Heading into the All-Star break and a week-long hiatus in the schedule, the Flyers have earned to right to kick back for a couple days and bask in their success through the first 50 games of this season. With 71 points, the Flyers not only enjoy the best record in the NHL, they are also off to the third-best 50-game start in franchise history.
Unlike the Flyers last game before their eight-day Christmas hiatus -- a desultory 5-0 loss to the Florida Panthers -- Philly came out ready for work against the Montreal Canadiens last night. Up and down the lineup, the players brought a strong focus and a lunchpail work ethic to the game. At times, the Flyers utterly dominated with their forecheck. At other junctures, they found ways to hold off Montreal surges and restore order to the game.
With the penalty kill and power play finally clicking into place, it's almost a shame that the team now faces a week off until its next game. Special teams are a rhythm. When it's in synch, it can go on and on. When it's broken, it can be tough to recover quickly. Every time there's such a long break, you are almost starting at square one again on special teams. Hopefully, the club can rebuild quick momentum on the PK and PP when the schedule resumes next Tuesday in Tampa Bay.
Likewise, it's almost too bad that Sergei Bobrovsky's run of excellent starts and the outstanding recent play of the Jeff Carter line will be interrupted for the next week. On the goaltending front, Brian Boucher carried much of the load over the early part of the Flyers' mid-December to present run of excellence, but the Russian rookie has done the heavier lifting in goal of late as he did early in the season.
As for the forwards, the Flyers are blessed with three lines that can get hot for several games at a time. Even if the Carter line cools off after the break, the Danny Briere line is due for another tear at some point soon and Mike Richards (who has been excellent in each of the last two games) is also capable of taking over for a few games. With all their depth, the Flyers create matchup problems for most of their of opponents.
Likewise, a huge part of the reason why the Flyers stand atop the NHL right now is the fact that Peter Laviolette can simply roll out his three defensive pairings without fear of "hiding" a defenseman or spotting a certain pairing selectively. This club truly has six legitimate NHL defensemen and three good pairings. When Pronger kicks into playoff mode (as he did at times last night), the blueline becomes an especially big advantage for Philly.
Today's
Daily Drop at Versus.com takes an in-depth look at just how impressive the Flyers' 10-2-0 rub in January really was. Say what you will about the games in which the club had to sweat out wins after blowing or nearly blowing multiple goal leads, the bottom line is that Philly passed its toughest test of the 2010-11 regular season with flying colors.
Last but not least, congratulations to the franchise on becoming the first non-Original Six team to reach the 1,000 home win milestone.
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One positive aspect of the long hiatus and the club's light schedule overall over the next three weeks (no back-to-back games, and just four games in the next 17 days) is that it will give banged-up players and veterans a chance to rest and recuperate before the stretch drive and playoff marathon begins.
The time off should do Pronger and Kimmo Timonen some good. Likewise, James van Riemsdyk (day-to-day with a lower body injury) will now have plenty of time to get back to full health. Likewise, Ville Leino -- who has looked increasingly fatigued over the last few weeks -- should play with more energy again when he gets a chance to recharge his batteries.
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I have always had an interest in following the careers of players who choose to take their careers off the beaten trail and play the game in more unconventional locales. One such player is former Colorado Avalance and Boston Bruins center Joel Prpic.
Rather than accepting offers to play in Switzerland or Germany after he had his (brief) NHL run and lengthy run in the AHL during the mid-1990s to early 2000s, he took an offer to play in Japan. He ended up staying for seven years. In the last two years, he has chosen to play in his ancestral homeland of Croatia for the Zagreb team in the Austrian-based EBEL. The Canadian-born Prpic also plans to play for the Croatian national team as soon as he is eligible next year, and hopes to finish his career in Zagreb.
This week's
Across the Pond at NHL.com looks at Prpic's unusual career.
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