Flyers soaring into 2009 stretch run

With early injuries and a rough schedule to contend with, the Flyers got off to a somewhat sloppy start. With five straight wins in hand though, things are definitely looking up for the orange and black.

The injuries are still around, but the players that have been gone a while are just starting to creep back. Danny Briere made his triumphant return to the lineup with a pair of goals during a 5-1 home win against the Ottawa Senators last night. Calder candidate James vanRiemsdyk didn’t miss a game thanks to another long break and added another goal to add to his impressive streak. Meanwhile, Ryan Parent and Ole-Kristian Tollefsen are on the verge of returning to the lineup as well. Simon Gagne, on the other hand, has no time table for taking the ice once again this year, but many suspect it will be late December. For now though the team is clicking without one of the NHL’s top two-way threats.

Imagine what the Flyers would be like with a healthy top-end winger?

The players still left standing don’t get much time to think about it though. Starting with last night’s win, the Flyers are now just starting a ferocious schedule of 26 games in 51 days which closes out with the Winter Classic outdoors in Fenway Park on January 1st, 2010 against the Boston Bruins. Two days later they’re away in Ottawa followed by another crammed January.

The bizarre long breaks early on for Philadelphia gave all the feel of a football team playing one or a couple of games bunched together at the end of every week with four or five days off in between. The Flyers though have no right to complain about the poor scheduling job the NHL has done; every team is dealing with the same issues.

The problems with scheduling only seemed to be enhanced by the Olympic year. The team doesn’t get anymore legitimate breaks until mid-February when a number of their players will be shipping off to Vancouver to play for their respective countries.  In fact, the Flyers could very easily be represented better in the Olympics than any other NHL team.

This is a cause for even more concern with many of their best players likely going deep in the Olympic tournament on team Canada or team Finland. Even vanRiemsdyk has an ever-growing shot to make team USA.

Right now the team is hanging right in there with New Jersey for a lead in pacing for the division while both the Rangers and Penguins have been in a slump for various reasons. The match-up between the Devils and Philadelphia on Flyers’ Hall-of-Fame Night this weekend could be for outright ownership of the Atlantic Division.

With a top-rated special teams unit, currently the 2nd best offense, and an 8th rated defense among the entire NHL, the Flyers seem to have their pedal pushed to the floor right as their crammed bit of scheduling gets underway.

While many of the coaching problems of the last few seasons under John Stevens were showing themselves once again early on this year, a new life seems to have washed over the team. They are winning shootouts, getting better at face-offs, being more careful with breakout passes, and are keeping a tighter grip on leads; all the things a Stanley Cup contender needs when battling the rigors of the regular season.

I Hope you enjoyed this post. As always, leaving a comment below is both appreciated and encouraged. Thanks!

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