Stanley Cup Finals or Bust!: 2010-2011 Philadelphia Flyers Season Preview

Finals or Bust

Don Wood

2010-2011 Flyers Season Preview

A Quick Review

Again we got to the Finals, and again we lost. For someone who missed out on the glory days of the Broad Street Bullies and Stanley Cup parades, all I’ve seen is close calls. I, as many others had, wrote off the Flyers in the 2009-2010 season on many different occasions. They fired their coach, lost their big offseason goalie acquisition Ray Emery to injury, and were as low as 12^th in the standings. All was not well. 

As it is when someone rushes to judgment, fate intervenes and puts the person in their place. With a new coach in Peter Laviolette, the Flyers rededicated themselves to the new system and started to buy into a more efficient gameplan. The Flyers, led by defenseman Chris Pronger and the stellar defensive play, started to climb in the Eastern Conference standings. 

They got goaltending help in the form of a waiver claim from the Carolina Hurricanes. Career backup Michael Leighton came to Philadelphia with little or no expectations.  Leighton played well enough to earn the starting job over Brian Boucher, but a late season Leighton knee injury saw Boucher thrown back into the starting role.

Thanks to Boucher and solid defense, helped along the way by forwards like Mike Richards, Claude Giroux, and Danny Briere, the Flyers made a late season charge. On the last day of the regular season, in the 82^nd game, the Flyers won against the New York Rangers (the team that would’ve made the playoffs had we lost) in a shootout to catapult them into the playoffs. 

In a tumultuous season, nothing less should’ve been expected, but the fun didn’t stop there.

In the playoffs, the Flyers rolled over the New Jersey Devils in the first round, shutting down star left wing Ilya Kovalchuk and making Hall of Fame lock Martin Broduer look human. In the second round, The Boston Bruins faced the Flyers, and after an injury to Brian Boucher, Michael Leighton was thrown back into the starting role. 

The Bruins beat up on the Flyers in the first three games, taking the commanding series lead three games to none. With the return of Simon Gagne from a broken foot, the Flyers proceeded to win the next four games to win the series in seven. This was only the third time in North American major sports history that a team came back from a 3-0 hole to win in seven games.

The Momentum gained from such a series victory carried into the Eastern Conference Finals against the Montreal Canadians. The Flyers stopped the incredible Canadian offense thanks to superb defense and moved past in just five games to the Stanley Cup Finals. 

The Flyers took on the Chicago Blackhawks in the Finals and were outplayed in most facets of the game. We lost the series in six games but we didn’t look like we were supposed to be there. Our goaltending came down to earth and it just seemed like it was Chicagos Cup to take.

If the 2010-2011 season is half of what we had last year, were in for one hell of a hockey season!

The Ins

• D Andrej Meszaros

+    He is a good defensive defenseman with a real knack for jumping up into plays. 

-     Can be careless in the neutral zone but with a strong locker room, that shouldn’t be a problem.

• F Nikolai Zherdev

+      He is an amazing stick handler and has a real genius for opening up big plays with his stellar passing. He has an incredible shot when he wants to let it go. 

-     Zherdev has been accused of not giving his all in the past and there was word around the league that he had become a real problem in the locker room in New York.  Maybe a year in his home land of Russia and a locker room full of “team” players will get Zherdev on the right page.

• F Jody Shelley

+     A tough guy who can wear defenders down and take an all too necessary punch while he’s at it.

-     He takes bad penalties and doesn’t have the offensive skill of the other fourth liners. Barring injury, Shelley will be spending a lot of time in the Adirondacks.

• D Sean O’ Donnell/ Matt Walker

+     Both are solid stay at home defensemen that love to take the body and make their presence known. They are one in the same in their style of play and their stature (6’2, 6’3 accordingly).

-      Both players can be lumbering in the transition game and can be very easily out skated. They have to dedicate themselves to staying back and not letting the Michael Cammalleri’s of the NHL get behind them and score easily.

