Broad Street Buzz - A Philadelphia Flyers Blog

Once upon a time this season Scott Hartnell looked lost out on the ice. His line mate of two seasons Villie Leino was signed by the Buffalo Sabres, leaving head coach Peter Laviolette in a tough spot. Where was Hartnell going to fit in with all of these new pieces on the Flyers? Continue reading this post »

I’ve been to a handful of Flyers games at MSG. They’ve won every time, and it felt great. There’s just something different about going into enemy territory and coming away victorious. And since I’m just a fan; it must feel even better as a player. You’ve got 15-20,000 people cheering against you, in full support of your opponent. So in last nights 3-2 shootout win over the Florida Panthers, the Flyers didn’t dominate, but they must have felt pretty good to get 2 points. I think the video above kind of captures the entire feeling of a few people taking on thousands more, and winning.

Don't forget about the Panthers, Mr. All-Star! (Courtesy: Tom Mihalek)

What’s with the Flyers having to face the Panthers before long breaks? Last season, as we were rolling through everybody, there was a meeting with Florida right before the holiday break. Clearly the Flyers were thinking ahead to their vacation plans, because they got rolled 5-0. It turned out to be an early sign of trouble for last years team.  It foreshadowed the teams biggest problem: motivation. The only thing that could stop last season’s team was complacency, and that’s what lead to their downfall.

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Lost in the depths of championship weekend of the NFL was the most entertaining Philadelphia Flyers game that you will probably see all season. The recipe was there for a type of game like this, the Bruins humiliated the Flyers 6-0 in Philly the last time these two teams met on December 17^th. Before that contest, the Flyers spoiled the Bruins championship banner celebration on opening night in with a 2-1 victory. This was the rubber match between two Eastern Conference powerhouses that after 10 combined goals needed a shootout to determine a winner. Continue reading this post »

Jeff Reese's greatest accomplishment: Michael Leighton. (Courtesy: David Hutchison)

During the 2009-2010 season, goaltending coach Jeff Reese got a ton of credit for the team’s success.  We started the year with Ray Emery, and finished it with a rotation of Brian Boucher, Michael Leighton and Johan Backlund.  All season long, somebody would get hurt, and another guy would step in. Then he would get hurt, and replaced by the next guy.  Throughout this rotation, the Flyers put together a run that saw them go from 14th in the Eastern conference in January, to 2 games short of the Stanley Cup. When the Flyers acquired Leighton out of nowhere, and he just started winning games, Reese got the credit for making various adjustments.

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All was well until the dreaded shootout. (Courtesy: Len Redkoles)

Yesterday’s 6-5 shootout loss to Boston was easily the most exciting Flyers game in a while. Neither team defense was able to help out their goalies much. But the scoring and the fighting made up for all of that slopiness to make the final product pretty damn fun to watch, even though we blew the game.

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Courtesy: Philadelphia Flyers

Back on December 21^st the Flyers beat the Dallas Stars 4-1, but it wasn’t just an ordinary regular season victory. It was in this game that Claude Giroux made his return after missing four games with concussion symptoms. He returned in glorious fashion by contributing on all four of the Flyers goals. The top line of Hartnell-Giroux-Jagr was the catalyst behind the Flyers success, fast forward to now and that top line is on the borderline of needing an overhaul. Continue reading this post »

I am ze mahn now, dowg! (Courtesy: Len Redkoles)

We keep hearing about how Ilya Bryzgalov thrives when he plays a lot. He’s a horse, they say. He’s been that way his whole career.  The more we ride him down the stretch, the better he will be. Still, it makes sense to go with Sergei Bobrovsky tonight against the Islanders.

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