To the Playoffs... AND BEYOND!

That time of the year in the NHL is approaching fast. The time of year is approaching when even the most casual hockey fan gets excited for a month of intensity. And to get ready for this month of intensity and excitement, the Flyers decided to start practicing the one thing that wins series and wins the Stanley Cup: Defense.

"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 4^th among NHL rookies with 43 points (Second in Eastern conference to only Adam Henrique) and 2^nd 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.

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.

247 Thoughts on 24/7: Part 1

First of all, we’re exaggerating. There will not be 247 full thoughts on this story so don’t get your hopes too high, but it should be fun anyway.

1. John Tortorella is a hard-ass. We’re shocked.

Every time a NY Ranger is questioned or asked about their coach there just seems to be a common theme. He is an ‘in your face’ kind of guy that tells you exactly how it is. Multiple Rangers’ players answered questions about him and gave the very typical, very professional answer that he is hard on them, but he cares and they like his approach. All of them are clearly, secretly wishing the Rangers would get rid of him so that he gets off of their asses (let’s be real honest).

He’s in the players’ and referees’ faces (AND THE FANS). He has been rubbing people in the hockey world the wrong way for years now. We can still remember hating him as a coach for the Tampa Bay Lightning for 100 years.

Not that it is a solid place for facts all of the time, but below is an excerpt from his Wikipedia page. Again, we’re shocked.

‘Tortorella is known for his outspoken nature—which has included criticizing his own players—and for his unusual system of regularly rotating goaltending duties.’

All we can say is that we’re happy he went to the Rangers. If he had magically ended up as the Flyers’ coach, we might have had to actually start rooting for him.

2. Madison Square Garden vs. The Wells Fargo Center

The 24/7 show did a little bit of a look at some history of the two teams’ stadiums and history. Now, of course, you would be nuts not to love our blue-class, blue collar approach to hockey. With that being said, MSG is a hockey cathedral. Looking at the back-end entrances of the two stadiums is like looking at two very different cultures and dynamics.

Madison Square Garden displays names of players and pictures of past performances and teams etched in stone in a very classy homage to its history. Watching Callahan go through the halls creates a few goosebumps if you’re a true hockey fan (regrettably). WF Center has old-school plywood charts displaying names of past heroes of the Broad Street Bullies. Again, this is a great way to display our blue-collar hockey approach, but it just doesn’t look as impressive. In all fairness, Wells Fargo Center doesn’t have the history that MSG does either – it really isn’t the Spectrum.

Both represent their cities well, but MSG was a thing of beauty (just an observation that caught us off-guard).

3. Ilya is way off of his Czech Rocker.

Maybe this is truly the perfect goalie. The man seemed completely out of it. There were people talking about him having his own reality show, but maybe he would be better off in a mental hospital?

Listening to this guy talk about the vastness of our universe and how Chinese law is that they will kill anyone that kills tigers – you had to think to yourself ,”Is this guy serious?” The other thought that immediately came to us was maybe he’s perfect. In a town that is given so much scrutiny for how it critiques its goaltending, maybe he would be able to block it all out. Hell, is he even going to hear any of it?

He struggled early and proclaimed that he was having issues mentally adjusting, but maybe, just maybe, he can keep focusing on the universe just long enough to keep it all together.

4. Let ‘em in, Let ‘em in

We know it was only on the show for maybe a minute, but if you didn’t notice, the Flyers’ locker room song after a win is ‘Knock Knock’ by: Mac Miller. If you haven’t listened to it yet, we highly recommend it. It really is a good ‘get jacked up’ song.

It also really speaks to this young Flyers team… (sort of)

“1,2,3,4 some crazy-ass kids come and knocked up on your door so

let em in, let em in, let em in”

More to come. Get ready for Part 2 on Wednesday night as we get ready for the Winter Classic in the Bank…

Atleast we still have one good team in Philly...

On the eve of one of the most important/disappointing games in Phillies postseason history, another team was just beginning their season. The *new* Philadelphia Flyers started their run at the Cup on Thursday night with a 2-1 win over the Boston Bruins. The best part about the game was how they spoiled the Bruins championship ceremony night and hopefully sent the fans home crying. The fans maybe even went home a little scared last night with the likes of Ilya Bryzgalov, Jaromire Jagr, and Claude Giroux probably haunting their dreams for the rest of the season. With that being said, let’s take a look at some of the big things to take away from a solid 2-1 victory in Beantown last night.

