headtopics
Flyers rivalry with the Ducks might be the strangest part of a strange Philly sports summer What we have now are two organizations that have squared off in some high-stakes competitions on the ice, yes, but the boardroom battles between them have been even better.
What we have now are two organizations that have squared off in some high-stakes competitions on the ice, yes, but the boardroom battles between them have been even better.
Flyers' Trevor Zegras is one of several players exchanged between Philly and Anaheim over the last couple of seasons.
, and maybe Im an exception in this regard, but I did not scan it immediately for games against the Penguins and Rangers and Capitals.
My eyes fell on two dates: Saturday, Oct.
24, and Sunday, Jan.
3.
A pair of unmissable matchups against the Flyers newest and most hated rivals: the ..
Anaheim Ducks?This has been an odd few months, in so many ways, for the Philadelphia sports scene.
Think about some of the stories.
The.
Their inability to play reasonably intelligent baseball.The Sixers comeback over the Celtics.
Their embarrassing sweep by the Knicks.
Their decisions to fire But none of those developments, none of them, compares to the sheer weirdness of the rising tensions between the Flyers and their Disneyland-adjacent counterparts.Imagine the Eagles and their fans hating the Jacksonville Jaguars or the Phillies and their fans being obsessed with beating the ..
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, and you have a sense of just how strange it is that the Ducks have become Soccers lingering post-World Cup problem, the new and ugly era of Brady-Belichick, and other thoughts Its one thing to despise Sidney Crosby; the guy is one of the greatest players in hockey history, has won three Stanley Cups, has tormented the Flyers for years, plays exactly the tenacious, win-at-all-costs style that would make him a god if he wore orange and black, and is based just 300 miles west of the Xfinity Mobile Arena.Its another to despise a franchise that has been in existence for just 33 years, has won just one Stanley Cup , and was named after a childrens movie.
But here we are.
The origins of the bad blood are no secret, at least not to anyone who follows the Flyers closely.On Jan.
8, 2024, they traded Cutter Gauthier the No.
4 pick in the 2022 NHL draft, the prospect who was presumed to be their top goal scorer and franchise centerpiece for the next decade or more to the Ducks forsaid during an NBC Sports Philadelphia interview that they traded Gauthier because he didnt want to be a Flyer, Gauthiers villain status was instantly established.
The public sentiment here, with some exceptions, went fromand whom they consider an important member of their corps of defensemen, would forever be compared to the potential superstar the Flyers felt they had to give up.The only thing that it does and will continue to do moving forward is just motivate me, Drysdale said Monday.
I want to be the best player I can for the city, for the team, for the fans, for everything.
I know I still have a lot more to give, and thats exciting for me on my end.
Things have gotten only more intense since the Gauthier-Drysdale trade.Its not just that the two franchises consummated another significant trade and, for the Flyers, a so far highly successful one 13 months ago, when Anaheim sent.
Its not just that the Flyers have beaten the Ducks all four times the clubs have faced each other over the last two seasons.Its not just that the teams last matchup in Philadelphia, a 5-2 Flyers victory on Jan.
6, was loaded with checks and hits that sometimescould have attempted this offseason to supercharge the teams push toward Stanley Cup contention, he and his staff decided to, maybe the Ducks most important player.
On July 3, they sent him to a five-year, $190 million offer sheet, one that would have made Carlsson 21 years old, nearly a point-per-game player last season, still improving the highest-paid player in the league., and Briere and the Flyers still have to figure out how to acquire a top-line center.
A disappointing result, to be sure.
But from the Ducks perspective, the outcome of the Carlsson situation wasnt exactly seashells and balloons.Briere made a bold move at Anaheims expense, forcing Pat Verbeek, the Ducks GM and a notoriously tough and frugal executive, to pay a price that he never would have otherwise chosen to pay to keep Carlsson who had made it clear he wouldnt have minded playing somewhere else.
Plus, though the NHLs salary cap is rising and will likely continue to rise for a while, the Carlsson deal promises to limit the Ducks ability to add or re-sign other vital players, including Gauthier.
No, this coast-to-coast duel doesnt immediately call to mind the fear and loathing that Philadelphia fans have had for the Cowboys, the Mets, and the Celtics.Yeah, it feels sort of silly to have a rivalry with a franchise whose spiritual forefathers are Emilio Estevez and the guy who played Pacey onI write columns and deeper stories here, talk about Philly sports on the radio, and write books in my spare time.