First of all, if you don't get the "a new start" joke, you should watch Arrested Development (although this joke specifically comes from Season 4, which is by far the worst season).
Anyway, I decided to get my ass to the game last night to check things out properly for the start of the Berube era. I suppose all's well that ends well, but it was hardly an impressive performance.
Given the extremely awkward firing of Lavy, Berube tried to change things as quickly as possible. Local media said the Flyers gameday morning skate was the longest they've ever seen, and was more like a practice with 5-on-5 scenarios, then with a team meeting after.
Changes were pretty evident on the ice against the Panthers. On paper, all the lines and defensive pairs were different. The more meaningful changes were a little deeper, though. Gone was the patented Laviolette stretch-pass. The Flyers breakout was more deliberate, with the wings not nearly as far as up the ice.
Similarly, in the defensive zone, the wingers collapsed much more to protect the net instead of having one eye towards a quick breakout. This is a more modern/common tactic in the NHL these days, although on this night it didn't result in tighter defensive coverage. The Panthers had a lot of time and space with the puck in the offensive zone, including some sparkling chances. Fortunately, Mason played a great game with several big stops, and good rebound control on others.
Offensively, the differences weren't as visible, although maybe it was harder to see because the Flyers didn't spend a lot of time in the offensive zone! Early on, they did appear a little more direct in getting the puck to scoring areas. Both goals the Flyers scored were pretty fluky, and they didn't generate a whole lot all night.
Nevertheless, with this coaching change I am getting the change I've wanted from the Flyers tactics for quite a while (see this post from February 2012). There remains a lot of work to do to get there, however. There is nothing to celebrate about a 2-1 win against a terrible team on the strength of fluky goals and heroic goaltending.
This required work not only applies to the coaching staff and players, but to Holmgren as well. Let's make these long rumored trades of moving out a defensemen or two, and begin to tailor this lineup to Berube's style of play. This doesn't need to happen or overnight, but the current mix of players is not exactly clicking.
This all leaves me with renewed enthusiasm for the season, but the first step is scoring a few goals and showing everyone that the Flyers are not a bottom-10 NHL team.
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