Center City Rally For Flyers Draws Hundreds With Strong Playoff Hopes
By Steve Tawa
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- After Sunday's exciting overtime win by the Flyers (see game story), it didn't take much to get hockey fans "Flyered Up" today at a center city rally on behalf of the home team's playoff hopes.
At the Shops at Liberty Place, the crowd bellowed "Let's Go Flyers," begging for t-shirts being thrown out from the stage by Shawny Hill -- known as the Dancing Guy whose performances during third-period breaks in the action are often caught on Phanovision at the Wells Fargo Center -- and Riley Cote, the former Flyers' forward (back to camera).
But the fans had to work for those t-shirts, answering trivia questions such as, how many times have the Flyers and Devils met in the playoffs?
Steve Salkin got it right, and took home two t-shirts, including one for his son.
"I guessed five, and that turned out to be correct," he said afterward.
What does Salkin see as the key to the Flyers getting past the Devils in this playoff series?
"They have to keep the pressure on and get the puck in deep, so (Martin) Brodeur can't play it away against them," he says.
Cote, who is now an assistant coach with the Adirondack Phantoms, agrees with fans that the Flyers have had incredible success bringing up young players.
"It starts at the top of the organization," he tells KYW Newsradio. "They're bringing these players in because they believe in them from the start. That's what it's all about -- getting your opportunity and taking advantage of it."
