Heard in the Cheap Seats

Just when I started going on and on about how the Flyers have turned a corner and are building momentum for a long run in the playoffs, they bring me back to reality.  The reality is that the Flyers, while extremely talented, are frustratingly inconsistent.  I am done writing about how the power play has found its groove, or that Biron is finally looking like a goalie that can lead the Flyers to a Stanley Cup.  Some of that is due to superstition, but some of it is for the simple fact that with this Flyers team it is pointless to write any of that.  From game to game, and period to period they look like completely different teams.  The Flyers team that we would all prefer seeing is the team that went out and defeated Buffalo, Pittsburgh, and New Jersey consecutively, while notching 7 power play goals.  But, stretches like that one 2 weeks ago, are usually followed by a bunch of games like last night.  Last night the Flyers lost to a Toronto Maple Leafs team that has been eliminated from the playoffs.  The Flyers, on the other hand, have everything to play for.  They are fighting for playoff seeding, an outside shot at a division crown, and trying to play their best hockey heading into the playoffs.  Well, the Flyers looked more like the team who had been eliminated from the playoffs last night.  It was hard to watch.  They looked like they were at a leisurely morning skate.  The more disturbing part is their habit of starting off games like they are in quicksand and digging themselves an early hole.  It’s as if the Flyers feel like they can just flip a switch whenever they want.  Maybe the comeback win over the lowly Islanders was a bad thing on Saturday because it made the Flyers believe they could just come out and half ass the hockey game until the 3^rd period.  It didn’t work last night.  John Stevens pulled Marty Biron in the second period and even called a timeout in the period to light a fire under his players, but none of it worked.  After the game, all the Flyers players were talking about how poor their effort was, how they need to step up, and that they were having a meeting today to talk about everything.  I don’t get it.  How do they not understand what the stakes are?  The thing is, they do understand, but for some reason have not been able to raise their level of play to reach their goals.  I don’t want to be overly pessimistic, but at the same time, raising the level of play is exactly what needs to happen in order to have a shot at a Stanley Cup.  The Flyers have shown glimpses of what they are capable of, but glimpses won’t get the Flyers very far.  There is that frustrating inconsistency again.  Instead of playing their best hockey, the Flyers have gone 8-8 since the end of February. 

The players certainly deserve much of the blame, but in situations like this I think we need to look at the coach as well.  John Stevens has done a very nice job, and this Flyers still has a chance to do something special.  But, when a team is constantly starting off games slowly and trying to fight back, and looking great one game and sleepwalking in the next game, there has to be some eyes looking at the coach.  It is the coach that should have a pulse on his team at all times.  The coach needs to know how to jumpstart his team and make sure that their focus is always there.  The Flyers focus is definitely not always high, and aside from blaming the players, Stevens needs to a better job in that area.  He seems to scratch his head and lament the same things over and over.   Maybe he was trying to get his team to focus a little more when he shook up the lines recently.  Ok, fine, that means he is paying attention, but it seems like this Flyers team is one that needs a little extra attention.  I think Stevens knows this, so I am interested to see how the last 6 games play out.  Six games are all that remains in the regular season.  Six games to stop the talking, stop looking ahead, and just go out and play each game from the drop of the puck to the final buzzer as if it was a playoff game.  If they can do that, good things can and will happen.  If they don’t, this season might be over way sooner than any of us want to think about.

It has been a rough week for me.  I have been fighting some kind of nasty virus that I will spare you all the fun details of.  I have barely made any contributions to this website which really pisses me off, but I am hoping the worst is behind me and I can get back to life as usual.  The one good thing about being creamed by sickness and having no energy to move, is I was able to watch a ton of sports.  I really don’t think I could have picked a better time to be sick.

If anyone hasn’t noticed, the Flyers regular season is winding down.  It’s the time of year where some teams hit their stride and carry momentum into the playoffs, and other teams just fizzle out.  I have been calling for the Flyers to step up and play with some fire, discipline, and basically to just “man up”.  Well, it seems like this Flyers team is starting to come together at the right time. 

The Flyers have been maddeningly inconsistent and mediocre of late, and have not been able to string together consecutive wins.  I’ll admit that I have been worried about this team, as other teams in the Eastern Conference seemed to be streaking in a positive direction.  But, as I have stated here before, just when we all start to worry about and question the Flyers, seems to be when they shut us all up by playing good hockey.

The Flyers won an impressive game on the road against a desperate Buffalo team on Friday, and followed that up with possibly their biggest and best win of the season over the rival Penguins.  The Flyers scored 2 power play goals (Simon Gagne and Scott Hartnell), and added an empty netter for a 3-1 victory.  Marty Biron was great between the pipes once again.  I have been pretty hard on Biron, but I have to give the guy credit.  He is playing outstanding.  I just wish that the Biron from last year’s playoffs and this past March would take the other Marty Biron into a dark alley and beat him senseless so he never returns.  The fact that the Flyers were able to generate 2 power play goals is a positive sign.  This team has struggled on the power play for awhile now, to say the least.  We all know that special teams will play a huge part in their success in the playoffs.  Danny Briere seems to be bolstering the Flyers on the power play and overall.  He finally looks to have found his legs, and that could be a great sign.  He doesn’t have the wear and tear of an 82 game NHL season on his body, so he should be fresh and energized. 

