Flyers v. Red Wings Gamethread: Trading places edition

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(after the jump, a photo-chop experiment)

A few Sundays ago, I sat at a gate in JFK waiting for a plane to take me on my two week Italian honeymoon... aaand also a text-score update of the Flyers/Rangers game.  The afternoon prior, Philly had used some late game heroics to tie and eventually win with seconds to spare against a very good B'hawks squad.  A statement game?  Only if they could build upon it.  My phone vibrated with the bad news: 3-1 Rangers, have a good trip.  I would be lying if I said that I thought about the Orange and Black often overseas.  How could they compete  with Michelangelo's David, or the Coliseum, or my wife?   Upon calling home late in our 2nd week from Rome, my mother answered the phone and immediately asked, "Did you hear about the Flyers?"  And as you already know, the news was not good.

In my absence, the Flyers lost (including the Rangers game) 6 out of 7 games.  Their leading goal scorer, Jeff Carter... broke his foot.  Their (2nd) starting goaltender, Michael Leighton, is done for season after suffering a high ankle sprain.  I returned to see them lose to the Pens, tease us  with a win against the Devils, and suffer two more loses to the Isles and Canadiens.  

A few months ago, the Detroit Red Wings were in trouble.  Whispers around the league were going back and worth, wondering if this would be the year that glorious post-season streak would come to an end.  But now, they are becoming some sort of bizzarro version of the Flyers.  They have their star players, Zetterberg and Datsyuk producing, and saw the return of Tomas Holmstrom.  Their goalie, Jimmy Howard, is a rookie sensation that is stealing games for them.  And they currently just ended a 7 game winning streak that took them from outside the playoff picture to nipping at the Predlies' heels in 5th place.  Isn't hockey funny?

Today, the Red Wings could put some serious hurting on the Flyers' playoff hopes.  Couple that with the home and home against the Rangers, the team we are currently tied for 8th with... and I feel for all those south Philly ulcers that will be flaring up over the next week.  To think that the Flyers could go from being "paper" crowned Stanley Cup champions to not even making the playoffs is just mind boggling.  That they are heading into the playoffs with a consummate back up goalie and "insert college goalie name here" just seems surreal.  Go Flyers.

An experiment

A few weeks ago, I was talking to MattP about how the Flyers have such a good uniform and logo (ironic after reading Andrew's prev. post) that its a bit hard to envision them wearing anything but what they currently have.  So I took on the task of experimenting with stock NHL photos and trying to photo-chop them to make a new look for the Flyers.  The all solid scheme is one that is p'wned by the Detroit Red Wings, and most recently used by the Phoenix Coyotes.  The Red Wings also have a very similar logo, only facing in the opposite direction.

I began with a photo of Nic Lidstrom in the solid Detroit red.  It started off a bit rough.  As I changed the main colors to orange, I still hadn't touched the white detail and it created a  a very "creamsicle" look that was jarring.  But as the simple white of the Wings changed over to the bold black of the Flyers, the look grew on me.  I don't get "pumpkin" or "traffic cone" from what's shown here.    What do you think...?  Is this something you could legitimately see the Flyers wearing in a future game?

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