Flyers faithful busting Penguins fans for a good cause
Pittsburgh Penguins' Evgeni Malkin, left, is trailed by Philadelphia Flyers' Zac Rinaldo in the first period of an NHL hockey game Sunday, April 5, 2015, in Philadelphia. (Tom Mihalek/AP Photo)
The Philadelphia Flyers and the Pittsburgh Penguins aren’t big fans of one another.
There’s the fact that the Penguins have one more Stanley Cup trophy — three versus two. But, also, that the Flyers have dominated the Pens the last couple of seasons.
So, when news broke that the Penguins’ owners Mario Lemieux and Ron Burkle want to sell the franchise, the guys over at the Flyers fan blog Orange & Black Pack had one thought: time for a GoFundMe page aimed at buying the rival team.
It’s part jest, part goodwill.
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Guys this has just gotten too big for words. You’ll be able to catch a story about our GoFundMe effort on the 6 o’clock news tonight on CBS3. Don’t forget to support the cause! Gofundme.com/buythepens
Posted by OrangeAndBlackPack.com on Monday, September 7, 2015
“We just thought it’d be incredibly funny to start this GoFundMe campaign, of course have all the money go to charity and explain that, but before that, really push it underneath the Penguins fans’ skin,” said Michael DeNicola, who founded the blog.
The viral page proposes a series of snarky upgrades if the campaign meets its $750 million goal, including painting the Pittsburgh arena orange and black and placing a giant photo of Flyers captain Claude Giroux on the outside of the building.
All of which has upset some diehard Pens fans. The page has also delivered some smiles, though.
“It just adds fuel to the fire and I think for Penguins fans it’s a good thing. The Flyers have had the better part of that rivalry for the past couple years here so I’m sure it got everybody worked up. It was pretty well played in that respect,” said Jesse Marshall, staff writer for Pensblog.com.
It’s only raised a few thousand dollars, but at the end of the campaign, the money will go to three charities: Snider Hockey, CHOP and PAWS.
“I don’t want people to loose the point of this, we’re raising money for a good cause,” said DeNicola.
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