RSS Feeds
Flyers look dangerous as April approaches
It’s the end of March, and that means baseball season is still more than a week away, and the NFL Draft is a month away. It also means that it is time for the first Flyers column of the year!
I know it has been nearly six months since the season started, but I’ll be honest with you, if you weren’t paying attention, you didn’t miss anything you haven’t already seen out of every Flyers team since Bernie Parent was between the pipes.
Last year, I wrote that every Flyers season includes a major injury, a star in a huge slump, and a goalie controversy, and while this season was no different, as the calendar turns to April, the Flyers are suddenly in position to be a very dangerous team.
Danny Briere filled the role of the injured star, the entire defense went through a nice slump, and the winter months were filled to the brim with goalie controversy, but that’s just par for the course in Philadelphia.
However, those problems are long gone, as the Flyers gear up for what hopefully will be another deep playoff run.
Starting in net, Martin Biron has won 10 of his last 14 starts since being yanked out of a mid-February game against the Eastern Conference-leading Boston Bruins. His performance down the stretch has cemented (at least temporarily) his status as the starting goalie.
Going into that game against the Bruins, Biron had lost four starts in a row, and Antero Niittymaki was riding a hot streak, but since then they have switched streaks as Biron is flying high while Niitty looks behind him for the puck.
While solid goaltending is obviously a vital part of a playoff run, the most important development for this year’s Flyers came last week when coach John Stevens shuffled the Flyers’ lines to give them three very potent scoring lines.
In the playoffs last year, the Flyers were able to beat the Washington Capitals and Montreal Canadiens because their lines were very top-heavy from a scoring standpoint. It was only when they faced the Pittsburgh Penguins, who could score goals no matter which line was on the ice, did the Flyers struggle.
Using that same model, the Flyers now have two 20-goal scorers on each of the their top three lines, and that doesn’t even include Briere, who would surely have at least 30 goals if he hadn’t missed more than 50 games this season, and uber-prospect Claude Giroux.
The best part of this new lineup is that a guy like Mike Richards, who leads the Flyers in points, assists and plus/minus rating, is the center on the third line. If an opponent has to worry about your third line because that’s where your leading scorer is, they are in for a long night on defense. It also means that their offense won’t be able to get going because their players will be on constant alert for the odd-man rush the other way.
While the Flyers are now a threat to score from each of their top three lines thanks to Stevens’ shuffle, this is only possible because of the huge steps forward taken by guys like Jeff Carter and Scott Hartnell.While Hartnell just needed to focus on his game and not let the other team get under his skin to become a 30-goal scorer, Carter’s case was a little different.
Carter always has had the potential to be a star, but didn’t really step up until late last season, after being involved in more trade rumors than he could count.This season, he has reached 40 goals for the first time in his career, and is playing with a fire that seemed to be missing in previous seasons.
Perhaps the most important part of his growth has been the increase in his shooting accuracy. Before this season, Carter was about as accurate as Donovan McNabb on a crossing route, but through a lot of hard work, his shots now find the back of the net more often than they hit the netting above the glass.
Right now, the Flyers are in fourth place in the tightly jumbled Eastern Conference, but with a surprising amount of depth on defense to go with their suddenly potent offense, the Flyers are poised to make some noise in the playoffs.
***
Like the “On the Edge” Blog? Hear more of my opinions about Philadelphia sports every Friday at 3:30 p.m. on WBCB 1490 AM during the Coffee with Kahuna show, where, this week, we will talk about the Phillies as they head into the final days of spring training, as well as Villanova’s run in the NCAA Tournament.
I know it has been nearly six months since the season started, but I’ll be honest with you, if you weren’t paying attention, you didn’t miss anything you haven’t already seen out of every Flyers team since Bernie Parent was between the pipes.
Last year, I wrote that every Flyers season includes a major injury, a star in a huge slump, and a goalie controversy, and while this season was no different, as the calendar turns to April, the Flyers are suddenly in position to be a very dangerous team.
Danny Briere filled the role of the injured star, the entire defense went through a nice slump, and the winter months were filled to the brim with goalie controversy, but that’s just par for the course in Philadelphia.
However, those problems are long gone, as the Flyers gear up for what hopefully will be another deep playoff run.
Starting in net, Martin Biron has won 10 of his last 14 starts since being yanked out of a mid-February game against the Eastern Conference-leading Boston Bruins. His performance down the stretch has cemented (at least temporarily) his status as the starting goalie.
Going into that game against the Bruins, Biron had lost four starts in a row, and Antero Niittymaki was riding a hot streak, but since then they have switched streaks as Biron is flying high while Niitty looks behind him for the puck.
While solid goaltending is obviously a vital part of a playoff run, the most important development for this year’s Flyers came last week when coach John Stevens shuffled the Flyers’ lines to give them three very potent scoring lines.
In the playoffs last year, the Flyers were able to beat the Washington Capitals and Montreal Canadiens because their lines were very top-heavy from a scoring standpoint. It was only when they faced the Pittsburgh Penguins, who could score goals no matter which line was on the ice, did the Flyers struggle.
Using that same model, the Flyers now have two 20-goal scorers on each of the their top three lines, and that doesn’t even include Briere, who would surely have at least 30 goals if he hadn’t missed more than 50 games this season, and uber-prospect Claude Giroux.
The best part of this new lineup is that a guy like Mike Richards, who leads the Flyers in points, assists and plus/minus rating, is the center on the third line. If an opponent has to worry about your third line because that’s where your leading scorer is, they are in for a long night on defense. It also means that their offense won’t be able to get going because their players will be on constant alert for the odd-man rush the other way.
While the Flyers are now a threat to score from each of their top three lines thanks to Stevens’ shuffle, this is only possible because of the huge steps forward taken by guys like Jeff Carter and Scott Hartnell.While Hartnell just needed to focus on his game and not let the other team get under his skin to become a 30-goal scorer, Carter’s case was a little different.
Carter always has had the potential to be a star, but didn’t really step up until late last season, after being involved in more trade rumors than he could count.This season, he has reached 40 goals for the first time in his career, and is playing with a fire that seemed to be missing in previous seasons.
Perhaps the most important part of his growth has been the increase in his shooting accuracy. Before this season, Carter was about as accurate as Donovan McNabb on a crossing route, but through a lot of hard work, his shots now find the back of the net more often than they hit the netting above the glass.
Right now, the Flyers are in fourth place in the tightly jumbled Eastern Conference, but with a surprising amount of depth on defense to go with their suddenly potent offense, the Flyers are poised to make some noise in the playoffs.
***
Like the “On the Edge” Blog? Hear more of my opinions about Philadelphia sports every Friday at 3:30 p.m. on WBCB 1490 AM during the Coffee with Kahuna show, where, this week, we will talk about the Phillies as they head into the final days of spring training, as well as Villanova’s run in the NCAA Tournament.
posted by Matthew Fleishman, Yardley News Editor at
11:20 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home