The win against the Penguins was huge for more than just playoff seeding, although with games in hand on the rest of the field and a 2 point lead for 4^th place in the conference, it did put the Flyers in the driver’’s seat to secure home ice advantage in the first round.  What last night’s win also did was instill some confidence in the Flyers that they can handle Pittsburgh.  Remember, this is a Pittsburgh team that smoked the Flyers in 5 games last year in the Eastern Conference Finals, and had bested the Flyers 4 out of 5 games this year.

I have to admit that when John Stevens changed up the lines prior to the Sabres game, I was skeptical.  While 2 games is certainly not a huge body of work, I like what I’ve seen.  I am realizing what Stevens’ goal was in changing the lines.  It seems to have created much more balance across the lines, with two 20 goal scorers each on the top 3 lines.  I also think that the line changes came at a perfect time.  With the Flyers needing to make a playoff push, they seemed to be pretty stagnant.  It is obvious that they have talented, skilled hockey players, but they were just scuffling a bit.  So, Stevens responded by shaking things up a bit.  I think he has the belief that they are talented enough to be able to play on any combination of lines, so why not change it up?  The line changes seem to have energized Briere as well as the entire team.  As Stevens said at the time, it “forces you to focus a little more”. 

That may be exactly what the Flyers were lacking.  There are 11 games left, including a big home game against the Devils tonight.  I think the Flyers are going to continue their momentum, and continue gelling on all lines.  I also think we may be looking back a few months from now at the line changes that John Stevens made and see it as a huge turning point for this Flyers team.

There is one Philadelphia team in the midst of their season that this site has failed to give any love to.  That team is the Flyers, and it changes now.  The Flyers started out this season with a lot of expectations for themselves after a nice run to the Eastern Conference Finals last year.  But, expectations do not lead to results, as the Flyguys stumbled to a 0-3-3 start.  Well, they have certainly turned their season around, going 21-7-6 since that horrible start and now sit tied with the New York Rangers atop the Atlantic Division. 

The Flyers return home for the first time tonight,  against the Minnesota Wild following their grueling 6 game road trip in which they went 2-2-2.  Now, I realize that record doesn’t look all that impressive, but it is tough to win on the road in the NHL, and it is even tougher to do it when 9 of your players are out due to an injury.  I realize that hockey is not even on the Mt. Rushmore of professional sports these days, but if you haven’t watched this year’s edition of the Flyers. You are missing out.  I have always given credit to the Flyers organization, specifically Ed Snider, for their passion to win the Stanley Cup. 

Even though Snider runs both the Sixers and Flyers, he has always been more involved with the Flyers.  That is completely fine if you love the Flyers because the man despises losing.  But, here is the real point I wanted to get to:  this team is exactly what Philadelphia fans love to cheer for.  When you think about a team that has nine players missing from the lineup, and continues to scrap and fight and win games, that is amazing.  That shows toughness, desire, and character, and those are three traits that every Philly fan admires.  This team has a little bit of everything.  They have scorers and play makers who can skate like Jeff Carter, Mike Richards, Simon Gagne, Scott Hartnell, and Mike Knuble, not to mention Danny Briere, who has only been on the ice for 9 games this year.  They have solid goaltending.  They have an amazing puck handling defenseman in Timmonen, who is tied for second on the team with 22 assists.  They have tough guys like Riley Cote who are willing to go toe to toe with Donald Brashear twice in one game. 

You should enjoy this team because they don’t make excuses, they aren’t flashy, but they play with toughness and grit and they are getting results.  To have as many guys go out with injuries as the Flyers have and still keep winning is ridiculous.  Most teams would have folded the tent and complained that they can’t catch a break.  Not the Flyers.  They just played even harder.  Tuesday night, in the last game of their grueling road trip the Flyers lost in a shootout to the Washington Capitals.  That was quite an accomplishment when you consider the Capitals were at home, and  had revenge on their mind from a 7-1 ass whooping the Flyers put on them recently. 

Obviously, a lot of credit goes to the players, but credit has to also go to head coach John Stevens.  Stevens has kept an even keel all year and I believe it has rubbed off on the team.  Even when faced with adversity, this team continues to fight through and thrive.  Now, I am not saying they will go on and win the Stanley Cup this year, but they are definitely going to go down swinging if they do not.  The rest of the NHL better hope this team never gets healthy.  So, if you get a chance to check out the Flyers live or on the tube, I recommend you do so.  If you don’t, you are missing out on the type of team we wish we could cheer for every season.