1.     Jagr and Giroux are monsters.

"And we're the three best friends that anyone could have..."

We already knew that Giroux was a game changer, and that Jagr USED TO BE a superstar, but how would they perform together on one line? Giroux is now expected to be the star and leader of this team’s offensive punch all year, which is a lot to put on him since the trading away of Mike Richards and Jeff Carter. Jagr is almost 40 years of age, coming off a couple seasons in the KHL so no one really knew what to expect of him. We’ll tell you one person who knew what to expect: Paul Holmgren. Jagr and Giroux were put on display last night in a nationally televised game and they didn’t disappoint. The two connected for the first goal of the game on the powerplay where Jagr fed Giroux up the middle, made a ridiculous move around 2 defenders and then finished with a “What the hell just happened” goal around Tim Thomas. It was only one play, but with a lesser goalie on the ice, the “Dynamic Duo” could have put two or three more goals together. Once JVR gets going, this line is going to be a lethal machine that will be getting almost all of the ice time in big situations.

2.     Ilya Bryzgalov

"Yeah, I agree, I am the bees' knees."

We didn’t need to say anything else. Just the name of the man says enough about how he played last night. He looked as if he was the No. 1 goalie that Holmgren promised when he brought in. While the Flyers were busy making dumb penalty after dumb penalty to try and give the game away in the third, Bryz was a rock in the net. Shot after shot, you could see what makes this guy so successful. He comes out of the net and is always square to the shooter. His glove hand is quick and was there to catch a point blank chance by Brad Marchand in the second period after he got through the defense. All in all, he ended the night stopping 22 of 23 shots. This was a great opening night for a man who is slated to be the answer to the Flyers woes. We think he is going to be the best goalie we’ve had in town since the exit of the man, myth, and legend Ron Hextall.

P.S. This guy is a character if you haven't seen an interview with him we recommend clicking here.

3.     Sean Couturier is going to be GOOD

"Yeah, my mom says I have a great smile too. She is always pinching my cheeks in front of the other kids on the school bus though... Embarrassing."

Sean is someone that even we can say is a youngster or “wet behind the ears” and that is saying something. A kid of only 18 years old, there is a lot of hype and pressure on a man of his age to produce for a team and city that is ready to win. Well, after game one, it looks like he is ready to deliver the goods. He had 14:04 of ice time and every time he was on the ice, it looked like he was making plays. He created numerous turnovers in the neutral zone, and looked aggressive and hungry on the forecheck. He only accrued two shots, but looked like he had a nose for the goal and you can expect that to continue going forward. His biggest contributions, however, came while killing off the powerplay. Couturier had the confidence of his head coach to go out there and produce late in the third period and almost all of the game killing off the powerplay. And of course this unit was successful killing off 4 of 5 attempts throughout the game. If he is this good this early in his career, imagine in the next two or three years learning and growing with the likes of JVR and Giroux and maybe even picking up a thing or two from the Wiley Ole’ Veteran Jagr. This kid could be dangerous.

4.     Defense will carry the team.

"C'mon guys its time, FLYING V!"

Even with some of the exciting offensive additions the Flyers made in the offseason, this Flyers team is definitely made to win defensively. The Flyers have the best defensive line pairings in the NHL all the way from 1-6. Pronger, although he is getting older, is still as good as they come in the NHL. Then there are some of the younger guys out there like Meszaros, Coburn, and Carle who are going to be key defensive pieces on this team for a long time to come. Finally, let’s not forget Kimmo Timonen. The often forgotten Finnish superstar showed last night that he is once again, a force to be reckoned with. He may have single handedly saved the win for the Flyers when stopping a gimme for Nathan Horton in front of an open net. With all of the talent in front of Bryz, the defense should put up a lot of 0’s as the season goes on. This is something that most Flyers fans weren’t alive for the last time it was happening. Paul Holmgren may have changed the philosophy, but the one thing that won’t change is the winning of the Flyers going forward.