Flyers

High Sticking: Bruins Hold Six Hour Banner Raising Ceremony, Flyers Win 2-1

By Kyle Scott

Published: Oct 7th, 2011 · 9:02 AM EDT

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And yes, we kind of like the numbers on the helmets [Photo via the Flyers]

I hate Boston. I mean, it’s a nice city and all. A great city, in fact. It’s clean, historic, mid-sized, has chowda, and the T is spacious, accommodating, and clean (a little acronym I like to call SAC). I watched Scottie Reynolds hit a runner against Pitt at the Fleet T.D. Bank North Garden Center to send Villanova to the Final Four. That was fun. But the people, they suck. Their attitude, the pulse of the city, and its drivers- all pretty awful. Perhaps we took too much delight in the Red Sox implosion (because I’ve spent the last 14 hours in the fetal position preparing myself for a possible Phillies collapse), but it’s hard to deny that Bostonians really love themselves. So should we be surprised they hosted a 35 minute circle jerk to commemorate their Stanley Cup victory? 

No, we should not.

They (I would say Bruins, but this included most of the city) paraded around the ice with the cup- that’s a new one. Mark Recchi put on what I think was a Starter jacket (I honestly don’t know because the volume was turned down at this point). A number of New England luminaries turned out to give their pithy comments on the achievement. And by a number, I mean 600. For realsies, I was sort of expecting Ben Affleck to come out and thank the city’s north end for its cooperation in filming The Town (required reference in Boston hating). Then, instead of just raising the banner, they handed it around like a group of pallbearers passing grandpop around one final time. By this point, I sort of imagined that Peter Laviolette had donned his old equipment, threw down a fifth of vodka, and was ready to go out and take care of business himself.

He didn’t, but the Flyers did. They won, 2-1. 

Their youth and speed was pleasant to watch, Bryzgalov played like, ya know, a goalie should, and Claude Giroux was filthy.

Dave Isaac has your full game recap. Photo gallery here. The highlights and post-game Bryz… well, they are after the jump.