Anytime someone asks you why you are a hockey fan, and more specifically a Flyers fans.  Please direct them to this video.  Has the third game of the season ever felt like game 7 of the Cup finals?  Hot damn was that amazing.

Tonight, hockey returns to the Wachovia Center.  Fresh off a great 2-0-0 start, the boys are home to take on the Washington Capitals in what is sure to be a barn burner.  From reading every other writer's take on the undefeated start, it's safe to say that the Flyers enter tonight's game full of confidence and excitment.  That will be needed as they take on another team that looks to follow in Philly's desire to finish 82-0.  The atmosphere tonight should be electric and the noise level thunderous.  This is the first time Pronger, Razor, Rabbit and Betts play a game that means something on home ice.  The tough first week of the season continues tonight, and this game looks to be the best the NHL has to offer in the early season.

Washington is loaded offensivly, led by Russian Jesus, Alex Ovechkin.  The dude is single handily going to will this team to the ECF this year, and already looks to be a shoe-in for the Rocket Richard.  With the Redskins shitting the kitchen, and the Bullets still called the Wizards, the Caps are the only lucrative franchise the city has, and their bandwagon is already at full capacity.  And maybe for good reason, because the team has already scored 10 goals in 2 games.  That is fun hockey to watch, and their rotund owner must be giggling all the way to the bank.  Besides AO, the team is getting solid play from Brooks Laich, Alex "Who wants my" Semin and lovable ex-Flyer, Mike Knuble.  My guess is that Caps coach Bruce Boudreau starts Knuble's line tonight, and he'll get a solid round of applause for his time spent in Philly.  Aside from those jerks, Nicklas Backstrom is another guy we have to watch tonight, a genuine playmaker that is always feeding AO for the easy goal.  The Caps powerplay is downright scary, and almost as sexy as the Flyers.  That is the matchup that will decide the game tonight.  If we can hold them off the scoreboard at 5-on-5 and not surrender too much on the PK, then we'll take this one.  It'll be hard and Lappy/Betts will need to be as solid as ever tonight.  Look for Kimmo to shadow AO on the ice, and hopefully for that douche Mike Green to meet Chris Pronger on the sideboards.  In all seriousness, is Mike Green the douchiest hockey player in history?  I feel like the guy was born to bounce at a Seaside Heights bar.  Have you seen his website?  If the Webby Awards had a category for "lamest attempt at looking like a model/hockey player" Greenie would win hands down.  Everbody loves his offensive contribution, but he's still a defensive liability.  I can't wait for Danny Breeze to burn him for tonight's opening goal to set the Wach off.

For the Flyers, as I touched on before, the PK has to continue to be stellar.  The Caps rush like no other and everyone will need to backcheck tonight to keep them from establishing any rhythm.  I look to see who responds to the home crowd the most, and my money is on the Birddog.  Hartnell loves getting greasy ones at home, and I'd love to see him pot one tonight.  The defense and goalie, which have been so good, need to keep the mojo going.  The way they've been shutting down any rush or set up has been so impressive, and tonight will be the reason that the Flyers win.  Simon Gagne, Claude Giroux, Mika Pyrola...tonight is the night you torch that clown Joey Theodore.  This game might end 6-4, 5-3, or even 18-0, all in favor of the Flyers. 

Even though I'm not allowed by law, let me play doctor.  I'm diagnosing the entire Caps team with the Philadelphia Flu tonight. The home crowd is going to shake the tv sets of the Delaware Valley.  Nobody beats us on home ice this year, not even Stalin. The battle for the East gets even wilder tonight.  Strap in and let's keep the train moving to the '3-0' station.  Let's Go Flyers.

PHILADELPHA, PA- Reports are coming in that the CDC has begun closing down all of Philadelphia for fear of a widespread virus that is currently taking over the city.  State highways, schools, government buildings, and hoagies shops were all ordered to close their doors for the entire week.  "We have the situation under control, but we are taking precautionary measures to ensure the safety of the Philadelphia community," J. Weasley of the CDC said as she spoke this morning.

