The Flyers have always been a source of inspiration. More often than not that inspiration is for screaming at my tv until 10pm on a weeknight, but that’s neither here nor there. With this playlist, I present you with a fruit of my inspiration, a telling of the season through song as of 12/15. I invite you to reflect on this first third of our season with the good, the bad, the orange, the black, and a healthy mix of tunes to help you get through the days to come.
1. Came Out Swinging – The Wonder Years (vs Canucks, 5-4 shootout loss)
An overtime loss to start the season, but with four goals scored it wasn’t the worst way to open up. The energy was high as it should have been, on paper this season was presenting itself to be successful. A point is a point, and it’s always better to start with one than to end the evening with a goose egg. Coming out of a less than ideal preseason, I left the night nodding my head and shrugging- there was plenty of time to get going and get going good.
2. The Orange and The Black – The Boils (vs Kraken, 6-1 win)
WAKE UP PHILADELPHIA! A five-goal dub over the new boys in town. After watching the havoc of the Vegas Golden Nights wreaked in their opening season, there were nerves to be had. The Seattle expansion draft and head coach didn’t strike fear in the same way Vegas did, but it was still anxiety producing, nonetheless.
3. Maria (I Like It Loud), a.k.a. DOOP – Scooter (vs Bruins, 6-3 win)
Feeling fine, feeling free. Remembering the good ole days of consistent goal songs. So what if it was stolen from the Union? Have you seen them? I wish the Flyers disappointed me at the same rate as the Union (barring their COVID-caused catastrophe, but we won’t discuss that here)
4. HUMBLE. – Kendrick Lamar (vs Panthers, 4-2 loss)
First real “L” of the season. Against the Panthers. I know the Panthers are a force now, but I still hold onto the memories of them being bottom of the barrel. To be fair, the most I still know about them is that they’re Shayne Gotisbehere’s hometown team. As a former Floridian, there’s much more to care about than ice hockey — unless you’re a bandwagoner on the Gulf Coast.
5. I’m Ready – AJR (at Oilers, 5-3 win)
Two goals from Atkinson, goals from G, Coots and Thompson. This is what I want to see. I want the score high on our end, I want production. Carter Hart, my sweet boy, with a .919 SV%. I wish it was 1, but I’ll take what I can get. Seeing two of the team “dads” put up points brings me to my younger days watching them first thrive in the league- so we bring it back to this middle-school era bop.
6. Back in Black – AC/DC (at Canucks, 2-1 win)
Call it a redemption arc. Not a huge dub, but we got the two points we should’ve had in our first game. A JVR goal makes a west-coast night game a bit more bearable. The only thing to make wins sweeter is if we were wearing the mid-2000’s era black jerseys. If you or anyone you know works in the jersey design department, please submit my requests.
7. Easy On Me – Adele (at Flames, 4-0 loss)
The beginning of a short bad time, but a bad time regardless. No one wants to watch their team get shut out like this. Shots on goal were pathetic, the team didn’t look great. A bad night if you chose to stay up
8. Barracuda – Heart (vs Coyotes, 3-0 win)
I started to, at this moment, feel like Marlin coming home to Nemo’s siblings and mom in the opening sequence of Finding Nemo. Yeah, Nemo was safe so that’s great, but I feel evil approaching. A bit dramatic? Yes. Is there a silver lining to be seen? Yes.
9. The Hamster Dance Song – Hampton the Hamster (at Penguins, 3-2 overtime loss)
We made it to OT, but I felt like a fool. This is a fool’s song. The internal DVD screensaver, background music of a sad human. The only up is goals by Trash-Talking TK and Laughts.
10. Life is a Highway – Rascal Flatts (at Capitals, 2-1 win)
KACHOW. ON THE UP AND UP.
11. Canadian National Anthem – The Patriotic Canadians (vs Leafs, 3-0 loss)
This game left me disappointed again. Unsurprisingly. There is pain and suffering around every corner of being a Philly sports fan, let alone deciding to follow the Flyers. This is on here to remember the heritage of the sport, the Original Six’s ability for dominance, and also that their anthem is a lowkey bop.
12. Rock You Like a Hurricane – Scorpions (at Hurricanes, 2-1 win)
A Young Beezer goal, something that has become a personal favorite. Upstate NY represent, 315 ‘til I die (or move again). An absolute Guitar Hero 3 banger. We weren’t outplayed; however, we were out-dressed. I’ll be the first to admit that the blacked-out Canes jerseys are BEAUTIFUL. A strong first period with Hart stopping Staal on multiple strong occasions was a plus.
13. Skyfall – Adele (at Stars, 5-2 loss)
The only time I wouldn’t be upset with a Stars loss is if Raffl had scored all of the goals. Maybe less upset if it was done by Seguin, but that’s a personal matter that I’m working through. Much like Florida, Texas isn’t a hockey state, and it hurts more to see us fall there.
14. Through the Fire and the Flames – Dragonforce (vs Flames, 2-1 overtime win)
Overtime is extra hockey, and extra hockey is scary. Want to know what else is scary? “Through the Fire and the Flames” on expert mode. My pinky can’t even reach the blue key. This was the last time this team could reach the blue key as well, as we were soon to find out.
