The Flyers seven game homestand has finally come to a merciful end. The whole thing started on Tuesday March 4th when the Flyers hosted the Calgary Flames. Former Flyers Joel Farabee and Morgan Frost were in town with their new team and the Flames whooped the Flyers 6-3. This night set the tone for the rest of the stretch.
Two nights later the Winnipeg Jets avenged their March 1st loss to the Orange and Black beating the Flyers 4-1. The next day the Flyers traded away veteran Scott Laughton and newly acquired Andrei Kuzmenko at the NHL trade deadline.
Next the Flyers lost to the lowly Seattle Kraken. The New Jersey Devils and Ottawa Senators also got to kick the Flyers while they were down. The lone win of the homestand took place this past Thursday night in a surprise shootout win against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
The Flyers went 1-6-0 and were outscored 32-12 during the seven game stretch. After losing 5-0 tonight against the Carolina Hurricanes the Flyers now sit in sole ownership of the basement slot in the Metropolitan Division.
The players on this roster have the uphill task of making the best of the present even though the trajectory of the organization is focused on the future. They’ve been cutting salary and cap space by trading players for picks. It’s the right thing to do. They are making all the “subtractions” without having the “additions” to soften the blow.
Farabee and Laughton are the type of solid personalities that meant a lot to this locker room. When John Tortorella took over as head coach almost three full seasons ago now Laughton was the only player chosen to wear a letter on his sweater. Laughton meant a lot not just to his teammates but obviously to his coach as well. On top of everything else Rasmus Ristolainen and Garnet Hathaway are both still out due to injury.
This is not the time to start looking for straw men or pulling out the long knives. If you can not see what is going on with this team right now you may be looking too hard for the answer and overlooking the obvious. Tortorella and his team have been asked to do their best even though they’ve had less and less to work with as the season has progressed. There are still games to be played and obligations to be fulfilled. There will be better days ahead.
Sensing blood in the water some are just looking for someone to blame. This game tonight against Carolina was a perfect example of why this is not the right time to pass judgment. This current roster was not built to compete. It’s a place holder. The team has been stripped down to the studs and is in somewhat of a holding pattern organizationally. They’ve already made all the moves they are allowed to make until the off-season begins.
Creating straw men at this time can only serve to do more damage. This group, from the office to the ice, has the miserable task of allowing this part of the rebuilding process to take place. I would imagine it can’t be a whole lot of fun for anyone involved. Their focus needs to stay on holding things together and sharing this burden as a unified group. Sewing seeds of division at this point is just unnecessary drama.
The Carolina Hurricanes scored five unanswered goals against the Flyers tonight. It wasn’t anyone’s fault necessarily . Carolina just kept using their superiority as a team to their advantage.
Die Hards too
It’s neat to see the die hard old school Flyers Fans who come out to games at the end of a season like this one. You see nameplates on jerseys that you don’t get to see very often. The crowds may be smaller but they are louder. Seats are more affordable so you see more kids as well. People show up to these games because they just want to be around the sport that they love. They want to be surrounded by the sights and sounds of a live ice hockey game. There’s really nothing quite like it.
There are only five remaining home games this season.
Check out our Flyers Nitty Gritty Store
