Flyers start slow but come on Strong

The Flyers were lead by Danny Briere last night. The diminutive forward came back and looked better than he has all season. With a lot of concern about how long he would be sidelined due to the lack of playing last year Danny was able to come back after missing only a few games. He was back to his normal pesky self in the offensive zone. He really led the charge last night in the offensive zone with two goals.

I was rather unimpressed with the opening period. However, the two players that are coming off of injuries were the perhaps the best players on the ice. JVR and Briere were on the goal scoring sheet and JVR continues his quest for the Calder Trophy and perhaps Briere for the comeback player of the year. This was another impressive victory once they got going. Since the start of November the Flyers have been one of the most dominate teams in the NHL. They have score five or more goals in all but one game (a 2-1 victory over St. Louis).

Is this the Flyers that everyone expected at the beginning of the year? I believe that some would have to say so. Emery has looked solid in net and the addition of Pronger has been a huge piece of the puzzle. Look at how poorly the Ducks have played without him. The surprise of the season has to come down to JVR and his exceptional play. Here is the number 2 overall draft pick coming in with high expectations. But he never laced up the skates for the Flyers before this season. He has played phenomenally thus far in the season. It might be fair to say that he will hit the wall at some point but the Olympic break could be the elixir for this wall. A couple week break in the middle of the season could recharge his batteries. He is definitely making a case to stay on the top two lines. The other surprise is our grind line. This is probably the line I am most proud of. Betts has been excellent in the faceoff circle and Carcillo hasn't taken the over the top stupid penalty.

Next up the Sabres in Philly.

Emery's Revenge

Tonight's game against the Sens will pit Razor against is former team. Here is a team that he once lead to the Stanley Cup finals. The Senators are actually playing fairly well this season. However, this may become more of a rivalry with Emery manning the pipes.


The biggest question coming into this game is the injury front. We have four players that are banged up and it doesn't look like we will have a full compliment of defensemen for this game. The question is just as muddy at the forward position with JVR and Briere looking to come back.

Flyers pound the Lightning

In late afternoon action yesterday the Flyers pounded the Lightning. The Orange and Black were lead by their leaders in yesterdays game. It appears as though Hartnell has remembered to go to the net in the last couple of games and it is paying off with goals and assists.

This game turned out to be a dominate performance yesterday only moments after the Lightning scored their first goal. Laliberte and Richards both scored shortly after the Tampa goal. This sealed the game. It it important to look at the last two games to see how this team responds to goals scored by the opposition. In the past two games immediately following opponents goals the Flyers have scored a goal to retake momentum. With the loss of two big scoring threats the Flyers have leaned on two up and comers in JVR and Laliberte to reestablish dominance in the game. Now we can't take this too far considering the opposition but the Flyers need to start somewhere. It is important to note that the Flyers need to keep pace in the Patrick Division. We aren't any better than the improved Islanders in the standings (only difference is the amount of games played).

The next game will be very important when we take on a hot Banana Slugs team from Buffalo. This has been one of the best teams in the league to this point in the session and Ryan Miller has been lights out. Only time will tell if they can keep up the pace but a win against the Sabres would help the Orange and Black keep pace in the ultra competitive Patrick Division.

Six Cases of Tastykakes

So on Saturday, the Flyers opened up with six cases of Tastykakes. I am thinking we might need to start a La La line with Giroux centering. A different twist on the French connection line. I was impressed with Laliberte's first game action. He didn't look out of place and I thought the return of Betts to the lineup was significant all over the ice.

The player that has played really well with a lot of blogger hatred has been Carcillo. I think he might have turned the corner in his stupid penalty syndrome. I really like to watch his game if for no other reason as to watch a player that looks to be on a mission to put someone through the glass and into the second row. The fourth line has been extremely consistent this season in offensive zone pressure. With the loss of Gagne and Briere to injury it might be time to give Carcillo a little more ice time.

Look for both teams to be flat this afternoon. Anything that disrupts routine will negatively affect the game. With the 5 pm start time the team that is able to overcome this first will have the best chance to take the two points.

