Prior to the start of tonight’s game, my ears told me something was very wrong. Lauren Hart – she of the normally pristine, spot-on National Anthem(s) voice – went sharp and flat regularly. In other words, she did not stay in tune particularly well. This probably registered with very few people, but given my penchant for sports-related magical thinking, I wondered if this somehow meant bad things for the Flyers. It could have had the reverse effect of "God Bless America" for all I knew.

Lord above, was I wrong.

Aside from the quality of the anthems, I could not help but wonder WHY Ilya Bryzgalov was starting AGAIN – this time against one of the last-place teams in the Eastern Conference. Bryz has been fantastic in March, but the guy needs a break. Perhaps Peter Laviolette decided that tonight was a chance for him to prove his clutchitude by winning the game which would make us all say "The Flyers are going to the playoffs!!!!" (As for said clutchitude? Mr. Universe clearly has it in spades, people.)

Yes, the Flyers started out the game decently for a change and even survived an early penalty to Sean Couturier. After making the Habs look foolish during the kill, it appeared as if the Flyers would take over. This did not happen, as Montreal took advantage of the Flyers’ aggressiveness. The Habs had a few scoring chances on odd-man rushes against, but Bryzgalov answered the bell to keep the game scoreless. Later in the period, the Flyers began to re-establish the forecheck and forced a slashing penalty to Tomas Plekanec. Six hockey seconds later, they had the lead on Kimmo Timonen’s 4th goal of the season. Claude Giroux, who won the faceoff cleanly, had the only assist. The rest of the first was fairly uneventful, save for the Flyers dodging a bullet on Pavel Kubina’s giveaway, which should have led to a goal for the ice-cold Rene Bourque.

Oh, Philadelphia had a very strong start to the second period all right, spending most of the first four minutes in Montreal’s end. However, the team got caught being too aggressive yet again, and Tomas Plekanec made them pay. Lars Eller sent a perfect pass to the streaking forward, who sneaked behind the defense and beat Bryzgalov on a breakaway to tie the game. Montreal controlled the flow after that by taking advantage of some sloppy play by the Flyers. Bryzgalov saved his teammates yet again by stopping a two-on-none Canadiens rush, and then by denying Plekanec on a shorthanded breakaway. Fortunately, the latter save seemed to awake the slumbering giant… a little giant perhaps, but a giant nevertheless.

For as soon as you could say "Paul Quits The Beatles," Danny Briere scored his first goal since the Bush Administration by redirecting Matt Carle’s power-play point shot and giving the Flyers a 2-1 lead. And just like Macca followed up McCartney with Ram, Briere had plenty more to give. Later in the period on another Flyer power play, Bryzgalov passed the puck up ice to Jaromir Jagr, who was waiting at the Montreal blue line. Jagr dished to Briere, who rifled the puck over Peter Budaj’s shoulder to extend the Philadelphia lead to 3-1. Between Briere’s two goals, the Flyers killed two other Montreal power plays, holding them to zero shots in the process.

For what it’s worth, I think Briere's Paul McCartney rejoined the Flyers’ Beatles because his long-lost John Lennon analogue (i.e., Christopher Pronger) was in the building with his family and Brian Epstein Ed Snider.

Sentimentality aside, the third period started with additional offensive pressure from the Flyers and a fight between Pavel Kubina and Josh Gorges. The Flyers’ strategy appeared to be to establish a strong forecheck in Montreal's zone to wear the Habs out since they played at home on Friday night. This led Flyers getting caught up the ice several times and Montreal getting more scoring chances than they should have. Bryzgalov answered the bell time after time – even after he tripped a Montreal player to put the Flyers down two men with about eight minutes remaining in the third. Bryz (along with the Penalty-Killing Law Firm of Talbot, Couturier and Grossmann, LLP) denied the Habs on an extended five-on-three, keeping the Flyers’ two-goal lead intact. With just under two minutes remaining, Matt Read scored on a fine feed from Couturier, and the drama was over. At long last, everyone in the building got a free breakfast sandwich the Flyers clinched a playoff spot.

