The Flyers started off the week well, with a win in Ottawa 7-2, but followed it up with two straight losses, a 5-2 setback to the Caps and a 4-2 decision to the Blues — both at home. The Flyers need to play better if they want to turn around this current losing streak. That being said, it is time for this week’s three stars: Matt Read — Read had a career-best goal and three assists in the thrashing of the Sens and has continued his solid all around play at both ends of the ice. He was held scoreless …
Flight Plan Week of 10.23.2011
The Philadelphia Flyers started out of the gate as one of the hottest teams in the National Hockey League, winning four of their first five games and getting points in all five of them. Since then, they have suffered two embarrassing (though in different ways) back-to-back losses on home ice at the hands of the Washington Capitals and the St. Louis Blues. To lose to the Capitals by a score of 5-2 when they’re one of the hotter teams in the NHL at the beginning of the season, and just about every bounce goes the way of the opposition, well …
Blues Over Flyers in a Lackluster Effort
Okay, so maybe that headline is a little harsh, but the Flyers played rather poorly in this game. The whole team came out of the locker room slow, got down early, and were not able to make up the difference. The Flyers ultimately lost this game, 4-2, to a suddenly resurgent St. Louis Blues. The Blues, despite getting into town late after an overtime win against Carolina the night before, came out strong right from the drop of the puck. They controlled play early and were skating well. After the Flyers iced it early in the first period, the Blues won the ensuing face-off and …
A constant in post-lockout Flyerville
In the book, Hockey Dad, Bob McKenzie discusses a concept he calls the “Hard Work Fairy”. “I only know I have an unwavering faith that if an individual works hard enough long enough at anything, good things will happen and there will be a reward,” writes McKenzie. “But the problem with the philosophy is that every hockey player of any age or ability always thinks he’s working hard, and most of them aren’t. Not even close.” McKenzie admits that the term is comical but the concept is a solid one. Work hard and your efforts will pay off eventually. No …
Suggested slogans for 2012
For the 2011 playoffs, the Flyers chose a slogan that was a favorite expression of coach Peter Laviolette. It read, “With all our will, we will.” Personally, I’m convinced that the players spent so much time trying to figure out exactly what this meant that it caused brain drain, which then led to the listless team that could barely keep up with their postseason opponents. So, we would like to suggest some new slogans for next season to prevent this potential disaster from happening again. With any luck, one of these will stick. Business never personal Get off our backs, …
Friday roundup
First, there was this from Flyers GM Paul Holmgren: “Spent the day getting to know Ilya and Jeniya. There will be no comment on discussions that are ongoing.” Then, there was Peter Laviolette personally chauffering his presumed netminder around town. Now, this: Ilya Bryzgalov left town and a deal was not signed. Well…there’s always next week’s draft… In other non-local, non-garment-rending news: The Minnesota Wild have a new head coach. Good luck with that. And the Dallas Stars begin a new era where they can’t admit they’re rebuilding with a new bench boss. $50 if you can say his name …
Then and Now: Janne Niinimaa
What do Chris Pronger, Kimmo Timonen, and Janne Niinimaa all have in common? They were all drafted in the 1993 NHL Entry draft. How many were drafted by the Philadelphia Flyers? Only Janne Niinimaa. Pronger went second, to the Hartford Whalers, while Timonen could be considered the hidden gem of the draft going 250nd to the Los Angeles Kings. Well, we know what Pronger and Timonen are doing with their careers now, but what about Niinimaa? Before the aforementioned question is answered, let us remember Niinimaa’s brief time spent in Philly. Spending three seasons with Jokerit in the SM-liiga after …
Another Philly sports drama
A player who assumes a role of leadership for a sports team in Philadelphia is bound to bear the brunt of undue criticism. This is particularly true for players who have great expectations thrust upon them. It happened with Charles Barkley. It happened to Eric Lindros. It happened in Randall Cunningham’s later years, just as it did for Donovan McNabb. It happened with Terrell Owens. It happened with Allen Iverson. It happened with Pat Burrell to some extent. It happens intermittently with Ryan Howard and Cole Hamels. The Flyers are not immune to these perils either, despite a near-unbroken chain …
In case you missed it: Useful insights from Bill Meltzer
Not long after the Flyers’ 2011 season came to a close, Bill Meltzer revealed some useful bits of information on Twitter that are simply too important not to point out. In case you missed it, here they are: Too many Flyers failed to compete. There were also egos that got a little out of control this season. Too many guys more worried about their ice time than winning, too many guys who wanted the easy way out. There’s a lot of blame to go around. I think some of the offseason moves will answer the questions as to which players …
Why Laviolette is being out coached
We have obtained exclusive footage of Peter Laviolette explaining why his coaching abilities have recently taken a nosedive.