Flyers battle in DC

The Flyers will take a short trip down 95 to battle it out with the Caps tonight. They are coming off of a weekend where things looked good until the Sharks showed up. The team was outplayed on Sunday night and didn't look nearly as impressive as the night before.

Tonight's game has a many layers of importance. The first and foremost is the fact that the Flyers want to continue to dominate this series. They won the first meeting of the season series in OT. If you look back over the last few years to the playoff series this has been a battle for the Flyers. Here is an elite team in the NHL and this is a team that we are comparing ourselves to. It is also important because of where we sit in the standings. The early season games are just as important and the boys are sitting in the middle of the pack. Now we may not have played as many games as the others but at no point do we want to have to fight our way back to the top. Our division is the toughest division in the east and it rivals the Central division from top to bottom so you don't want to lose touch with the leading teams in the division. Pittsburgh is currently leading the division with the Rangers keeping pace but the Flyers and Devils are sitting around looking up with a lot of points in between for this early in the season. We can't afford to lose to much ground or it will be difficult to make up later with how compact the schedule is.

I am still looking for a couple of players to improve their game. The first and foremost is Timo. Here was our best defensemen last season and you could argue that he might only be our fourth best defensemen this season. At the beginning of the season people were talking about the pairing of Pronger and Timo but Stevens hasn't let them on the ice together. In fact I would say the defensive pairing of Timo and Coburn need to pick up the pace. They are allowing a lot of goals and chance while on the ice. Another player I am looking forward to picking up his game is Hartnell. He has not started off the season very well in point production and this has lead Stevens to juggle the lines. Hartnell needs to get his nose dirty again and start being the bull to replace Knuble's production. That is currently happening by JVR and Asham. Hartnell is a better player than the stats would suggest.

I am absolutely impressed with the energy of the Carcillo line. His play has been absolutely inspiring and I love the grit and level of composer he has exhibited in his game this year. He deserves to get some points out of his work.

I am only too sad that I am not able to go to the game tonight because I would love to Rock the Orange in the Sea of Red.

Flyers back in Action

I can't imagine what this is doing to the flow of the season for the team. I hope the break in action and the trip to Florida has helped the team focus on tonight's opponent but we might not see any results for another week. The main problem is the scheduling over the next couple of weeks. They play tonight and then not again until late next week when it appears that they pick up a regular schedule until the Olympic break. They play two games in two weeks then the rest of the season is jammed with games. The scheduling is a nightmare. The only good thing this does for the Flyers is allow JVR and Betts to get healthy and only miss a few games.

What I want to see tonight (after a second Phillies win) will be a solid structure in defense and no mental lapses by the defensemen. I would like to see the forwards that haven't contributed yet start to look like they are more in the game (ahem, Gagne and Giroux). I would like to see Emery back in Carolina game form or at least New Jersey form. Obviously, I would like to see a win but I want a full 60 minutes of solid hockey and two points without any points going back to Florida. This should be a game of Flyers domination. This is not a high quality team and the Flyers need to take care of business in these games. They started the season playing 5 playoff teams and this is the first game against a team that didn't make the playoffs last year. If you want to be considered one of the best you need to put these teams away.

5 Game Seasons

Often times coaches talk about 5 game seasons. So I thought I would take a look at the first season of this season.

We have seen it all but overall there is something good in Philly. The team took 7 out of a possible 10 pts. But this could have been better. They let a point slip against the Ducks and could have taken a point or two against the Pens if they didn't have defensive miscues.

So lets break this down.

Positives -

Richards and Carle are scoring a lot of points and look like they are in mid season form (Carle looks like the kid in San Jose). Carter is picking up from where he left off last year as well. Emery has a shutout. The special teams have played well.

Negatives -

Defensive turnovers and mental lapses have cost the team two more wins and a potential win against the Caps. Emery has not played well against the absolute elite in the Eastern Conference. There are players missing from the offense (Gagne and Giroux). Injuries to JVR and Betts have actually hurt more than anyone would initially have thought. Not beating our cross state rival.

Areas of Focus -

Line changes and not getting caught, dumping in the puck and not turning it over at the blueline (something that will be worked on all season), defensive zone coverage, backchecking by the forwards, face offs and Goaltending (Boucher needs a game in case Emery goes down with an injury).