Flyers Flatlining

With four seconds left in the first period of a home game against Buffalo on Friday, November 27th, the Philadelphia Flyers scored their second goal of the game to take the 2-1 lead.

Since that time the team has played just over 160 minutes of hockey and taken 95 shots on opposing netminders. They started off against Ryan Miller, faced Johan Hedberg in Atlanta, and took on Roberto Luongo at home last night. It has been roughly a week since the team has scored their last goal.

That is a scary thought for the team that was soaring to victories in the beginning stages of November until a Western road trip sidelined their winning ways. Once, nearly a month ago, they were racing back and forth with Washington for the top offense in the NHL. Now they are barely hanging onto ninth place.

A hot streak of 7-1-0 collapsed during their second game in the west against the San Jose Sharks. Since then they are 1-6-0.

So what has changed on the team?

Clearly not much. Blair Betts and Darroll Powe have since gone down with injuries, and even though they were playing very well, role-players should not have that drastic an effect on the team. Simon Gagne is still out, but the team was playing fine without him. Danny Briere served a two-game suspension and missed the game right afterward thanks to the flu bug. Still, that is nowhere near enough evidence to support the full-blown offensive meltdown the Flyers have suffered.

If the Flyers are playing decently in their own zone and are not having implosions between the pipes, there is no reason for this team to be 1-6-0 in their last seven.

Even before last night’s disaster against Vancouver, things in the locker room had gotten more and more heated. An article came out recently describing Chris Pronger’s frustration with the team’s losing streak. Though the write-up seems to paint a picture of Pronger watching Richards, the team’s captain, silently allowing the ship to sink, there is much more going on in the locker room.

“He hasn’t asked me for any help,” Pronger said of Richards. “I’ve been in his shoes. It’s not [bleeping] easy. The expectations are high on him and on the team. We’re not playing to the best of our abilities, and a lot of that gets shouldered by the captain.

“Sometimes it’s fair and just and sometimes it’s not, and it’s hard to deal with that, especially at [his] age. You’re trying to figure out yourself. At 24, some kids are coming out of college, business school, some don’t even have a job at 24…

“[Richards] hasn’t come to me [to] ask me anything, and it’s delicate because at the end of the day, it’s his team,” Pronger said. “He’s the captain. He needs to show the rest of the players that it is his team. I don’t want to be the guy that has to stand up every day and tell ourselves to look into the mirror and play better and all this stuff.

“I don’t know if he is ‘rah-rah’ type or talkative type. It is a difficult tightrope to walk. I don’t want to step on his toes. Maybe he is evaluating. You can’t just jump into a situation and ranting and raving without understanding what has gone on here in the past, as well.

“He’s been here four years and sees how things have progressed from being a s—-y team to a pretty good team, to having even higher expectations. I would think he has a better read on some of these guys than I do.

“I think Homer is right. [Richards] has to trust his instincts that got him to where he is at. That is something you learn early on. Especially, when you struggle to play the game sometimes, which we all do.”

Both Richards and Pronger had a fight in last night’s game to rally the troops. A bit ago it was Briere

and Giroux throwing down the gloves. With the way the team has been playing, they’re a few posts away from a 4-3-0 record in their last seven games which, though not spectacular by any means, is not anywhere near as bad as things are looking right now. Meanwhile, the little efforts to spark this team are fading quietly into obscurity.

Though it may appear that Richards and Carter are still putting pucks in the net based on their stat lines, a lot of the scoring so far this season has been by committee. Darroll Powe and rookie-of-the-year frontrunner James vanRiemsdyk have been important parts of the team winning games at all.

Carter especially, who finished second in the entire NHL last season with 46 goals, has been floating pucks high and wide for months. Briere, who seems to be in and out of the lineup every few games thanks to a variety of incidents, has been cooled by his intermittent absences despite scoring goals in many of the games he’s been able to suit up.

With plenty of blame to go around, the biggest issue on the Flyers may be Coach John Stevens himself. Though many have blamed poor blueline units and streaky goaltenders for the Flyers’ troubles in recent years, there are whispers that the current coaching may not fit the team very well.

Stevens has always been the first one to defend his players, praise them for their efforts despite a loss, and note that the orange and black will get right back on the horse. Right now the saddle is looking a little high, and Stevens’ days may be numbered. As a players’ coach, he has brought up many of the younger talents effectively, but Stevens’ lack of emotion when handling the team may be an issue.

At points this season, things with Stevens seemed to be doing much better. After he cancelled a practice, the Flyers went on an impressive winning streak only to find themselves out of the early playoff picture a half-month later.

Whispers are saying Mike Keenan may be back in Philadelphia for another stint if Stevens cannot get this all-star team scoring goals and winning games as soon as Saturday when the Flyers face the Washington Capitals.

The Flyers will rebound. They are a dangerous playoff team regardless of mid-season dramatics. The only question is who the bench boss will be come spring.

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