Years ago, as we stood next to each other in the Eagles locker room, safety Michael Zordich looked up at the hockey highlights being played on the television screen above us and said this to me:
"Man, those guys get hit every night.
"Ev…er…ee… night!"
There were few grittier players than Zordich, which is probably why I remember it so well. And why I tread ever-so-lightly in making too much of the Flyers tepid effort in a 3-2 loss against the Toronto Maple Leafs Tuesday night at the Wells Fargo Center.
They have played well and revived playoff talk lately, with no regulation losses in the previous seven games, including promising victories over a slew of playoff-worthy teams.