Penguins-Flyers Rivalry Stoked by Bad Blood VOORHEES, N.J. - The current state of the rivalry between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Philadelphia Flyers is exhibited by an oft-shown highlight. It is not of a goal or even a big hit, but an outraged coach. Two weeks ago, in a regular-season game of an intrastate feud that dates to 1967, Flyers Coach Peter Laviolette grabbed a stick, smashed it and waved it at the Penguins" bench in disgust. It came during a last-minute fight on the ice after a legal hit that caused an injury to Danny Briere, one of the Flyers" highest-paid players. It prompted Laviolette to call Penguins Coach Dan Bylsma "gutless" in remarks to reporters after the game. That fight served as a precursor for what will come in the next two weeks when the Penguins and the Flyers meet in the playoffs for the third time in five years. Flyers forward Scott Hartnell told reporters the series, which will begin Wednesday in Pittsburgh, would be a "bloodbath." "The fight only matters for the more national buzz," Rick Tocchet, a former Flyers captain and a Stanley Cup champion with the Penguins, said in a telephone interview. If the fight didn't occur, you'd still have this hatred and this bad blood because they're intrastate rivals and don't like each other for many years. The rivalry is intensified by the presence of familiar faces. The Flyers feature Jaromir Jagr and Maxime Talbot, both of whom share spots in Penguins lore. Jagr played in Pittsburgh from 1990 to 2001, winning five Art Ross trophies and two Stanley Cups with the team. Talbot played for the Penguins from 2005 to "11 and scored two Game 7 goals to win the 2009 Stanley Cup. The Penguins feature wing Arron Asham, who scored four postseason goals to help lead the Flyers to the Stanley Cup finals in 2010. The Penguins" fans gave Talbot a standing ovation in his first game back in December, but then treated him the way he expected someone in orange and black to be treated in Pittsburgh. "You're part of the enemy now," Talbot said. But there is little remaining love for Jagr, who forced a trade to Washington in 2001. When Jagr decided to return to the N.H.L. from Russia during this past off-season, he signed with the Flyers over the Penguins and further embittered fans who have booed Jagr for more than a decade. Jagr said the decision came down to being able to contribute more in Philadelphia than in Pittsburgh. In the Penguins, he saw a team that returned much of its core and had fortified top lines. Jagr was more attracted to the Flyers, who overhauled their roster in the off-season and offered Jagr more playing time. "He'll be booed the loudest and be hated more than anybody in sports right now," Tocchet said. You can talk about Ray Lewis and the Baltimore Ravens, they don't like him. And the Steelers are huge. But Jagr is Public Enemy No. 1, no question. Jagr said he was used to bitterness from Pittsburgh fans, although he laughed at the suggestion that he is Public Enemy No. "I think Lavy is right now," Jagr said, referring to his coach. Laviolette said: "It's fine if it's me. Jaromir needs to go in there and play big for us. If it takes the heat off him, that's fine. Neither Jagr nor Laviolette wanted to offer inciting words about the Penguins before the series. Laviolette passed when asked if the Penguins were a dirty team (Rangers Coach John Tortorella was fined $20,000 for making such a claim). Jagr made sure a compliment about the Penguins" Evgeni Malkin, the N.H.L."s leading scorer, was not written as a slight about their captain, Sidney Crosby. But little can be said to deny the bad blood among the teams and the fan bases. The Penguins have eliminated the Flyers the past two times the teams met in the postseason, and the history of the rivalry has been marked by spells when one team dominates the other. "Whether it's the Steelers and the Ravens or the Red Sox and the Yankees, it's always great organizations and great teams," Talbot said. That's what makes the rivalries fun. Tocchet remembers when he was traded to the Penguins from the Flyers in 1992 and then daily encountered Penguins fans who shared how much they despised him as a Flyer. A Philadelphia sports-talk radio station Tuesday asked callers to explain what they disliked most about Pittsburgh. During a Philadelphia-area television debate show Sunday, one of the questions was whether Crosby would stay healthy throughout the series. Tocchet said he expected the Flyers to bully Crosby and Malkin, and the Penguins to play rough with Briere and Claude Giroux. Given the way the teams played in recent weeks, that will not be a change from the regular season. "I don't know about bad blood, but I know about rivalry and I know about knowing the other team," Talbot said. Yes, it can translate from the season to the playoffs. It's the first team to win four games that moves on, whether there's bad blood or it's good defensive skill or a defensive series.