The Philadelphia Hockey Flyers are often relegated to second-class citizen status here in the City of Brotherly Love, and frankly, that’s pretty much why this site and podcast exist. Listen to episode one when it drops and I’ll go into more detail, but long story short: sports talk radio in this city is derivative bullshit that relies on manufactured hot takes and talking points to cling to mediocre ratings that are the dying gasps of legacy media. Anyway, hockey is the fourth (and according to at least some people 5th, but seriously, it’s fucking soccer) most popular sport in the Iladelph but this season has some casuals at least looking at highlights for the first time in years, which is a start for the best game on earth, I guess…
Moving on, in the coming days, I’m going to drop one article a day on one aspect of the 24-25 season so far in easily digestible nuggets, because hey, we all have the attention spans of goldfish now (GENY TikTok coming soon, I swear!)
Michkov is Really Fucking Good, and Only Going to Get Better
Before you ask, I’ll get into the 2 games as a healthy scratch you impatient puckhead, read a bit first; it’s good for you. Matvei Michkov is the reason this team is at least on the radar of the casual Philly sports fan again and with good reason. He has the vision and playmaking ability that puts his ceiling among the very best in the show right now, and he’s 19. Wait until he can speak the language fluently, adapt to the North American game, and develop further. He is the kind of talent that will elevate those around him. He’s played a handful of games so far and already has shown that he’s the best prospect this team has had since a young G or even Lindros:
That’s a goalscorer’s goal, and there’s going to be a lot more of those to come this year and beyond. Now, let’s talk about the scratches over the last 2. I’m going to piss off the casuals who don’t know what they’re watching (Seriously if you’re the guy at the game screaming “SHOOOOOOOT” when the puck handler is in a low percentage area in the offensive zone or with zero angle of the net in view, I’m talking about you) and I really don’t care, IT HAD TO BE DONE. To be clear, I am not a fan of Torts, but I respect anyone who can make Tampa a hockey destination, his scheme requires the forwards to play a 200-foot game to prevent scoring chances where the defense or goalie gets absolutely hung out to dry. Michkov is an offensive-minded player, but he still needs to be careful with the puck to prevent what I just described. He’s had a few mistakes that have led to goals, and that’s completely fine, he’s young and developing. The real reason the scratches needed to happen is because of the rest of the team. The rest of the forwards were becoming reliant on Michkov’s offensive wizardry and that needs to stop NOW. Coots, TK, Tips, Farabee, etc. can’t rely on a generational prospect, they need to elevate him and make his eventual Calder Trophy win even easier on the Comrade.
Comrade Calder shirts in stock sooner rather than later, I promise. And if you’re down at the barn, we’re working on a setup where you can save 20% and the cost of shipping by picking one up at our Tailgatecasts.
Part 2 of Flight Check tomorrow after some silly football game that Tyles and Kev keep talking about… Kidding Fuck Dallas. Share your thoughts on Michkov below or on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok.
