UPDATE 11:45 AM
The Flyers held a relatively up-tempo practice today in Voorhees before heading out for their Florida bonding trip and games in Tampa and Sunrise. Some notes:
* Chris Pronger was in good spirits but would not tip his hand one way or another about whether he will play tomorrow night. It has nothing to do with his vision at this point. He said that he's coming along but "wasn't feeling too hot" yesterday and his conditioning isn't where he wants to be. However, if one had to venture a guess, I would suspect Pronger will play tomorrow. By the way, when it came time to be interviewed after taking off his equipment, Pronger left the room momentarily and gleefully came back sporting a t-shirt that said "Go Screw Yourself".
* Peter Laviolette said that a lot of the discussion heading into Tampa has focused on decision-making with the puck, putting it into safe areas when there is not a play to be made. He said that although he was happy with the Flyers' offensive output in most of their games against Tampa last year, they need to take better care of the puck to prevent Tampa's skill players from running wild the way they did last season.
* Claude Giroux said that there may be times in the season where having a string of off-days would not be beneficial when his line is rolling the way it has been. However, with the club coming off three games in four nights and having logging a lot of minutes in all game situations, he felt the extra off days (apart from the bonding activities) would do himself and the team some good.
* Kimmo Timonen seemed OK on the ice and ready to go for tomorrow night, although he did not stay in the locker room very long.
* Blair Betts (remember him?) did an off-ice workout today. I mentioned this to others who were here today: I would not be surprised if Betts -- health-dependent, of course -- ends up dressing on the fourth line in the playoffs next spring. First of all, you can never have too much penalty killing help and he's good on faceoffs. Second, the salary cap is not a factor in the post-season. Last but not least, Blair will have plenty of motivation to show the NHL that he can still play and is worthy of a spot (or at a training camp invite) somewhere next season.
* Tim Panaccio will have an Ilya Bryzgalov-related blog here at HockeyBuzz, with a related feature on CSN Philly later today.
*****
MORNING MUSINGS
In past years, the Flyers' swings through Tampa Bay and the Miami area have often proven to be difficult ones. Even when the Lightning and Panthers have not played particularly well against the rest of the league, they've often proven to be exceptionally tough opponents for Philadelphia. Now, the Panthers are greatly improved and Tampa is in its second season as a contender to come out of the East come playoff time.
Ordinarily, I am not a huge fan of lengthy schedule breaks. They disrupt a team's rhythm and often lead to flat, out-of-synch performances in the first game back on the ice. This time around, however, I think the respite of having only one game this week will be beneficial to the Flyers.
First of all, they have numerous banged-up players who can use the non-game days to recuperate and get back into the lineup. It looks like Chris Pronger and Matt Read will be ready to go by tomorrow, and the break in the game schedule gives players such as Danny Briere and James van Riemsdyk -- who missed games last week, but later returned -- a chance to get back to 100 percent.
Secondly, although the Flyers allowed just five goals in the last three Ilya Bryzgalov starts plus three (not counting shootout) in Sergei Bobrovsky's start against New Jersey, the team defensive system still needs to get back to where it was prior to Pronger's eye injury. The practice time and the reincorporation of Pronger back into the lineup should be very beneficial to the team, but everyone has work to do.
When the schedule is packed with games, it's harder to work on things at practice. Hopefully, the Flyers will have gotten in two good, up-tempo practices leading into tomorrow's game against the Bolts.
Last but not least, I think it's helpful for this Flyers team to get out on the road for awhile. The early part of the schedule has been heavily packed with home games. When players are at home -- at least most of the ones who are married with children -- they are really only with their teammates at practice in the morning to early afternoon. On the road, they are amongst their teammates virtually all the time.
The Flyers are doing their annual "team bonding retreat" during this southern road swing. To be honest, I don't think these things necessarily translate into more wins (the same as I didn't think the two-day workshops and off-site get-togethers that my own previous employers organized necessarily made my co-workers and me into better employees).
However, it is a good thing to shake up the routine from time to time. The hockey season is a marathon, and I know the players usually look forward to the bonding trip for much the same reason I used to look forward to an annual off-site two-day workshop my former employer did. You laugh a lot. You get to talk to your co-workers in a relaxed setting and get to know them in a little different setting.
Does it really translate into a more cohesive, unified workplace? Maybe, maybe not.
******
This week on the Flyers' official Web site, I took a look at the
quartet of veteran leaders who help steer the club: Chris Pronger, Kimmo Timonen, Danny Briere and Jaromir Jagr.
With ex-Flyer Vaclav Prospal nearing the coveted 1,000-game milestone in the NHL, I authored an article for NHL.com about his long and winding journey through pro hockey in North America. As of now, the article is scheduled to run on the day he plays his 1,000th game (he's currently 8 games away). However, it may be moved up in the rotation. When it is published only, I'll link to it here and on Twitter.
*****
KINDLE USERS: Please sign up for Flyers Buzz. For more information
click here.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
Join the Discussion:
»