Glen Slats Sather threw down the gauntlet Monday afternoon at Citizens Bank Park.
The longtime former coach and general manager of the Edmonton Oilers and current Rangers GM tossed it right under Ed Sniders feet at a news conference to announce the Jan. 2 Winter Classic between the Rangers and Flyers.
Sather, who fired a number of playful shots at the bows of various people, boldly asserted that his Rangers are going to come to Philadelphia and we are going to win.
Flyer fans in attendance booed.
Now thats more like it, Sather snapped back at sea of orange jerseys, who initially clapped at his introduction with such politeness that Snider chided fans for letting their guard down.
Sather then added, We kicked the hell out of you in Edmonton twice in the Stanley Cup.
More taunting from SlatsAt the end of year we are going to be carrying the Cup just like Yankees will win the World Championship.
NHL
More boos. Even louder.
When Sather was finished, Snider dashed to the podium from his front row seat to come back at Slats.
Now the fans were urging Snider to give it to Slats.
When he says we kicked the hell out of you in two Stanley Cups, he wasnt talking about the Rangers, Snider quipped. I remember kicking the hell out of the Rangers on the way to our Cups.
Slats shouted back, Its nice to see you havent lost your edge.
That apparently is how its going to play out between these two teams. The history, the legacy, the games.
They dont like each other. Even during news conferences.
Flyer captain Chris Pronger, sitting behind Snider on the dais, said even though hes played nearly all his career in the Western Conference, he sensed that the Flyers-Rangers rivalry had a nasty edge to it.
Pronger loved how Snider came back at Sather.
When youre owner gets into it over details, you get a rude awakening pretty quickly,
Pronger said. Hes a stickler for details and he straightened things out quickly. I was getting ready and he popped up and I said, all right.
The roots of the Winter Classic coming here were planted last spring even though Snider and Flyers president Peter Luukko both said Monday they didnt think it would happen because the Flyers had already been to one Winter Classic and Pennsylvania had already hosted it last year.
Phillies president Dave Montgomery got a call from Luukko last April about Citizens Bank Park possibly hosting the event at the Linc.
Montgomery admitted he knew something about the Winter Classic and what Flyer hockey means to Philadelphia.
Peter asked us to partner with him and it was an easy answer for us to say yes, Montgomery recalled. The advantage of doing it in a baseball facility is the reality that we can extend events for a 10-day period rather than try to cram it into a few days in a football stadium..
Indeed, CBP made perfect sense because there will be high school, college and AHL hockeyPhantomsplus a Flyers Alumni Game and public skating before and after the event takes place.
This is a happening to have ice in Citizens Bank Park and have as many people experience that, Montgomery said. Thats as good as it gets.
Snider concurred.
When I started the team in 1967, I couldnt dream that I would be standing here today talking about an outdoor game at Citizens Bank Park, Snider said. Its a real thrill for me. And its a real great event for our city.
Back in the 1980s when Edmonton was winning five Stanley Cups, then NHL President John Ziegler once told Sather that an outdoor game would never work.
Slats chided Ziegler for his lack of foresight and praised current league Commissioner Gary Bettman for making the Winter Classic a reality.
This will be the 5th Winter Classic and the Flyers' second appearance. The Flyers were last in the event two years ago at Fenway Park against the Boston Bruins.
This will be as big an event as this citys seen, Bettman said. Weve heard people tell us how this compares to Super Bowls, in terms of atmosphere and what it does to a city or the World Series.
People in Philadelphia, in particular, and people watching on television throughout the world are really gonna once again get a special treat ... This one game captures the imagination like nothing else.
So does HBOs 247,which begins daily filming of the events leading up to the game on Dec. 4.
Rick Bernstein is the executive producer of HBO Real Sports. He was the guy behind last years compelling look at the Penguins-Capitals. Nothing short of superb, 247 provided so candid a look that it scares Rangers coach John Tortorella.
I just want to make sure there is no embarrassing things to the players, Torts said. I dont think well have a problem.
Asked what he thought about last years show, he said the candor in one episode made him cringe.
Thats what people want. Thats hockey. Thats reality.
What will be different is what we dont know, Bernstein said. We start with a blank canvass. We have no idea what the stories are which are going to unfold. Im sure again, it will be compelling, and entertaining and exciting.
Caps coach Bruce Boudreau stole the show last year. Tortorella, moreso than Flyers coach Peter Laviolette, has the potential to do the same because Torts often loses his cool in public and on carmera.
Laviolette is always under control and would rather implode than explode publicly.
I grew up in Alabama, Bernstein said. I didnt grow up as a hockey fan. I had no idea what to expect with this series. The access we got is what made it that much better. It exceeded all of our expectations.
I dont think theres ever been a time when any major sport has allowed a television entity inside their domain as the NHL has with this show.
Tickets go on sale in the weeks ahead, as will information about the community events that will encompass that week in Philadelphia.
As important as the game is, the environment is what its all about, Luukko said. To see players skating here and be in the stadium in the winter, thats what its about.
E-mail Tim Panaccio at tpanotch@comcast.net.