To say the Columbus Blue Jackets have been like a bad case of hemorrhoids for the Flyers would be an understatement. Since moving into Philadelphiaâs divisional neighborhood last year, a lot has transpired. And while itâs likely that no other team will ever be hated by the Flyers, or their fans, as much as the Pittsburgh Penguins, the budding rivalry between Philly and Columbus will undoubtedly force the Flyers to hate the Blue Jackets.
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The Growing Annoyance
From a historic standpoint, the Flyers and Jackets are still getting to know each other. Not only is Columbus going into their 14th season, their first 12 seasons in existence were spent as a member of the Western Conference. When these two unfamiliar teams did see each other, Philadelphiaâs dominance over a young and struggling team left most Flyers fans feeling sorry for the Jackets. But with the shoe now on the other foot, the feeling of empathy is rapidly turning into disdain.
âIn 13 seasons in Ohioâs capital city, the Jackets have yet to develop a true rivalry. Considering that it took 8 years for Columbus to finish within 40 points of first place in the old Central division, itâs not a mystery as to why the Blue Jackets could never work up a healthy hate for an opponent: they couldnât compete.â â Frank Seravalli, philly.com
The Flyers may hold the overall advantage in head-to-head match ups with an 8-5-3 record, but that doesnât necessarily mean they look forward to seeing Columbus on the ice.
Yes, Philadelphia has outscored the Jackets by a 49 to 35 margin. But thatâs merely the lopsidedness of the early meetings showing. More recently, the Blue Jackets have terrorized the Flyers with familiar faces.
Columbus took last seasonâs season series with a 3-1-0 record. Had it not been for an epic third period collapse that was capped off by Claude Girouxâs over-the-shoulder goal on Dec. 19th, Columbus wouldâve swept Philly. Nonetheless, the Jackets stamped their supremacy over the Flyers in their final meeting of the season as Sergei Bobrovsky reminded his former team of his Vezina Trophy with a 2-0 shutout win on Apr. 3rd.
Although the Flyers were able to avoid the season sweep, their fortunes at Nationwide Arena remained empty. Not only did they drop both games in the Arena District last season, Philadelphia hasnât won there since 2005. In fact, the Flyers have only left Nationwide Arena victorious twice â in 2005, and in Columbusâ inaugural season in 2000.
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To illustrate how long itâs been, Robert Esche was the winning goalie, while Jeff Carter netted the game-winning goal. On the other end of the aisle, though, the Jackets finally ended their all-time winless streak at the Wells Fargo Center with Bobrovskyâs shutout performance last April.
âIn six trips, the Blue Jackets (0-5-1) have only ever earned one point in Philadelphia. It is the only city in the NHL the 14-year-old franchise has never produced a win â after snapping a similar spell in New Jersey in December.â â Frank Seravalli, philly.com
While the Jackets finally earned their first win in Philadelphia, they were still unable to catch the Flyers in the standings. Despite winning 43 games to Phillyâs 42, Columbus fell one point short of tying the Flyersâ 94 point mark. That minute contrast was the difference in Columbus drawing Pittsburgh in the playoffs, a team theyâve gone 1-7-0 against in the last four regular seasons, instead of the New York Rangers. Perhaps thatâs enough to reciprocate Phillyâs hostility.
New #CBJ F Scott Hartnell meets the Columbus media for the first time. pic.twitter.com/bjJNc1r3LH
â Dave Maetzold (@DMaetzMedia) July 29, 2014
Added Incentive
If the growing frustration felt by the Flyers against the Jackets wasnât enough to spike interest in this adolescent rivalry, the list of trades between the two teams assuredly will. Philadelphia currently carries three former Blue Jackets, while Columbus has a pair of former Flyers on the roster. This doesnât include Jeff Carter or Michael Leighton, who previously played for both teams.
After Steve Mason was acquired in a trade with Columbus in 2013, the former Calder Trophy winner has won 37 games in 68 games with the Flyers. And while Jackets fans insist theyâre perfectly satisfied with Sergei Bobrovsky, Masonâs turnaround in Philadelphia canât sit well with them.
