Well, a self-imposed news blackout didn’t seem too risky in February, when I was making the reservations. Imagine my surprise when I arrived in SF on Wednesday, having spent three days with no phone, no tv, and no radio, to discover the Flyers had become a fantasy league hockey team.
I’d been impressed with the Flyers handling of the whole lockout. They treated season ticket holders like trusted shareholders, trying to keep us informed without inflammatory shots at the union. And it helped that most of their full-time employees could be shuffled through the bigger Comcast organization, letting the customers feel that we’d be dealing with the same folks when it was all settled.
Then, when the announcement of the new CBA came and the Flyers held an early Saturday press conference, not leaving their buyouts wondering and showing solidarity and lack of hard feelings through the levels from ownership to management to coaching to players, it was typically forward thinking Flyers PR at its best.
And then the boy Flyers were signed without any fuss or muss, and that, too spoke of thoughtful anticipation and poise.
Finally, we all get to see the bonus of preparation and flexibility this free agency flurry has brought.
It’s a wonderful thing to be a Flyers fan again. (Well, last season was the sign of that, wasn’t it? For once, a team made up entirely of legitimate NHL players. And the results showed.) It almost makes up for a year without hockey. Almost. I’d feel sorry for the Rangers and Islanders having to play in a division with the Flyers and the Penguins, if I could only locate the sympathy center in my brain. Nope, must have left it on the headlands.
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