News Flash: Flyers get screwed in Montreal.

[Swish]

See Boulerice, Downie, Cote, Hartnell, Jones for the 2008 answer to your question...

The Flyers got their nickname for their notorious toughness and willingness to break the rules. This is a philosophy that continues to exist in that organization. It's been effective in the past. Bobby Clarke is a legend in in Philadelphia (and even more so in Canada) for his willingness to break the rules when it would benefit the team in the long-run (see 72 Summit Series for more detail). I'm not criticizing the culture, I rather enjoy it. Just had a good chuckle when I "misunderstood" your comment about high sticking being defined by 4 feet (which upon review in the context of goal scoring, I admit you were correct). If you're a Flyers fan, don't insult me by pretending you don't know what I'm talking about. Ask any hockey fan what team breaks the rules the most, and the majority will say the Flyers....

...a couple of them were not blatant or even intentional. Downie is a kid and screwed up, but allow him that one mistake. Hartnell is tough, not dirty, ditto Jones. There are plenty of dirty players in the league, and each team has at least one or two. The Flyers paid dearly for those mistakes, but they're history.

But don't say they 'never play by the rules'. If that's the case, any team that commits a penalty isn't playing by the rules. Only if they're not caught or penalized, kind of like Patriots taping other teams....uh oh, I think I just opened up some more old wounds.

Swish - have a fun day

[kexodusc]

...a couple of them were not blatant or even intentional. Downie is a kid and screwed up, but allow him that one mistake. Hartnell is tough, not dirty, ditto Jones. There are plenty of dirty players in the league, and each team has at least one or two. The Flyers paid dearly for those mistakes, but they're history.

But don't say they 'never play by the rules'. If that's the case, any team that commits a penalty isn't playing by the rules. Only if they're not caught or penalized, kind of like Patriots taping other teams....uh oh, I think I just opened up some more old wounds.

Swish - have a fun day

Semantics. The Flyers consistently rank near the top of the league in PIM's, top 5 or better almost every year, with the odd year where they might fall in the middle. Consistency is the message here though, it reflects the philosophy and strategy of the organization.
Now I'll be the first to admit breaking the rules can be an effective part of the game ( I even defended Hartnell, Cote, and even Chris SImon here at ar.com) and I certainly lead my team in PIM's most years...but the merits of rule breaking is another discussion, and we've spent enough time discussing a comment that was intended as a friendly rib at you, not a scathing criticism of the team.

[Duds]

you defended Chris Simon??

Semantics. The Flyers consistently rank near the top of the league in PIM's, top 5 or better almost every year, with the odd year where they might fall in the middle. Consistency is the message here though, it reflects the philosophy and strategy of the organization.
Now I'll be the first to admit breaking the rules can be an effective part of the game ( I even defended Hartnell, Cote, and even Chris SImon here at ar.com) and I certainly lead my team in PIM's most years...but the merits of rule breaking is another discussion, and we've spent enough time discussing a comment that was intended as a friendly rib at you, not a scathing criticism of the team.

[ForeverAutumn]

you defended Chris Simon??

He didn't defend Chris Simon so much as he defended the punishment. Unless he's referring to a different thread. Hockey Talk - Should the league take a stance...

[Swish]

Semantics. The Flyers consistently rank near the top of the league in PIM's, top 5 or better almost every year, with the odd year where they might fall in the middle. Consistency is the message here though, it reflects the philosophy and strategy of the organization.
Now I'll be the first to admit breaking the rules can be an effective part of the game ( I even defended Hartnell, Cote, and even Chris SImon here at ar.com) and I certainly lead my team in PIM's most years...but the merits of rule breaking is another discussion, and we've spent enough time discussing a comment that was intended as a friendly rib at you, not a scathing criticism of the team.

...and my whole point of this thread was to see how many rabid hockey fans would come out of the woodwork and give me a thorough roasting. It worked pretty well, dontcha think? I was really ticked at those calls though, especially the late penalty.

I was born and raised in Flyer country, so I'm a fan, good or bad. I do like hard-hitting hockey, although I never played more than pick-up stuff (just wasn't a popular participant sport when I was growing up), but I played the post in basketball and enjoyed the back-and-forth punishment that was part of the game. I was never a dirty player and don't condone it, but I stood my ground and got into my share of scrapes. All the widows have forgiven me by this time.

Swish

[kexodusc]

.Downie is a kid and screwed up, but allow him that one mistake.

Okay, Downie may be only 21 years old, but as someone who followed his junior career, it's not just one mistake. We're getting close to a baker's dozen, each under media scrutiny, each incident more reckless than the last. Sucker punching a guy in the back of the head a la Todd Bertuzzi (minus the follow through face plant), sucker-cross-checking his own teammate in the mouth because the teammate refused to partake in his poorly conceived man-sex hazing ritual, and too many hits from behind to count to name a few. The guy is going seriously hurt someone soon.