Author: Bob Herpen
-
10 greatest NHL playoff series OT clinchers since ’67
The 2017 Stanley Cup playoffs have already sent thousands to work with little sleep after featuring a record number of overtime games in the first round. From the lowest-ranking fourth liner to the franchise star, every single player on a roster spends some time visualizing their effort to score an OT goal to win a playoff…
-
10 reasons the 2016-17 Flyers were their own worst enemies
The Philadelphia Flyers’ 50th year of existence ended earlier this month, and for the third time in the last five seasons, they are not participating in meaningful spring hockey. Why did a team which made the playoffs in two of the previous three seasons have to break up earlier than many thought possible? Here are the primary…
-
Philadelphia Flyers of the ’80s united in spite of tragedy
On Wednesday, April 5, Philadelphia Flyers fans of a certain age once again felt the familiar and discomfiting jolt of sadness surrounding the death of a popular former player. Ilkka Sinisalo, at just 58 years old, died in his native Finland following a prolonged battle with prostate cancer. “Ilkka was a true friend and loyal member…
-
10 greatest NCAA men’s hockey tournament upsets
In this century alone, the NCAA men’s hockey tournament has twice seen a top seed in a given regional go down in the first minute of overtime in the first game. In both cases, the upset victim was a familiar maroon-and-gold machine, while the winning program had little or no precedent for success going in.…
-
How to love college hockey for itself
When Boston College and Boston University squared off in the nightcap and premier matchup to kick off 65th annual Beanpot two Mondays ago with their triennial first-round pairing, here’s a sampling of the choice cuts running through my head as I plopped on my couch and fired up the laptop for some late-night viewing: It’s…
-
Life After Hockey? Play in Philadelphia, and Hockey Is Life
Much has been made in Philadelphia Flyers franchise lore — too much if you ask some, after 41 years without a third Stanley Cup parade as the onslaught of history threatens to bury any appreciation of great years which followed — of head coach Fred Shero’s famous blackboard proclamation prior to Game 6 of the…
-
Ranking the 10 greatest one-team players in NHL history
If you asked 100 people who they think is the best player in NHL history, the players with the most mentions would probably include Wayne Gretzky, Bobby Orr and Gordie Howe. You won’t see any of those players on this list. Instead of just naming the best players of all-time, Pucks and Rec’s Wes Herrmann…
-
Lindbergh’s fiancee forever linked to Flyers
Kerstin Pietzsch-Somnell has lived an ordinary life for much of her 50-plus years. Born in Sweden, she still lives there now with her husband and has raised three children: elder daughters Mikaela and Petra, along with youngest child Jens. Perfectly ordinary, except, at one time in her younger years, she was affectionately known as “Shastine,”…
-
The Essential Original Rock n’ Roll Christmas Songs, Part 2
We’ve fought the good fight, people. The insidious Christmas creep, and the endless stream of repetitive holiday music at least as far as terrestrial radio is concerned, has been beaten back over the last eight years from midnight on November 1st to some time between November 15th and (American) Thanksgiving day. But that doesn’t mean…
-
10 greatest single-season turnarounds in NHL history
It’s one thing to enter an NHL season with the belief that your fortunes can will turn around. It’s another thing for that to actually happen, though, so it’s worth celebrating when it does. Together, Bob Herpen and Joe St. Germain scoured the record books to come up with a list of the 10 greatest…