httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmBcLVLeU50
I spent my Friday night at the Wachovia Center, watching the Flyers clinch—finally!—a playoff spot with a 3-0 win over the Devils. I knew the Flyers meant business when they trotted out some old video of Kate Smith singing “God Bless America.” The Flyers’ everyday, um, anthemist (really), Lauren Hart, sang it as a duet with Smith, who, 22 years after her death, is still the Flyers’ good luck charm.
I suspected it was coming, but I still got some darn goosebumps when the video of Smith appeared on the scoreboard. The crowd roared. Smith’s singing is, of course, literally from another era, one in which a female-but-not-really-feminine singer could make it big by singing in a strong, almost Mermanesque manner. Somehow or other, she makes sense at a hockey game….
I made it to only a handful of Flyers games this season, and that’s a shame. There’s something really exciting about the testosterone-laden energy at a good hockey game. On Friday, since so much was on the line, the drama was extra-thick. All the fans were in black and/or orange (I was mostly in black). The Flyers handed out inflatable (again, really) orange thundersticks, but they ended up being more visually striking than anything else. Even thundersticks couldn’t compete with the noise we were making, the clapping, the stomping, the cheering, the general roar whenever anything happened.
The Flyers looked good, pretty much dominating the action for the first two periods, but they had only a 1-0 lead as the third period began. Two third-period goals had us all breathing easier, and the Flyers’ eventual win, combined with a loss by Carolina, meant the Good Guys were going where they belonged: the Stanley Cup playoffs.
I don’t think the Flyers will be real contenders for the Cup this year; they did well just to improve on a truly dreadful 2006-07 season. But I’m sure glad I made it to Friday’s game. Going to a Flyers’ game is always a real experience, and Friday night’s game was more of an experience than usual.