Bellmawr’s Eric Robinson got his first taste of Philly playoff hockey. His friends were ‘chirping him the whole time’

Eric Robinson, a left winger for the Carolina Hurricanes, was born and raised a Flyers fan in Bellmawr, N.J. The nine-year NHL veteran has played around eight regular-season games in Philadelphia at Xfinity Mobile Arena, but Thursday’s Game 3 was his first as a playoff opponent.

He didn’t hear much chirping from the local fans — at least none within earshot — but he did hear some chirping from his friends. Robinson had two shots and played 7 minutes, 41 seconds in Game 3.

“We’re talking every day,” said Hunter Brody, a childhood friend of Robinson’s and a 94 WIP host. “The group chat is going nuts. I’m sure he goes to his phone and there’s 7,000 messages because we’re chirping him the whole time, and then just send him a heart after the game.

“Tonight, I sent him a picture of my board on WIP, talking about the refs. And he’s like, ‘Dude, the Taylor Hall hit wasn’t that bad.’ We’re just having fun or whatever.”

» READ MORE: Flyers’ playoff hopes on life support after 4-1 loss in penalty-filled Game 3

Brody and Robinson both played hockey at Hollydell Ice Arena and Pennsauken Skate Zone in South Jersey. They also both went to Gloucester Catholic High School, where they were teammates with the late Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau, and were coached by Guy Gaudreau.

The group chat in question — “Hollydell Hockey” — is full of Flyers fans, who are now toeing the line between friendship and fandom. It is not an easy balance.

“I don’t even know how to explain it,” Brody said. “I want him to score nine goals, and I want the Flyers to win 10-9, but if he wins the [Stanley] Cup, I’m also happy. So, I don’t know. It’s crazy. It’s a weird thing.”

During the early 2010s, the Hurricanes’ left winger attended playoff games at the formerly named Wells Fargo Center. His favorite players were Claude Giroux, Jeremy Roenick, Mike Richards, and Jeff Carter.

Robinson said that being in a Philadelphia playoff environment, as the opposing team, felt “different.”

He and his teammates were on the wrong side of some vitriolic boos, for example (which eventually turned toward the Flyers, as they fell to the Hurricanes, 4-1, and now trail 3-0 in the second-round series).

But Robinson said it didn’t faze him much.

» READ MORE: Eric Tulsky grew up in Philly and wrote for Broad Street Hockey. Now, the Carolina GM is facing his hometown team.

“I was just a little more focused on the game,” he said. “Because it was playoffs, it’s louder in here and more intense. Kind of keeps you more focused on the game rather than [the fact] that you’re in Philly.”

He added: “They’re a passionate fan base. They go to bat for their teams. It makes for an intense environment — which is a good thing. It’s the playoffs, that’s what it is supposed to be.”

Perhaps Robinson isn’t fazed by this because he grew up around it. The Bellmawr native went to several raucous Flyers playoff games from 2010-12.

He knows, firsthand, how rabid the fan base can get.

And if he ever needs a reminder, Robinson can look no further than his “Hollydell Hockey” group chat.

“We’re proud,” Brody said. “But if he doesn’t score and he had a breakaway, we’re like, ‘Oh dude, how dare you not score.’ But at the end of the day, we’re like ‘We love you, we’re proud of you, we’re happy for you.’”