Four-for-Four: The ‘Wing Bowl’ Edition

FLYERS

BERNIE’S WORLD

Whether it is due to the fact that the Flyers have been unable to replace his presence between the pipes since his departure, or the fact that he is as close to the real-life version of Dos Equis ‘Most Interesting Man in the World’, Bernie Parent has achieved God-like status in Philadelphia. The eccentric former goaltender, who led the Flyers to their two Stanley Cups, has become a fixture at area festivities and often steals the show. He’s almost always surrounded by area celebrities and gorgeous women and, even at 68, is the man everyone wants to talk to.

Even when the Flyers are not at their best, certainly the case this season, Parent always manages to elicit good feelings about the Orange-and-Black. I could be biased, being a huge hockey fan, but I would argue vehemently that Bernie is the most beloved former athlete in the area. As sad as it might sound, Parent’s point-blank save in the Alumni game before the Winter Classic was one of the highlights in area sports over the last few years.

Sure enough, Parent was out bright and early this morning for the 22nd edition of Wing Bowl. Even with athletes and coaches from around the city, it was still clear who the king of Broad Street is until he is dethroned.

I would highly recommend going through Bernie’s photos from the tweet. It’s remarkable how many people around the city cherish the ground Parent walks on and, judging by his grace at these events, he is a tremendous humble fixture. If not winning championships is what’s keeping Parent in the spotlight around here, one has to consider it a decent consolation prize.

RICHIE REACHES OUT

Saturday, the Flyers continue their west-coast road trip from Hell by visiting the Los Angeles Kings. Since winning the Stanley Cup in 2011-2012, the Kings have been one of the juggernauts of the Western Conference. While they have hit a big of a rough patch recently, all the more magnified by the competitiveness of the West, two very familiar faces have been key to the Kings success.

The Flyers shipped off Jeff Carter and Mike Richards prior to the start of the 2011-2012 campaign. Both players eventually ended up with the Kings and were fixtures on their team that cruised through the playoffs before defeating the Devils for the franchise’s first Stanley Cup. Two years after coming up a few wins short of capturing a Cup in Philadelphia, Carter and Richards were part of the core that dominated the NHL postseason before hoisting the iconic trophy.

As the Flyers have gotten progressively further from the title since Carter and Richards departed, many lump the two forwards in as players the team let walk only to have them achieve greater success with their new team. Especially recently, with players like: Justin Williams, Patrick Sharp, and Sergei Bobrovsky achieving individual and team success, Carter and Richards tend to come up more often than ever.

Richards, who was traded for Brayden Schenn, Wayne Simmonds, and draft picks that amounted to Nicklas Grossmann, is one of the more vocal players on Los Angeles. With the Flyers in town, the former captain of Philadelphia was more than willing to open up to some of the same reporters that covered him on his own team. One of the topics covered was especially close to Richards.

After appearing on the Gold Medal team in 2010, Mike Richards was not named to the 2014 version of the Canadian Men’s National team. Jeff Carter will return to try to capture his second gold medal with the Canadians, but Richards will have to stay and watch. He did not seem to have any hard feelings regarding the selection process as far as his name goes. However, CSNPhilly.com’s Tim Panaccio was able to capture Richards’ thoughts on a former teammate and fellow snub, Claude Giroux.

"“I haven’t seen his games … but just the type of player he is and how skilled he is, I know how hard he plays. It’s hard to make that team just to begin with. To have that many Canadians left off the team, you can make a point for five or six guys.”"

Richards would continue to shed positive light on his former home city. Rooting against the Kings was fun before they won their Stanley Cup because it gave another reason to follow the Stanley Cup Playoffs. That said, Richards did not ask to be traded from Philadelphia and gave everything a fan could have asked for during his tenure with the Flyers. He has no hard feelings regarding the break-up and clearly still cares about some of his old teammates.

GIF ME A BREAK

Thursday night, the Flyers lost to the Anaheim Ducks by a 5-2 final. The team is 3-5-2 in their last 10 games, but have not fallen too far out of contention thanks to the league-wide mediocrity of the Metropolitan Division.  Losing to the Ducks in Anaheim, despite the fact that the Flyers looked poised to maybe escape with a point, is no damnable offense. The Ducks are 22-2-2 at home and are the only team in the NHL with more than 80 points.

During the game, with the Flyers on a power play, Scott Hartnell displayed some frustration in a way that was tough to miss.

The reaction of Anaheim’s Ryan Getzlaf wraps up as ‘Scott Hartnell’ a play as one could ask for. Considering he is one of the few players on the team producing lately, one will have to let snafus like this one slide.