What a week of Flyers hockey it was, and don’t look now but the Flyers are officially one of the best teams in the NHL with 15 points. Without further delay, here are our answers to your questions.
Sleeping in your own bed is very important. Actually, Carter Hart said just that to the media last Wednesday. Hart said that one advantage with playing New Jersey last week was that it was not a back to back, which meant it was close enough that the players could sleep in their own beds. The NHL did the Flyers a favor of not playing back to back games in Newark last week, and it paid off with a sweep of the Devils.
Having the last change sure is a boost/advantage. According to an article written by the NY Post, “When the matchups were controlled, the home team generated almost six more shot attempts per 60 minutes than the away team. Whether the home team was trying to generate shots or suppress them, the same pattern held true: The home team receives a boost when they have the last change during the time the matched-up players were on the ice.” The last change matters with home ice advantage, and that becomes more evident in the playoffs.
Mark Howe, Eric Desjardins
Kimmo Timonen, Tom Bladon
Ivan Provorov, Andre Dupont
I would have loved to Chris Pronger, but he needed to play at least another year.
Justin Braun must have heard you because he played his best game on Saturday. On Saturday against the New York Islanders he laid three hits, and registered four blocked shots. He played well actually, and I was quite surprised. Let’s see where this is headed, as Mark Friedman is waiting in the wings.
I know it’s a small sample size, but Samuel Morin does not provide much with only being limited to 5:31 of ice time. The defensive side of the puck has been inconsistent for the Flyers this season, and it would have been nice to give Morin a shot on Defense.
Morin laid three hits on Saturday, and well that’s his game. I think the defense should get tougher and drive players into the boards, use their bodies to their advantage. Philippe Myers is 6’5, I would like to see him do this more consistently. It appears the Flyers organization has their minds made up and will send Morin to Lehigh when the season starts next week.
The Flyers have transitioned themselves from the “Broad Street Bullies” to finesse. Physicality and toughness are just not part of Philly’s game anymore. Fortunately, the Flyers have the personnel to pull this off now, as opposed to year’s past. With the way James van Riemsdyk has rebounded this season, not only with putting up points. He has been physical as well, but the Flyers need a few other players to do this consistently. The playoffs are a different animal, the Flyers have to get tougher by the trade deadline. If the Flyers get a bit tougher and add some grit and sandpaper, I personally believe this team could have an extended playoff run.
Provorov-Ghost
Sanheim-Myers
Hägg-Friedman
I believe Mark Friedman could be a little more valuable than Justin Braun. Friedman needs more of a sample size, and play a few more games to prove himself. Let’s hope over time this happens.
The Flyers defense has been the weak link of this young Flyers team. I would give them a grade of a D. Ivan Provorov, Travis Sanheim, Philippe Myers, and Shayne Gostisbehere have been solid/good, but other than that they have been inconsistent on that bottom pairing. Robert Hägg, Justin Braun, and Erik Gustafsson have been too inconsistent, and it really has hurt the forwards in some cases transitioning from defense to offense. They have to get better in this area collectively as a team, or the Flyers could see a dramatic dip in points when all teams get up to full speed as the season wears on.
If you would like to see your questions submitted in our weekly mailbag. Just submit your question on our Twitter page @flyersknitty using #Flyersmail, or @JameyBaskow. Thanks to all the fans for another great mailbag, and Let’s go Flyers.
I dont know how old you are but Tom Bladon was awful.
He was a right handed Erik Gustafson . He made mistake after mistake . I would rather have Ed Van Impe In that grouping .. I am sure there others but Bladon was the worst of all the defensiveman who played for the Bullies
I would much rather have The Beast, Brad McCrimmon playing the right-side than Tom Bladon. There was also Barry Ashbee and Joe Watson, who played on the right who would be ahead of Bladon. IMO.
I respect your opinion, and thanks for the read