The Outs

• F Simon Gagne: With Gagne being moved to Tampa Bay, the Flyers have lost one of their most consistent scorers. Philadelphia had to create salary cap room and an aging winger going into the last year of a $5.25 million contract made it a simple decision. Gagne has been playing through injuries for the last several years, so the decision might be to the Flyers benefit. If the Flyers want to do well without Gagne, they are going to need their young stars to step up and fill the amazing scoring talent of an all-time great Flyer. 
• F Aaron Asham: Asham was a good penalty killer and a good team player. The Flyers will miss his defensive abilities but they are deep enough with “grinder” type players to not let the loss affect them too much.
• D Ryan Parent: Parent was traded to the Nashville Predators for the negotiating rights to veteran defenseman Dan Hamuis. Hamuis didn’t sign with the Flyers, but instead chose Vancouver and left Philadelphia with egg on their face and no Parent in the locker room.

 Line Pairings

• 1^st Line: Scott Hartnell, Mike Richards, Daniel Briere - Mike Richards' stellar two way play would be great on any line but playing alongside a rush the net forward in Scott Hartnell and a dangler like Danny Briere will really showcase his offensive ability. Richards' point total was down by 18 last year and surrounding him with offensively talented players will benefit the whole team. If Briere can carry over his impressive play in the playoffs (30 points in 23 games), this line could be the best in the NHL!
• 2^nd  Line: Nikolai Zherdev, Jeff Carter, Bill Guerin - This could be the most explosive line of all, if the egos can coincide on the ice. It has the perfect structure for a stellar line; Zherdev would be your playmaker, Carter would be your sniper, and Guerin would clean up the trash in front of the net. With the talent on this line against other second lines, you can expect big points from all three players.
• 3^rd Line: James van Riemsdyk, Claude Giroux, Ville Leino - Of all the lines that could be used this year, this is by far the most intriguing.  All are young but all have amazing talent. Leino showed he can be a force last year in the playoffs and both van Riemsdyk and Giroux can carry the Flyers when the top guys are struggling.
• 4^th Line: Daniel Carcillo, Blair Betts, Ian Laperriere - This could be one of the best defensive fourth lines in the league. All three are capable of shutting down even the best offensive players of the other team. It’s also not inconceivable that this line could produce offensively, especially playing weaker fourth line players.
• 1^st Defensive Pair: Chris Pronger and Matt Carle - The Flyers top even-strength defensive pairing was a force last year, even when the Flyers weren’t playing their best hockey. The pairing had 90 points combined and added 326 blocked shots to help protect whoever was in goal at that moment. I would leave these two together and try to continue the chemistry into the 2010-2011 season.
• 2^nd Defensive Pair: Kimmo Timonen and Andrej Meszaros - As always, Kimmo Timonen will be a rock on the ice, pushing defenders out of plays and ensuring the highest quality play out of whoever stands alongside him. The question is, can newly acquired Andrej Meszaros return to the offensive form he had in his rookie year where he scored 39 points, or will he exceed this potential and become great on a great defensive team?
• 3^rd Defensive Pair: Braydon Coburn and Matt Walker/Sean O’Donnell - This pairing will be a minute eating defensive team that will be one of the toughest third pairings in the NHL. If Coburn falls to the third pairing, the Flyers will have the most depth at the defensive position and these players will be key in penalty kills and any situation where you need a big hit.
• Starting Goalie: Michael Leighton - The career backup came into Philadelphia last year with little expectations. This year is different.  Leighton will be asked to carry the torch for the Flyers and anything but another trip to the Finals will be considered an unsuccessful season. Leighton has a great defense in front of him, so if he has any chance of winning a cup, his time is now!
• Backup Goalie: Sergei Bobrovsky - From all reports, Bobrovsky is good enough to take over the backup role from Brain Boucher and could be the next big time goalie prospect in the Flyers organization.  He is a smaller goaltender(6’1” 174 lbs), but his superior reflexes will help him make a position for himself on the team.

Season Predictions:  This season, I believe the Philadelphia Flyers will finish second in the Atlantic Division, fourth in the Eastern Conference, and lose in the Eastern Conference Finals to the Washington Capitals. I hope I’m wrong and we make it all the way to the Finals and finally bring home a Cup for the younger crowd. 

I’m ready for Hockey!