The cameras have already popped up here and there for both the Rangers and the Flyers in anticipation of their 24/7 appearances. The cameras were around for their meeting last Saturday at Madison Square Garden. They were around for a day when HBO was putting together their 15 minute preview for the series. But starting Monday, they’ll be around 24 hours a day, seven days a week for four weeks.
What an appropriate title.
With that in mind, these are the last few days of peace for the Atlantic Division rivals. It’s the calm before the storm, if you will. The Flyers have a pair of games out West over the next couple of days while the Rangers have a single game left before the cameras move in for good. Then again, with Toronto in town on Monday, the cameras around every corner should make the Rangers feel like it’s just another game against the Maple Leafs.
With the Pens and Caps serving as guinea pigs last season, both the Flyers and Rangers have a better idea what to expect this time around with the omnipresent cameras. Penguins coach Dan Bylsma explained that it was especially tough when the cameras were around after a defeat. “The tough part is after you’ve lost a game and they’re there. We saw that last year. I felt it when we lost in the Winter Classic game -- you feel the scrutiny with the cameras there.”
It’s not just the players and coaches that learned from the experience last season. The HBO producers shared that filming during the NHL’s regular season was a different animal than some of the other sports they had previously tackled. Dave Harmon from HBO talked to TSN about the differences:
“One of the things we learned while shooting it last year is ‘Oh my God the intensity level is so different. We know now how serious it is shooting with teams in the regular season as opposed to boxing, when they’re in training camp, or NASCAR, when they’re just getting ready for the Daytona 500. Right from the start it’s ‘Stay out of their way, this is their profession, this is their business. Just be flies on the wall observing.”’
Here’s a little bit of advice: be a very quiet, unnoticed fly when observing John Tortorella. Rumor has it he has a tendency to be rather “honest” when the cameras are around and he’s annoyed after a loss. Come to think of it, he’s pretty honest all the time.
Can you imagine the television gold that could ensue after a Flyers victory over the Rangers when the two teams meet on December 23? The countdown has begun.