Last night the Flyers clawed their way to victory against the Wings, despite being outshot 24-8 after two periods. The turning point of the game was a nice scoring play by the Flyers go-to scoring combo of Chris VandeVelde and Nicklas Grossmann. Not exactly a well-deserved win, but I'll take it after coming up empty-handed in better performances a few weeks ago.
The real noteworthy thing about last night's game was the debut of Shayne Gostisbehere. I've seen "Ghost" play a handful of times (including the NCAA championship game last year in person), and he is a very exciting player. Fast, sleek, skilled, and aggressive on offense. He is, however, still far from being a complete NHL defensemen. He's going to have to learn to pick his spots carefully in the fast-paced NHL game, and in terms of raw physical strength it is not an exaggeration to say that he would be one of the weakest defensemen in the NHL.
Hextall has been telling everyone who will listen that he prefers to let young players develop slowly in the lower ranks. Morin and Ghost looked pretty good in the preseason; good enough that in years past Clarke or Holmgren would've have kept such young talent on the roster. It wasn't enough for Hextall, who is more concerned about where these young players will in 3 years than giving this year's NHL roster an incremental boost.
Nothing has changed from that plan, and Ghost is only here because of injuries to Coburn and MacDonald. This is by no means a permanent call-up, and I'd be very surprised if Ghost is still on the Flyers roster after MacDonald and Coburn return. Based on his ice time last night, he might not even last that long.
Ghost got almost 3 minutes of PP time on the second unit in MacDonald's spot, but played less that 10 minutes at even strength. This was several minutes less than any other Flyers defensemen. Surely part of that is easing him into his first real NHL game, but Flyers fans shouldn't be under any delusions that Ghost figures to be a key player for the Flyers anytime soon.
Until the inevitable recall to the AHL happens, I'll just enjoy seeing a glimpse of the Flyers future. Even if it's just a few games, I expect Ghost to make a few tantalizing plays. You could say this Ghost sighting will be like so many other ghost sightings; ephemeral, but intriguing.
Opinions on NHL topics of the moment, but mostly on the Flyers.
Sunday, October 26, 2014
Friday, October 24, 2014
Positive Steps
After an 0-2-2 start, just about anything would be an improvement. A 2-1-0 road trip against quality teams however is a success under any circumstance.
I already wrote about all the good to take from the Dallas game. Since then, the Flyers were thoroughly worked over by Chicago, and had a nice win over Pittsburgh.
My first takeaway is that there is still a considerable chasm in quality between the Flyers and a true cup contender like Chicago. The Flyers simply couldn't keep up.
The second takeaway is that the East is generally well behind the West. The Penguins may ultimately be one of the better teams in the East, and the Flyers simply beat 'em. The Flyers have a great record in Pittsburgh, and sometimes rivalry games have a life of their own outside general team trends, but the conclusion I lean towards is that the Flyers can make noise in a mediocre Eastern Conference.
Already with the Trade Rumors:
There is already some fleeting trade talk around the Flyers, principally around Brayden Schenn. While there are no specifics to consider at this point, I can make some general comments about Schenn.
I haven't been impressed with the way he is developing the last few years, and it appears the Flyers aren't either. When they acquired what many seemed to rank as one of the best prospects in hockey, I think the Flyers expected to get a high quality second-line center, if not a guy who could be the #1 for many teams.
Right now, I think there is some question is if Schenn can even be a second line center. He gets some chances, he pops up in good places in the offensive zone, but he rarely makes a significant contribution scoring or creating for others.
While Schenn is off to a bad start this season, underwhelming on Giroux's wing and on the top PP unit, it's too early to cash him out. It's not impossible that he find his niche as a second line player, and it's still early days of the season. What should make Schenn sweat long term is if Couturier shows offensive ability this season, and Laughton keeps killing it in the AHL. At that point there is no need for under-performing young center on the club.
I already wrote about all the good to take from the Dallas game. Since then, the Flyers were thoroughly worked over by Chicago, and had a nice win over Pittsburgh.
My first takeaway is that there is still a considerable chasm in quality between the Flyers and a true cup contender like Chicago. The Flyers simply couldn't keep up.
The second takeaway is that the East is generally well behind the West. The Penguins may ultimately be one of the better teams in the East, and the Flyers simply beat 'em. The Flyers have a great record in Pittsburgh, and sometimes rivalry games have a life of their own outside general team trends, but the conclusion I lean towards is that the Flyers can make noise in a mediocre Eastern Conference.
