Revisiting The Flyers and Penguins 2012 Playoff Series: ''The Shift''
The Battle of Pennsylvania is a commonly used saying in the world of sports. What teams from what city are the best? Who has more championships? You get the point.
It's not often fans would see the Philadelphia Eagles play against their state rival in the Pittsburgh Steelers due to out of conference play, but one head-to-head matchup you would fans would have the opportunity to enjoy is when the Flyers would take on the Penguins.
A rival that began way back to the Lemieux days and would transition to the "Cry-Baby Crosby" era.
Deciding goals like the Keith Primeau overtime winner that took nearly 6 hours to complete. Occurrences like these solidified the rival in the early 2000s. One that stands out the most is the 2012 playoff series where the Flyers played the Penguins and took the series. It was great hockey that we all had missed for sure.
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Let's look back and talk about some of the memories during that series.
James Neal Lays Out Coots
A much younger Sean Coutiur had quite introduction with former Penguin James Neal. In Game 3 and the score 7-4 Flyers, it was clear what Neal had in mind.
A much younger Sean Coutiur had quite introduction with former Penguin James Neal. In Game 3 and the score 7-4 Flyers, it was clear what Neal had in mind.
As Coots moved the puck up ice and turns around, James Neal absolutely blindsides him with an illegal hit. No puck and head were down. former Coach Dan Bylsma had aloud Neal to play next shift and he then took a run at Claude Giroux's head. Clearly the Flyer fans and team just did not find this acceptable.
You can see that the puck was not anywhere near Coots and and Neal had left his feet as well.
Hulk Hogan VS. Hartnell
Now this was just great, Game 1 of the series. Scott Hartnell is on the bench and is later antagonized by a Hulk Hogan look alike. The two essentially go back and forth with the ending being Scott Hartnell doing Hulk's famous "Ear listening" pose. This was just a classic.
The Shift
One of the greatest moments in Claude Giroux's career. The opening faceoff is taken and immediately, Giroux lays a hit on Giroux and sends him airborne. That is the way to start a hockey game. This sent a message to the team that business is about to pick up. This led to Claude Giroux scoring the opening goal about a minute later.