If I didn't know better, I'd say the mantra on the plane back to Philadelphia this morning is "We've got them right where we want them."
Maybe I don't know better. When the Flyers lost the front end of a home-and-home to the Rangers to close out the regular season, many of us assumed that the year was probably over. We assumed that Scott Hartnell's locker was already cleaned out. Paul Holmgren was likely wishing he only had Elton Brand's contract to work under the cap than Danny Briere's.
We all know the storyline. They tripped into the play-offs on a shoot out in Game 82. They beat the Devils in a series that proved to be a match-up nightmare for coach Jacques Lemaire.
They got down 3 games to none against Boston, and all of the flaws that we feared were covered up in the Devils series seemed to surface, before they etched out an overtime win before forcing Game 7. Michael Leighton looked like a goalie claimed off of waivers in the first period as Boston went up 3-0 before Peter Laviolette's fabled time out, urging his players to focus on the first goal before they made history.
After steamrolling the Canadiens, the Flyers are in the all to familiar scenario of having their backs against the proverbial wall. I imagine Coach Lavy sitting at the front of the plane, imitating C. Montgomery Burns, alternating taps of his finger tips with a devilish grin, whispering to himself, "Excellent."
Instead of wondering if this magical run may have run out of gas, Philadelphians now wait in anticipation for the next miraculous, back from the dead style triumph. In the past two months, they've given us no reason to expect anything less.
The Flyers have steered clear of the easy road this season. If I didn't know any better, we have them exactly where we want them.
