Philly started off the season with a 2-1 win against the defending Stanley Cup Champions, the Boston Bruins in Beantown, then recorded a dominant 3-0 shutout in New Jersey to end a 101-game drought during the regular season and playoffs combined. After giving up the first goal of the NHL season to Brad Marchand, the Flyers scored two goals in the final minute of the first period. Claude Giroux dangled his way to a goal with 50 seconds left, while Jakub Voracek scored with only three seconds to go on a turn around shot in the slot. Fortunately for Philly, this would be all they needed as Ilya …
Offseason questions
After shocking the hockey world with the blockbuster trades of Jeff Carter and Mike Richards, the Flyers created a number of questions that need to be answered before the regular season starts. Many of these questions will be answered during free agency and training camp. It’s too difficult to answer many, if not all, of these questions now. Nevertheless, it is important to identify them to make better sense of unexpected moves if and when they happen. Here, we will try to identify as many of the major questions as we can. Will Brayden Schenn and/or Sean Couturier make the …
Let the dust settle
Be careful what you wish for. You just might get it. The Flyers finally have their bona-fide starter. They have some size and grit. They have wingers. They have cap space, and draft picks, and prospects. As Dick Enberg is fond of saying…Oh my! They got all of the assets that we perceived to be lacking in the franchise and for the low, low price of the captain and one of the alternates. The cost is nothing more than a top-tier, team-leading scorer and a heart-and-soul, leave-it-all-on-the-ice leader. Really, it’s a mere pittance. First-line centers. Cornerstones. Franchise players. That’s it. Anyone …
Is Paul Holmgren still the right man for the job?
Paul Holmgren is a bold man, sure of what he wants and unflinching in his actions. He is willing to pay extra to beat the surge of activity to get his man. As a result, he’s built a team capable — in theory and in his own mind — of competing for the Stanley Cup. However, these actions are adding up and taking an increasing toll on a team that put its eggs in one basket for the 2011 season. That ultimately-failed course has been run, and the team did not win the Cup, yet again, and it is now …
Flight Plan Week of 03.13.2011
Ever hear that saying, “take one step forward and two steps back”? How about “two steps forward and one step back… off a cliff”? That’s what the Philadelphia Flyers did as you would think that last Sunday was rock bottom for the guys in Orange and Black when they took a 7-0 beating at the hands of the New York Rangers, but no. The Flyers were able to take any and all progress they had made in their previous two games against the Edmonton Oilers and the Toronto Maple Leafs and not only squander it, but revert back to a …
Trade deadline passes quietly for Flyers
The Philadelphia Flyers were dormant as the 2011 NHL Trade Deadline passed as of 3 p.m. (et). Flyers’ GM Paul Holmgren awoke from his slumber to make just one minor deal, acquiring prospect forward Tom Sestito from the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for prospects Michael Chaput and Greg Moore. Sestito will be assigned to Adirondack of the American Hockey League. “Well, he’s a big kid, I think he’s got 30-some-odd points down there in the AHL…he was there last year on an entry-level contract. I like the fact that he’s got a chance to play at some point for …
Flight Plan week of 01.30.2011
Now that we are officially past the All-Star Game and subsequently the half-way mark of the season, it would be a good time to let everyone know that this is when the real fun starts. The fine line between good teams and great teams starts to become even finer and more blurred. Those teams at the bottom of the barrel start to play better, those teams in the middle of the pack will feel the pressure of game 82 bearing down on them and this is where those great stories are written. Just like last year, there will teams fighting …