After celebrating Christmas with their families, the Flyers are reassembling in Vancouver to begin preparations for the first game of a brutal road trip that starts with a tilt against the Canucks on Tuesday night. It is not often that a club gets to spend two days in a road city preparing for a regular season game, so the Flyers need to take advantage of it when the face off with the Canucks in what promises to be a good game.
What would be a realistic goal for the Flyers to set over this stretch of 9 games out of 10 on the road, followed by a home game against the Washington Capitals? I view this as an 11-game segment because the first game back from a road trip often proves to be tough to win against virtually any opponent, and the Caps (recent struggles aside) are a mighty tough opponent under the best of circumstances.
Ideally, I think that if the Flyers can take 16 of a possible 22 points (7-2-2) over the 11-game stretch, they should be in real good shape heading into a more favorable segment of the schedule before and after the All-Star break. Of course, winning seven of the next 11 games without the services of Chris Pronger and facing a slate of tough games on short rest or no rest is going to be extremely tough. But you have to set your ambitions high if you consider yourself a serious Cup contender.
That said, even if the Flyers take just 11 of 22 points (5-5-1), it won't be too bad. I just hope they play good hockey and avoid injury through some games where goals may be tough to come by. I detailed the road trip in my last blog, but here it is again for those who have not seen the schedule:
* The Flyers start the trip with three games in four nights in Vancouver, LA and Anaheim. If the club can take 5 of 6 points from this segment, it would be a tremendous accomplishment. Even 3 of 6 (a win, a regulation loss and an OT/SO loss) would be OK.
* After one day off on New Year's Day, the Flyers play in Detroit. Philly hasn't won in Detroit since 1988 and with this game being the fourth road game in six nights, I don't think the club is going to have the legs to win this one. Even in my best-case scenario, I penciled this one in as a regulation loss.
* After the Detroit game, the Flyers get a chance to catch their breath. They get three days off before a home-and-home with the Devils (with a day in between the two games). Given the Devils struggles this season, the Flyers should win both ends of the home-and-home, even if one of the games is settled in OT or via shootout. Taking four points in this mini-segment is going to be crucial to navigating the 11-game stretch.
*The Flyers have two days off after their home game against NJ on Jan 8. Thereafter they play another 3-game-in-4-night, 4-game-in-6-night road stretch with stops in Buffalo, Boston, Atlanta (the night after the Bruins game) and Madison Square Garden. Ideally, the Flyers can find a way to get 5 or 6 of 8 possible points. This stretch of games concerns me, though. These are the types of jaunts where it's not only hard to win games, it takes some luck to avoid injuries.
* After one day off following the game against the Rangers, the Flyers then return home for 8 of their next 10 games, starting with a game against the Capitals. I would not be surprised if the Flyers start off by losing to Washington, but the game is a toss-up on paper as of now.
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Today's
Daily Drop at Versus.com updates the status of Peter Forsberg.
There was no Christmas miracle for Foppa, who suffered another setback with his chronic right foot problem. Forsberg informed Modo Hockey over Christmas that he will discontinue training with their Elitserien team and take several weeks off. If and when he resumes training, it will be with Modo's junior team.
Foppa still stopped short of announcing retirement. He said before the season that there are no more surgeries and rehabs, no more strengthening exercises to try, no more customized inserts or skate modifications to be designed. During this latest comeback bid, Forsberg has simply been working out as hard as he can, realizing that he's either got to make the best of his foot condition -- since it will never be "fixed" -- or he has to retire.
Given that his foot (not surprisingly) didn't hold up in practice, he has yet more evidence that retirement is the only option. He simply isn't quite ready to utter those words yet, but sources close to him says that Forsberg himself is well aware that his chances of ever playing competitive hockey again are practically zero.
At this point, he's only delaying the inevitable. It's sad.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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