Continue reading this post »

Bumped to the front page from the FanPosts. - Travis

After the first half of the season, the Flyers were 25-12-4 with 54 points; this put them on pace for a record of 50-24-8 for 108 points. Puck Prospectus predicted that the Flyers would have a second-half slump of 6 points; this would mean they'd finish with 102 points instead of 108. No big deal, right? That's still more than enough for a playoff spot, and possibly even a division title. But given the Flyers' losses of late to certain teams they should beat (the Islanders); given their being outclassed by the Rangers time and again; and given their sloppy defensive zone coverage in general lately, we all began to wonder if home ice was attainable. When we combined this issue with the Flyers' March struggles under Laviolette, things began to look even more grim.

So I decided to revisit this article which details how Peter Laviolette's teams fare in the final 35 games of a given season. I wrote it this past April because the Flyers had a very poor showing in March, and everyone was concerned that the dominant team of October - February was going up in flames. Everyone turned out to be correct of course, but not before we learned a valuable lesson: Peter Laviolette's teams stumble down the stretch more often than not, and their records over the final 35 games often have little bearing on how they perform in the playoffs.

Before the jump, let me just say this: As someone who has seen the team endure some spectacular collapses over the years (thanks, 1990-91 team!), I understand the fear that the Flyers could miss the playoffs. But I have some good news: Even given the regression tendency of Laviolette's teams, this Flyers group should have more than enough points for a playoff spot.

Continue reading this post »

Editor's Note #2: Mikefive wrote this FanPost over two years ago; but today's game threads emphasized the fact that we're in the same situation again. Things have been getting a little rough around here lately, and we each need to take a step back to remember that we're all here to enjoy the conversation. - DG

Editor's Note: Since the season has begun, we've seen an influx in members, opinions, comments, and discussion. With that comes a lot of great things, but on the flip side, Ben, Geoff, and myself feel that the level of civility around the site has gone down. It makes us less attractive to new readers, opposing fans, and everybody in between. So, starting today, we're going to be cleaning up the nonsense. There are community guidelines that you should have read when you first signed up here at Broad Street Hockey, and they will be enforced strongly.

If you break one of the guidelines, you will be warned and your content may be deleted. If you continue to break the guidelines, you may be banned temporarily or on a permanent basis. This isn't to be a dick, of course -- it's to protect every member's opinion.

Below is a fanpost written by mikefive back in August. It explains in ways better than I ever could exactly what we're talking about here. Read it, learn it, and live it. - Travis

Hi everyone,

I realize that this post is not Flyer-related per se, and I'm somewhat hesitant to post this since I'm not BSH staff or anything, but here goes...

When I first found BSH, I was thrilled to pieces. While I had come across good Flyers sites before (like The Flyer Frequent), here was one where I could openly and regularly discuss my favorite team with other fans. Perhaps more importantly, I did not have to put up with the idiocy that came from readers of Puck Daddy.* Everyone here respected the Flyers' history while realizing that the current edition of the team is not a dirty one. Furthermore, all of the posters respected one another.

Methinks that civility has gone down a bit here. Maybe it's the August heat; maybe we're impatient and want the puck to drop tomorrow; I don't know. It seems like the population is growing here, which is great. Travis and his crew have done a great job and deserve all of the recognition and readership they get. However, with more people come more personalities, which unfortunately is leading to less civility. Instead of having agreeable disagreements, we are getting name-calling, and quite frankly it's reminding me of why I left Puck Daddy in the first place.

I don't mean to sound like a first-grade teacher, but can we please keep ourselves in check? This is a great site with plenty of room for healthy discussion. Let's keep it that way.

* For what it's worth, I'm not trying to disparage Puck Daddy as a blog. Greg Wyshynski had a good idea in mind when he created it. However, it's a lousy forum for discussion. Everyone is dismissive of everyone else because everyone hates everyone else's teams, so no real discussion happens or can happen. Let's please do our best to make sure that BSH does not go down a similar path.

Thanks.

Don told me to write this, so I did.

