The Flyers win the Stanley Cup. The Flyers win the Stanley Cup.
… is the last Metro column I’ll be writing. Why’s that, you ask? Because I’ll be joining the Metro as a reporter next week while you’re enjoying your Memorial Day. And not a moment too soon: Ever since I left A.C. in ’00, I missed daily reporting. Now, it’s back to my roots. That I’m a year-and-a-half removed from coma status makes me all the more appreciative of those who helped get me back to as normal as I ever was.
As for the last column, well, it predicts a parade. Here it is, in all it’s brazen glory (no link online yet, but the headline is, “Hickey Prediction: Flyers Victory”) …
Sometimes, life’s next chapter becomes word-for-word clear before the first syllable’s written. Doesn’t matter whether you call it predestination or just a hunch, but I was convinced it was real on April 11 upon hearing the Philadelphia Flyers season was over if they didn’t win a penalty shootout with the rival New York Rangers.
That day’s first thought: If they lose, the players better steer clear of Bobby Clarke who, I recalled from a profile I’d written about our last Stanley Cup-hoisting captain, thinks the Rangers franchise shares a circle of Hell with the Soviet Red Army team. The second thought: No need to worry; Flyers’ names will inevitably be etched into the trophy this summer.
The rest is sports history still being written. Down went the Rangers, in sudden-death fashion; the New Jersey Devils, in dismantled fashion; the Boston Bruins, in unforgettably epic fashion; and the Canadiens, in multi-shutout fashion. As for the Blackhawks, they’ll go down too, in a yet-seen fashion. The Flyers win the Stanley Cup: you can take that to the rink.
Normally, I can’t predict my way across the street, but every so often, sporting clarity comes along as the 1997-8 Denver Broncos, 2004 Boston Red Sox and 2008 Philadelphia Phillies. Step one: Redemption-seeking John Elway wills three road playoff wins; curse-breaking David Ortiz’s extra-innings blast wills four straight victories over a blood-rival; and comeback-making Brad Lidge’s four-dozen-saves streak wills long-needed civic confidence. Step two: Watching from afar, you know it’ll soon end with a parade. Logic not included.
That brings me back to the 2010 Philadelphia Flyers. Not a Comcast customer, I’m don’t see them often enough to wield facts, but what their fortuitous goaltending shuffle, injured warriors careening back onto the ice at perfect moments, ideally times “skate malfunctions” and a collective disdain of failure tell me it was over before it began. Sorry, Chicago, them’s facts.
But here’s why I’ve seen this future before it started forming: The Bullies won their first Stanley Cup within a year of my birth, a picture of Dave Schultz holding baby me on his shoulder, probably from Rexy’s, stands as proof. Well, upon learning my bride was pregnant last fall, I surmised the Flyers were predestined to win their third Stanley Cup not within a year of my son’s birth, but within days.
Well, Flyers fans, the due date’s in mid-June. Do you think the name “Laperriere Hickey” has a certain charm?
My nephew’s name is Chase Luke Ryan Howard (last name), for the same reason.
I think you’re correct in your prediction, Brian… how about Simon Richards Hickey?
Nice!
We already had a name picked out, but the whole Flyers run made me think about possibilities that will never come to pass (name changing, not victories; they’ll win it all.)
We’ll just have to give the little man a hockey-worthy nickname!