Last night, after the Flyers' latest setback, I tried to find some positives that I think the club can build from on Thursday night.
Unfortunately, it's a short list:
* While things seem bleak right now (what a difference a week makes, eh?), the problems are generally correctable. Teams don't get into slumps in one game and they don't get out of them that quickly, either. Unfortunately, in the tight Eastern Conference race, you can't afford long losing streaks.
Right now, the Flyers' number one teamwide priority needs to be protecting the puck and their goaltenders. Their positional play has been horrendous.
While the Flyers' current defense corps is not going to magically turn into a stellar puck-moving group, if the team gets back to narrowing the gap between the forwards and defense, you'll see the turnovers, goals against and opposing shot totals drop back down to the manageable levels you saw in January up through the All Star break.
Likewise, when the Flyers get the job done offensively, they keep their feet moving. Earlier in the season, a large percentage of the Flyers' five-on-five goals came on the line rush. More recently, they started scoring a little of gritty goals (think Hartnell and Knuble) by going to the net. Right now, though, it's either the powerplay or nothing. That makes it tough to win, even if you do pop a powerplay goal or two.
* The Flyers haven't gone down without a fight when they've trailed in the third period of the last four games.
In three of the games, the Flyers managed to score late in regulation and, in each of the games, were within striking distance. Unfortunately, the Flyers' recent tendency to yield backbreaking insurance goals to the opposition has had fatal results. All three of the late-game goals came when the club was two goals down.
Of course, the bigger issue is the fact the Flyers have only played about 15-20 minutes of solid hockey in every game but one since the All-Star break. When you chase the game all night, you're usually going to lose.
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Daniel Briere has been outstanding on the powerplay this season. But his play at even strength has gotten beyond the point of being worrisome.
If the Flyers are unable to get Peter Forsberg back -- either for health reasons or because he opts to sign with another team -- they make still want to think about acquiring at least a third-line caliber center who is better defensively than Briere. To me, that should be as much of a priority as acquiring another puck-moving defenseman.
In terms of total ice time, Briere often receives fewer minutes than both Mike Richards and Jeff Carter, because Briere (for obvious reasons) doesn't play on the PK. At this point, though, I think Briere's five-on-five role needs to change.
I would hope unless they re-acquire Forsberg and shift Briere to wing to simplify some of his defensive responsibilities, the Flyers acquire an upgrade over current fourth-line center Jim Dowd. That essentially would make Briere the fourth center at even strength while continuing to play on the top powerplay unit and four-on-four situations where the club needs a goal.
Contrary to popular belief, Briere is deeply concerned about his defensive problems. He's an honest, forthright guy. He was sincere the other week when he said how much it meant to him when John Stevens gave him a shift in the last minute of a one-goal game. Briere scored an empty netter, but was clearly much happier about the coach's gesture of faith than about scoring the goal.
Even so, Briere's defensive liabilities have gotten out of hand to the point that something needs to be done to change his responsibilities. The problem won't be corrected otherwise.
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Congratulations to Kyle Greentree for a solid NHL debut last night. Right now, the Flyers can use his size and strength on the boards and around the net. If he keeps doing what he did last night, he can fill a role on the club.
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Speaking of NHL debuts, the next installment of the
Great Moments series on Philadelphiaflyers.com will look at Al Hill's record-setting first NHL game 31 years ago this week.
On the night of Feb 14, 1977, the unknown call-up scored two goals, added three assists and had a fight -- nearly a double Gordie Howe Hat Trick -- in his first NHL game.
I will blog further about that extraordinary night by an otherwise ordinary role player when the article is online.
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I've been trying to come with a Flyers all-time underrated team. Feel free to add your nominees in the comments section of the blog.
I'll get it started with six forward nominees, four defensemen and two goaltenders.
FORWARDS
Rod Brind'Amour (C): For many years, Brind'Amour played in the shadow of Eric Lindros after being one of the few bright spots on the club in the first year following Rod's acquisition from St. Louis in the Ron Sutter deal. While not underrated by Flyers fans, he was sometimes overlooked by those who hyper-focused on Lindros. While he's always run hot and cold offensively, Brind'Amour was durable, versatile, outstanding on faceoffs - and he still is.
