Welcome to the song of the day, where we feature a single track, whether its brand new or older than us, overlooked or overplayed, our favorite or no one’s favorite; as long as its interesting, it can be the song of the day.
The NHL playoffs begin tonight, which means Game 1 of the Flyers-Penguins series, featuring, amongst other stars, MVP candidate Claude Giroux (pictured above).
Kate Smith was a popular recording artist in the ’30s and ’40s, but had a resurgence in the late ’60s and early ’70s when the Flyers started playing her rendition of “God Bless America” before games. The Flyers played well on these occasions, to the point where she started performing it live before Flyers games. She ended her career as the Flyers anthemist with a record of 36-3-1, including regular performances during the 1975 and 1976 Stanley Cups, the Flyers only two championships to date.
Smith died in 1986, and nowadays, the Flyers current anthemist, Lauren Hart, sings a sort of duet with a video recording of Smith before select important games. We likely won’t hear the song until Game 3 brings the series to Philadelphia on Sunday, but we can listen to it today for a little luck.
Go Flyers.
Header image courtesy of Philly Sports Talk.