Local and Federal authorities believe that the virus, dubbed "The Pronger Syndrome,"  has its origins in South Philadelphia.  Although non-lethal, the virus is said to instill massive amounts of confidence, swagger, and energy for all those affected.  So far, thousands of people are said to have contracted the disease over the weekend, and the fear is that millions more will be introduced to the disease as this week unfolds.  So far, the entire Philadelphia Flyers organization is said to have been diagnosed with The Pronger Syndrome and are receiving vaccinations in the forms of goals scored and penalties killed since last Friday.  "We started feeling symptoms of this in July, but I'd say things really ramped up late last week."  Coach John Stevens said today as his team was busy lifting bulldozers at their weight training facility.  The team is responding well to the Pronger Syndrome and look to be the test subjects in what hopes to be a lengthy vaccination period.

President Obama is getting involved, signing a bill that suspends all vaccines to the Washington and Pittsburgh area, making sure that the vaccines get to where they are needed most, Philadelphia.  Early test subjects not affected by the virus display bouts of paranoia, fear, and a strong terror of the goal crease.  The CDC bvelieves that on Tuesday night, they could see as many as 19,000 new cases of the Pronger Syndrome diagnosed, with another 20,000+ more by the end of Thursday.

With Columbus Day right around the corner I've been racking my brain trying to think of what to ask Christopher Columbus for this year, and I think I got my answer last night.

I love him.

Not Christopher Columbus, that guy may have done some pretty harsh things and some European was bound to find this continent anyway. I'm talking about Ian Laperriere. His energy, his speed, his joie de vivre. He's constantly encouraging his teammates out there while playing take-no-prisoners hockey and even managed to contribute a goal out there last night.

I've never known a fourth line like this before.

Our fourth line is so good, mainly because of the combination of grit and skill each member of it possess, that I honestly look forward to seeing them out there stirring the pot every fourth shift. Can you imagine me writing that last year? With Riley Cote and Andreas Nodl on the ice? It was like playing Russian Roulette with a gun that had all 6 chambers loaded. You lost every time. With this line we have two of our four most defensively responsible forwards out there. And the penalty killing duo of Lappy and Betts. I'm constantly trying to catch a glimpse of Mike Richards sitting in a beach chair on the bench sipping pina coladas as the play flies by. Our fourth line is taking up ten good minutes of even strength time a night. It's really unbelievable to experience.

So although I'm generally not a jersey guy I think I need to let the world know how I feel. And I think that even though the Winter Classic jersey is cool, the chances that a crab fry smudge is going to end up somewhere on whatever I'm wearing are just too great. So I think it will be the orange jersey for me. Which also means I'm in uniform if I ever make it back to Philly for another Orange Crush match. You hear that, Chris?

I think we have a winner, and I think it's Ian Laperriere any way you slice it.  

After last night's exciting game the Flyers travel up the turnpike to take on the Newark New Jersey Devils.  The tough first week of the season continues tonight in a barn that is not friendly to the Orange & Black.  Marty Broduer will be playing in his 1,000th game as a Devil on their opening night so expect the place to be pretty wild...you know, wild in terms of a New Jersey Devils game wild.  Their fans aren't exactly 'rabid' now, are they?  The Devils brought back Jacques Lemaire, because, I guess they thought their offense was too explosive under Brent Sutter.  Under Lemaire, expect to see the type of mind-numbingly repetitive hockey that the Devils were known for in the mid-late 90's.  This Devils team may look a bit different to you tonight, althought Fatty McGoalieman is still between the pipes, this team lost Jon Madden, Jay Pandolfo, Brian Gionta, Brenden Shanahan, Scott Clemmenson, and Mike Rupp.  That's a lot of character, history, and goals to lose all in one season.

