Hockey Post: Flyers Looking Forward.

And Thus Ends the Flyers' Season

All I've got to say is Mario Lemieux must be a freaking saint.

Ryan Parent should be proud; he played like he should have. I have high hopes for him next season; his Flyers "teammates affectionately call Parent 'Bernie'" [NHL.com]. I still have problems with that; I keep trying to pronounce "Parent" the way Bernie does. I'm sure he gets it all the time, but I still feel bad when I do it. I'm sure I'll go up for the Flyers' Wives Carnival and try to get his signature, and say it wrong. Don't get mad at me if I do, Parent!

Poor Braydon will have to wait until next season to play again. He was "acquired by the Flyers from Atlanta in exchange for Alexei Zhitnik on Feb. 24, 2007." Brilliant move. He's a great kid, and has a lot of potential in the NHL.

However: "Losers live in the past. Winners learn from the past and enjoy working in the present toward the future." -Denis Waitley

So...

Players to Watch For Next Season:
* Daniel Briere - Everyone's favorite Canadian played okay this season; unlike Marty Biron, he never seemed really comfortable in Philly, but I think he still has the potential to find his nitch. He proved in Game 4 of Series 3 that there is a Bully somewhere under all the girly behavior. That and he's signed a contract.
* Jeff Carter - Carter is one of those boys who kicks ass when he has to, but knows when to keep himself (and others) from catching a lot of penalty minutes. He scored several times for us this season, and has incredible potential, although he hasn't been showing it as much as we'd like.
* Claude Giroux - Anyone remember him? He played a grand total of two games this year, and was selected to participate in a shootout. This was during Injury Month, when it seemed like there was nine million injuries and not enough players to fill the voids. Giroux was named MVP of the Phantoms this year. He may be a kid, but I think he played very well for his first NHL games. I'm looking forward to seeing more of him.
* Braydon Coburn - Goodness, did we miss him while he's been out! Braydon was passable on Atlanta, but he's thrived in orange, fitting into the Bully lifestyle without a problem. I expect to see a hell of lot more of him next season.
* Martin Biron - Did he come through in Series 1 and 2 or what? He's comfortable as first seed goalie, but his play is still spotty. With a little work on rebounds, Marty could be a hell of a goalie, even this late in his career.
* Ryan Parent - He's at the beginning of what could potentially be a brilliant career. Looking forward to seeing a lot more of him as well.

Players That Should Turn in Their Uniforms:
* Steve Downie - He has the Bully fight in him, but his puck-handling skills are wonky at best. Downie is a firestarter, and his temper has not been quelled. He may be a kid (only 21 this year), but he puts too much effort into the physical hitting and not enough on the puck. Downie would play better in defense, but if he continues to shoot right wing, I'm hoping he gets traded.

What I'd Like to See for Next Season:
* Conditioning - Whether it's the fault of the trainers or of Stevens, I'm not sure, but the boys seem to fall apart after two periods. I'd like to see them last throughout a whole game, for once.
* Another Goalie - Biron has great days, and he has genius days, but he has enough bad days that a real, experienced goalie to share ice time would be great. In today's game, Biron wasn't feeling it, but Stevens had no other choice but to keep him in. I'd like to see them try to grab another 10th-20th ranked goalie, and possibly drop Antero Niittymaki.
* Better Power Play - The Flyers PK% seemed pretty impressive, but their power play game could have been a little better. Defense should come first, but the defense won't get anywhere without some kind of offense.
*Less Puck Play - Briere is the worst at holding onto the puck when he should be shooting. They play with it for minutes at a time in the opposite end, and shoot once before losing it. The only way to score is to shoot, and they do precious little of it. They should shoot as often as they can, because not every shot can be set up perfect. This is not a math quiz, it's hockey, and sometimes a shot played by ear is better then all the setup in the world.
* More line movement - Somehow, the boys seem to be motivated by change, and line moving is a great way to inject creativity and spontaneity into the game. I don't mean changing lines every game, but not letting the boys fall into formulaic ruts and comfortable lines. Moving out of a comfort zone can be bad, but the Flyers boys seem to flourish under change.
* Less Injuries - No one can really control this, unfortunately, but we got unlucky, especially with Simon Gagne. I can't wait to see him back in uniform next season.

So what do they think?
* Stevens - "I just told the guys that I have been in the game a long time. Working with this group has been one of the more enjoyable experiences I've had in pro hockey. It really has been. We've made tremendous strides this year, and we've come an awful long way. "
* Biron - "This team has the ingredients in place. I could see it last summer, where they were positioning themselves and move ahead for the future. And there's different guys, veteran guys, you know first line, front line. Guys are stepping it up. And that was why we got some success and that's why we wanted to finish the season the way we did. It was hard finishing the season trying to get to the playoffs. It was a big battle. It was a big battle against Washington the first run. Montreal. I mean that's the team that can even go further."
* Richards - "We’re extremely disappointed to be out, but we battled our hardest in the playoffs. It’s tough going through the playoffs playing the No. 3 seed, No. 1 seed and now the No. 2 seed. It’s disappointing, but it was a good playoff run for us."
* NHL.com - "Had anyone told the Flyers before the start of the season that they would not only make the playoffs but advance all the way to the fifth game of the East final, there would probably have been a lot of ecstatic expressions on their faces. At this time last year, the Flyers were a solid month into their offseason, having finished last in the League with 56 points, the worst total in the franchise’s proud history."

Hopeful for something better,
Mina

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Last Hockey Post: May 16, 2008

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