Being at last night’s blow out out game where the Flyers handed the Penguins their third loss in three meetings this year was quite a treat. It was the best $27 I’ve ever spent. The hockey I remember going to as a young kid in the mid ’90s was back. The Broad Street Bullies returned last night to manhandle the Pens and pretty boy Sidney Crosby. Crosby, of course, is public enemy number 1 in Philadelphia as it seems like every game he gives us more reason to hate him. Last night’s prominent reason was the tripping of Marty Biron behind the Flyers’ net in the third stanza. Sidney and Co. beat the Flyers not once, not twice, but EIGHT times last year. Yet last night all the way from row 6 in section 207A I could see coach Michel Therrien share a box of Kleenex with Sidney Crosby as they were both crying about their misfortune.

The Penguins committed 23 penalties for 98 minutes, giving the Flyers 13 power play opportunities (they capitalized on four). It only took 20 seconds to set the tone when Flyers’ captain Jason Smith dropped the gloves with Pittsburgh’s Ryan Malone. The pace continued when the Flyers weren’t putting the puck in the net. Both Joffery Lupul and R.J. Umberger notched hat tricks. Lupul was the first Flyer since Eric Lindros to score 6 points in a game. The third period got ugly when there were two brawls where all the skaters on the ice were involved. Late in the third Georges Laraque, the Pens’ resident tough guy broke his stick cross checking Lasse Kukkonen away from the play. The Flyers beat the Penguins 8-2 and then proceded to beat the Penguins winning virtually every fight. Jeff Carter even dropped the gloves and put a beating on Ryan Whitney. The sign held up to the glass right in front of the two said “OLDE TIME HOCKEY” and it could not have been more perfect. This was Flyers hockey. The witch hunt continues this season however as Pens’ coach Michel Therrien whined about the Flyers racking up a score (the Pens beat the Flyers by the same score on Oct. 28 last year) and defended the utter douche baggery of his team in the third. When it became way too late to come back the Pens decided to challenge the Flyers in a physical battle which was a big mistake. Despite the cries of Philly faithful Therrien would not put Sid the kid on the ice for the final six minutes of the game. It is assumed that he was concerned for the imminent decapitation of Crosby (whether it come from Martin Biron, Ben Eager, or any of the 18,000+ fans in attendance).

There is definitely bad blood here that spilled over from last season when the Flyers lost all eight meetings between the two teams, but this team is just purely annoying. Crosby alone will dive away from the direction of anything that moves on the ice but all the Penguins just seem to skate like they all have protective bubbles around them and cannot be touched. And when they do get hit they whine about it like their 20-year-old captain. Hockey is a contact sport however, so the presence of Georges Laraque and Gary Roberts is not enough to save the young bunch of baby faced skaters.

After years at the bottom of the division the Pittsburgh Penguins had a pretty good year last year….ONE YEAR. They won ONE playoff game and finished the year two points behind the division winning Devils. The fact that they think they are a legitimate team annoys me to no end. They play like they are owed some kind of respect despite being next to last in the division. Last year was an anomaly. The Flyers are never as bad as they were last year and the Pens are never as good. Not since Mario Lemieux retired (the first time).

The Flyers endured EIGHT losses last year. Already the Pens are crying after three. ESPN’s Mike and Mike usually do a segment called “Just Shut Up”, but they do it on Tuesdays, so Therrien will have to wait until next week to win an award this year. If nothing else, last night’s debacle should set the stage for a VERY energetic match up between the two teams on January 24.