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A look around the Atlantic Division

By now, we know that the Flyers have “struck out” on all big free-agent items and failed to acquire Shea Weber. Right now, if you had to grade the Flyers offseason, what would you give them? Furthermore, what grade would you give the rest of the Flyers’ Atlantic Division foes? Let’s take a look at the rest of the division’s key acquisitions and losses, and where each of its member teams stand thus far through the end of free agency. New York Rangers Key Additions: F Rick Nash, Chris Kreider, Arron Asham. Key Losses: F Brandon Prust, F Brandon Dubinsky, …

Courtesy of Bleacher Report.

Crashing the Crease: A Tale of Two Bryzies

Goalies, by and large, are fragile.  As you look at more elite goalies, you see that they’re able to better overcome this inherent fragility, but even the best out there have developed coping mechanisms for the rigors of the position. “Routines” or “rituals,” as you’ll hear them called, are euphemisms for superstitious routines that let goalies exert a sense of ownership and control over a situation that is essentially dictating their activities.  Patrick Roy talked to his posts and skipped over the red and blue lines on the ice.  Braden Holtby, the Caps’ rookie netminder, was known for a “one-for-you, …

Two worlds colliding.

Flyers as “Anchorman” characters

As a tribute to one of the funniest movies ever, and in light of Will Ferrell’s recent visit to Philadelphia and his interaction with a few of the young Flyers, we’re getting a little silly this week. Close your eyes, sip your scotchy scotch scotch, and join us for “Flyers as ‘Anchorman’ characters.” Claude Giroux as Ron Burgundy This one is a given. Burgundy’s the leader of the group, smooth with the ladies, and has one of the best mustaches in the game, just like G does in Movember. I bet that Giroux’s apartment smells of rich mahogany, though I’m …

Being closer to the point of a deflection increases the angle required to beat a goaltender, improving the odds of a blocking save.

Crashing the Crease: Crashing the Crease

No, that title is not a symptom of double vision or some colossal editorial mistake. There is an important element to any hockey team’s game plan, and that is the very act of crashing the crease. Some broadcasters may refer to it as having good “net presence,” “going to the dirty areas to score,” or being in position to score a “garbage goal.” But net presence — and crashing the crease — is not a simple thing. Any team looking to crash the crease has a few major goals to accomplish, and each tactic demands a different response from the …

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Point/Counterpoint: Team defense and its effect on goaltending

Welcome to another edition of Point/Counterpoint, where a pair of Flyers Faithful scribes square off, debating an issue with their own unique style and flair. This week our resident goaltenders, and co-authors of Crashing the Crease, Kevin A and Justin B take on the issue of team defense and how it might affect goaltending. Point: The Flyers trying and failing to upgrade their defense, which has arguably gotten worse this summer, is going to be a bad thing for Ilya Bryzgalov.  by Kevin A The new defense will have a tough learning curve early in the year especially with the loss of their best puck mover …

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Why You Heff Ta Be Mad?

It’s been a tough last few days for Flyers fans. A tough offseason, even. The team wound up losing out on Shea Weber, and hasn’t really made any splash-worthy moves so far this summer. Of course, it’s still early and the team still has plenty of time to do something… though, at this point, their somethings are limited. Regardless, many Flyers fans are feeling pretty bummed right about now. So here are some hilarious Flyers moments to help cheer ‘em up! Kevin Marshall’s rise to fame thanks to his dancing “skills” in 24/7: Marshall showing off his acting/lip-synching “skills” with fellow …

2011-12's Best Value Goaltender

Crashing the Crease: Statistical Deviants

When I started writing this week’s article, I had initially planned to try and give some insight into the pressures of goaltending and how a massive contract can impact a guy. I kind of veered left, though, as I looked for a way to quantify not just a goalie’s performance, but his overall value to the team. It may seem pretty straightforward, but to fully understand it, I felt that some simple metrics could be combined to give a better total insight. Using www.capgeek.com, I pulled the cap hits for the goalies with the top 25 cap hits for the 2012-2013 …

Bryzgalov's on-ice displays can be a distraction. Courtesy of the National Post.

Crashing the Crease: A Better Bryz?

Another summer means another one of Ilya Bryzgalov’s goaltending camps in Ufa, and the quirky Flyers goaltender has taken time to speak to Sovetsky Sport’s Pavel Lysenkov. Puck Daddy’s Dmitry Chesnokov has published an early preview of this entertaining question and answer and in the midst Ilya’s sometimes cryptic answers lies a big clue as to what he may be focusing on for next season: “But I cannot say that I have ‘sport rage’ now and the next season I will show who the real Bryzgalov is! I set certain goals for myself and I will work to reach them. …

flymail

Flyers Mailbag #1

Welcome to the first installment of the Flyers Mailbag, where we take readers’ (not-so-serious) questions and answer them in the least sensible way possible. If you’d like to submit a question, feel free to tweet at me or comment here. From Hal Greenblatt (@HMGreenblatt): Why does @Hartsy19 (Scott Hartnell) fall so often? It’s gravity, baby. Or, he’s just really clumsy. Probably both. To be honest, I don’t have the real answer. But I do have my theories. Theory #1: there’s some sort of chip implanted somewhere on his body, and it is attracted to some sort of metal that is …

Leights reaches to cover a puck

Crashing the Crease: Killer Rebounds

Last week, Kevin took the time to evaluate Michael Leighton’s year in the AHL and to provide some insight into issues that we may expect to see with him.  One of the big issues I saw in watching the videos was what I’m going to call the “killer rebound.” In basic terms, this “killer rebound” is a first save gone wrong.  Horribly wrong.  The goalie makes the stop and, for a moment, feels a glimmer of satisfaction.  His pallor quickly reveals, though, that all is not right with this save. For one reason or another (i.e. a purely blocking save …