Consistent. If you’re a Philadelphia Flyers fan, over the past four years, you have never seen that word associated with the team you love. “Up and down” or “streaky” or “just plain bad” at times “unbelievably good” at times, but never were any of the teams over the past four years “consistent”. This team is the definition of consistent. They don’t win too many games in a row, they don’t lose too many games in a row, but they consistently show up and consistently get their points and that’s why they have the most wins of any team in the …
Flyers’ best defense still needs more offense
It’s mid-January. The Philadelphia Flyers are in first place in the Atlantic Division and tops in the Eastern Conference, and are challenging for the best overall record in the NHL. The Devils are struggling to rise above the flames of their own personal Hades. The Islanders are sinking. The Rangers are good but not good enough, gasping for air and cramping up in the 21st mile. The Penguins are still hanging about in the rear view, still furiously waddling and flapping but unable to take off. Doesn’t matter though. Things can’t be totally perfect. I know it’s really nitpicking at this …
Hitting the posts: 01.15.11
“Hitting the posts” is a weekly roundup of links to hockey stories from across the web. If you have any suggestions for articles that we should use, hit us up here. Jody Shelley is having a good week :: Goal, Fight Sean O’Donnell’s big hit :: KuklasKorner Matt Walker struggles in debut :: Philly Sports Daily Jeff Carter is quietly having a great year :: Broad Street Hockey Value of goaltending :: SportsNet Naming the Hartnell – Briere – Leino line :: Philly Sports Daily Aggregated NHL Power Rankings :: From the Rink Do’s and Don’t for GMs on the …
The Flyers’ Christmas wish list
The holiday season is upon us and, while stockpiling items on our Amazon wish lists, we decided to come up with our own list of things we would want for the Philadelphia Flyers in 2011. Here are our top 10 wishes, minus the most obvious one (a Stanley Cup championship): 10. Cap relief The Flyers have zero need for Matt Walker. They never did. When he becomes healthy, if the Flyers can find a taker who is desperate for a physical defender, jackpot. If not, just waive him. Meanwhile, it probably won’t be too long before the goaltending logjam gets …
Benchmarking some ’11 predictions
We were too new and too disorganized to assemble a preview of the 2011 NHL season worth reading. However, we made sporadic predictions on our site and participated in Freeze the Puck’s Atlantic Division Preview. So, we’ll aggregate some of those predictions here and benchmark our results. Prediction #1: Breakout stars Atlantic Division: I’m going to pick Claude Giroux. He’s been a slow starter over the last few seasons but he also hasn’t had wingers that could keep up with him on his line. Claude Giroux is only two goals shy of tying his career high of 16 goals. He …
Five questions: Which of the following defenders will emerge as the best: Matt Carle, Braydon Coburn, or Andrej Meszaros?
Flyers Faithful asked Sarah Baicker from CSN Philly, Anthony SanFilippo from the DelCo Daily Times, Geoff Detweiler from Broad Street Hockey, and our very own Nina G five questions about the ’11 Flyers’ season. We are very grateful that they took the time to share their opinions and predictions with us. Each day of this week, we will run the answers to one of those questions. Today’s question is: Which of the following defenders will emerge as the best: Matt Carle, Braydon Coburn, or Andrej Meszaros? Sarah Baicker: Matt Carle. It’s funny – Carle’s quiet consistency is often unnoticed in …
The morning after: Flyers vs. Lightning 10.14.10
“The morning after” is a review of the previous night’s Flyers’ game which, in theory, provides a more objective perspective on the game. Hey, did you hear that Simon Gagne returned to Philadelphia last night? I bet you didn’t. It sort of flew by under the radar. Like every other diehard Flyers fan, you were probably too focused on the return of the legendary Randy Jones to notice. In case you did miss the game, here is the tribute to Gagne, which originally appeared on The 700 Level: Gagne deserved the standing ovation he received but he was a non-factor on …
Mixed bag: 10.10.10
Mixed Bag is an infrequent column that features a collection of opinions and observations about the Flyers. In the grand scheme of things, two games makes for a small sample size. There’s no reason to make any significant changes at this point or even begin to declare that some things may or may not be working well. These are just general observations and nothing more than that. So far, Mike Richards has lost 16 of the 29 faceoffs he’s taken, putting him at 44%. Jeff Carter, who was the team’s best faceoff man last season, has only taken 13 faceoffs …
The morning after: Flyers vs. Sabres 10.01.10
“The morning after” is a review of the previous night’s Flyers’ game which, in theory, provides a more objective perspective on the game. Well, that was the most entertaining game of the preseason. Brian Boucher looked good in net tonight, outdeuling Ryan Miller to a 3-1 Flyers victory. He’s played the toughest games of the preseason, which should be an indication that, no matter how high the organization is on Sergei Bobrovsky, Boucher will begin the season as the starting goaltender. This team makes plays that are so much prettier now. The additions of Nikolay Zherdev and Ville Leino, as …
Are the Flyers a better team?
This question was recently asked on the Flyers Forum and, admittedly, it caught me off guard. For all of the knee-jerk reactions we are accustomed to giving as fans of Philadelphia sports teams, I had a hard time saying no to this question. I wanted to lash out about how management backed themselves into a corner with the cap and it forced them to trade the beloved Simon Gagne for garbage, or about the illogical acquisition of overpaid defender, Andrej Meszaros, while plenty of good free agent defenders were available. I had a million reasons to complain about how I …