Flyers poised to make history in Game 7 vs. Bruins

BOSTON - The asterisk, denoting that Game 7 may not be necessary, has been removed.

The altar, at the precipice of hockey history, has been set at the TD Garden.

And the message, from Peter Laviolette's lips to his players' ears, will be the same tonight in Game 7 - when they try to become the first team since the 1975 New York Islanders to trail 3-0 in a series and advance to the next round - as it was before Game 4, the Flyers' first of four elimination games in the last 7 days.

Laviolette said yesterday, after the Flyers' brisk practice at the Skate Zone, that his team is probably sick of hearing from him. We can only see Laviolette's messages, and sometimes temper, during timeouts. But we cannot see or hear the message that is sent to players before they march out of the tunnel and into the war.

"They probably hear more of me than they want to," Laviolette admitted. He said his message since his team was buried in a 3-0 hole last Wednesday has not changed.

"The question I have asked is 'Can we beat the Boston Bruins tonight?' " Laviolette said. "There is always something that you come in here and say. Ultimately, that is what sends them out the door, in the right frame of mind. That may send them out the door, but then the puck is going to drop. The national anthem is over. And there is electricity in the building, whether it's ours or wherever it is. For the next 60 minutes, some good hockey has been played.

"There's lot of things that are said leading up to a game. There's more to [winning] than a motivational speech."

You will never catch Laviolette tooting his own horn or even taking credit for a mind-set, an attitude or a mantra. Ever since they lost Game 1 of this series 13 days ago, the Flyers have done and said the right things.

That did not change yesterday.

Athletes have a certain cliché and predictability to their statements. The halfhearted, hard-to-believe slogans have the feel of a crooked $100 bill. This team, however, has said and acted like it believes it will be the first team in 35 years to rewrite history.

"You're not satisfied until you win that fourth game to close out the series," said Chris Pronger, who is just 1-5 all-time in Game 7s. "We're not focusing on what could've been or should've been in this series. We're focusing on the present, and that's winning Game 7.

"Yeah, we've been able to battle back but it doesn't mean anything if you don't win that final game to advance. I think guys understand that and are looking forward to the challenge."

When probed, Pronger's teammates have echoed his sentiments.

"Everybody is on the same page," Danny Briere said. "Nobody wants to go home. That's what's so impressive with this team."

Pronger's defense partner, Matt Carle, said the Flyers would be "just another statistic" if they came all the way back to lose Game 7.

Part of that has to do with Laviolette's words. In an interview with a local radio show yesterday, Laviolette said he would walk out of TD Garden tonight "nauseous" and with a "pit" in his stomach if his team is not facing the Montreal Canadiens in the Eastern Conference finals on Sunday night, a series in which they would amazingly have home-ice advantage.

Briere said the key is that the Flyers have approached each game in the cliché, but important, "one game at a time" way.

"We've never looked at the whole series because it was a daunting task, looking back and trying to come back from being down 3-0," Briere sad. "You're not going to win four games in one night, although [tonight] kind of feels that way a little bit. [Tonight] is about welcoming that challenge, being excited for it, getting up for it and laying it all on the line."

Laviolette said he is not the type of coach to come up with anything profound like the famous "Win today and we walk together forever," quote that Fred Shero scribbled on the chalk board in the Flyers' locker room the day they won their first-ever Stanley Cup.

"Win today and we're halfway there," Laviolette joked. "I don't know if that's going to get 'em or not."

Four games later, his question still resonates. If his team cannot beat the Boston Bruins tonight, there is no other half to the quest of Lord Stanley's Holy Grail. The history, the records, the stats and the hyperbole no longer matter.

"We need to keep the same mind-set," Pronger said. "Even down 3-0, our mindset with the way we were playing never changed. We just needed to refine a couple things. Now it's all up to us."

For more news and analysis, read Frank Seravalli's blog, Frequent Flyers, at http://go.philly.com/frequentflyers.