When the new-look Philadelphia Flyers come to the TD Garden on October 6, 2011, how will future NHL Hall of Famer Jaromir Jagr be received?
Surely the fans from both cities will stand up and give 'Puff Nuts' (yes, that is his nickname) a standing ovation.
The teams are much different from the early 90s, but the fans of Boston still remember those heart breaking Eastern Conference Finals losses to the Penguins in 1991 and 1992. That Pittsburgh team featured none other than Jaromir Jagr, amongst others.
Two years in a row the Pittsburgh Penguins ousted Boston's hope of a Stanley Cup Championship. I was one of those heart-broken fans, my heart broken by timely goals and clutch performances off the stick of a young Jagr.
Boston hearts may have been broken in the early 90s by Jaromir Jagr, but what about the Philadelphia Flyers fans of 2011?
The fans of Philadelphia are somewhat angered by what GM Paul Holmgren has done to their Stanley Cup-contending team.
They saw some of their star players in Mike Richards and Jeff Carter traded away, young, star players no less. For what? A 39-year-old former NHL hockey player. It will be interesting to see how well Jagr responds to the role he is supposed to play, now that Richards and Carter are gone.
Mark Recchi, now retired, was a former teammate of Jaromir Jagr during their championship runs. If the Boston fans can receive Recchi with open arms, then most assuredly they can with Jagr as well.
The only qualm I can see is that the Flyers are the Bruins first matchup of the 2011-2012 NHL season. The Bruins are going to be fired up from winning it all. Philadelphia is going to be looking for redemption from being swept out of the second round in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Add in the fact that a superstar has returned to take away your dreams, and you have the makings of a heated battle. A battle that could see Jagr suffer a career-ending injury.
You can go all in and bet Jagr will be a threat to Boston, only because of his scoring abilities and notorious past for stealing games away. The Bruins will be aggressive with Jagr, try to get him off his game. They may get a little too aggressive for the old chap.
However the game goes will be a mystery until end of regulation and it's logged in the books. The beginning of the game is what I'm most interested in.
Will Jaromir Jagr get the respect he deserves and receive a standing ovation, or will both sides be infuriated surrounding the circumstances of his return and boo him right on out of the Garden?
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