Flyers-Avalanche: Philadelphia Hockey Becomes Almost Unwatchable

Tonight, something unthinkable happened,only four games into the season—Flyers' hockey became almost unwatchable.

As a hockey fan, I rarely find myself turning off a game because it is boring.  But tonight, that was almost the case.  The only thing that kept me watching was the play of the Colorado Avalanche, as they toppled over the Flyers 5-2.

I never get mad or pissed at a team for playing badly.  I do, however, get pissed at a team for not trying or working hard enough, which explains my opinion of my hockey team's first three games.

But that is exactly what the Flyers did tonight.  They lost every foot race to the puck, they lost key faceoffs—basically, it looked like they did not care about winning, just as long as they got their paychecks at the end of the week.

When a team plays like this—especially one that I have grown to respect—it makes me sick to my stomach.  I am not paying for merchandise and tickets—in fact, I and the rest of Philadelphia are not paying these players millions of dollars to watch them half-ass their way through an NHL game.  Perhaps the team should send the entire NHL squad down to the minors and see if the Phantoms can challenge an NHL team in a game.

The recap of the game would appear in this part of the article, but the game was so boring, I would lose reads just explaining it.  So I won't.

The only other thing I can possibly say is that the Flyers better put their hearts on the ice and work their butts off to win a game.  Because if they don't, we may be in for a repeat of the 2006-07 season—and no matter how good John Tavares and Victor Hedman are, no Philadelphia fan wants that.

Philly fans are impatient and everyone knows that.  Especially when the team has the potential to challenge for a championship.  Which explains why they often lose loyalty very quickly.  Philadelphia has given us many championship-worthy teams throughout the years, yet have been unable to close the deal.

Hey Flyers, do you want to be another one of those teams?

Alan Bass is a Senior Writer for Bleacher Report and the Community Leader for the Philadelphia Flyers section.  He is also the co-host of NHL 2Day, a weekly radio show on Youcastr.com.  You can contact him at ALN424@aol.com.  You can also check out his BR archives here.

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