Flyers hoping to kick off 'Beat Tampa Weekend' By EDWARD MORAN
Of course, this is all just a big coincidence, but the fact the Flyers host the Tampa Bay Lightning today, a day before the Eagles face the Buccaneers in the NFC Championship Game, was not lost on Ken Hitchcock.
"It's funny," the Flyers' coach said. "Someone told me that the Sixers were playing the Bucks, and we play Tampa Bay, and the Buccaneers are here. Holy Bucs. It's kind of interesting."
The Flyers are coming off a win over Montreal on Thursday night that helped the Flyers regain first place in the Atlantic Division after letting it slip to New Jersey by losing to Atlanta. Hitchcock wants to see his team get Philadelphia rolling in the right direction.
No pressure, no superstition or anything like that, Hitchcock just wants to see the teams win, especially for the way the city has embraced the Eagles on their road to the Super Bowl.
"I'm so awestuck with what is going on here," he said, "just with the whole atmosphere. Having spent that time in Dallas, it's not near as emotionally connected as it is here. This is just unbelievable.
"The whole experience of watching a city get so into an athletic event. It's pretty neat to observe, because we're able to stand back and watch. We're fans of the Eagles, too, but we're also able to stand back and see what they're going through.
"Some of us have been in this atmosphere before, and it's really intriguing. And what's more intriguing is watching the city get so connected."
Hitchcock and a few Flyers have experienced a championship run, but far more of them have not, and he hopes the excitement generated by the Eagles will help fuel the Flyers.
"Any time one of the four major sports has success in your city, the residual effect is terrific," he said. "There's an emotional high that I've seen a lot of teams feed off of."
This is a pretty good time for the Flyers to feed on energy. The loss Monday to Atlanta is their only one in the last eight games.
They have nearly 2 more weeks and seven tough games before the All-Star break, beginning today against Tampa, a team that played hot through the first quarter of the season, then trailed off. The Lightning has been up and down lately, but in Vincent Lecavalier, Martin St. Louis and Brad Richards, it has the players to score, and in Nikolai Khabibulin, it has someone to stop the puck.
The Flyers travel to New York tomorrow to face the Rangers and Eric Lindros, then visit the always-difficult Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday.
To their credit, some Flyers in the locker room yesterday were focused on their own game, and were surprised when they were reminded of the Tampa connection.
"Tampa Bay is a good team and we have to be ready to play them," Chris Therien said. "We can't be thinking about the Eagles. That's not our focus now.
"We could be playing one of 30 teams in the league, and this [opponent] just happens to be Tampa Bay. It is weird, but you know, we can't be looking at it like some kind of a godsend. That's just the way the schedule fell. But it is kind of neat."
When told about the matchup, Mark Recchi was surprised.
"Oh, yeah," he said. "I didn't even think about that. Hopefully, we'll have two Philly wins."
Jeremy Roenick, who never misses anything going on in the public eye, jumped right on board with the Tampa matchup talk.
"It is kind of ironic, isn't it?" Roenick noted. "There should be a lot of Tampa Bay fans making the trip up, if they're brave enough to test the waters. But, so far so good. Every time we've won, the Eagles have won."
Asked for a football prediction, Roenick replied, "17-10, Eagles."
And in case no one knew, Ther-ien is very good at picking football games. His prediction: "Eagles will win the game, 28-14."
GO E A G L E S !!!!!!
GO F L Y E R S !!!!!!
Of course, this is all just a big coincidence, but the fact the Flyers host the Tampa Bay Lightning today, a day before the Eagles face the Buccaneers in the NFC Championship Game, was not lost on Ken Hitchcock.
"It's funny," the Flyers' coach said. "Someone told me that the Sixers were playing the Bucks, and we play Tampa Bay, and the Buccaneers are here. Holy Bucs. It's kind of interesting."
The Flyers are coming off a win over Montreal on Thursday night that helped the Flyers regain first place in the Atlantic Division after letting it slip to New Jersey by losing to Atlanta. Hitchcock wants to see his team get Philadelphia rolling in the right direction.
No pressure, no superstition or anything like that, Hitchcock just wants to see the teams win, especially for the way the city has embraced the Eagles on their road to the Super Bowl.
"I'm so awestuck with what is going on here," he said, "just with the whole atmosphere. Having spent that time in Dallas, it's not near as emotionally connected as it is here. This is just unbelievable.
"The whole experience of watching a city get so into an athletic event. It's pretty neat to observe, because we're able to stand back and watch. We're fans of the Eagles, too, but we're also able to stand back and see what they're going through.
"Some of us have been in this atmosphere before, and it's really intriguing. And what's more intriguing is watching the city get so connected."
Hitchcock and a few Flyers have experienced a championship run, but far more of them have not, and he hopes the excitement generated by the Eagles will help fuel the Flyers.
"Any time one of the four major sports has success in your city, the residual effect is terrific," he said. "There's an emotional high that I've seen a lot of teams feed off of."
This is a pretty good time for the Flyers to feed on energy. The loss Monday to Atlanta is their only one in the last eight games.
They have nearly 2 more weeks and seven tough games before the All-Star break, beginning today against Tampa, a team that played hot through the first quarter of the season, then trailed off. The Lightning has been up and down lately, but in Vincent Lecavalier, Martin St. Louis and Brad Richards, it has the players to score, and in Nikolai Khabibulin, it has someone to stop the puck.
The Flyers travel to New York tomorrow to face the Rangers and Eric Lindros, then visit the always-difficult Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday.
To their credit, some Flyers in the locker room yesterday were focused on their own game, and were surprised when they were reminded of the Tampa connection.
"Tampa Bay is a good team and we have to be ready to play them," Chris Therien said. "We can't be thinking about the Eagles. That's not our focus now.
"We could be playing one of 30 teams in the league, and this [opponent] just happens to be Tampa Bay. It is weird, but you know, we can't be looking at it like some kind of a godsend. That's just the way the schedule fell. But it is kind of neat."
When told about the matchup, Mark Recchi was surprised.
"Oh, yeah," he said. "I didn't even think about that. Hopefully, we'll have two Philly wins."
Jeremy Roenick, who never misses anything going on in the public eye, jumped right on board with the Tampa matchup talk.
"It is kind of ironic, isn't it?" Roenick noted. "There should be a lot of Tampa Bay fans making the trip up, if they're brave enough to test the waters. But, so far so good. Every time we've won, the Eagles have won."
Asked for a football prediction, Roenick replied, "17-10, Eagles."
And in case no one knew, Ther-ien is very good at picking football games. His prediction: "Eagles will win the game, 28-14."
GO E A G L E S !!!!!!
GO F L Y E R S !!!!!!
Really great write up AH! Yo I just dont get what has happened to the Lightning!?!?! The Bulin wall seems to be crumblin 
