New York Islanders ‘@’ Philadelphia Flyers [Conf. semifinal Game 1 thread]

Tonight we’re gonna party like it’s 1987! Or preferably, 1980.

New York Islanders vs. Philadelphia Flyers for a chance to move to the conference final. Orange vs. Orange. Methodical savages vs. greasy bullies.

We have two rabid and passionate fanbases whose teams have sure faced each other a lot in the preseason (sometimes twice in the same night, in different cities), but their regular season meetings have rarely involved both in contention for much of, oh, the past two decades or so.

As a reminder of how things have changed since Mike Keenan was a hard-driving coach and Ron Hextall was just their hotheaded rookie goalie...now the Flyers not only have a mascot, but one that’s been around long enough for people to be over him.

“The mascot version of Canes Twitter”...damn, that’s cold:

Anyway, as you’d imagine, no lineup news from the mid-day media availabilities, though Barry Trotz did confirm “everyone” is available. So maybe Cal Clutterbuck, who was up-ended by one-time Flyer mercenary Radko Gudas, slots back into the lineup.

Trotz also allowed, intuitively, that the lineup would be reassessed for each game, particularly given two back-to-back sets on the schedule if it goes the full seven games.

Opposition Research

Here on the SB Nation network, we have a pretty great Flyers-centric site in Broad Street Hockey, who among other things have welcomed Dan on to their podcast many times. Visit them for the info — like their expected lineup and chief worries — and similar sense of humor.

Note: But please don’t go a’trolling. Don’t give our moderator friends as BSH unnecessary headaches, as they’ll already have their hands full enough with Philly’s smartest. Besides, there are plenty of other social media platforms to engage rabid Flyers fans, if that’s your thing.

Enjoy Game 1!