First off, I got two different reactions to this shirt today:

via 3.bp.blogspot.com

I was playing a gig in NY this weekend and wore the above BSH shirt on my way home today.  Yes, that's yours truly at the Thomas A. Edison rest stop of the New Jersey turnpike.  I got a lot of strange looks at said rest stop.  However, when I wore it to the grocery store upon returning to Philly, one of the workers there said, "I love that shirt!"  So, let's have a stick tap to Shaun for all of his awesome BSH shirts.

The other part of this FanPost is the one which Don specifically told me to write about.  Last night I dreamed that I was at my aunt's house in Cherry Hill, NJ.  I was there to work with our own Geoff Detweiler, who apparently lived there.  We were working on a special research project for BSH.  Our mission: To dissect Capn' Crunch cereal to find out what it's made of.  Our findings: Cap'n Crunch is made out of peanut and cashew intestines (whatever they are) and sunflower seeds.  Y'all might want to stay away from that cereal for a little while until Geoff and I find out more.

This is what passes for hockey discussion in August - t-shirts and dreams about our bloglords (who art in Cherry Hill).

Added to the front page, because well... why not? It's Mike. - Travis

"There are some players that we have, Ville Leino, that [are] unrestricted and we want to keep in our mix.  So, we are going to have to do some tinkering here. It's not a like we are in a position where we absolutely have to move cap space or move people to make cap space... There is no fire sale going on here. We are going to continue to try and sign Ilya [Bryzgalov], obviously, and continue to try and sign Ville [Leino], then we will see. It's not like we are caught between a rock and a hard place right now." - Paul Holmgren

Let's use the unfettered powers of our imagination for a moment, shall we?  Let's pretend the following:

• The cap is raised to $64 million, as reported;
• The Flyers sign both Bryzgalov and Leino, as they (apparently) wish to do;
• The Flyers trade a high-priced veteran to acquire a high pick in the draft; and
• The Flyers use their cap space to re-sign guys like Nodl and Powe.

What might such a team look like?  I'm thinking one of the following:

Continue reading this post »

Dear Community:

I love y'all.  I really do.  I'm as upset as all of you - if not more so - that the Flyers lost this series.  I've seen my share of ups and downs with this team; I've been going to games since 1982.  I know when the Flyers "have it" and when they don't, and despite all of their talent on paper, this year's team did not "have it."  (By "have it" I mean having the proper collection of luck, favorable match-ups, healthy bodies, and overall level of play it takes to succeed.)  You know what I mean.  It never stops sucking when the Flyers fall short, much like it never stops being awesome when the Flyers go on a deep playoff run.

But this is neither here nor there.  It's not why I'm writing this.

I understand that some folks' reactions are knee-jerk in nature.  The Flyers lost and everyone is upset, so it's only natural to try to figure out what went wrong.  I am writing this to counter some of the opinions that I've come across in the game recap thread - not to call anyone out, but just to add a little perspective to everything.  Mind you, my points are not going to be supported by statistics or anything of the sort.  I can only offer my experience of being a hockey fan for most of my life.

Without further ado:

1. "We're never going to win unless we get this type of player / goalie!"  Certainly there are situations where a team is one piece away from a Stanley Cup.  The Flyers have experienced it a number of times.  But adding one or two more players is not necessarily going to translate to a title.  As I said above, everything has to break right for a championship.  A team has to be healthy and playing well; it needs to avoid unfavorable match-ups; and it needs to get the breaks.  Adding one or two players - even someone like Tomas Vokoun - gives you a better chance, but it guarantees nothing.  This isn't the NBA.
   
   
2. "Something is seriously wrong in that locker room!"  Really?  Why are you saying this?  Is it because the Flyers haven't won the Cup with the current core?  Well, that must mean something has always been wrong in cities like Washington, Los Angeles, Vancouver, and Buffalo because each of those clubs have fielded some very good teams over the years, yet they've never won a championship.  May I remind you that lots of people were saying the same thing last year, and then the team surprised us with that memorable playoff run?  I'll never forget when Arron Asham said: "We're a family, and we're finally starting to play like one."  Ah, but wait!  Are they not a "family" anymore, even though most of last year's players are still here?  Do they miss guys like Asham and Ian Laperriere THAT much?  Have they been lying to us this whole year when they've been saying how much they believe in themselves and in each other?  They MUST have been in order to protect certain players, because...
   
