(Update 2:30 PM)
The Flyers are calling Daniel Briere's injury a "slight left groin strain". He will be out five to seven days, missing at least the games against the Penguins, Canadiens and Thrashers.
Under the current prognosis, he may be able to return for the November 21st game in Buffalo.
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Sending a message
I applaud John Stevens for getting the attention of his team in the way that means the most to players: ice time.
There have been too many players on the club who have paid lip service to the need for more consistent 60-minute efforts and more team-wide accountability. There has also been justification of said inconsistent play, even after it was clear that neither the GM nor the coach thought the team was playing up to it's capabilities.
Stevens has had take things one step further, because the players haven't policed themselves. Heading into yesterday's game, he demoted the streaky Joffrey Lupul to the fourth line because Lupul had shown too little initiative to play the type of style (i.e., using his strength and physicality to set up his finesse game) that makes him effective.
The result: After playing only a few shifts in the first period, Lupul went out and had his most physical game of the season. He led all skaters on both teams with four hits, did a better job of going to the net, and attempted four shots. That was a positive step toward getting out of his five-game pointless drought.
Over the course of the season, in fact, if Lupul gets back to playing that way, he won't have the six-goals-in-five-game outbursts followed by eight-game slumps that have marked most of his NHL career to date. Everyone has their ups and downs during the season, but Lupul is talented enough to cut his offensive cold streaks in half by getting back to the basics.
That was the message Stevens was sending him by putting him on an energy line. Bang some bodies, keep things simple, and you'll get back on a scoring line.
As for Scott Hartnell's benching yesterday, I liken it to Phillies manager Charlie Manuel pulling Jimmy Rollins from a game this season for not running out a ball. Hartnell, like Rollins, is usually one of the last players you have to worrry about not hustling. By benching Hartnell on a day where he wasn't (to use one of Stevens' favorite phrases) "moving his feet," it sends a message that every player needs to show up every game.
Hartnell is also someone who isn't prone to sulking, and he's not a finger pointer. Some people are taking his post-game comments out of context.
It's all about context
What usually happens after a game is that players end up answering the same questions over and over again. Often it's because the reporters in the back can't hear the earlier responses. The player will then essentially give the same response, perhaps with slightly different phrasing.
In addition, certain players and coaches tend to give very lengthy responses to a question, slightly rephrashing themselves several times in one statement. For purposes of quotation, only a segment of what is said ends up in print. In many cases, it makes little or no difference to the reader, but sometimes the segment of the quotation that is used can completely change the context of the statement.
That was the case with Hartnell's postgame commentary yesterday.
Some media outlets used this segment, which seems to emphasize that Hartnell had no problem at all with being benched, understood why it happened, and pledged to get back on the horse in the next game:
"I don't care if I play 20 minutes or five minutes, as long as we win the game," Hartnell said. "He's trying to hold guys accountable, and I have no problems sitting if he doesn't think I'm doing a good job. I'm a positive person, and I'm going to look at it in a positive way - and get back to doing simple things and keep [my] feet moving and getting pucks deep and not turning it over. You have to look at it that way."
Others have used this segment, which makes the same key point, but also says the player thinks the enforcement needs to be consistent all year:
“I think it's great (that Stevens is taking a tougher stance). You're trying to hold the guys accountable. I have no problems sitting if he doesn't think I'm doing a good job. I just hope he holds everyone accountable, it doesn't matter what number you wear on your back. It's all for the team now. You have to make a stand — it was me tonight.”
Still others have honed in on just this tiny segment:
I just hope he holds everyone accountable, it doesn't matter what number you wear on your back.
Now, all the sudden, it sounds like Hartnell is calling out his coach and accusing him of favoritism. (If that were the case in this instance, by the way, I doubt Hartnell would have been the one to be benched. If anything, benching Hartnell showed that the coach wasn't playing favorites).
The maturation of a coach
One of my criticisms of John Stevens last year was that I thought he cut certain players a lot of slack while calling out other players for the same lapses.
A prime example: Offensive zone penalties.
Daniel Briere and Mike Knuble are two self-motivated veteran players. Nevertheless, they were among the most frequent culprits all last season in taking avoidable penalties in the offensive zone and neutral zone.
If certain other guys were going to get called out for it -- for instance, Scottie Upshall was scratched from the lineup for repeated bad penalties, and Stevens made a point of mentioning it to the press -- the coach also needed to say "some of our veteran guys who ought to know better have been just as guilty."
The benching of Scott Hartnell yesterday was a step in the direction of true team-wide accountability. It needs to followed up as necessary throughout the season.
Terry Murray once benched John LeClair and Mikael Renberg for an entire period. It was a game against Florida early in the 1995-96 season when the Legion of Doom line had been on a tear offensively but was frustrated early in the game, and started overstaying shifts and ignoring defensive responsibilities.
Doing so sent a message to the entire team: If Murph is going to bench
those guys, I better get my own butt in gear. The team, and the chastized players, responded well. They may not have liked it, but they got the message.
Scott Hartnell is more of the 2008-09 Flyers' version of Shjon Podein -- only with some more scoring pop and a much heftier salary -- than one if its marquee players. Even so, the message was the same, and Stevens' willingness to take the steps shows that he's continuing to evolve and mature as an NHL coach.
I don't see that as something negative.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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