And now for the other 81 games...

Ladies and gentlemen, your 2009-10 Philadelphia Flyers schedule. I'm not going to write out the whole thing (I do have work today), but here's the link from the NHL. At least we're not starting the year in Pittsburgh. Having to watch them raise the Cup banner would be too much to stand. As usual, the Flyers will embark on their annual New Year road trip, but at least they'll be on the East Coast, obviously with the Winter Classic game in Boston included. I'll come back and do a little bit more analysis into this schedule, as soon as this conference call is over.

Shipping up to Boston

So it's now official. The Flyers will take their New Year's hangovers to Fenway Park to take on the Boston Bruins in the Winter Classic. This may be a good time to reach out to my buddy who works for the Red Sox and get some tickets.

Now before some of you go all crazy and start complaining that the Flyers shouldn't be in the game, here's a couple of reasons why this will work:
- It may be hard to believe in a society that can't remember what it had for breakfast today, but the Flyers and Bruins had one of the most physical rivalries in the league back in the day. And now that both teams are back to playing hard-nosed hockey and are among the tops in the East, this rivalry is primed to start back up.
- Of course the Bruins and Canadiens would have been a much better matchup, but think about it. NBC knows full well that the Flyers are better draw for both ratings and advertisers. That's why they petitioned the league for the Flyers instead of the Capitals. Plus, Montreal would most likely want to host the game since it's technically still their centennial celebration (which they might get to do after all).
- Pronger vs. Lucic. Jones vs. about five million New Englanders who want him dead. Outside. In the cold.

I smell a road trip.