Hockey

[Tbone]

Nice to see a busy thread about what is unfortunately a minority sport in the UK.

Flyers fan since the '97-'98 season, the first season that channel Five (in UK) started showing live hockey. They pulled their coverage at the end of last season. But with no ESPN I've lost my hockey, even if it's on in the early hours of the morning.

Q:Why the Flyers? A: Eric Lindros and all the hype.
A student from Montreal moved into the flat next door to me about 15 years ago. He played hockey and always moaned that he couldn't watch NHL in the UK. He also said he'd played with Eric Lindros when he was younger - at the time Lindros was just about the only player apart from Wayne Gretzky I knew.
Eric Lindros was the big Philadelphia story I couldn't avoid when I was there in 1992. When it was eventually confirmed that he'd joined the Flyers, the Philadelphia media made it sound like the Flyers had signed 'the new Gretzky'. I suppose I now realise their joy in beating the Rangers to his signature.
When Five started showing hockey I picked the Flyers to catch Lindros. Was Lindros worth all the fuss? Clearly the Avalanche benefitted from the trade. Did it cost the Flyers a Cup? Oh, the ifs and maybes of sport.