   
3. "Carter and Richards are teh SUCK!  Trade them!  They party too much and don't care!"  If you can prove all of these things to me with evidence that does not leave any reasonable doubts, then maybe I'll join in this chorus.  But I don't see that happening.  Many articles have been written on this very site on Mike Ricahrds' excellence as a "heavy lifter," how much Jeff Carter has stepped up his game this year, and so on.  And even our wonderful mainstream media representatives often talk about how much Mike Richards hates to lose.  Again, if people can prove to me (and to the organ-eye-zation) how much Richards and Carter "don't care," then I'll be all for getting rid of them.  But I doubt this severely.  You don't come back from a sprained MCL if you "don't care."  You don't play injured or sick if you "don't care."  You're not the only guy on the ice hustling back to defend a possible empty-net goal against if you "don't care."  Let's keep these things in mind when launching our criticisms, folks; perspective is everything.  Speaking of which...
   
   
4. "The Flyers weren't tired!  That's BS!  You don't get tired in the playoffs!"  I'm assuming none of you have played 213 games from September 2009 to the present?  That's 15 preseason games, 164 regular-season games, and 34 playoff games from September 2009 until May 2011.  As has been said many times, that's more games played than any other team in the National Hockey League, and the barely three-month break between seasons was the shortest in Flyers' history.  Let's also remember that this was the first season in which Laviolette instituted his "true" uptempo/attacking system, which has drained just about every team he's ever coached on the NHL level.  Furthermore, just because the players themselves don't use fatigue as an excuse doesn't mean it isn't a factor.  It's not like the Flyers didn't want to beat Boston.  The main reasons they lost the series were because Boston was a bad match-up for the Flyers, from the goal on out; the Bruins had revenge on their minds after last year; and the Flyers simply had nothing left to give.

Again, I'm not trying to call anyone out.  I know we're all upset.  But let's have some perspective.  There are reasons why things went wrong, true.  But it's probably not because of all of the "sky is falling" shit that the media spoon-feeds to us.

I'm looking forward to a productive off-season and more desirable results next year.  This too shall pass, my friends.

Let's go Flyers!

Peter Laviolette is known as a demanding coach who instills an up-tempo, puck-pursuit system in his teams. His system emphasizes conditioning because players are expected to keep their feet moving all over the ice. Players are expected to hit the blue line with speed, battle aggressively for pucks along the wall, actively cycle the puck in the offensive zone, win races for loose pucks all over the ice, back-check aggressively as they fore-check, and so on.

While I am not a professional athlete, I am very active in terms of working out. I usually engage in various forms of exercise six days a week, but I make sure to vary my routines. This is because I have learned firsthand how repetitive exercises – in which one pushes one’s body to the limit – can have negative consequences. At best, it leads to fatigue. At worst, it leads to injury.

Given the Flyers’ severe drop-off of late, I could not help but wonder whether or not it had to do with fatigue brought on in part by Peter Laviolette’s very demanding system of play. So I decided to look at his record as a head coach in the NHL and see how his teams started out each season (Games 1-47) and how they finished (Games 48-82).

The results may surprise you. The good news: We may get to step back from the ledge after all.

Continue reading this post »

Great read bumped from the FanPosts. A chance to step back and actually think a little bit as we enter the final week of the regular season. - Travis

As Flyers fans, we can often be found discussing, obsessing over, and even joking about our team and its players.  We love life when they're winning; we sulk when they struggle; and we argue about individual players' worth when we're supposed to be working during the day.  We cheer for our favorites, we groan over players we don't want on the team, etc.  The list goes on, and we add to it constantly. 