âBut does Columbus hate Philadelphia? Probably not. Will they? Perhaps. Skating for the Flyers will be former Blue Jackets Steve Mason, Jakub Voracek, and R.J. Umberger. Of course Voracek and Mason have faced the Jackets more than once. So why would this year be any different for a rivalry?
âFormer Philly Scott Hartnell is now on the Blue Jackets roster. Roster swapping, as evident with New York, can have an effect. Hartnell wants to punish the Flyers for trading him. Umberger wants to punish the Blue Jackets for making him feel like he couldnât make it as a Jacket anymore. And everyone wants to punish Steve Mason.â â Tyler West, Union and Blue
With Scott Hartnell crossing enemy lines, the contempt among these organizations has never been more intense â even with Steve Mason. Hartnellâs arrival in the stateâs capital has somewhat overshadowed R.J. Umbergerâs return to Philadelphia. Maybe itâs Hartnellâs 50 or more points scored in two of his last three seasons. Or it could be the charming personality that made him a fan favorite in Philadelphia. Whatever the root of the buzz may be, both teams came out better off from this unexpected swap.
âThe number one thing was we wanted to get quicker up front,â said Flyers GM Ron Hextall. âIf you look at R.J, heâ a versatile player, a good skater, good two-way player plays who can play all three position and kills penalties. Heâs an attractive guy for us. Columbus is probably looking for some leadership from a veteran player who can score goals. Itâs s good trade for both teams.ââ
Over the past 3 years, #Flyers & #CBJ have made trades involving Carter, Voracek, Bobrovsky, Mason, Hartnell & Umberger. The power of love.
â Pete Jensen đ (@NHLJensen) June 23, 2014
Even if it ended there, the anticipation of seeing these teams go at it wouldâve already been elevated. With Hartnell joining the team he once called âlittle turds,â the imminent agitation coming Phillyâs way douses gasoline on the fire.
âYou were always checked, always being hit,â said Hartnell as he reminisced about playing Columbus in the past. âIâm like, âAh, jeez, who are these little turds running around out there?'â
Although Hartnell is optimistic and excited to join a Blue Jackets team that took the Metropolitan Divisionâs top team to the brink in the quarterfinal round of the playoffs, he admitted to initially being angry. And despite the fact that it didnât take long for him to go from grumpy to enthusiastic, the feeling of being slighted will be the chip that Hartnell will carry on his shoulder when he squares off against his former employer.
âTo be honest, I was pretty shocked at first,â said Hartnell. âI was upset. I was a little angry. I took a few days to look at the situation and it was hard. It wasnât easy. It was a lot of emotions.
âI probably decided that Columbus is an up-and-coming team with a lot of great players. I decided it was the right decision for me to go to a team very, very excited to have me and (leave) a team that basically said I was done there.â
Part of completing the acceptance phase for Hartnell was asking Hextall why he was traded. And even though Hextallâs response was candid, thereâs absolutely no speculation that Hartnell will look to boost Columbusâ 12th ranked scoring team â seven goals shy of Philadelphiaâs eighth ranked tallies.
âHartsy eventually called me,â explained Hextall. âOne question that he asked me was, âWhen did I fall out of favor?â I said, âNo Hartsy, you havenât fallen out of favor. This is just something that fits for us and we want to move forward with it.â
âI didnât really say anymore than that, that we wanted to move forward. Thatâs as harsh as it got.â
To all the @NHLFlyers fans that have supported me through my seven seasons in Philadelphia, Thank You⊠pic.twitter.com/nDACaOFBMz
â Scott Hartnell (@Hartsy43) June 24, 2014
Hartnellâs love for Philadelphia, however, will stay with him for his remaining days. He signed a six-year, $28.5 million extension while in Philly, and expressed sadness in parting with teammates such as, Kimmo Timonen â a partner in crime in both Nashville, and Philadelphia. And amidst the shock of being dealt, he wrote and released an open letter to Flyers fans, thanking them for their support throughout the years.
Make no mistake about it, though. Scott Hartnell is a Blue Jacket now. And much like fans in Columbus jump at the bit to taunt Steve Mason, Hartnell will either revel in beating the Flyers, or die trying.