Already with the Trade Rumors:
There is already some fleeting trade talk around the Flyers, principally around Brayden Schenn. While there are no specifics to consider at this point, I can make some general comments about Schenn.
I haven't been impressed with the way he is developing the last few years, and it appears the Flyers aren't either. When they acquired what many seemed to rank as one of the best prospects in hockey, I think the Flyers expected to get a high quality second-line center, if not a guy who could be the #1 for many teams.
Right now, I think there is some question is if Schenn can even be a second line center. He gets some chances, he pops up in good places in the offensive zone, but he rarely makes a significant contribution scoring or creating for others.
While Schenn is off to a bad start this season, underwhelming on Giroux's wing and on the top PP unit, it's too early to cash him out. It's not impossible that he find his niche as a second line player, and it's still early days of the season. What should make Schenn sweat long term is if Couturier shows offensive ability this season, and Laughton keeps killing it in the AHL. At that point there is no need for under-performing young center on the club.
Sunday, October 19, 2014
A Win!!
Last year the Flyers' start was so bad they fired the coach and began a mid-season philosophy change. Now that Berube's been here for a year and had the whole offseason and preseason, that wasn't supposed to happen again this year. Still, watching last night's win over Dallas, I felt like I was watching a different team than the first four games of this season.
In the first period Berube could be seen chiding Simmonds on the bench after a turnover high in the offensive zone, attempting a criss-crossing drop-pass play. That set the tone for the rest of the game, as the Flyers worked nearly exclusively along the wall in the offensive zone, and quickly turning the puck towards the net after a successful cycle. It was a significant change from the first few games which saw a lot of attempted finesse plays, and centering/square passes to no one in particular.
Although conceding 5 goals is no one's idea of an ideal performance, I think last night demonstrated the foundation of how this year's squad is to win hockey games; simple, low risk cycles in the offensive zone; defensemen getting the puck on the net; momentum changing power play performances; and the top line answering the bell in clutch time.
It's not exactly razzle-dazzle stuff, or the possession hockey that you would see from the Sedin twins or Pavel Datsyuk, but it may be the most effective formula for the talent the Flyers possess. They don't have the horses to play fast, possession hockey, but you need to work with the team you have even if it's not the one you may want.
The Bruins win playing the same type of game. Their puck support is always solid, and many of their goals stem from simple point shots with traffic in front of the net, creating deflection and rebound opportunities. Additionally, it's hockey longtime Flyers fans will know well, and it produced the Flyers most exciting game of the young season.
The tough road trip is just beginning. There are still many injury and performance issues to straighten out, but I think their first win last night provided a real building block going forward.
In the first period Berube could be seen chiding Simmonds on the bench after a turnover high in the offensive zone, attempting a criss-crossing drop-pass play. That set the tone for the rest of the game, as the Flyers worked nearly exclusively along the wall in the offensive zone, and quickly turning the puck towards the net after a successful cycle. It was a significant change from the first few games which saw a lot of attempted finesse plays, and centering/square passes to no one in particular.
Although conceding 5 goals is no one's idea of an ideal performance, I think last night demonstrated the foundation of how this year's squad is to win hockey games; simple, low risk cycles in the offensive zone; defensemen getting the puck on the net; momentum changing power play performances; and the top line answering the bell in clutch time.
It's not exactly razzle-dazzle stuff, or the possession hockey that you would see from the Sedin twins or Pavel Datsyuk, but it may be the most effective formula for the talent the Flyers possess. They don't have the horses to play fast, possession hockey, but you need to work with the team you have even if it's not the one you may want.
The Bruins win playing the same type of game. Their puck support is always solid, and many of their goals stem from simple point shots with traffic in front of the net, creating deflection and rebound opportunities. Additionally, it's hockey longtime Flyers fans will know well, and it produced the Flyers most exciting game of the young season.
The tough road trip is just beginning. There are still many injury and performance issues to straighten out, but I think their first win last night provided a real building block going forward.
Wednesday, October 15, 2014
Still Waiting
So a new blog post from me has finally come. A first victory for the Flyers this season, has not.
Flyers fans, ever the patient bunch, are likely tempted to jump off a bridge right now. The start of 0-2-2 is very worrying, but I won't declare them an awful team just yet.
My main fallback on this point is that, as I ran the numbers last year, between November and March 26 the Flyers were the 5th best team in the NHL. This team is basically the same squad, minus Timonen and Hartnell.
The Flyers took a lot of flack in the offseason as they appeared to do nothing but make themselves weaker. They traded Hartnell, and Timonen went down with a devastating injury. In addition, Steve Mason is still not well respected around the league as an above-average starting goalie.
