Philadelphia Flyers: The Team's Been Down This Road Before

I have frequently been displeased with the Flyers effort since the All-Star break, even when they are winning. I had the sense that it was just a matter of time before the wheels fell off the team bus.

And the feeling that this had happened before was overwhelming. But instead of relying on my memory, which is getting worse by the year, I decided to do some research.

I have written a detailed analysis of almost every Flyers game this season, but last year I only had a blog page to write quick entries about my take on a particular game or occurrence.

Here is what I found:

March 18, 2010 @ Dallas

They are 5-3-2 in their last 10 and I haven’t felt this bad about them since the post Thanksgiving goal embargo. They come out flat yet somehow are finding ways to win.

February 26, 2011 vs Ottawa

That the Flyers did not score more than three goals during regulation in February without the benefit of an empty net goal? The fact that they had a 7-4-1 record masked their futility, but it’s quite a statistic for a team that led the NHL in goals for the first four months of the season.

Now here are my comments after the second game of their prolonged losing streaks. (FYI—last year’s losing streak went to five games)

March 21, 2010 vs Atlanta

I held back commenting on last night’s debacle until I could see what would happen tonight. This team is in big trouble. They only have a handful of forwards that can impact a game without scoring, the defense is alarmingly passive, and the goaltending is mediocre at best. It’s a recipe for complete disaster and I’m not sure how (or if) it can be fixed at this point.

March 3, 2011 vs Toronto

But effort is exactly what we did not get from most of the Flyers. In fact, the only players that played consistently well were Kris Versteeg, Mike Richards, and Claude Giroux. It looks like Peter Laviolette’s message of intensity during the break fell on deaf ears for the most part.

The rest of the Flyers defense played poorly as well and it was, by far, their worst game of the season. The entire unit looked tentative and lethargic especially the leaders, Chris Pronger and Kimmo Timonen.

Eerily similar, huh? Even more so when you realize that the Flyers only scored six goals in the first four games during each losing streak.

And considering that last year’s Olympic break was ten days longer than this year’s All-Star break, the timing of their struggles is also uncanny. 

But the Flyers turned things around at the end of last season by going 4-3 and clinching a playoff spot on the last day. Luckily they haven’t put themselves into that type of hole this year.

Now, I make this comparison to illustrate that it’s a long season and every team has an inexplicable period of playing without intensity or emotion. And even though it seems like they will never get out of it, things can change for the good just as quickly as they change for the bad.

That doesn’t make it any easier to take, but it’s the reality of hockey.

Things seemed hopeless for the Flyers late last season, yet the same coach and the same key players on this year’s team found a way to make it to the Stanley Cup finals. And I’m sure no one will be complaining if they do the same this year.

Visit http://crackingeggsofwisdom.com for Flyers game analysis as well my takes on other sports and pop culture.