Locals Sound Off On Flyers Playoff Hopes

Same story, different season. Flyers fans have become accustomed to the goalie carousel during the postseason, but it doesn't mean they like it.

Yes, the consensus of local fans is that the Flyers will do their usual song and dance, which is to defy the odds and refuse to lay down and die—a trait they exhibited admirably during the first round against the Buffalo Sabres—but will ultimatley fall short of the mark in the end, and their Achilles heel: as always, goaltending.

Barb Lorentz believes the Flyers "should" go all the way, but that the goalies are the difference, and the Flyers are currently facing down Tim Thomas, one of the three Vezina Trophy finalists for best goaltender.

"Nothing's ever easy with the Flyers," says Lorentz, who plays in an intramural women's deck hockey league. "Whatever happens, it's a sure thing that we as a community will all end up emotionally exhausted in the end." When asked why, she replied, "Schizophrenic goaltending. No matter how far they go, it'll always come back to that. My hockey team won last year because we had the best goalie."

Barb's husband Roy is still scratching his head, "that they beat the Sabres at all, what with Miller in net."

When asked who they'd like to see in goal for the Flyers in Game 2 after a 7-3 Game 1 drubbing, the Lorentzes had some curious answers that really encapsulate the feelings of local fans.

"Miller," said Roy, referring to Ryan Miller of the Buffalo Sabres.

"Hextall," laughed Barb, referring to Ron Hextall, a Flyers fan favorite from the 80s and early 90s.

Sean Minton insisted that, "You can't platoon goalies in the playoffs. No one wins that way. We have three lines who can score, but the goalie thing..." Minton believes the series will go to seven games regardless, and that the revenge factor will weigh heavily on both teams' minds—referring to last year's historic Flyers comeback that erased a 3-0 series lead against Boston, including a 3-0 deficit in Game 7.

Brooke Perry believes that Game 2 is pivotal, and is hoping that the Flyers make it to Game 7, but isn't hopeful. When asked who she would prefer in goal for the orange and black in Game 2, she replied, "Parent." (Bernie Parent was the Flyers' goaltender during the two seasons in the mid-70s when they won their only two Stanley Cup Championships.)

"I think they'll make it back to the finals," said Roy Hughes during the first period of Game 2. "They should've been out in the first round. I mean...Buffalo had them dead to rights, but that's them." Hughes referred to the Flyers' history of not laying down, never quitting during the postseason, no matter how bleak the situation—and yet always falling short of the Big Finish. "They just can't finish."

"They should've started Bob," said Dave Aquino, referring to Flyers' rookie goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky as Aquino watched Game 2 after the Bruins had tied the game at 2 and forced overtime. "Gotta go with Bob."

Aquino believes, as so many locals do, that the Flyers will find a way to squak out of this round in six or seven games, only to fall short of the ultimate goal of the Stanley Cup.

Overall, local Flyers fans seem to be in agreement. They have faith in the Flyers overcoming adversity and winning series against all odds...just not the one at the end. The one that really matters. The one we haven't seen hoisted in Philadelphia since 1975.