Ilkka Sinisalo (W): When the Flyers' heroes of the 1980s are recounted, many people forget to mention the play of Sinisalo. But ask any of his former teammates, and they will tell you what a pivotal player he was: outstanding skater and two-way player, a good goal scorer and an outstanding special teams player both on the penalty kill and the powerplay. His biggest drawback was his tendency to get injured.
Paul Holmgren (W): People mostly think of Homer as an enforcer, and he certainly was one of the toughest fighters of his era. But he was also a player who, through sheer will and hard work, made himself in a fine hockey player who once scored 30 in a season.
Mel Bridgman (C/W) : Bridgman didn't have the offensive career you might expect of the first overall pick of the draft. But that was partially because he came to a team that already had the likes of Bobby Clarke and Rick MacLeish in front of him. He settled into more of a third line role and maintained a checker's mentality. While not a fleet skater, Bridgman was tough as nails, strong on the boards, an excellent two-way player and had good hands in close. He was a good captain during the Flyers' 35-game unbeaten streak season of 1979-80.
Pelle Eklund (C/W) : Pelle first rose to prominence during the 1987 Stanley Cup playoffs, especially against Montreal. But the prolific playmaker was already a key member of the Flyers' outstanding powerplay. As he gained the confidence of Mike Keenan -- a process that took a couple years -- Eklund showed that he could be trusted in all situations. His reluctance to shoot the puck, injury problems and the fact that many of his best seasons came during the generally bleak post-Keenan years overshadowed a fine career in Philadelphia.
Shjon Podein (LW): Brett Hull once called him the best checking winger in the NHL and for about a three-season period in the mid- to late-1990s, Hull wasn't too far off. Defensively, Podein could shut down some of the best wingers in the game. Along with checking center Joel Otto and a variety of right wingers (most notably Trent Klatt on the so-called Minnesota Line), the Flyers sometimes went weeks at a time without their third line being scored against at even strength. Podein could even chip in a few goals -- a few of them of the highlight variety.
DEFENSEMEN
Brad McCrimmon: In terms of chemistry and ability, The Beast was the Vladimir Konstantinov to Mark Howe's Nicklas Lidström. McCrimmon an outstanding defensive defenseman and downright nasty to play against. He could burn an opponent offensively if they didn't pay attention to him and cheated toward Howe's side of the ice.
Bob Clarke has admitted that his biggest mistake as a general manager was letting personal differences with McCrimmon cloud his judgment about the player's value to the team.
The Flyers defense suffered a huge blow when McCrimmon -- in the midst of a contract dispute with the Flyers that could have been solved with a little compromise -- was traded to the Calgary Flames for draft picks.
Jimmy Watson: The "other" Watson brother was actually the better player of the two. He was a five-time NHL All-Star, a fine skater and one of the best shutdown defensemen of the 1970s. He gets overlooked today because he never put up a lot of points and his career ended prematurely due to injury.
Bob Dailey : Another injury casualty. With the exception of Howe, Dailey was the best offensive defenseman in club history. He had an Al MacInnis like slapshot and, when in the right frame of mind, could also play mean.
Petr Svoboda: Svoboda was savvy, chippy, and absolutely fearless. Unfortunately, he was also very slightly built and frequently got banged up. The Flyers were always a better team when he was in the lineup than when he was out.
GOALTENDERS
Wayne Stephenson: The only thing "wrong" with Wayne Stephenson was that he wasn't as good as Hall of Famer Bernie Parent and often chafed in the role of backup. But he was better than a lot of the starters in the NHL and rarely gave up soft goals. When Parent went down with injuries, the Flyers could usually plug Stephenson right in and get solid goaltending.
Pete Peeters: During his first stint with the Flyers, Peeters may actually have been a bit overrated. He was inconsistent after his outstanding rookie year. His trade to Boston for Brad McCrimmon proved to be a godsend to Philly, as McCrimmon became a crucial defenseman and Pelle Lindbergh and Ron Hextall (Bob Froese as well, but to a lesser extent) more than filled the void in net.
But when people look back today at the top Flyers goalies, the play of Peeters during his rookie 1979-80 season rarely gets mentioned. Put it this way: If Phil Myre had been the full-time starter, the Flyers wouldn't have had either their 35-game unbeaten streak or a trip to the Stanley Cup Finals. Peeters may have been grouchy and disliked by the media, but he was also a fine goaltender that year.
During his second stint with the Flyers -- after some high highs and low lows in both Boston and Washington -- Peeters was a serviceable enough backup on some weak teams.
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