NHL Winter Classic 2012: 5 Things We Learned About the Philadelphia Flyers

Whether you are a fan of the Rangers or the Flyers, this game was exciting.

The  New York Rangers and their fans won the biggest game of the regular season to date.

The Philadelphia Flyers and their fans have some serious issues to resolve.

HBO's 24/7 documentary series made a star out of Ilya Bryzgalov, then before the game he is suddenly benched for backup Sergei Bobrovsky.

The Rangers played a tough game regardless of who was in net.

Unfortunately, the Philadelphia Flyers couldn't match the effort in their own zone that the Rangers received from Henrik Lundqvist.

With plenty of games left to play and the trade deadline looming, look for the Flyers to address the issues I present, which were magnified in the Winter Classic.

Brayden Schenn Can Play at the NHL Level.

Brayden Schenn looked like a seasoned veteran on his first NHL goal in the second period today.

As the play unravels, Schenn goes to the net as he sees defenseman Matt Carle chase down a puck headed for the blue line.

Schenn anticipates a heavy blast from the blue line by Carle which results in a rebound, leaving Lundqvist vulnerable and Schenn bangs it home.

The play was nothing sophisticated just good use of hockey instincts.

Up until today, Schenn played in 17 NHL games with no goals. That all changed today and we can only hope this is the ice breaker the highly touted rookie needs to get on a roll.

The Flyers Are Badly Missing Chris Pronger

First of all, the Flyers have no defenseman capable of quarterbacking the power play while being able to get the puck on net like Pronger.

Today the Flyers' power play was 0-3. In games of this magnitude you need to make the other team pay for penalties.

Furthermore, the events with the HBO series and the benching of Ilya Bryzgalov turned into a media circus. Without Chris Pronger there is no one capable of handling the media.

Bryzgalov just gives them too much and the rest of the guys can't diffuse what Bryzgalov ignites. Right now it appears as though a schism may exist in the locker room. A leader of Pronger's caliber rallies the men and, despite differences in personalities, brings them together.

That just isn't happening right now. Maybe Max Talbot can be that guy, but we'll have to see as Pronger is out for the season and probably forever.

The Team Has Too Many Defensive Zone Breakdowns.

The problem with that picture is Brad Richards is all by himself waiting for a pass so he can bang it home on Bobrovsky's blindside.

The Flyers have been snake-bitten by this play way too much this season. Most recently the Tampa Bay game last week, you know, the one where everyone wanted to run Ilya Bryzgalov out of town.

I'm sorry folks, when you leave guys like Milan Lucic, Steven Stamkos and now Brad Richards all alone in your zone, it ends up being a goal.

The player who blew this assignment also happens to be the Flyers' best player; Claude Giroux.

Granted, Giroux is an offensive phenom but he knows better and he got caught cheating here.

The Flyers need to stop these breakdowns or don't expect them to get too far.

Until they do, it matters not who is in net.

Sergei Bobrovsky

Sergei Bobrovsky has a bright future in the NHL. Unfortunately, that future isn't this year or until he learns to stop shots at waist height or higher.

This game today could have been won. I'm sorry Bobrovsky fans, but the "Bob" blew this game. He made Mike Rupp, a fourth line forward who had only one goal going into this game, look like Steve Yzerman.

You can make the case that Bobrovsky was screened on the first goal, but the second goal was horrible.

I haven't seen something that bad since Michael Leighton's softie in the 2010 Stanley Cup Finals.

That goal cost the Flyers the game. That goal was why the Flyers went out and paid Ilya Bryzgalov a $51 million contract.

Say what you want about Bryzgalov but he has won the bigger games this year.

For those of you with short memories, allow me to list the games:

10/6/11 at Boston

10/8/11 at NJ: shutout

10/12/11 Vancouver

11/02/11 at Buffalo

11/17/11 vs Phoenix

12/03/11 vs Phoenix

12/07/11 vs Buffalo

12/10/11 vs Pittsburgh

13/13/11 vs Washington.

These are only a handful of games that Bryzgalov has won, however these games had either postseason implications or were important (for example, Phoenix games were pressure games for Bryzgalov to win).

Peter Laviolette Needs to Get off the Goalie Carousel

Everyone has their favorite ride at the amusement park, Laviolette likes the carousel where you ride goalies.

It worked for him in Carolina when he won a Stanley Cup flip flopping between Martin Gerber and Cam Ward.

Unfortunately for Peter Laviolette, it hasn't worked in Philadelphia. Last season he even tried starting a third goalie, Michael Leighton, which was a complete snafu, as Leighton gave up three first period goals.

Laviolette started Sergei Bobrovsky in Game 1 against Buffalo who played well in Game 1 only allowing one goal.

When Bobrovsky gave up three early goals in Game 2, Laviolette not only pulled him, but kicked him up into the press box making room for Leighton, who played one game in the NHL last year.

As we all know, the Flyers crashed and burned in round two against the Boston Bruins. The instability in net led to the signing of Bryzgalov.

Yet here we are halfway through the season and Laviolette decides to start his goalie that hasn't improved from last year in favor of the perceived answer in net.

Whether the Flyers lost or not I told myself before the game I would stand behind this decision. After living through a bad episode of deja vu, I have to say this has to stop.

Until Bobrovsky can show that he can stop a shot that is more than six inches off the ice, the Flyers need to stick with Bryzgalov.

Not only do they need to stick with him, but they can't hang him out to dry like they did against Boston, Tampa Bay and they way they left Bobrovsky out there on the Richards goal.

The Rangers deserved this win today. Could the the Flyers have won? Sure they could.

However, the Flyers continue to allow opposing forwards to skate freely down low, and their coach can't get off the goalie carousel.

Once the Flyers address these issues, they could be in for a season ending in June.

Thanks for reading. I hope you guys enjoyed!

Happy New Year!

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