signing some promotional items for the Flyers.
"I need to get Marty," Danny says, and he heads over pouring his water bottle over the back of Marty's head.
Marty gets up and starts joking to Danny about the no look pass on the 5 on 3 that he made to Prospal. "Like Magic Johnson, looking this way, passing that way."
To many this story may sort of seem meaningless, but having been in this lockerroom on many dark nights over the past few years, this is huge.
This is about confidence and the band getting their groove back. This is what Marty brought to this team last year and what Danny brought early on this year.
To see it this late in the season means alot...it also means the Flyers may not been done quite yet.
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