Maxime Talbot, a six-year veteran with the Penguins, was a bit surprised that one of the first phone calls he got when he became an unrestricted free agent July 1 came from Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren.
"The Flyers called and I stopped for a second," Talbot told NHL.com, "and I'm like, is this something I could do? And I said yes."
The 27-year-old forward signed a five-year, $8.75 million deal that day, adding fuel to the bitter rivalry. One of the more popular Penguins players due to his rough-and-tumble style, ever-present smile and outgoing personality, seeing Talbot trade gold and black for orange and black was tough news for some Pens fans to handle.
"I got … messages on Twitter and Facebook from (Penguins) fans," Talbot said. "Half of them are taking it to heart and saying how could you do that. The other half said thanks for everything you did and good luck in Philly."
Talbot said it wasn't easy leaving Pittsburgh, but as free agency approached he realized he didn't seem to be in the Penguins' plans.
"The first step for me this summer was to realize that I was not going to be back with the Pens," he said. "That was obviously tough. It was a hard thing, because I had been there six good years. But when that was set aside, I wanted to make the best decision for Max Talbot -- the best organization that gave me the chance to win, an organization that treats its players well and takes pride in winning and doing the right things."
That made signing with the Flyers an easy decision for Talbot.
"You know one, two players on every single team in the League," he said. "You hear about the way ownership and the organization takes care of their players. Let's say there's 10 top teams (in the top third), 10 middle teams … the Flyers always come up in the first third. It's their reputation and I think it's well-deserved. Since I signed here, I know camp hasn't started, but I can see the professionalism of the ownership. You feel like you're in good hands. It would have been tough for me to move from Pittsburgh to a team that you have to build a lot more."
After facing Talbot 32 times during the past six regular seasons -- plus a pair of knock-down, drag-out playoff series -- the Flyers know just what they're getting.
"He's that kind of player that, when you play against him, you can't stand him," forward Claude Giroux told NHL.com. "He's in your face, won't leave you alone. When he's on your side, he's doing the same things to the other players on the other teams. I think he's going to be able to help us a lot this year.
"I know the fans here are going to love him. He works hard, he can hit, he can fight, he can score goals. He's the kind of player the Flyers fans can like."
While the battles on the ice were fierce, Talbot said he couldn't help but build a respect for the players he was battling against.
"There's a huge respect," he said. "As much as Pittsburgh and Philly don't like each other, there's a tremendous amount of respect for both teams. Both have been at the top of the League the last three years. There have been some great battles. There's obviously respect, but that's why you don't like these guys that much. Because they're a good team, because you know they can beat you and you know you can beat them. It's going to be a team that can put the most effort into winning that will win.