I am certainly not exempt from this, as you well know.  You've seen me at my finest when I'm saying "Oops Powe SURPRISE!" to anyone who will listen, or when I'm on here venting after a bad loss or two.   Just like everyone else, I've alternated between praising players and tearing them down.  In doing so, sometimes I've been fair and sometimes not.  But this is true for all of us.  It's part of our nature as fanatics.

One thing I've learned as a sports fan is that it's easy to sing when your team is winning, and it's easy to scapegoat players when your team is losing.  But sometimes we go beyond scapegoating and take pot-shots at individuals, and these are uncalled for.  I mention this because I had an experience at yesterday's game which really gave me pause and I wanted to share it with all of you.

Continue reading this post »

People of Earth,

During my last appearance as Grand Wwwyzzerdd of Trivia here on BSH, we got to talking music.  I mentioned that I had a non-Garrett Klotz Argument-related album coming out, and the guys gave me permission to link to it from here upon its release.

Well, here it is. Recommended if you like, or are tangentially interested in: early Sebadoh / Lou Barlow, Nick Drake, early Elliott Smith, Damien Jurado, Adam Busch/early Manishevitz, Slowdive, Syd Barrett's early solo stuff, Joy Division's more atmospheric moments.  If you like introspective singer-songwriter stuff with a psychedelic bent to it, or if you've got a hankerin' for sad, stoned British music (without the marijuana), then you'll (maybe) like this.  Listen in headphones for the full effect.

Just to clarify some stuff before you listen / download:

• Yes, YoungLionApprentice is yours truly.
• Yes, I know the name is stupid.  I got it here.
• Yes, the Play button beside each song allows you to listen to that whole song before downloading.
• Yes, some of the songs go into one another.
• No, I'm not the best singer in the world.
• No, you don't have to pay me for this even though it says "Name Your Price."  You can name a price of zero dollars if you want.  Think of it as a "suggested donation" box you'd see at a museum.
• No, I'm not trying to "get discovered," even by indie labels.  I want to remain independent from the world of record contracts, signing over the rights to my songs, etc. etc.  Trust me, the indies can be just as shitty as the big boys.

If you like this, tell a friend about it, and be sure to tell him/her that it can be downloaded for free.

Thanks for listening, and enjoy.  Thanks again to Travis, Geoff, and Ben for letting me link this here as well.

Way back in August 2010, I started a thread kicking around the idea of an "official" BSH band, The Garrett Klotz Argument.  The idea fizzled out for a number of reasons, but the discussion eventually led to my decision to use the name for instrumental pieces I write.  (The invitation to collaborate with me is still open, but I have been very busy with a lot of other things.)

The thread also led Travis to contact me and ask me to write a theme song for BSH Radio.  I did, and he used what I gave him.  I wasn't happy with the results because the mix sucked.  Long story short, I'm used to recording / engineering in analog, and I always left digital engineering / editing to those who are better at it than I am.

Travis was kind enough to let me re-do the song from scratch, which I did with my engineer Jeff White.  It took a while to coordinate our schedules, deal with various snowstorms / Port Richmond water-main breaks, etc., but we finished everything this past Saturday.

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the very first song from The Garrett Klotz Argument, "Here Comes The Sports!" As before, it will be the BSH Radio theme.  You may go to Bandcamp to listen to the song or or download it for free.

I'll eventually have more songs up on the Bandcamp page, but I'm trying to get accepted into graduate school (for music therapy) so I won't have time to do so for now.  Patience, young Skywalkers.

Thanks for listening.

PS - Thanks for all of the positive feedback so far, everyone.  Youse guys're awesome.

PPS - I hate labels for music, so I came up with the fictitious genre "Post-Math Indie-Prog."  There's some truth to it - four sub-genres of rock music which have been influential to me are post-punk, math rock, indie rock, and progressive rock.  The "Philadelphia" is in there because you have to put your band's location in Bandcamp.

PPPS - For people who are obsessed with gear and want to know what I used: The melody guitar line was done on a 1996 Gibson Nighthawk Special (my main axe since '96); the harmony line and the chords (beneath the organ) were done on a sunburst DiPinto Galaxie 4; the bass was a fretless, hecho-en-Mexico Fender Jazz; the keyboard was my trusty old Casio MT-68 run through a Rust Booster (HAO) box; and I will have to get back to you on the drums and microphones used.

