Monday Morning Fly By: Canada Wins Gold, Flyers Return Tomorrow

by Geoff Detweiler on Mar 1, 2010 8:44 AM EST in Morning Fly By

Today's open discussion thread, including your daily dose of Philadelphia Flyers news and notes...

With the Flyers resuming their schedule tomorrow, we resume the Fly Bys today.
In case you missed it, Canada beat the United States to win the Gold medal yesterday. Recaps: [AP] [SBNation] [CSNPhilly] [Puck Daddy] [Hockey or Die]
A great line about the game: "Someone made the decision to watch their NHL team's next game. Some kid just made the choice to play hockey. Someone just learned the names Crosby, Miller, Luongo for the first time. Hockey has some new fans." [Deadspin]
USA players quotes on how unhappy they are. Oh, and Tim Thomas paid for special Olympic pads to ride the bench? That sucks. [Puck Daddy]
The Phantoms won both their games this weekend, 3-2 over Norfolk and a 3-2 (SO) win Lowell.
Adam Morrison stopped 26 of 28 shots Saturday in a 3-0 loss. [Saskatoon Blades]
Jacob De Serres stopped 30 of 33 shots Saturday in a 5-3 win for Brandon. [Brandon Wheat Kings]
The Flyers waived Danny Syvret yesterday... [Frequent Flyers] [Daily News]
...Before he's fully healthy... [PostStar]
...In expectation of Ryan Parent's return... [CSNPhilly]
...Or to go after Raffi Torres? [SanFilippo]
The Rangers claimed Alex Auld on waivers from Dallas. [Hockey or Die]
Quotes regarding the Olympic break: [DelcoTimes]
Questions coming out of the break: [Inquirer]

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As much as I wanted the US to win gold, at the end of the day, this was just a glorified all star tournament. after a while I started to miss my Flyers.

"NO HONOR"

"We will steal the show, jolly Rogers go, we are wolves of the sea."

by JpH89 on Mar 1, 2010 8:48 AM EST reply actions

i am happy for mike richards-he started the tourney with almost being the odd man out, and finished on one of the most effective lines for team canada.

at the end of regulation yesterday, i turned to my girlfriend and said “win or lose, i am so proud of this team. i will be happy with the results as long as crosby doesn’t score”.

i do hope that if/when the flyers who won gold yesterday are recognized at the wach in the next home game for what they have achieved, and the crowd respects them. but the latter probably won’t happen.

Eat what the monkey eats, then eat the monkey. -U.S. Navy survival guidance

by psudrozz on Mar 1, 2010 9:53 AM EST reply actions

Said the same sort of thing to my wife when overtime started — “Canada can win as long as Crosby doesn’t score.”

Even though I had taped the game and was watching at 9PM, my wife said, “Look what you did!” and stormed out of the room after he scored.

F’ing Crosby.

by SteelBirdFlyer on Mar 1, 2010 6:52 PM EST up reply actions

I agree with Deadspin, I was amazed at how many people I knew on Facebook had status messages like “Watching hockey for the first time in my life”, “Who knew I could care so much about hockey?” and “Who knew hockey could be so mesmerizing?!”. I know they won’t all continue watching, but if at least some of them do, it’s good for everybody.

Not so happy about that ‘Bartulis is having groin injuries and hasn’t practiced yet’ part, though.

by DragonGirl0583 on Mar 1, 2010 10:46 AM EST reply actions

USA-Canada gets a 17.6 overnight rating. Second highest rated sporting event of the year, excluding the NFL.

http://www.sbnation.com/2010/3/1/1331512/usa-vs-canada-gold-medal-game-ratings

Broad Street Hockey - SB Nation's Philadelphia Flyers Blog. Makin' it look mean since 1967.

by Travis Hughes on Mar 1, 2010 11:33 AM EST reply actions

I’d like to know the ratings for some local markets. I read that Buffalo averaged like a 32% and Pittsburgh averaged a 31% with a peak of 40%, but I’d like to know, for instance, what Philadelphia’s ratings were.

by Ben Feldman on Mar 1, 2010 12:54 PM EST up reply actions

Well with the plight of the Sixers, I’d imagine it to be high.

by j reed on Mar 2, 2010 5:36 AM EST up reply actions

McKenzie has an absolutely brilliant, spot on, analysis:

Did u watch skeleton and moguls during Olys? Will u watch them a month from now? :) Same thing in US. Watching Olys, not hockey.

Thats exactly why they NHL should not be going to Russia in 2014.

by MarioD on Mar 1, 2010 6:39 PM EST up reply actions

I completely agree.

Broad Street Hockey - SB Nation's Philadelphia Flyers Blog. Makin' it look mean since 1967.

by Travis Hughes on Mar 1, 2010 9:50 PM EST up reply actions

There’s a major difference though: skeleton and moguls don’t have a professional league. How many people in NY saw Ryan Miller and now want to watch him as a Sabre? How many people watched Patrick Kane and now want to watch the Blackhawks?

True, people aren’t just going to watch a Florida v. Carolina game because they liked USA v. Canada, but maybe someone in Buffalo watched USA v. Canada and will now watch Sabres games. Maybe somebody in Denver watched, and now want to watch Paul Stastny play for the Avs. That isn’t possible with those two niche sports.

Broad Street Hockey - Makin' it look mean since 1967.

by Geoff Detweiler on Mar 1, 2010 10:09 PM EST up reply actions

Those same people would’ve watched the Gold Medal game in Salt Lake. If they didn’t start watching the NHL in 2002, why start watching in 2010.

by MarioD on Mar 1, 2010 10:51 PM EST up reply actions

I think the best chances of people staying involved combine Geoff’s angle with the others who’ve said kids are going to be the ones converted by the Olympics. I know for me as a kid, the first truly exciting hockey memories I have were life altering in a way, and I don’t think they would have been monumental if I were 26 (like now) and not 6 years old like I was at the time. So the 6-12 year olds in Buffalo who just watched Miller, those you’re probably gonna keep. The 30-somethings in places where hockey isn’t strong, probably not.

by DragonGirl0583 on Mar 1, 2010 10:58 PM EST up reply actions

In parts of the country where your urine doesn’t freeze in your bladder during the winter, it also helps when your parents don’t have to cough up an kidney for the combined equipment and ice rink rental costs and they don’t mind waking up at 4 AM because 5 AM is the only time Spritle or Trixie get to practice . .. Not to say playing the sport is a pre-requiste to enjoy it but typically those who played the game as kids will be the sport’s fanbase anchor. Is it any wonder why, other than imperialism, soccer is the world’s game….all you need is a ball, a flat area and means to mark a boundry for the goals. Even kids in the poorest of countries can find a way to play. Not only that, the game doesn’t lose alot of quality if you don’t have proper playing conditions or equipment. Now that soccer is a popular sport for kids in the US, I think in the next decade soccer will become a more prominent sport in the US. Until hockey isn’t such a logistical nightmare in parts of the country where bodies of water don’t remain reliably frozen during the winter or the local NHL team hasn’t developed a consistent renewable fanbase (yes Capitals fans I’m talking to you…I lived their for quite awhile….and except for a handful of hockey diehards, 85% of your are just pissed off Redskins fans), then I think hockey popularity remains where it is right now Olympics or not. I also think any Olympic TV ratings increase owes something to the minor Ice Age the eastern part of the US has weathered . Nothing like record snow falls, networks showing re-runs, school closings and alcohol to contribute to the recent fascination with curling and an unusual spike in the birth rate nine months from now.

by j reed on Mar 2, 2010 5:33 AM EST up reply actions