Bobrovsky vs. Mason
Then thereâs the captivating debate involving the goalies of both teams. Bobrovsky, the former Flyer, pitted against Mason, the former Blue Jacket. And while Mason left his past organizationâs fan base with a bitter taste, recent developments regarding Bobrovskyâs departure from Philadelphia could do the same for Flyers fans.
After admitting that the signing of Ilya Bryzgalov to a nine-year, $51 million contract was a âmistake,â Flyers owner Ed Snider revealed the driving logic in trading Bobrovsky to Columbus.
âNot only did we make a mistake on the long-term contract, but Bobrovksyâs a young guy and he told Paul, âAs soon as my contractâs out, Iâm out of here,ââ said Snider.
âHe wasnât going to re-sign with us. He was going to go back to Russia [or] he was going to go with another team, but he wasnât going to be a second-string goalie for the rest of his life. So that was also a problem, and Paul made the best of the situation.
âItâs not that we did not like Bobrovsky. The whole thing was a fiasco. We canât look back. What happened, happened, and here we are. But then Paul made what I think was a great move in picking up Mason, whoâs not chopped liver.â
No matter what you may hear out of Columbus, Snider is right. Steve Mason isnât chopped liver. And even though Bobrovsky grinned awkwardly with his shiny Vezina Trophy in 2013, the two goaltenders are more comparable than most realize.
Both earned their first playoff victories in last seasonâs quarterfinal round after both laid an egg in their previous post-season experiences. As a member of the Jackets, Bobrovsky has accumulated a record of 53-31-11. Mason as a Flyer, though, has gone 37-20-7.
In the playoffs, Bobrovsky is now 2-6 in 13 appearances with an .890 save percentage, and a 3.50 goals against average. He was 2-4 in six games last year against the Pens, and gave up 20 goals, despite Sidney Crosby not scoring a single goal. Masonâs playoff record is identical to Bobrovskyâs. His 2-6 record is accompanied by a .907 save percentage, and a 3.11 goals against average. Call it a push since Bobrovsky has now seen 317 shots to Masonâs 270.
Steve Mason got one second place vote for the Vezina Trophy, finished 7th. (He beat Bobrovsky!)
â Broad Street Hockey (@BroadStHockey) June 25, 2014
Whatâs the point of all this? To put it quite simply, Sergei Bobrovsky isnât leaps and bounds ahead of Steve Mason. It may be the running forgone conclusion, but the numbers say otherwise. After all, is everyone taking other factors into consideration, such as Columbusâ core of better defensemen? If anything, itâs Mason who has the experience, appearing in 121 more games. And itâs Mason, who isnât even knocking on age 30âs door, thatâs handled the challenge of resuscitating his career â quite wonderfully, if I may add.
âFrom my point of view, all that really matters heading into the 2014-15 season is what Mason has done since coming to Philadelphia. His body of work as a Flyer thus far has been strong. Likewise, the only thing thatâs relevant for Bobrovsky is the excellent goalie heâs become in his two seasons with the Blue Jackets and not the hot-and-cold young goaltender he was in his first two NHL seasons as a member of the Flyers.â â Bill Meltzer, Hockey Buzz
Take nothing away from Bobrovsky, who at a year younger than Mason, appears to be the franchise goalie in Columbus for some time to come. Itâs just time to knock off the ridiculous notion that Steve Mason is some used toy thatâs buried at the bottom of a âsaleâ bin at a Goodwill store. Letâs be real with facts: Steve Masonâs 33-18-7 record last season was not only better than Bobrovskyâs 32-20-5 mark, it was done with a larger workload. Injuries? Tell me how being injured helps your team win.
Whatâs next? Ryan Johansen is better than Claude Giroux? Please. The R Bar is pretty cool, though.
Oh yes, this is going to be a rivalry that has the potential of apocalyptic proportions. Let the trash talk begin.
Iâm a life long Flyers fan, goes back to when they were winning Stanley Cups. What pisses me off most about the Blue Jackets, they play like the Flyers used to. They play old time Flyers hockey. Theyâre aggressive, they check, take the body and theyâre not afraid to mix it up in the corners. They should hate them, theyâre showing the Flyers how to play Flyer hockey.