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Don’t worry Flyers fans, the Hair Man is back

Image (1) IMG_0366-thumb-250x333-12807.jpg for post 1910

It’s been four long years, but the Hair Man is back in town.

Bill Page of Wilmington, Delaware, known amongst the Philadelphia faithful as “Hair Man”, spent ten years as a Flyers season ticket holder before having to take a bit of a sabbatical four years ago. Now that the Flyers are in the Stanley Cup finals, there’s no way he was going to sit on the sidelines any longer.

You can catch him all game long in section 114, although he promises he won’t be sitting for very long while he does everything possible to get the crowd fired up for the game. One thing he won’t promise: foul language.

He believes in everyone having a good time, and had become somewhat famous for taunting the opposing team during the pre-game warmups. Yet he says he does it all in a family-friendly manner, never going overboard and never using foul language.

As we walked through the crowd, we quickly learned that the rest of the Flyers fans won’t make the same promise. These fans, already fired up as they taking in a few beverages before the game, were quick to point out that the Flyers will not only win the next of these two games but should have won the first two as well.

Kevin Muller, a season ticket holder for the past 20 years, contends that the Flyers just need to find a way to get the goaltending and the offense to click in the same game. He’s also a big fan of Dan Carcillo and was ecstatic that the Flyers decided to insert him into the lineup. He may not have played much, Muller said, “but he sure is good for this team.”

When asked about the Flyers crowd, and whether the Blackhawks will have trouble with the atmosphere in Wachovia, Muller is much more to the point.

“Philadelphia is the absolute toughest place to play in the NHL. That is a fact.”

His friend, Chris Moore of Lafayette HIll, Pennsylvania, agreed. While there was no doubt amongst this group how great the Philadelphia crowd is, and how superior this crows is when compared to the Chicago crowd, Moore also looked longingly back at the days of the old Spectrum.

“At the Spectrum, you were right on top of the ice. The Wachovia Center is just more....corporate.”

That just means the Flyers fans will have incentive to work that much harder.

Robert Ritner, a season ticket holder since the early 1980’s, says that the Flyers just need to maintain their intensity for a full game.

“The crowd will certainly help the Flyers get into the game early. The Flyers have finished games strong, they just need to start off better. The crowd will help with that.”

Ritner, who says that this past season was a very tough one to get through for fans, is ecstatic that they’re in the Cup finals and says he’ll be perfectly happy with the season even if the Flyers lose. Still, this has been one heck of a ride.

“This has been the greatest thing ever. I hate to see the season end.”

Ritner also says that the Flyers’ secret weapon hasn’t worked all that well for them. When asked what that secret weapon might be, he responded very matter of fact:

“Marian Hossa.”