Four games into the season, the critics were right. With #HartnellDown the team has no quality LW, Mason looked shaky, and the defense was inept. Last year a slow start was forgivable due to Giroux's injury and the coaching change. This was why I was willing to look at the standings from November 1 on and wipe away October. The Flyers do not deserve that leniency this year.
An alternative view of things is that the Flyers can only win if Giroux is playing at an MVP level and the power play is pouring in goals. Last year, the Flyers had the worst 5v5 goal differential of all playoff teams. This year the power play is looking solid, although they still haven't really found a replacement for Hartnell's high slot role on the number one unit. That is a long term worry, but the big thing is the 5v5 play has gone from average to awful. They'll never be a juggernaut there with this roster, but they have to get back to average, and that fact may hinge upon Giroux finding superlative form.
Miscellaneous Notes:
-Simmonds is currently playing at a level that I never saw him reaching. 5 goals in 4 games, and showing an offensive poise I didn't expect. He's always been a streaky scorer, but I daresay this is more than a hot streak with a few consecutive bang-in goals.
-The Schenn brothers have been very disappointing. Luke Schenn is staring at a league worst -6 rating, and Brayden has not made an offensive impression. Personally, I think Luke's +/- reflects a lot of goals that I wouldn't blame him for, and that Luke could be a serviceable player with the right partner in the right role. As for Brayden, I am running out of patience for him to emerge as an impact offensive player. That he lasted less than 2 games on the wing with Giroux and Voracek is his failure.
-Bellemare has looked pretty good to me. He skates smoothly and thinks fast, which will get him far. Like Raffl, he needs a few dozen games on the 4th line to fully adapt to the NHL.
-Lecavalier has also looked impressive to me. I also thought he looked pretty good at the beginning of last season and showed some chemistry with B. Schenn before injuries really ruined his season. It's bad timing for him to get injured now, although taking a shot off the foot shouldn't create the same kind of lingering injury that the bad back did to him last year.
Flyers fans, ever the patient bunch, are likely tempted to jump off a bridge right now. The start of 0-2-2 is very worrying, but I won't declare them an awful team just yet.
My main fallback on this point is that, as I ran the numbers last year, between November and March 26 the Flyers were the 5th best team in the NHL. This team is basically the same squad, minus Timonen and Hartnell.
The Flyers took a lot of flack in the offseason as they appeared to do nothing but make themselves weaker. They traded Hartnell, and Timonen went down with a devastating injury. In addition, Steve Mason is still not well respected around the league as an above-average starting goalie.
Four games into the season, the critics were right. With #HartnellDown the team has no quality LW, Mason looked shaky, and the defense was inept. Last year a slow start was forgivable due to Giroux's injury and the coaching change. This was why I was willing to look at the standings from November 1 on and wipe away October. The Flyers do not deserve that leniency this year.
An alternative view of things is that the Flyers can only win if Giroux is playing at an MVP level and the power play is pouring in goals. Last year, the Flyers had the worst 5v5 goal differential of all playoff teams. This year the power play is looking solid, although they still haven't really found a replacement for Hartnell's high slot role on the number one unit. That is a long term worry, but the big thing is the 5v5 play has gone from average to awful. They'll never be a juggernaut there with this roster, but they have to get back to average, and that fact may hinge upon Giroux finding superlative form.
Miscellaneous Notes:
-Simmonds is currently playing at a level that I never saw him reaching. 5 goals in 4 games, and showing an offensive poise I didn't expect. He's always been a streaky scorer, but I daresay this is more than a hot streak with a few consecutive bang-in goals.
-The Schenn brothers have been very disappointing. Luke Schenn is staring at a league worst -6 rating, and Brayden has not made an offensive impression. Personally, I think Luke's +/- reflects a lot of goals that I wouldn't blame him for, and that Luke could be a serviceable player with the right partner in the right role. As for Brayden, I am running out of patience for him to emerge as an impact offensive player. That he lasted less than 2 games on the wing with Giroux and Voracek is his failure.
-Bellemare has looked pretty good to me. He skates smoothly and thinks fast, which will get him far. Like Raffl, he needs a few dozen games on the 4th line to fully adapt to the NHL.
-Lecavalier has also looked impressive to me. I also thought he looked pretty good at the beginning of last season and showed some chemistry with B. Schenn before injuries really ruined his season. It's bad timing for him to get injured now, although taking a shot off the foot shouldn't create the same kind of lingering injury that the bad back did to him last year.
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