Bill Meltzer Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • RSS
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Here are some Flyers quick hits for your Wednesday morning. I will be leaving shortly to attend the NHL's press conference in New York later today, along with Eklund and HockeyBuzz's Capt. EO.
* When Ilya Bryzgalov left CSKA Moscow ahead of the settlement of the NHL lockout, the official cover reason issued by the team was that Bryzgalov had an upper-body injury for which he needed to see a U.S.-based specialist and would be unable to play for several weeks. Right off the bat, it sounded like bunk.
Sure enough, Bryzgalov is fine. He's been working out on the ice with other Flyers players in Voorhees all this week, ahead of Sunday's scheduled opening of camp.
Yesterday, Bryzgalov was in a relaxed and jovial mood after the workout. I'm not one to declare the player "ready to have a big year" based on his demeanor after preseason workouts. He was just as happy and gregarious last year before the start of the season. While he certainly should be well-acquainted by now with the pressure that comes with playing goal in Philadelphia (especially on a huge contract), the proof will be in his play on the ice when the bell rings on the shortened season.
One thing you have to understand about Russian hockey: The KHL has an obsession with trying not to seem weak. There is always a lot of "standing up to the NHL" tough talk and posturing that goes on, both in the public eye and behind the scenes. That is what drove league president Alexander Medvedev's defiant comments yesterday about potentially refusing to enforce the league's non-interference agreement with the NHL.
For the same reason, many KHL teams have been applying pressure and offering monetary temptations for contracted NHL players not to return to North America. If a player left early, the official reason either had to be that it was the team's decision to release him for poor performance or due to injury.
Bryzgalov played very well in each of final four starts for CSKA, without a hint of looking injured in his final start (a win against former Flyers teammate Sergei Bobrovsky's SKA St. Petersburg team). While it is possible that Bryz had some sort of minor upper-body issue, the fact that he's already on the ice in Voorhees makes pretty clear that it's nothing of significance.
* Thank you to Brian Startare for having me on his WIP show late last night. One of the more interesting discussion topics that Brian raised was about the conditioning level of Flyers players. I think the Flyers will enjoy a slight benefit from having such a large number of players who were active in Europe or the AHL during the lockout.
However, there are two ways of looking at it. For example, Kimmo Timonen got much-needed extra time to recuperate after back surgery. But will the instant wear-and-tear of the compressed schedule undo any benefit from the added rehab time?
On the flip side, Ruslan Fedotenko was the first Flyers player to officially announce that he was signing in Europe during the lockout. He logged very heavy ice time, leading all forwards on Donbass Donetsk with an average 18:40 of ice time per game. Generally a winger in North America, Fedotenko centered his team's top line and was matched up against other team's best players on a game-in and game-out basis.
In many games, Fedotenko played 20-plus minutes. When the team was protecting leads or down by one goal in the third period, he would sometimes be out on nearly an every-other-shift basis. His KHL point totals (eight goals and 18 points in 33 games) were not eye-popping but if there was a KHL version of the Selke Trophy, Fedotenko would have been a good candidate.
Fedotenko's offense was often very timely. For instance, three of his eight goals came in a single game when matched up against against Evgeni Malkin. Fedotenko completed the hat trick with the game winner in overtime. He also scored a pair of shootout winning goals that, of course, are not reflected in his point totals.
All that is well and good. Fedotenko stayed sharp during the lockout and should return to the Flyers feeling ready to contribute to his original NHL team. Now the big question is this: Will there be a fatigue factor by the end of the season for the 33-year-old forward?
One would be hard pressed to recall the last time that Fedotenko had received so much ice time on a regular basis. I think you'd have to go back to his teenage years when he was playing in the SJHL and USHL to find the last time he handled as much on-ice responsibility as he did with Donbass, for whom he also accepted the captaincy during the lockout.
I'm not overly concerned about Fedotenko running out of gas by the playoffs, even as he adapts back to a third-line or fourth-line role with the Flyers. Nevertheless it bears some watching just as much as the re-acclimation of players who did not play during the lockout.
VIDEO: RUSTY TALKS ABOUT NHL VS. KHL PLAYING STYLES (Filmed in early October)
Youtube: FromDonetskUa channel
* Looking for a dark horse to crack the Flyers lineup at some point this season? Phantoms power forward Tye McGinn has come a long way from the start of his rookie season a year ago to the midway point of this season. He's not the best of skaters, but he plays with a lot of grit in front of the net and his all-around game has been coming along well under Terry Murray this season. McGinn could step into the Flyers' bottom six at some point.
* According to information obtained by Tim Panaccio, it is unlikely that defenseman Matt Walker will get medical clearance to play. The defenseman has been dealing with groin, hip and abdominal issues throughout the lockout and is not going to be able to play anytime soon. Even if he were healthy, the new CBA would prohibit the Flyers from burying Walker's full $1.7 million cap hit in the AHL. If medically cleared and assigned to the AHL, the Flyers would still be on the hook for $800,000 of his cap hit. But teams cannot demote injured players. So he is a candidate for long-term injured reserve instead.
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