15. Thunderstruck – AC/DC (vs Lightning, 4-3 shootout loss)
Ending the night with a point against the back-to-back Cup champs was not the worst way to go out. This was the beginning of the end. This was the start of bad days, and the AV Fire watch — though at this point we weren’t too suspect of that
16. I’m Shipping Up to Boston – Dropkick Murphys (vs Bruins, 5-2 loss)
Technically they were shipped down from Boston, and with them they brought force to be reckoned with. This NHL video game classic song reminded me of getting beat down by my brother on the PS2 after school. He was years older than me, and I played PS2 for Sonic — it’s a completely different skill set.
17. Lonely – Akon (at Lightning, 4-0 loss)
After living in Tampa for four years, I watched the Lightning go from a write-off to deep playoff runs. The moment I stopped getting their $25 best-available student tickets, I started my villain origin story with them. This loss has only expedited that character arc. I’ll be back soon TPA, and you will feel it the second I step foot into Amalie. *Note, if in Tampa, please do see Amalie Arena. Despite my anger towards the organization, it is a beautiful, modern stadium with great fan interaction — mostly because everyone there now is a northeast transplant. *
18. title track (Tickets to My Downfall) – Machine Gun Kelly (at Panthers, 2-1 overtime loss)
After 5 points in 8 games, the boo-birds begin to chatter. This is a sharp turn for me as a fan. I was a strong AV supporter from day one but watching the team at this point I was falling off of that train. It’s hard to watch a team with such incredible talent, namely Giroux, watch it wasted on skills and plays that are lackluster at best. This point would be the only one seen for 6 more games.
19. How Do You Sleep – Jesse McCartney ft. Ludacris (vs Hurricanes, 6-3 loss)
How does the coaching staff sleep at this point? Black Friday games are the highlight of my season. A midday game, get breakfast with the pals before screaming for hours, and making it out in time for tomfoolery at night. They ruined my Black Friday game. I was seething. A pathetic attempt for a game. The highlights of this game? A Beezer goal and the nice man sitting next to me who told me that “I really know my stuff, how cool for a girl.” Hated the sexism, appreciated the respect of my knowledge. Thanks for the beer, old guy, this classic jam is dedicated to you.
20. Devil in a New Dress – Kanye West ft. Rick Ross (at Devils, 5-2 loss)
The good news about the Devils series was it was going to all be played out in 3 weeks, leaving them in 2021 as they deserved to be. The bad news about the Devils series was we were going 1-for-3 on a team that frankly we should have swept. The anti-AV energy was really ramping up, and comparisons to successful seasons past that also featured losing streaks were starting to appear in discussion.
21. Empire State of Mind – Jay-Z ft. Alicia Keys (at Rangers, 4-1 loss)
Concrete jungle wet dream tomato. That’s how this came felt. “New month, new improvements”, I laughably thought to myself. Maybe they’re really working on their flaws to improve. They weren’t, or if they were it felt hopeless.
22. Ain’t No Sunshine – Bill Withers (vs Lightning, 7-1 loss)
I do love the third alternate 2017 Stadium Series Jerseys. That’s the only good note about this horrible loss.
23. Leavin’ on a Jet Plane – John Denver (vs Avalanche, 7-5 loss)
Denver is a great city. John Denver is a fantastic singer. This song makes me cry, and watching the Flyers fall after scoring 5 is also a real tearjerker. Repeat goals by Giroux did nothing to silence the “Strip The C” crowd, even though they truly don’t see how impressive G is on the ice as a player and as a leader. Stripping his C won’t save this team, and neither will your tweets about it.
24. The Devil Went Down to Georgia – The Charlie Daniels Band (at Devils, 3-0 loss)
The Devil stayed in Jersey and did his work. Not only that, but the Devil also wore the worst jerseys in the NHL — and that’s including the Nashville Winter Classics.
25. All I Do Is Win – DJ Khaled ft. Snoop Dogg, T-Pain, and Ludacris (at Golden Knights, 4-3 win)
Truly the best part of growing up around Philly is the pure serotonin and joy felt by the teams doing anything right. The high I get from a Flyers win is stronger than hearing this song at a Bar Mitzvah on a Saturday night. If you haven’t felt the euphoria of the latter, you missed out — but the first win of the Bag Era is a close second.
26. Get Back – The Beatles (at Coyotes, 5-3 win)
“Jojo left his house in Tucson, Arizona”, just like the Coyotes are going to have to leave their arena in Glendale, and at this rate maybe the state all together. Meanwhile the Flyers are starting to “Get Back” to where they once belonged, maybe even heating up to playoff contention. That’s getting ahead of ourselves. One win after a deep losing streak has me feeling alright. Back-to-back wins? I’m ready to paint my body orange and become a child of Gritty.
27. Tongue Tied – Grouplove (vs Devils, 6-1 win)
My mom calls this song, “That happy radio song that I really like.” She was at the game, and so this is dedicated to her at the happy hockey game scores that we really like. A first appearance by HATkinson, a great way to get back on track. Is it the bag era helping us? Does Yeo have the right stuff? We’ll have to wait and see, but if the season starts panning out like these past three all of my friends will enjoy being around me a lot more.
