Is rooting against Flyers enough to keep Penguins fans engaged in NHL playoffs?

Tim Benz
Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2020 6:40 a.m. | Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2020 6:40 a.m.

The Philadelphia Flyers’ mascot Gritty performs during a game against the Boston Bruins on Jan. 13, 2020 in Philadelphia.

Gritty is the Philadelphia Flyers mascot. He’s a real-life version of what happens when you look at your lint trap while on bath salts.

This week, Gritty was trying to make it up to the NHL playoff hub in Toronto. He got confused and went to Toronto, Ohio. instead of Toronto, Ont.

I made it! pic.twitter.com/4R2rA9OoJW

— Gritty (@GrittyNHL) August 23, 2020

That was the joke.

Why in the world is there an.. oh no. pic.twitter.com/ICUlsUYuM9

— Gritty (@GrittyNHL) August 23, 2020

All day.

Toronto looks different than I expected pic.twitter.com/DjOH6EuLO3

— Gritty (@GrittyNHL) August 23, 2020

For about a half-dozen tweets.

Where u at? @28CGiroux pic.twitter.com/sRwHlQ1LRj

— Gritty (@GrittyNHL) August 23, 2020

As Flyers fans got ready for the second round of the NHL’s Eastern Conference playoffs.

Am I.. half Canadian? pic.twitter.com/AfhTXSTyxB

— Gritty (@GrittyNHL) August 23, 2020

I know. The Penguins are eliminated. The Flyers are still alive. And now in Pittsburgh we’re stuck trying to get excited over a Pirates three-game winning streak against the Milwaukee Brewers.

Life in 2020 just keeps getting better.

Well, Gritty started to walk home down the turnpike. So I’m assuming he picked it up somewhere close enough to Pittsburgh that there should’ve been a few Penguins fans on the road, right?

And not one of them … not one … had the common decency to do society a favor and run over Gritty with their car.

Philly, I’m coming home. pic.twitter.com/MYAuNBtwRi

— Gritty (@GrittyNHL) August 24, 2020

Whatever happened to, “We’re all in this together?!” Pfft!

At least the good news is the Flyers lost 4-0 to the New York Islanders in Game 1 of their series Monday night. Brian Metzer of the Penguins Radio Network joins me to bask in hating the Flyers. Is rooting against them enough to keep Penguins fans engaged in the playoffs?

It is for me. How about you?

Odds are, the Flyers are probably going to bounce back and beat the New York Islanders. But I said this would be a seven-game series from the outset. If that’s true, perhaps Philly is worn down enough to lose against whoever survives the Boston Bruins/Tampa Bay Lightning series. Metz and I try to figure out which club that will be.

We also talk about the Alan Walsh “backstabbing” tweet in “defense” of Marc-Andre Fleury. How Steelers training camp feels like the Penguins camp in Cranberry. And the controversial dismissal of Mike Milbury from the NBC broadcast.

Oh, and fantasy football. Obviously. Maybe Gritty will join our league next year.

Listen: Tim Benz and Brian Metzer discuss rooting against the Flyers, watching the NHL playoffs as a Penguins fan, ‘backstabbing’ tweet, Mike Milbury, and fantasy football

Tim Benz is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Tim at tbenz@triblive.com or via X. All tweets could be reposted. All emails are subject to publication unless specified otherwise.