I noticed as we started talking / joking about The Garrett Klotz Argument, it took on a life of its own.  I also noticed that, the more we talked about it, the more I realized I was serious about wanting to try to do something about it.  Unfortunately, I've also noticed how hard it is to arrange get-togethers for the BSH community.

Therefore, my fellow musicians, I have a proposition for ye, fair and true.

I say we act like the group The Postal Service and send each other tracks either through the mail or through a shared internet host where we can download files for recording / playalong.  For example, I could record a guitar / metronome track and send to Lindbergh31.  He can add a bass track to it and send to The Dark for marimba or percussion.  Then The Dark could send to Fezzlekway for vocals.  Fezz could send back to me and I could mix. 

We could collaborate entirely by mail and FTP server in a low-key fashion - no gigs, no rehearsals, just people making music for ourselves and our e-friends here at BSH.  And who knows - maybe someone will throw a Stanley Cup party at the end of next season and The Garrett Klotz Argument could provide the entertainment.

So what are your thoughts?  I'd love to hear what you all think.  If anyone's game, let's get crackin'.  I already wrote a song, which I've tentatively titled "Through The Wickets."  I can record and send it, probably by the end of next week, if anyone's interested.

(For the record, I'm aware I didn't reference all of the musicians from the original thread.  It's nothing personal - I just picked a few at random, largely because I remembered what they played.)

Ed. Note: Bumped up from the FanPosts.

The answer is twenty-three, apparently.  Read on...

During the 1986-87 NHL Season, the League instituted the four-round, best-of-seven playoff format it uses today.  There had been four playoff rounds dating back to 1974-75, but the opening round was always shorter.  It began life as a best-of-three during which the division winners got byes (which is why the Flyers didn't play in the preliminary round when they won their second Cup).  After the WHA folded and its surviving teams were added to the NHL, all teams who made the playoffs played in the preliminary round and it was extended to a best-of-five series.  This changed again in 1986-87, when the NHL decided that the better team should have the chance to prove itself in every round, so the preliminary became a best-of-seven as well.

I have been thinking for a little while just HOW many playoff games it takes for most teams to win the Stanley Cup.  Since the current format was adopted in 1986-87, the fewest amount of games a team can play is sixteen, and the most one can play is twenty-eight.  No championship team has done either, though two have come close.  The median amount of games played would be twenty-two.  As a reminder, the median of a finite list of numbers can be found by arranging all numbers from lowest to highest value and picking the middle one:

16   17   18   19   20   21   22   23   24   25   26   27   28

Conventional wisdom would suggest that most teams who win the Cup do so while playing close to the median number of necessary games.  But who's done what?  Read on after the jump and find out how this affects the Flyers, if at all...

Continue reading this post »

This is just a short note to everyone on the morning of this, the Flyers' finest hour in this Godforsaken season.

Let's be positive and focus on winning tonight.  A Flyers win in regulation draws that thick bottom line below the 8th seed.  In other words, the Flyers, Bruins, and Canadiens all clinch, and the Rangers are done.  And then we can sit back and enjoy the game on Sunday.

While Phil Sheridan made a case for the Flyers to miss the playoffs in his article today, he also showed us why it would be a good thing for the Flyers to get in.  And he, like all of us, waxed fondly about the 2007-08 team.  But let us remember how that team - like this one - came dangerously close to missing the playoffs before heating up at the right time and getting some help.  And we all know what happened from there.

I'm not saying that if the Flyers get into the playoffs, all of their ills are cured.  I won't even say that if they somehow win a round or two.  I'm just saying that we should enjoy what remains of the season and go into tonight's game knowing that the Flyers can get the job done if they "play the game the right way."  (/Wheels)

Let's Go, Flyers!

Saul Holmgren's Conversion

Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out threats against the Flyers players. He went to the media and told them, "There are certain guys on this team that are going to be back here next year, and there are certain guys who aren't."  As he neared the Wachovia Center on his daily commute, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard voices say to him, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute us?"