The Devils are like that character in high school movies, you know, the jock that every girl bangs and was the big cheese 10 years ago, but when you run into him now at a Wawa you can tell that he's broke, has 3 bastard kids and works minimum wage.  Sure, he's still got his stories and his 'legacy', but his current self is a shell of a being...so maybe he's more like an M&M that has all the chocolate sucked out of it by Lou Lamoriello.  Anyway, this team is strikingly different than what we're used to seeing come out of Jersey.  Be on the lookout for Zach Parise, Travis Zajac, and ex-Flyer Danius Zubrus.  Those guys put the biscuit in the basket and will be the main targets for Mr. Pronger and company.  I'll be suprised to see "Lucky" Pierre Luc Letourneau-Leblond out there without Rockin' Riles dressing as well. Make no mistake, the Devils have some grit, and there are a number of good fighting matchups we could see tonight.  If Cote plays, he'll dance with PLLL, if Asham plays, he'll dance with Peters, but I'm really hoping for Carcillo to tear David Clarkson a new one.  Man alive do I hate a fighter who thinks he can score goals.

Emery will be in goal again, and it will be nice to see how this team reacts to another mature, playoff-caliber team on no rest. I'd love to see the Giroux line get a bit more playing time, or get Claude up on the 1st or 2nd more often.  The kid needs more ice than what he got last night, and I'm hoping tonight he's getting in on the offensive action.  Tonight I'll be watching to see if the boys can keep up their impressive transistion game.  The D was very sharp last night and against a rival that will be extremely important.  Also on my radar will be Lappy and Betts, and their excellent PK.  Obviously, the Flyboys take alot of penalties, sometimes good, sometimes bad, but when these guys are killing them off the team will really feed off of their work ethic and energy level.

So strap in everybody, it's our first taste of the Devils this year.  They may not have the starpower like the Pens, Rags, or Caps, but make no mistake, this is a top rival for the Flyers.  Starting the season off well, especially against the Atlantic, is imperitive.  What a great opening weekend to the season.  Enjoy it, puckheads.  Let's Go Flyers.

I am not a nerd. In fact, if one of us in this situation is a nerd it's you. I mean look at you on your computer reading the internet while I'm out trying to figure out a way to franchise an ice cream shoppe on the side of a mountain...probably. Now that we have that settled...

I'm not going to do anything drastic and say that this is going to be a recurring feature, because one cup of coffee can get you to say that, but to get you to actually make it recur is an entirely different story. But for tonight's game (and possibly others) we headed down to our lab and ran an NHL '10 simulation, and I think you'll be happy with the results.

Disclaimer:I didn't put it on easy or anything, it's at a level that I would lose at quite often if I played video games, which I think we can all agree that I do not.

1st Period

The boys came out a little confused and out of position, but fast. Fast as in skating not as in scoring, because just 4 minutes in Ray Emery played a puck that he probably shouldn't have and Tuomo Ruutu tucked it into an empty net. 1-0 Canes. 2 minutes after that Mike Richards and Eric Cole, of all people, got into a shoving match and ended up having a go, which Richie won decidedly. Momentum however did not shift, mainly do to the poor play of Mika Pyorala and by the end of the period it was 2-0 canes on a Joe Corvo goal with Claude Giroux in the box for hooking.

Second Period

The second period we were all out there just playing hockey. The 4th line of Carcillo - Betts - Asham was bumping bodies. The skill guys were being skillful. It was entertaining. But with 5 minutes left in the period the boys were dangerously close to going into the third down two goals. That's when I threw out the third line of van Riemsdk (not enough room for the proper spelling when I was creating him) - Giroux - Laperriere and after Giroux made a nice steal high in the offensive zone Rabbit hit Lappy for an open net one timer. 2-1 with 21 minutes of hockey left.

Third Period

This was my speech between periods: "I'm not expecting much from you guys." Boy did set the room ablaze.

Four minutes into the period Gagne (Lappy, Giroux) wheeled around the net and into the slot and fired a backhander past a screened Cam Ward. Then after some gritty and tense play the Flyboys started to mount some steady pressure in Carolina's zone. With 2:44 left in the game a fresh Jeff Carter and Scott Hartnell went in on a 2 on 1. Hartsy hit Cartsy with a beautiful pass (Pyorala secondary) and the Flyers had come from behind to take the lead! One minute and three seconds later, at the end of the same shift, Carter banged home a Briere rebound (Hartnell secondary) and put the game out reach.

