Bill Meltzer: Labo(u)r Day Musings: A Dream Dressed in Work Clothes

Great blog, Bill. Enjoy your Labor Day.

Great blog, Bill. Enjoy your Labor Day.
- isaiah520

Thank you. Likewise!

Bill Meltzer: Labo(u)r Day Musings: A Dream Dressed in Work Clothes
- bmeltzer

Great teams, hard to argue with any of the picks.

The Flyers have been blessed with a large number of high energy guys that would skate through walls. Makes me miss Sami Kapanen

Great teams, hard to argue with any of the picks.

The Flyers have been blessed with a large number of high energy guys that would skate through walls. Makes me miss Sami Kapanen
- Jsaquella

Indeed. Kapanen never took a shift off. The sort of guy you root for -- I hope that trait was passed on to his son. I'd love to see another Kapanen who plays like that.

That "first team" would be a PITArse to play against. Wow.

Thanks for picking Ed Van Impe for the second team, Bill. One of my earliest talks with my dad was Flyers-related and how even the players of moderate skill can "make it" because of the effort put forth. Ed Van Impe was the example used. Of course, when he ran over Valeri Kharlamov in the game vs. the Red Army, that sealed his place in many Flyers fans' hearts.

Great blog, Bill. Enjoy your Labor Day.
- isaiah520

Happy Labo(u)r Day, everyone!

Haha, Labo(u)r Day.....Silly Canadians

Bill Meltzer: Labo(u)r Day Musings: A Dream Dressed in Work Clothes
- bmeltzer

Well done as always and happy Labor Day to ya Bill!

My all time Flyers lunchpail team would be as follows:

First Team
G- Ron Hextall
D- Kimmo Timonen
D- Barry Ashbee
LW- Bill Barber
C- Bobby Clarke
RW- Gary Dornhoefer

Hextall was the most intense, driven, competitive goalie I have ever seen. If every player on the team played as hard as Hexy, they would never lose. Timonen is simply a warrior, a small guy in today's NHL, he always plays through pain and rarely misses a shift, let alone a game. Ashbee was another old school warrior; he nearly retired in 1972 because he thought the rest of the team didn't work hard enough. Clarke was one of the best players in his era, yet he had nowhere near the pure skill of a Bobby Orr or Guy Lafleur. What he had though, was an endless supply of heart, he played every shift like his life depended on it.
Barber was a tremendous player who always worked hard and would do anything to win; he played through enormous pain during his career as his knees were just a mess. Finally, Dornhoefer was, next to perhaps only Clarke, the hardest working of the Bullies. Dorny was always crashing the net or working the corners and he also played through all kinds of injuries

Second Team
G-Ray Emery
D-Brad Marsh
D-Ed Van Impe
LW-Shjon Podein
C-Dave Poulin
RW-Paul Holmgren

Emery reminds me of Hextall. He's fiery, intense and all about the TEAM, not himself. Marsh seemed to never miss a game and would fearlessly try to block every shot he could. Van Impe was as old school as they come, he never took off a shift and always gave his all. Podein was another guy who just outworked everyone else and never gave up on a play or a loose puck. Poulin played through all kinds of injuries and saved his greatest games for when it counted most; much like Clarke, he was a captain who led by example. Finally Holmgren was another true warrior. Not only was he scary tough with his fists, but he also played through all kinds of devastating injuries and he would do anything to help the team win.

Honorable mention
G-Robert Esche
D-Eric Desjardins
D-Jim Watson
D-Joe Watson
LW-Ross Lonsberry
LW-Rob DiMaio
C-Ron Sutter
C-Rod Brindamour
C-Craig MacTavish
RW-Rick Tocchet
RW-Kevin Dineen
RW-Sami Kapanen
RW-Wayne Simmonds

Indeed. Kapanen never took a shift off. The sort of guy you root for -- I hope that trait was passed on to his son. I'd love to see another Kapanen who plays like that.

That "first team" would be a PITArse to play against. Wow.

Thanks for picking Ed Van Impe for the second team, Bill. One of my earliest talks with my dad was Flyers-related and how even the players of moderate skill can "make it" because of the effort put forth. Ed Van Impe was the example used. Of course, when he ran over Valeri Kharlamov in the game vs. the Red Army, that sealed his place in many Flyers fans' hearts.
- Flyskippy

I was at that game and I will never forget that hit or the Russians walking off the ice shortly after. What a game!

Bill Meltzer: Labo(u)r Day Musings: A Dream Dressed in Work Clothes
- bmeltzer

I don't think in this day and age anyone can duplicate what Ron Hextall was but I do hope Ray Emery can surpass Robert Esche's fire in the crease.

Bill! Ya gotta put Lappy on 1st team!

At any rate, enjoy your Labor Day. Take a well deserved day off for Christ's sake!

Nice concept jerseys

http://www.icethetics.inf...lly-stripes.html#comments

Bill! Ya gotta put Lappy on 1st team!

At any rate, enjoy your Labor Day. Take a well deserved day off for Christ's sake!
- Giroux_Is_God

I must be getting senile! Gotta put Lappy on my 2nd team, and move Homer to honorable mention. Im keeping Dorny on my first team; he was the better player and he played on 2 cup winning teams.

Nice concept jerseys

http://www.icethetics.inf...lly-stripes.html#comments
- KINGKENZO

Those actually look quite nice.

Nice concept jerseys

http://www.icethetics.inf...lly-stripes.html#comments
- KINGKENZO

Not a fan of these. I like their current jerseys. The closer to the mid '70s jerseys the better for me.

Nice concept jerseys

http://www.icethetics.inf...lly-stripes.html#comments
- KINGKENZO

no

Nice concept jerseys

http://www.icethetics.inf...lly-stripes.html#comments
- KINGKENZO

They are slightly better than these



These are still the best Flyers jerseys ever

They are slightly better than these



These are still the best Flyers jerseys ever




- Jsaquella

agreed

I don't think in this day and age anyone can duplicate what Ron Hextall was but I do hope Ray Emery can surpass Robert Esche's fire in the crease.
- dingo8urbaby

http://thesportsdiva.com/...older-town-hall-part-iii/

I'm so disappointed in the sheriffs who didn't point out to me that I'd misspelled Lecavalier in the second installment. Fixed now. This new post is the Laviolette session.

http://thesportsdiva.com/...older-town-hall-part-iii/

I'm so disappointed in the sheriffs who didn't point out to me that I'd misspelled Lecavalier in the second installment. Fixed now. This new post is the Laviolette session.
- bodiva88

Thanks, Bo...interesting stuff...Still think Laviolette failed to adjust properly to the players he had, more than them not playing "well"...not that they played well, but it's hard to use a hammer to fix a chipped china placesetting.

Those actually look quite nice.
- JAKEw1234

I like the whites, the orange, not so much

Anthony Mingioni ‏@AnthonyMingioni 2m

Nikolai Zherdev released from Lev Prague before season even starts. There’s a Labor Day joke in there somewhere.

http://thesportsdiva.com/...older-town-hall-part-iii/

I'm so disappointed in the sheriffs who didn't point out to me that I'd misspelled Lecavalier in the second installment. Fixed now. This new post is the Laviolette session.
- bodiva88

I was more concerned with the superfluous comma and 'knowledgable' missing its D in "Sports from a passionate, knowlegable fan’s perspective."