Ritter's Rant: Star's Injured, Leafs Losing, Flyers Flying

Written By: Mark “The Hard Hitter” Ritter

Star’s diminished

It’s very early in the NHL season and already the injuries are piling up, especially amongst star players.

The Detroit Red Wings Johan Franzen, Montreal Canadiens Andrei Markov, Vancouver Canucks Daniel Sedin, Buffalo Sabres Thomas Vanek and, to a lesser degree, the Carolina Hurricanes are all out for extended periods of time. Oh yeah...and the Toronto Maple Leafs Vesa Toskala is injured as well (insert laughter here).

The loss of these great players will hurt their teams and it waters down the NHL’s talent level. With the NHL struggling in many markets, losing marquee players to injury is something the NHL can ill afford to have happen. There are a lot of fans already tuning out, the loss of these players may cause more to channel surf.

Leafs Lost

Admittedly, the topic of the Leafs 0-5-1 start has reached an all-time high, to the point that there is nothing left to say. The players know they need to be better, the Coaches know they need to be better and the GM is patiently loading up his gun.

There is only one way the Leafs can turn this around. PYRAMID POWER!!!

Ok, so that’s hardly the answer, but, after benching players, starting three different goaltenders, questioning the players character, tweaking the forward lines and calling the streak “bad luck”, something has got to give, right?

Hard work, practice, finishing your check, less fighting, being defensively responsible and attention to detail is the formula for success, nothing more, nothing less.

Philly Flying

The Flyers have opened the season with a 3-1-1 record. Their power play is humming along at a 29 percent success rate, which ranks fifth overall in the NHL. The penalty kill has an 88.9 percent success rate, which ranks fourth overall and, giving up just 2.80 goals per game, the Flyers are ranked 10th overall in that category.

Clearly, the Flyers are off to a great start. That said, the biggest news thus far has been the play of goaltender Ray Emery. Emery’s 2.75 goals against average and .905 save percentage won’t intimidate anyone, but his composure on and off the ice has given the team a chance to win and that’s all the Flyers were asking for.

Keeping with the Flyers, what is up with their schedule? The Flyers last played Saturday, October 10th, a 3-2 Overtime loss to the Anaheim Ducks. The Flyers will have a total of five full days off before they play the Florida Panthers on Friday, Oct. 16. Next up? The Boston Bruins, whom the Flyers play the following Thursday.

Is it just me or does it seem ridiculous that, after having five days off the previous week that the Flyers would have another five days off before they play the Bruins the following week? Who made this schedule? Stevie Wonder?

Until next time,

Peace!