Flyers send Downie to the Phantoms
I fully understand why Paul Holmgren is spinning the situation as a case of the Flyers looking to get Downie more playing time, rather than a demotion.
But make no mistake: It's a demotion. Twice within the last week, Downie has been benched mid-game after a defensive miscue or a costly undisciplined penalty. Working his way back to the NHL will require across-the-board improvements in his game. His improvement will be measured in intangibles, not in statistics.
Steve Downie has been in and out of John Stevens' doghouse for much of his brief NHL career. Last year, it was for conditioning issues, defensive mistakes that never really got corrected and for practice habits that lagged behind the example the veteran leaders on the team set.
This year, Downie reported to camp in better shape but has not made many strides as an NHL player. When Claude Giroux played himself out of an opening-night roster spot, there was a golden opportunity for Downie to earn increased ice time.
His lack of ice time, especially in light of the club's poor start, is a reflection of dissatisfaction with his play. It's not for lack of opportunity. Keep in mind, however, that he came back quickly from a preseason knee injury. That may have come into play as well.
In flashes, Downie has shown the ability to be a good NHL player. Last year, he was a solid contributor during his stint on a line with Mike Richards and Scott Hartnell. He started off with points in seven of his first nine games, but was eventually moved down in the lineup because of defensive issues.
Last year, John Stevens had a very telling quote about Downie: "You have to play with high energy. You have to be a big contributer every night, shift in, shift out, game in, game out. ... Clearly, when [Downie] plays at a high level, he will get in and stay in."
Until Downie shows the consistency the Flyers want to see from him, he's going to remain a Phantom.
Flyers recall Andreas Nödl
Coming into this season, I was a little bit concerned that Nödl was a Stefan Ruzicka type of prospect: a "scorer" who won't score consistently enough to hold a job.
But from what I saw in the preseason, he's a more well-rounded player than I thought he'd be, especially as a rookie. I'm still not convinced the Austrian will ever be a big point contributor at the pro level, but he won't have to be if he does the little things well.
The Flyers will want to see him use his speed effectively, win some battles on the boards and backcheck efficiently. If he does those things, there's an NHL job to be won.
Antero Niittymäki gets the start tomorrow night
This is pretty much a no-brainer after how well Niitty played in all three of his appearances so far this season. No matter who is in goal, however, the Flyers need to get serious about team defense in a hurry.
Adjustments needed
Despite the Flyers' run to the Eastern Conference Finals last year, the team had problems with protecting leads, goals at the end of periods, faceoffs, failed clears and undisciplined penalties.
This year, after remaking much of the blueline to get more mobile, they're have problems with protecting leads, goals at the end of periods, faceoffs, failed clears and undisciplined penalties.
In other words, it's not just a question of personnel changes and injuries (although they are contributing factors). Something hasn't clicked. Whether it's lack of urgency, the wrong personnel, or just a need to iron out the kinks, I don't know.
Most of the blame lies at the players' feet. But you can't completely absolve John Stevens, either. There are problems that haven't been corrected, and switching around players' stalls in the locker room won't cure it this time.
The other day, I came across a quote from Keith Allen that the legendary GM uttered when he fired Pat Quinn: "I don't care what system we play," Allen said. "...It's become clear that something isn't working. Either we don't have the personnel to execute it the way he wants it or the players aren't grasping it. Either way, it's [the coach's] fault."
John Stevens wants this team to be a club that creates offense from defense, and be a skating club that can also win in the trenches. That's a lofty ambition, but a reachable one if you have the right personnel in place.
I think it's a fair question to ask if the team has the right players for the system Stevens wants to play, and if not whether he's flexible and resourcesful enough at the NHL level to adjust it and get his team to buy in.
*******
I just got finished reading Adam Kimelman's "
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly" book on the Flyers.
If you haven't picked up a copy yet, it's a fast, enjoyable read.
Rather than writing a strictly chronological history of the club, Adam selected a comprehensive collection of stories representing the best, worst, and most heart-wrenching moments in team history. The book spans the entire history of the club to date, even including a section on last spring's run to the Eastern Conference Finals.
The selections on the Broad Street Bullies era don't break much new ground, but that's a virtually impossible task. Jack Chevalier's vintage
Broad Street Bullies chronicle of the Flyers' first Stanley Cup, Gene Hart's
Score, Jay Greenberg's
Full Spectrum and Jim Jackson's
Walking Together Foreverhave thoroughly covered that ground. What Adam did very nicely, however, was to garner highlights from the old era and fit them in a wider context.
Without a doubt, however, the best reason to get the book is its chronicle of the Eric Lindros era, which was "the good, the bad, and the ugly" all wrapped up into one. Adam does an excellent job of distilling what could easy be its own book down to a single section that hits all the key highs, lows and in-betweens.
There are some previously unpublished stories from those times, including a revelation by Terry Murray that Lindros' practice habits and attitude varied on whether his parents were in town or at home in Toronto. According to Murray, Lindros would "come to practice with different questions" and behave in a more confrontational manner when his parents were in town, but he was very easy to coach otherwise.
I noticed a few minor errors in the book (Michal Handzus is Slovak, not a Czech; Pelle Lindbergh was a second-round pick who starred at every level he played and played in the NHL All-Star game his rookie year, not an "obscure" third rounder who was "relatively unimpressive" his rookie season), but nothing that hurts credibility or readability. All works of this nature have a few things that creep in here and there.
Interspersed throughout the book are interesting little sidebars and factoids, such as identifying the name of the TV program that NBC immediately cut to after the Flyers won the 1974 Stanley Cup rather than broadcasting the team's celebration after the final buzzer.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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