Blessed are the peacemakers - Flyers preview and open thread

You just knew that there was going to be a lot written headed into this game tonight. Huge grudge match in light of Mike Richards' (NHLPA player of the week!) post-game comments last week about PFK and respect and cockiness and blah blah blah. I was going to dive right into it myself. All sorts of ideas for previews about grudge matches and wars and battles and respect and all sorts of things. Fuck those Phucking Phlyer bastards and their goonery, the shit was on.

But then over the weekend, as you know by now, Pat Burns died. His death kind of put things into perspective, you know what I mean? A guy with more fire in his belly than a hundred Flyer goons and more class than everyone in the history of the Flyers organization combined had lost his battle with a horrible disease. It seemed like a good time for reflection, not anger. Contemplation, not bitterness. And PFK himself has done his best to diffuse the situation. He could have spoken out like he always does and said things like "Mike Richards will get his, don't you worry." Instead, he has shown poise and class beyond his years and let everyone else do the talking. He'll do his talking on the ice, thank you very much. In light of all this, it seemed kind of stupid to play up this whole war, to fan the flames of bitterness between these rivals. It seemed a better time to try to make peace. We can put the ugliness of the last game behind us and enjoy a hockey game that is hard-fought yet respectful. It's time to sign the Camp David Desharnais Accord of 2010.

With that said, as soon as one of those goons takes a run at PFK, the shit will be on. It will probably happen 2 minutes in.

Waiting to smoke the peace pipe together - 7:30 PM start in Philly, on RDS and TSN Habs on BellTV. I don't have to tell you what happened the last time these teams met. Habs coming off a shutout of the Leafs, Flyers coming off a shootout win over the Caps. Habs a mere one OT loss behind the Flyers in the Eastern Conference standings.

Our partners in peace - if we can make peace with the insane commentors over at Broad Street Hockey, we can make peace with anyone.

Powerful like an MLK speech - Squid a point per game over his last seven. TFS leads the league in wins and shutouts. I'd also like to give a shout out to Lars Eller, who continues to play well despite not scoring. Hang in there Lego, you'll get one! For the Flyers, Richards has 4 points over his last two games, and Pronger 3 points over the same span. Of course, given the Flyers' last two games were 5-4 and 8-7, you're going to have a lot of players with a lot of points over their last two.

Cold like Nelson Mandela's Robben Island cell - The Mexican and The CHicken both pointless in 3. For the Flyers, considering their last two games, you've got to consider their goalies are now pretty suspect.

Weakened like Gandhi on a hunger strike - Still no word on Vodkov's absence time. For the Flyers, Carcillo is out two weeks with a sprained knee, and Michael Leighton is still on IR.

Post-peace adult entertainment - Mmmm, naked hippies (nsfw).

Peace out, brothers and sisters.