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Danny Briere and his linemate Jeff Carter start to get hot, and the wins follow. (Neat1324@/flickr)
It’s been a slow road back to recovery for the Flyers who, after starting 12-5-1, went on a disastrous streak of 3-13-1 sending them on a free-fall from the heights of the Eastern Conference back to the league basement. With three road wins in a row in front of Michael Leighton of all goalies, they have pulled themselves back to an even 18-18-2, but have they completely recovered?
In the middle of their incredible spiral downward, they went a less than spectacular 2-10-0, in the middle of which they had a number of injuries, a coaching change, and a rapidly disintegrating offense. Despite Brian Boucher playing well between the pipes in the relief of an injured Ray Emery, the Flyers managed to get shut out three times during that stint as their previously top ranked NHL offense sputtered past 20th. It was as if the fuel lines for the organization’s high-powered attack had been cut.
Normally, injuries to top forwards would be enough to cut the lifeblood of any offensive attack. The Flyers were different though; they had always been different. Simon Gagne was out, but they had managed to score when he was missing in 2007-08. They even managed early in the season when he first went into surgery. They also managed when Briere missed a large chunk of the 2008-09 season. What makes this Flyers’ team so much different even with basically the same unit in tact?
The powerplay didn’t seem to be clicking during the slump, and for a team that is normally the top special teams roster in the NHL, that can be devastating. It wasn’t Gagne’s injury. It certainly wasn’t the losses of Blair Betts or Darroll Powe, who were also injured right around the time the Flyers’ troubles began.
The chaotic and randomized offense under Stevens had hit yet another slump. This slump would mean the downfall of Stevens, the beginning of the Laviolette era, and plenty of disruption in the locker room. Despite all of his faults, the locker room liked Stevens. Whether or not that had any play on the continuation of the slump is pure speculation, but everything seemed to come together at once as soon as the “Stevens’ special (slump)” brought itself back to the city of Philadelphia.
Rumors began to surface about a divided locker room with a young group of “party-animals” led by Richards and Carter versus a group of veterans led by Chris Pronger and Ian Laperriere. The rumors had no real basis other than speculation created by old stories of the young Flyers’ partying ways and some comments made by Chris Pronger about him allowing Mike Richards to control the locker room as the Flyers’ acting captain.
Scott Hartnell, his wife, and his friend, Jeff Carter, were recently the target of some very nasty rumors. (Neat1325@/flickr)
Then rumors began to spread about Jeff Carter sleeping with Scott Hartnell’s wife even though the two of them were very good friends. The rumor, started by a blog run by a Temple University senior, eventually got mass attention. The story was picked up by the media everywhere leading to denials by the Flyers’ organization as well as the players. When Carter scored a goal in mid-December, soon after the rumors had come out, it was his linemate and friend, Scott Hartnell, who was the first to congratulate him on breaking out of a huge goal-scoring slump. The organization now intends to press charges.
Another rumor that was squashed quickly was the one involving Jeff Carter and the trade block. Fueled by whispers of locker room dramatics and the knowledge of a severe scoring slump, soon every credible (and not so credible) source in the world of the NHL had Carter moving to a host of different locations. The most resilient rumors happened to involve impending UFA Ilya Kovalchuk, who hit a negotiations snag with the Trashers by asking for a ton of cash to keep him in Atlanta. Of course this sum was something the Flyers’ would never be able to offer making any such deal a non-starter to begin with. Sensing the growing power of the rumor-mill, the Flyers organization issued a statement claiming that Carter would not be trade bait just because of a scoring slump.
All the rumors have faded now, and the Flyers are actually playing some decent hockey. Gagne is back, Betts is back, Powe is back, but right now Michael Leighton is the current starting goalie. Boucher is out with a lacerated finger, and Emery is still recovering from surgery.
Behind Leighton the Flyers have finally sparked their offense whether out of necessity for Leighton, the perpetually out of position rebound machine, or the team finally finding their game. Carter, Richards, and Briere have broken out of slumps. The rest of the roster will likely soon follow. Scoring happens to be contagious.
Three wins in a row have put the Flyers back at even though they are still out of the playoff hunt right now. They’re not back to a Stanley Cup contender just yet, but things are getting better. One game at a time for now. There won’t be any trades. Any change that puts this team back in front of the pack has to be internal. Any problems that created this mess were internal to begin with.
The Flyers are slowly showing life, but it’s a long way to the top of this mountain after falling to the bottom.
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