The Flyers participated in a hockey game this night, losing to the Devils 4-1. It was very much a zebra-puck game, with both teams getting ample power play time. The game really turned late in the second, with a questionable call against Radko Gudas and some questioning by Wayne Simmonds led to a 5-on-3 opportunity that the Devils capitalized on and it was all downhill from there. Despite the lopsided score, the shot total was tilted in the Flyers favor, winning the shot battle 36-29 which is good considering the game was close until the aforementioned Gudas penalty. Neuvy started but got pulled after the second, but the team couldn’t find much of a spark all night. The Flyers goal was scored by Travis Konecny, while Mike Wood scored twice, and Pavel Zacha and Kyle Palmieri scored once each for the Devils.
Anyway, I could go into detail explaining yet another Flyers loss, but I think we’re all a little tired of that at this point so I’m going to do something else. Tonight, we’re going to fire up the N64 and head back to my early childhood high school days and tell the story of a boy named Link and his adventure through time and space in Hyrule…
We start this tale deep in the Kokiri Forest, where a lonely Link is teased and at times scolded by his follow Kokiri for not having a fairy. Plagued by bad dreams, Link wakes up to a fairy of his very own! The fairy, Navi, tells him that the Great Deku Tree has summoned him, a very high honor amongst the Kokiri. After collecting a sword and shield, Link heads off to see what’s up with the Great Deku tree. Sadly, the tree tells him that he has been cursed by someone who wanted the Kokiri Emerald, one of the three Spiritual Stones needed to enter the Sacred Realm, and offers Link the chance to break the curse.
Link accepts this challenge, entering the tree and fighting the enemies inside. Along the way he acquired various weapons, like deku sticks, deku nuts and a slingshot to combat the bad guys he encounters inside. The curse was held by the Queen Gohma, whose offspring were attacking Link throughout the rest of that dungeon. A few whacks with the Kokiri Sword to its eye along with Navi’s guidance was enough to squash the gohma, and break the curse. The tree is saved!
But, sadly, it wasn’t. Once back outside, the tree informs Link that he was doomed from the start, and that the man from the desert who cursed him wanted access to the Sacred Realm so he could take over the sacred Triforce, the relic that grants power, wisdom and courage to the one who possesses it. In his dying moments, the tree gives you the Kokiri Emerald, and instruct Link to head to Hyrule Castle to meet “the Princess of Destiny”. While storming castles to meet princesses might seem like fun, you get the sense that something more weighty is going on…
After one last verbal kick in the pants by Mido, one of the Kokiri, and a sad good-bye from Sarai, who gives Link his first ocarina, Link sets foot in the mystical land of Hyrule. The large field was never seen by any other Kokiri as they were forbidden by the Great Deku Tree to leave the forest. After an unsolicited consultation by a big owl, Link crosses Hyrule Field and enters Castle Town, a bustling, vibrant place full of shops, games, and a house full of pots. What more could a 12 year old want in life?
But Link wasn’t here for any of that, he’s got a job to do. After finding the castle, and another talking-to by that annoying owl, Link negotiated his way around the predictable path guards that “protect” the castle and met the princess of Destiny herself after seeing some paintings of some characters from another universe. You learn her name is Zelda, and she is the daughter of the King of Hyrule. Neat! She goes on to further explain the triforce that the tree was talking about, and shows you the bad guy, Ganondorf, (more like Ganondork, amirite) supposedly paying homage to her father. Zelda explains how she senses him being evil, and Link and Zelda agree to thwart him at all turns. She teaches Link her lullaby, and gives you a note to give to the guard to Death Mountain, where the next Spiritual Stone can be obtained.
But before doing that, Link decides to check in on someone he met before meeting Zelda. You see, there was this girl, Malon, whose father fell asleep at the gates of the castle making a milk delivery. You can’t make this stuff up (OK, I suppose you can). Link sets off for Lon Lon Ranch, and after some fun and games with both Malon and her dad, Link obtains a bottle of milk and meets Epona, who is Malon’s favorite horse.
With the ranch in good hands, Link sets off for Kakariko Village, located at the base of Death Mountain. Before heading up the long trail to Death Mountain, Link decides to be a good little boy and help out a local farmhand roundup some chickens. Resisting the urge to chop them up with his sword (admit it, you tried doing this when you played the game too), Link figures out how to get all the chickens where they belong and is rewarded with a new car a new horse a big pile of money an empty bottle. Oh. Cool, I guess. Suspecting there’s more to do in this growing town then just mess around with a bunch of chickens raised by someone who is allergic to chickens, Link heads to the graveyard, because why not. After opening several graves, again, because why not, and playing Zelda’s lullaby by the royal tomb, the grave is opened! Link, naturally, goes inside and after fighting a bunch of scary zombies learns a song that can change the night to day and vice versa. That, my friends, is pretty freaking cool.
With nothing else to do in Kakariko, it’s time for Link to head up the Death Mountain trail to track down the next spiritual stone, Goron’s Ruby. But that’s a story for another day, and with any luck, one that will never come because the Flyers will be awesome. Games like this can hurt, so I hope you enjoyed this diversion from what has become quite a frustrating stretch of games following the win streak. Their buffer on the playoffs is now gone, and it doesn’t take a lot of imagination right now to picture this team playing a bunch of meaningless games come March except for draft position.
The next game is tomorrow in Brooklyn against the Islanders, at 6 PM. Charlie’s observations and Kate’s picture gallery will be available tomorrow.
