To say this was a rough week for the Flyers would be an understatement. They managed to pull out one victory this week, but it came at the cost of losing Chris Pronger to a nasty eye injury. Embarrassing losses to the Washington Capitals and St. Louis Blues provided a rough taste of reality for the Flyers, a team that had yet to experience much adversity since their hectic roster shuffle in the offseason. Despite all the negative aspects of this week for Philly, the Flyers are still second in the Atlantic Division and fourth in the Eastern Conference with 11 …
Flyers beat Leafs, Pronger suffers eye injury
The cliche pops up every time a serious injury occurs in any college or professional game — that these unfortunate events serve as stunning reminders that sports is ultimately about the players and not the actual passion in competition. Nonetheless, you could tell the air was sucked out of the Wells Fargo Center and time seemed to stand still with just over eight minutes to play in the first period of a 4-2 Flyers victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday night. That’s when Flyers captain Chris Pronger suffered a potentially serious right eye injury when struck full-on by …
3 on 3 for the week of 10.23.2011
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 …
But what does it mean?
N.B. I apologize in advance for this stream of consciousness post. I need some more time to organize my thoughts on the roster changes and will likely edit this post this afternoon. This morning, the Flyers announced that Brayden Schenn was recalled and Zac Rinaldo and Harry Zolnierczyk were loaned to the Phantoms. That leaves the Flyers with a glut of centers and some big questions about where everyone fits in the lineup. Through five games and a 4-0-1 record, the Flyers have been firing on all cylinders. They lead the league in goals per game (3.80) and have given up …
Some thoughts through game three
The Flyers quickly dispelled concerns about stumbling out of the gate and needing time to jell. Through three games, they’ve amassed six points and a league-best +5 goal differential. So what trends are starting to form? Claude Giroux is proving me wrong for saying that his offensive output might drop from last season. He has three goals in as many games, which leads the league, and he also leads all forwards with five points (Kris Letang has six points through four games). Defensive stalwarts, Chris Pronger and Kimmo Timonen lead the team in ice time, averaging 23:44 and 23:30, respectively. I …
3 on 3 for the week of 10.9.11
Welcome to 3 on 3, a new weekly column I will be doing for flyersfaithful.com. It will be a statistical breakdown of the past week’s games and a look at the three best and worst Flyers of the week. The Flyers have started out hot, going 2-0 in their first 2 games, beating Boston 2-1 on Thursday and shutting out the Devils 3-0 on Saturday. Everyone is playing well for the most part so lets go to my three “Hot” players for last week: 1. Wayne Simmonds- Wearing #17 and having to fill some of Jeff Carter’s goal scoring shoes …
Considering Hartnell as a trade candidate
The Flyers currently have a logjam on offense and will likely look to shed both a contract and salary in the near future. As a result, Scott Hartnell’s name has once again popped up as a possible trade candidate. Should he be on the block, though? First of all, let’s state the obvious: Nobody is untouchable and, if the return is good enough, anyone could be traded. Let’s take a look at the positives and negatives of trading Hartnell. The Good Hartnell is the second-highest paid forward behind only Daniel Briere. The Flyers could alleviate a lot of cap headaches …
Five Questions: Aside from Briere, which forward will step up as a leader for the Flyers this season?
Flyers Faithful asked Dave Isaac from Philly Sports Daily, Ryan from Flyers Goal Scored By…, Anthony Mingioni from The Hockey Guys,Center Ice Philly, and Sportsology, and our very own Frick five questions about the first half of the 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: Aside from Briere, which forward will step up as a leader for the Flyers this season? Dave Isaac: The two biggest names that will need to step up are Claude Giroux …
Five Questions: Schenn aside, which prospects stand the best chance of making the Flyers this season?
Flyers Faithful asked Dave Isaac from Philly Sports Daily, Ryan from Flyers Goal Scored By…, Anthony Mingioni from The Hockey Guys,Center Ice Philly, and Sportsology, and our very own Frick five questions about the first half of the 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: Schenn aside, which prospects stand the best chance of making the Flyers this season? Dave Isaac: When the Flyers made the big trades over the summer, it looked like Matt Read …
Great Expectations: Wayne Simmonds
When Wayne Simmonds was traded to the Philadelphia Flyers, numerous fans of the Los Angeles Kings mentioned how he would become a fan favorite. It didn’t take long. A couple of hits, a few good shifts, a goal or two later and Simmer officially won over many Philadelphians. The gritty winger scored four goals in five games, enough to tie for the league lead in the preseason. He won over the hearts of his coaches too and has been penciled in to the second line, alongside Daniel Briere and Jakub Voracek. Meanwhile, Scott Hartnell, who had great chemistry with Briere, appears …