What a game.

Danny Briere looked slick out there and led the way with 4 shots. Matt Carle got stabbed with steroids by Daniel Carcillo before the game and led the team with 8 hits! Pronger and Hartnell were right behind him with 6 each. Betts was at 100% on faceoffs, going 1 for 1. And put all your doubts back in your underwear drawer because Ray Emery stopped 19 out of 21 shots for a save percentage of 90.5%.

If this prognostication comes to fruition I'll be shot gunning Coors Light bottles by 9:30 tonight!

Well Flyers fans, we've made it.  Tonight, for the first time since the Penguins stole our souls, we get to see real Flyers hockey.  All the hype of the off season is over, and the questions from preseason are answered.  So much has changed since last season.  We all know about the new faces and the old ones that are long gone.  Where the team was confident in its ability last year, this team now knows it's stocked, and will have the swagger to prove it.  I don't want to bore you with another "look-who's-new-we're-good-except-for-the-goalie-question-mark" post that every mutherflippin' person who writes about hockey has been saying for over 2 months now.  The time of nervous wondering and anticipation is over.  It's now time to shed those thoughts and go skate your ass off every night to get 2 points.

We begin this season down in Carolina against a tough, playoff-caliber team in the Canes.  Although a lay-up game against the Isles would be nice for the first game, it'll be great to see such a battle in the very first 60 minutes of the season.  Cam Ward got paid, they stole Andrew Alberts, and oh yeah, perennial all-star Eric Staal skates in tobacco country.  I didn't even mention Rod the Bod.  Brind'Amour is starting his 800th season and is out to prove something after a sluggish 2008 campaign.  I don't like the sound of "determined Rod Brind'Amour" anymore than you do...

I like how the Canes are put together, and tonight's game will be a grinding affair.  It feels like a Lappy special tonight, and I'd love to see him get a greasy assist and punch Kostopoulos right in the kisser.  I may be going out on a limb, but I think the Canes are taking the Southeast this year, and the games against them will be some of the best all season.  They play in a shit division and will be right in the mix the whole way against the Washington Commies.  They have a lot of grinders on their squad, mixed in with some finesse and an above average blue line. Add in the most underrated goalie in the league and you have a very dangerous team.  The Flyers match up well against the Canes, and it will be a matter of puck possession tonight.  Apparently the RBC Center is the loudest barn out there, but 2 first period snipes by a rejuvenated Danny Breeze will squash their 7th man right away. 

For the Flyers, it'll be our first real look at the complete team.  I'll be watching Giroux, JVR, Pronger, Lappy, Carcillo and Danny Breeze.  Will the new lines work?  Does Carter start the year on a tear?  How many bad penalties do we take?  How does Rabbit do in his first game?  Who does Carcillo bite?  How sweet will Richie's first goal be? Does Kimmo hug Mika? Does Hartnell muck it up?  How does the D play?  Does Emery continue his sharp play from the preseason?  Will I be drunk before the puck even drops?  How many chicken fingers does Riley Cote eat in the owners box?  All this and more will be answered, and I cannot wait! 

This team reminds me of the 1993 Phillies.  Take that whichever way you want, but one thing is for sure, this will be the most exciting team in Philly, and in hockey, to watch all season.  (And yes, Riley Cote is most certainly our John Kruk...and JVR is totally Kevin Stocker).  The team is comprised of so much skill and character, it'll be a blast following them all season as they go for the Cup.  I cannot wait for tonight.  It's Friday, and hockey is back.  No more vengeance now, or hungry for more bullshit.  Just give me 60 minutes of hard nosed hockey and with this level of skill, we'll have a chance to win every night.  Oh, and if it wouldn't hurt....150 Claude Giroux goals too.  So as you're reading this, on this chilly autumn day, counting down the minutes until your next coffee break... just know that in a few hours, after you punch out, grab some grub and open the first cold one...know that we're all back.  Back where we belong.  Cheering on the best team in all of sports.  The season begins tonight.  Let's Go Flyers.