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| "Follow me to the playoffs... AND BEYOND!" |
As all of the complaints about Ilya Bryzgalov have come and
gone, and all the critics have scrutinized one easy goal after another, there
has always been one caveat to all of the complaints. That one caveat is the
fact that the defense in front of either goaltender this year has not really
been that amazing. We have a lot of talent at the position, but hard work beats
talent when talent doesn’t work hard. And through most of this season, even
though we have a lot of talent, it looked like we were getting outworked
defensively. Whether we weren’t winning battles along the boards, blocking
enough shots, or clearing away the garbage in front of the net, it just
appeared as if our defense was slacking. As a result of this, it didn’t matter
who was in net, there were going to be a lot of goals given up and a lot more
offense needed to win games. We have the offense needed to win, but in the
playoffs, teams are too good and goalies are too sharp to just try and win on
offense alone.
Fast forward to February 28 versus the San Jose Sharks and
you will see the beginning of the transformation that Peter Laviolette is
trying to instill in this team. Since then, the defense as a whole has only
given up three or more goals twice: a 4-1 loss to the Devils (Bobrovsky) and a
6-3 win versus the NY Islanders. Since that time, not only has the goaltending
play gotten better, but the defensive intensity has gotten better too. It is
easy to sit here and say that Bryzgalov is playing like the best goalie in the
NHL right now (Even though he is), but the better answer may be that the
defense as a whole is playing better. Laviolette has told these guys that it is
time to get in playoff mode and practice the one thing that is proven to bring
team championships: defense.
Now this isn’t letting Bryz off the hook just yet, because
to be perfectly honest, he has let in a lot of easy goals throughout the year,
but as the defense got better and his play started to improve, his confidence
has gotten much better. The goalie position is as much mental as it is physical
like any kicker in the NFL and if one is off, the other will be affected too.
So for someone who is a philosophizer of sorts, the mental game is more important
than his physical attributes. But a little bit better defense went a long way
in fixing his game overall.
Another aspect going our way as of late has been health.
Although we have had to battle through health problems much of the season
(Pronger, Giroux, Timmonen…etc), we have battled through it and now are getting
healthy at the right time. Angrej Meszaros is back from his injury, getting
back in the groove and our new additions: Nicklas Grossman and Pavel Kubina,
have added some much needed defensive depth that was lost with the Pronger
concussion. Our forwards, especially Jagr, have had a couple of nagging
injuries throughout the year, but all of them seem to be getting better at the
right time as well, really hitting the peak of their performance.
Put all of these together with the youth and excitement some
of our rookies are bringing to the games this year, and it is easy to see why
we have a lot of steam going into the postseason race. Matt Read is easily one
of the best rookies in the NHL this year who is 4th among NHL
rookies with 43 points (Second in Eastern conference to only Adam Henrique) and
2nd among NHL rookies in goals scored with 21 (First in Eastern
Conference). Put him along with
the speedy newcomer Wellwood, and our young Center Sean Couturier (25 pts, 12
G, 13 A) and we have some young ambitious legs on the ice all the time.
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| If all the rookies have a sophomore slump next year, we might be in trouble |
Let’s hope that
with all of these things put together that this year is as exciting as and more
prosperous than it was versus the Blackhawks just a couple of years ago. Maybe,
just maybe, we can even end the drought that has been plaguing the city of
Brotherly Love since 1975 and bring in Lord Stanley’s Cup.
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