Matvei Michkov Is Here And He's Perfect
It's hard to remember the last time there was any reason to be excited about Philadelphia Flyers hockey. Maybe the pandemic bubble? That feels like a lifetime ago. Ever since then, this organization has been a directionless disaster. Multiple seasons of refusing to go all-in on a rebuild has left them purgatory. It's a shame because for the longest time, the Flyers were one of those teams that made the NHL great. Sure, most of us weren't alive to ever see them win a Cup. But they were a team that you either loved or you despised. A team constantly in the mix. And in the past few years they've just been...irrelevant.
But that all changes now that 39 is buzzing around out there in a Flyers sweater. I get that it's just rookie camp, but how can you not get at least a little feeling like the Flyers are back after watching this kid on the ice.
He's explosive, he's creative, he's competitive, he's unbelievably skilled. Pretty much everything the Flyers have been lacking over the last few years.
Are the Flyers a lock to be a playoff team this year? Probably not yet. They're still young and have plenty of holes in the roster. But for the first time in a long time, there's an actual reason to care about this team. There's a reason to be excited for 7pm on a Tuesday night instead of just waiting for the alert to hit your phone at 9:27 that the Flyers lost another 4-1 game. I think anyone who is at least 25-years-old right now remembers what it was like when the Flyers were a major part of your weekly routine as a Philly sports fan. They haven't given you much of a reason to tune into all 82 games lately, but the Mad Russian might just be able to bring it back into our lives.
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P.S. -- This is going to be an overlooked part of his development as a rookie, but if he's already working on his English now, it's only a matter of time before he's wearing a letter on his sweater for this team.