"Who are you guys?" Saul asked.

"We are the Flyers' fan base, whom you are persecuting," they replied. "Now get up and go into your office, and you will be told what you must do."

Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing wrong with his team.  And so Ed Snider blessed him and said, "You are called Paul, and upon your indecisiveness I build my team."

Continue reading this post »

... to be determined in the summer, as they once again try to structure a team based around immovable contracts.

We're all pretty angry and confused right now,and understandably so.  I know I've been the guy who tries to keep us all in check with regard to negativity, etc., but I'm stepping outside of that role for the time being and laying it all on the line.

I've been a fan for a long time.  When I first started going to games as a youngster, Bobby Clarke and Bill Barber were still on the team, Brad McCrimmon was a rookie, Mark Howe had just arrived from Hartford via trade, and a promising young goaltender named Pelle Lindbergh was waiting in the wings.  In other words, I've seen a lot of Flyers hockey.  I saw both first round exits and Stanley Cup runs in the 1980s.  I stayed loyal as the team struggled to adapt to the league's Russian and European influx in the early 1990s.   (Believe me, in 1991, NO ONE wanted to play here.)  I saw the Lindros era in all of its glory and disappointment.  I could go on, and I will... after the jump.

Continue reading this post »

Eds. Note:  This was bumped from the fanposts because, well, I greatly enjoyed it.  You don't have to agree, but it's worth reading.

Ladies and gents,

I'm as frustrated as the rest of you - if not more so - with the state of the Flyers nowadays.  There's a lot to dislike, and there's very little to inspire confidence (at least for this year).  Quite frankly, I felt flat-out furious with this team earlier on in the season, because I felt like I had been lied to.  The Flyers would be "relentless" every game; "next year" would surely be "now."

Not so fast.  Instead of a dynamic offense, smothering defense, and good-enough-to-win goaltending, we find ourselves with an offense prone to deep funks, an improving defense (with little depth in case of injuries), and... good-enough-to-win goaltending.  So we got roughly 40% of what we were promised, and we see where that's gotten us.  Yuck.  Oh well, there's always NEXT YEAR!  (Cue circus music.)

Continue reading this post »

Disclaimer: I've been thinking about this for a while.  Even though the Flyers are somehow 2-1 in shootouts this year, I still like this idea enough to present it to you all.

Back in the not-so-hazy, lazy days of March 2009, the NHL's GMs met in Naples, Florida.  While there, Detroit's Ken Holland suggested that regulation wins should carry more weight in the standings than shootout victories.  Holland's proposal was meant to encourage extra effort in regulation, and I think it was also aimed at teams who "played for the shootout" once they got into overtime.  (The Rangers were particularly egregious in this regard when Tom Renney was their coach, and it seemed to me that the Blues did the same tonight.)

I agree with Holland more than I do the author of the above-linked article, for what it's worth.  I personally feel that, if you manage to play 60 minutes of hockey and do not lose, you deserve to get a point in the standings.  If you play 65 minutes and still do not lose, you deserve a point in the standings.  And eliminating points for overtime losses would likely lead to less drama and excitement in March, because fewer teams would be scrambling for the last playoff spot or two. I find shootouts enjoyable to watch but I do not like them as a way to determine whether a team wins or loses a hockey game.  That should be determined when two teams are actually playing hockey, not taking penalty shots and hoping for the best.

Continue reading this post »

Now that the Flyers are five games into the new season with a six-day break coming up, let's take a look at what's been happening.

The Flyers are 3-1-1 so far, for 7 out of a possible 10 points.  (They should have 8, but I'll take 3-1-1 over 0-3-3 any day of the week.)  They are 2-0 on the road and 1-1-1 at home.  They have outscored the opposition 19-14.  Their power play has been good and their penalty kill has been even better.

Since we've been all about the stats lately here at BSH, let's break down what the Flyers have done.  Here we'll see that there are some areas where they have excelled, and some where they need adjustments sooner than later.

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