The Flyers have survived their first month of hockey. With the Eagles undefeated and in first place and the Phillies in the World Series, I guess the Flyers felt left out. They decided to make some noise and are 5-2-1 while sitting third in the Metro. They have a new coach, lots of new faces, and are doing better than most of the hockey “experts’ expected.
But with the first month of hockey and 10% of the season over, let’s examine how the Flyers are doing.
Lots’o Injuries
Pardon me for doing this, but to paraphrase the REM hit…..”Everybody’s hurt….”
And now that that earworm is stuck in your head, this pretty much shows the state the Flyers are in Cam Atkinson is still down with no timetable to return. Sean Couturier just had surgery and could miss the season; or at least a significant chunk of it. JVR is down for the foreseeable future. Patrick Brown and Bobby Brink are also out. Rasmus Ristolainen just came back along with Owen Tippett.
As of right now, it seems like shades of last year. But the difference between last year and this year is that this team is not giving up. They are not making excuses about losing games because of injuries. Bad teams blame losses on injuries. Good teams can bounce back from them. And speaking of bouncing back…
Falling Behind Early, But….
This team has been behind in every game but one. In all but two of those games, they rallied and came back to win the game. Only one of these games, they let slip away at the end. And this hasn’t been against scrubby teams like the Buffalo Sabres or the Arizona Coyotes. This has been against teams like the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Florida Panthers.
Now falling behind is not a good thing and at some point, repeatedly finding themselves in a deficit will come back to haunt them. You can’t always come back when you are behind.. But much like their neighbors, the NL pennant winning Phillies, they keep finding ways to come back with unlikely heroes chipping in. They may be down, but they are never out.
Unlike last year where a two goal lead in the third period was a shaky proposition, this team looks as if they can always come back. That’s a great sign of things to come. Being resilient is a wonderful thing for a team to have; whether you have young guys or a squad of battle hardened veterans. If they can stop falling behind early, that will be even better.
How’s the New Coach Doing?
So far, it’s seems to be good. He had to bench Kevin Hayes and Travis Konency after a disastrous 3-0 shutout against the San Jose Sharks. Both have responded well, notching two assists in the 4-3 victory over Florida.
Also, the Flyers are one of the better defensive teams in the NHL, ranking third best in goals against (only Vegas and Calgary are better). They are in the middle of the pack when it comes to penalty killing, which is FAR better than being last or next to last like we’ve seen in recent years. A lot of this is due to Torts’s new system of playing.
Last year, we saw the Flyers blow game after game in the third period where they held a lead. We also saw them fall behind early (see above) and just give up without making any concerted effort to come back. This year, Torts is not taking that. He put the players through a tough conditioning gauntlet to toughen them up. So far, we’ve seen that the team takes those lessons to heart. In every game, save for the San Jose game, they’ve battled every second of the match. They’ve gotten back to fundamentals and they look as if they are not running out of gas at the end of the game.
In short, they are listening to their coach. They are dealing with his gruffness and responding. So far, it is working and the results are clear. This is not the Flyers of last year. This is a team that is battling for relevancy in the the NHL’s toughest division. They will not be a team that you will walk over this year. Whether or not they can sustain this is yet to be seen, but they will play hard in every game this year. That’s a good sign of things to come.
How’re the New Guys Doing?
Tony DeAngelo has done well so far. He’s third on the team with seven points. He’s scored two goals. He is showing that the trade the Flyers made has been worth it. He’s been one of the more reliable blueliners.
Nic Desaluriers has also contributed. He got into two fights in his first three games. He leads the team with 29 hits and 17 penalty minutes (take out 15 minutes for three fights). He’s playing physical, but not stupid. He’s not leaving his team out in the cold by putting them a man down. And in the loss against the Hurricanes, he scored his first goal of the season. So far, he’s been playing as well as could be hoped for a fourth line player.
Recent addition Lucas Sedlak picked up two assists in the Carolina game as well. In three games, Owen Tippett has a goal and an assist. To wrap up, it seems like the newer additions to this team have been contributing, even in small amounts. That’s good. Instead of being a top heavy team that relies on one or two lines to do their damage, it seems as if any line can hurt you. More importantly, with all the injuries this team has been dealing with, other players have been picking up the slack.
How’re the Young Guys Doing?
There was a lot of emphasis with this team about a youth movement. A big part of this season’s “rebuilding” efforts was to see how our younger players will perform and if any of them will have a future in the organization.
While he is currently in his fourth season in the NHL, Joel Farabee is contributing well after coming back from a neck injury that some feared would keep him out of the start of the season. He’s played in every game and has racked up two goals and three assists so far.
Noah and Jackson Cates both had an impressive training camp. They haven’t lit the lamp yet, but have played well, with Noah leading all forwards with 11 blocked shots. Wade Allison’s goal against the Canes was his first in four years as he’s dealt with injuries. Morgan Frost has scored two goals. Egor Zamula has two assists and has been averaging about 13 minutes of ice time. Nick Seeler, also averaging 13 minutes on the ice, has contributed with a goal and an assist.
In short, the young guys are playing. They are growing. They are putting in the effort. They are helping to carry this team as a lot of the vets they are looking to lead them are down. If they can build on this through this year and future seasons, our future could be bright.