Sometimes in life you run into really big problems. You can treat the symptoms for a while before you come to the realization that something bigger is going on. You can’t stay in denial forever. At some point the rubber hits the road and you have to face it head on. You have to eventually accept the fact that all these little things are related, there is some sort of root cause at play.
For the Philadelphia Flyers there’s a growing list of questions as the team suffers through what is now the worst start in franchise history. The Carolina Hurricanes came to town on Sunday night to put the icing on the cake handing the Flyers their 7th consecutive loss.
For the Books
The Flyers have started a season by dropping six in a row only twice in team history. After losing 4-1 at home against the Hurricanes on Sunday night this line-up now owns the dubious distinction of being the only Flyers squad ever to go seven without a “W”.
Pile Up Pile On
And the win loss column is not their only problem. It’s not like they just can’t catch a break, they’ve been getting hammered out there. They’ve been outscored during this stretch 28-8. It’s not like they’ve sacrificed their defensive game to focus on throwing a ton of pucks at the opposing net. They’ve been outshot during these seven games 257-140.
It’s not a matter of a “couple guys stepping up”, or little “adjustments” here and there. It’s across the board. There’s not one player on the roster who is on the plus side of the plus/minus stat. In fact Nick Seeler is the only player who’s appeared in all seven games that is even at 0.
Goaltending
Dan Vladar allowed 7 goals on opening night and is currently rocking a 5.08 goals against average after three games played. This is surely not the start he was looking for. He’s shown flashes, but the Flyers goaltenders have been getting hung out to dry a lot so far. Coverage in front of the net and all the way up the middle for that matter has been far less than stellar.
Joseph Woll has been fantastic at times. He’s responsible for the team’s only two points. Both points were picked up one at a time from overtime losses where Woll stole regulation ties. He faced 84 combined shots in those two games. Woll has a 2.95 GAA and a .914 SV%. He’s faced 140 shots total in the four games that he’s played.
The Big Picture
You gotta feel bad for these guys on a human level at this point. It can’t be easy answering for the same short-comings night after night.
You can continue to focus on the symptoms if you like but at some point you have to look at the situation as a whole. What’s causing almost every single aspect of their game to fall apart simultaneously? Something is fundamentally wrong.
Answers
The answers to the big questions have not done much to clear things up. After Sunday night’s loss Trevor Zegras made it very clear that the team has not quit on their coach. He said the team is “fully behind Tocc. He’s an amazing person. He’s an amazing coach. He does so many little things for us behind the scenes.” So there goes the theory that the team has given up on their coach.
Flyers Head Coach Rick Tocchet has said lots of different things. He bounces back and forth between trying to shake things up while also being sensitive to his players. After Sunday’s loss he said this about his team losing battles along the boards. “Can it get better? Yea it has to or we have to, you know, find other people, you know, you just can’t loose those battles all the time.”
When asked about Oliver Bonk’s performance the coach said, “Yea he was a minus 3 but I thought he, you know there were some moments there. I thought he was, you know, I don’t think he was a minus 3 guy.”
Sticking Together
Zegras also spoke about this stretch stinging more because the Flyers are such a close group.
As outsiders we can only see the results. Someone on the inside is going to have to figure out what the bigger problem is. They have to stop running around emptying buckets and fix the roof before it totally caves in on them.
After Saturday’s 5-1 loss in Boston Tocchet said, “You got to stick together. We’re in the muck right now. There’s no other answer. We’ve all been in life in a situation where you’re in the foxhole, and we need some people to stay in the foxhole and stick together.”
This team is talking about being a close unit and facing adversity together, and that’s all good stuff, but the fact of the matter is this. If they can’t figure out what is going on and take action this tight knit group is going to come apart one way or another. It won’t go on indefinitely.
It’s in their hands, for now
Sunday night vs the reigning Stanley Cup champs the Flyers were two goals behind with just over 5 minutes left in the 3rd period. The contest had been locked in a scoreless tie up until the midway point. This had arguably been one of their better outings and the game was still within reach.
During the TV timeout as the crew was tending to the ice surface there was no conversation on the Flyers bench. No communication or white boarding, everyone was just looking straight ahead. As soon as play resumed the Flyers scrambled in their own zone allowing Carolina to take the 4-1 lead thus putting this game in the record books.
This team and their coach do not want to come apart. They seem really committed to making this work but their approach is way off. All too often during this epic fail of a start it seems as if they are just watching it happen and waiting for things to turn around. Time is ticking.
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