Screen Shot 2013-01-18 at 8.20.58 AMPhoto: Flyers

Insert your Allen Iverson reference right here_______.

Over 15,000 of you nuts showed up at the Wells Fargo Center last night to watch the Flyers practice. That’s only 1,000 less people than the average reported Sixers home attendance this season. Somewhere, Adam Aron is wondering how he can get more streamers and former American Idol contestants as in-house entertainment.

Our friend Nick Piccone of Bleeding Brotherly Love was at the practice and described the scene thusly:

Sean Couturier called it "awkward" to practice in front of that many fans. He's right. Nobody does that. Ever. Not even the Toronto Maple Leafs. But Thursday night, we cheered Bryzgalov's impressive performance. In practice. We jeered at Michael Leighton for giving up soft goals. In practice. We laughed at Wayne Simmonds for not being able to score at all. In practice.

Yeah. Hockey's back in Philadelphia.

 

Indeed it is. 

To give you an idea of how impressive this was, here is the crowd at the Toronto Maple Leafs’ open practice yesterday. Granted, this was during the day… but still:

Screen Shot 2013-01-18 at 8.26.30 AMPic via (@mirtle)

The Flyers nearly filled their building on a cold Thursday night in January.

After the jump you will find videos from the practice, Claude Giroux’s speech, and post-practice interviews.

You can see more, too, on the Flyers’ website and at Bleeding Brotherly Love.