Fan Files: Flyers I’m thankful for

With Thanksgiving coming up next week, we tap into our Fan Files again for a special Thanksgiving piece. 

 

This week's contributor is Phyllis Hunter, who lists a few players she is thankful for. Here is here submission to Fan Files.

 

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As I prepare my Thanksgiving shopping list, I am reflecting on what I am thankful for. My family, my health, my home.

 

I bleed Orange and Black, so I am obviously thankful that the Flyers are playing. Many fans would say this team is just flat out bad and have written off the season as a rebuilding year.

 

While this may be the case, I of am the opinion that there is a lot to be thankful for this season.  

 

1. Michael Neuvirth – For the first time in what seems like forever, the Flyers have a really good back up goalie. Don't get me wrong, Ray Emery was a damn fine goalie before his unfortunate injury, but if Neuvirth was our back up against the Rangers in the playoffs two seasons ago, that series ends differently. And don't even get me started on Michael Leighton; I still wake up in a cold sweat screaming his name so yes, I am thankful Neuvirth is our No. 2. 

 

2. Radko Gudas - This dude is big, and he is mean. He is a younger, faster, cheaper, smarter version of Niklas Grossmann. I was at the Danny Briere Retirement game, 10 rows from the ice in the corner where the Flyers warm up, and I had a pretty good look at Gudas. He is built like a brick house, a big brick house. He is only 25, so he has plenty of time to hone his skills. Will he ever be Kimmo Timonen? No, but he can be a decent top-four defenseman, and the Flyers need all the defense they can get right now, so I am thankful we dumped Braydon Coburn's salary and got Gudas in return. 

 

3. Shayne Gostisbehere - Ghost is the real deal, kids. If you have any doubt, watch the replay of his first goal. When you pick your chin up off the floor, remind yourself he is only 22. I am thankful Ghost is the future of this team. 

 

4.  Claude Giroux – Yeah, I know, this is a given. G has mad dangle skills, he sees the ice like a sniper wearing night vision goggles, and has some of the softest hands in the NHL, but that is not what I am thankful for. Claude Giroux is one of the most determined, passionate players in the league, if not in all of professional sports. When the Flyers were down and out two seasons ago, Giroux guaranteed the playoffs. He then put his money where his mouth was, and dragged that team to said playoffs. When the Flyers lost Game 3, he again put the team on his shoulders and guaranteed a Game 4 win, and win they did. After the Flyers fell in Game 7 to the team I hate with fire of a thousand suns, G was in tears. Watch him on the bench after a bad shift; he wears his heart on his sleeve and takes his frustrations out on sticks, water bottles and various other sundries. He hates losing more than I hate the Rangers, and that is a whole lotta hate, kids. I had my doubts when the Flyers put the C on his shoulder, but he has erased all of them, every last one. I have been a Flyers fan for as long as I can remember, and there have been many fine Captains in that time: Primeau, Bridgeman, Poulin, Tocchet, Lindros, Clarke. Men that wore the Orange and Black with pride and passion, and I am thankful for all of them, for the torch that they carried and passed on to our current captain, Claude Giroux.