Hartnell stokes Flyers-Pens rivalry
Flyers Scott Hartnell voices his dislike of the Pittsburgh Penguins and their captain Sidney Crosby.
Hartnell stokes Flyers-Pens rivalry
Sam Carchidi, Inquirer Staff Writer
The Flyers-Penguins rivalry _ arguably the fiercest in the NHL _ doesn’t need any stoking.
But Flyers' left winger Scott Hartnell did just that after the team ended its six-day training camp Friday. The Flyers will open the season Saturday afternoon against the visiitng Penguins.
"It didn't take me long six years ago to get a hatred for the Pens,” said Hartnell, referring to his first season with the Flyers. “Only playing them once in the West, then coming here and seeing (Sidney) Crosby run the show and do what he does, you learn to not like him fast. And I think that goes for all Philadelphians and guys that put on a Flyers jersey.”
The Flyers eliminated the Stanley Cup favorite Penguins in the first round of last year's playoffs, four games to two.
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The Flyers' roster is set, and the lines and pairings are expected to look like this Saturday:
Lines: Claude Giroux centering Hartnell and Brayden Schenn; Sean Couturier centering Max Talbot and Jake Voracek; Scott Laughton centering Wayne Simmonds and Matt Read; and Eric Wellwood centering Ruslan Fedotenko and Zac Rinaldo.
Defensive pairings: Braydon Coburn and Nick Grossmann; Kimmo Timonen and Luke Schenn; and Andrej Meszaros and Kurtis Foster.
Goalies: lya Bryzgalov and Michael Leighton.
Extras: Bruno Gervais, Jody Shelley and Tom Sestito. (Danny Briere starts the season on IR)
Breakaways. The Penguins are 7-2-1 in regular-season games at the WFC since Dan Bylsma became their head coach......The Flyers scored 30 goals in the six-game playoff series against the Pens last year.
Follow Sam Carchidi on Twitter @BroadStBull.
it got late early this year— SyddBarrett- I am gald Staal is gone. Yes Sutter is pretty good but he is not Staal good.— Nitroglycerin
- Haters keep on hating. Let's go Flyers!!!— Fly Guy
- Hartnell has proven to be a pretty decent power forward--when he stays on his skates, that is. He's always around the opposing goal looking for deflections, rebounds and tip-ins.— schultz08
- hey hairnell what have u ever won as a flyer ? exactly nothing !!!!!! bow down to a stanley cup winner u loser because it is something u will never c as a flyer
— scott-stevens-is-god
Spoken like a true Stevens crack licker.— redalfa - Hartnell blows, he has a lot to say and can't back it up with his play.— UDTate
