Speechless, with Mouth Agape

Of all the indignities, small or large that have been visited upon the Flyers in just the first month of the season, Saturday night's loss seemed to be just about the worst.

Losing to the Penguins at home? Bound to happen every once in a while (twice in the last three years, not in 10 before that). Losing to the Penguins with a bunch of kids who have no expectations (surprise 2-1 loss in January, 2004)? OK. But scoring the game's first goal, then giving up the next six on the way to an 8-2 defeat is absolutely inexcusable.

Not even in Mario Lemieux's rookie year, when the Penguins and Flyers both sported youthful rosters, and enjoyed a season without the burden of contention hanging over their heads, did this happen. In fact, by the end of that 1984-85 season, tight-checking one-and-two goal games became 8-2 and 11-4 finals in the Flyers' favor. Maybe it's some kind of weird karmic curse - the 8-2 Flyers win over the Penguins on February 18th, 1985, signified that their group of youngsters under Mike Keenan had finally separated themselves from the rest of the pack in the Patrick Division. The reversal of that result may point to the fact that the 2006 edition of the Penguins are ready to reach for the heights and leave the weakened Flyers in the dust.

Record matching was the name of the game Saturday on South Broad: the loss tied the biggest at home to Pittsburgh in franchise history (6 goals, last time a 9-3 loss on 11/29/91). The Pens also tied the record for most consecutive goals scored in one game (6, in the same game).

Sadder still, is those records came in a time when the Penguins were loaded with talent on their way to back-to-back Stanley Cups - names like Lemieux, Francis, Stevens, Mullen, Murphy, Coffey, Jagr, etc...
This year's model features four teenagers, a couple of ancients in Recchi and LeClair, and some marginal but interchangeable talents.

What's unsettling, is that somehow, even the Bruins managed to hold the Senators to one goal in a 2-1 win at the New Garden. Ottawa had exploded for 21 goals in their previous three games.

Even worse, these losses harken back to the five-year playoff exodus, when those not-quite-good-enough-to-hang Flyers teams would eventually wear down an mix in some real stinkers with the usual one-and-two-goal scratch n' claw games.

The one ray of hope in all this, is that Flyers fans won't have to go through the season wondering where their beloved Winged P's will end up. Even if there are willing trade partners, and even when roster and attitude adjustments are made down the road, they are one step ahead of the Islanders, who figure to be the dregs of the division. There should be some comfort, albeit a severely uneasy one, that you won't have to be late for the bar or some party you're invited to at 9 PM on Friday or Saturday night. You won't have to anxiously request that the bartender put the Flyers game on the mega-watt plasma screen while you sink your wings and Coors light. Those of us who have the promise of tickets, or a free luxury box won't have to think twice about refusing, choosing instead to balance that pesky checkbook while Philly's version of Ice Follies plays in the background.