Special Teams Crucial to Playoff Success in the City of Brotherly Love

Being a fan of hockey now for many a year, I have watched many disappointing post seasons in which penalties i inevitably told the story. As a fan my first reaction is to blame the refs, and why not? I have seen them blow more then their fair share of games. H however the reality is that penalties, and subsequently discipline, play an important role in playoff success.

As a close follower of the Philadelphia Flyers, the question that must be asked is whether they are disciplined enough on the ice, or at least  efficient enough when given an opportunity on the man advantage. As it turns out heading into the all-star break Philadelphia is averaging 18.4 penalties per game which is the league high. Does this brand of hockey burden the Flyers?

The answer is simple—no.

The Flyers penalty kill is among the top ten, earning the seventh spot; successfully killing 83.2% of the oppositions power-plays. When they are not preventing goals, they are busy scoring them while down a man. The Flyers lead the league with 13 short handed goals, with three player's tied for the individual league lead (four), Jeff Carter, Mike Richards, and Simon Gagne.

As for their power-play, the Flyers success comes from the big body presence in front of the net. 6'3" 230 pound Mike knuble plays the roll of screening the tender on one unit, while 6'2" 210 pound Scottie Hartnell creates traffic on the other. In addition, the Flyers possess a line-up of sharp shooters who always seem to find the back of the net.

Jeff Carter leads the club with nine tally's on the man advantage, while 10 other Flyers have scored at least one power-play goal, with three other Flyers have scored at least five or more;  Mike Knuble (eight), Simon Gagne (six), And Jeoffrey Lupul (five). 

What does this all mean?

It means the Flyers don't have to abandon the intimidation game that has worked so well for the organization historically- with the likes of Paul Holmgren, Bobby Clarke, Dave (The Hammer) Shultz, Robert Kelly, and Gary Dornhoefer, all of whom played during the Broad-Street-Bully era in the '70s and logged over 1000 penalty minutes throughout their respective careers.

The Philadelphia Flyers are back. Even though they never left, the brand of hockey in Philadelphia changed over the years but didn't yeild a single cup since the back-to-back cups in the 1973-74 and the 1974/75 seasons.

If you don't believe the intimidation level ever existed in Philadelphia, just ask the Red Army, who represented the Soviet Union in a series that saw them come over to North America to play its best hockey teams in the 1976 Super Series. Although The Soviets dominated the first three teams they met, they wanted nothing to do with the Flyers, and actually left the ice in the middle of the game in protest of violent play. They returned only to get thumped 4-1.

Players often say that after playing hockey for the city of Philadelphia, they consider themselves Flyers first, and hockey players second. It's 2008, 33 years from the franchises last championship, but this years addition has an intimidation level far greater then even the Legend of doom created in the '90s.

The pieces for a cup winner are in place, the chemistry is set, and the boys are clicking. Philly's special teams are leading the way and Mike Richards is leading the team by example; hard work, discipline, and lots of character.

You can argue that any number of teams are more dangerous then Philadelphia, but in all honesty what team wants to grind it out against them in a grueling seven game series? The Flyers are in prime position to take hold in the second half of the season, and should be ready for another deep playoff run.