Flyers: “What Do These Playoff Teams Have That We Don’t?”

The Flyers have a lot of work to do this summer before they can once again be considered actual contenders for Lord Stanley’s Cup. The team and management alike are going to have to take a good long look at themselves in the mirror and face the totality of the circumstances surrounding how their play and decisions made this season may have affected the franchise. This team’s play no longer embodies what is “To Be a Fucking Flyer.” This team no longer shares characteristics with the players from the team’s past that used to wear that black and orange jersey with pride- The ones who used to play for the crest on the front and not the name on the back, playing their consistently physical type of game where on a nightly basis even if they weren’t the best team on ice that night, they would still manage to pull out a win sometimes against teams they probably shouldn’t have. The reason for this is that the Flyers were hungry, they had a will to win and played with plenty of heart and relentless effort to earn a hard-fought win.

The team now plays with a total lack of physicality. They are vastly inconsistent and show no heart while out on the ice. In fact, the Flyers total “I don’t care” type of attitude has now led to them being content with winning one game just to lose the next. 

Why the team has faded away from the roots that they were built on is befuddling, but I believe at this point a total culture change needs to happen via some major shake-ups in the lineup.

In order to do so let’s take a look at just what some of the teams still in the playoffs have that the Flyers don’t. The first thing is an elite top line. I think most Flyers fans remember the 90’s, which was arguably the last time Philadelphia was truly a threat year in and year out when they had one of the most dangerous top lines in hockey through 1994-1997. That line was called “The Legion of Doom”. It consisted of Eric Lindros, John Leclair, and Mikael Renberg, where in just three seasons playing together, this trio managed to compile 666 combined points; even managing to carry the Flyers to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1997 before losing to the Detroit Red Wings. 

Or if you’re old enough, how about the success of the great L-C-B- line?  That consisted of Reggie Leach, Bobby Clarke, and Bill Barber who played together from 1974-1981. They won multiple Stanley Cups together while at the same time breaking both team and NHL records in the process.

Some of the teams today that have elite first lines (like the Flyers had then) are the Colorado Avalanche whose top line consists of Gabriel Landeskog, Nathan MacKinnon, and Mikko Rantanen, who managed to total 183 points during this shortened regular season and have not let up this post season combining for 37 points in just nine games played so far.

Another team still in the battle for the Cup this season that depends heavily on their dominant first line is the Boston Bruins. This line comprising of Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron, and David Pastrnak still haunts the Flyers net minders to this day after being dealt multiple embarrassing defeats from them this year. These three Bruins tallied 165 points during the regular season this year and have also collectively totaled 35 points so far this post season. 

The Flyers’ current first line of Claude Giroux, Sean Couturier, and Travis Konecny totaled just 118 points this year and were never considered dominant during 5-on-5 play. With not one of these players even reaching the 20-goal mark or the 50-point club, the Flyers had a hard time keeping themselves in games this year. Now, I know it was a shortened season, but if the Flyers are not going to put a dominant line out on the ice, they need to put together a team like the ‘13- ‘14 Flyers that did it by committee in which they had seven different players who were able to reach the 20-goal mark. 

Other elements that Philadelphia seems to lack compared to the ones that came before them is grit and toughness. Since their existence, the Flyers were renowned league wide as always being one of the toughest teams to play against. If they could not beat you on the score board then they would definitely beat you up! Gone are the days of the Bullies, but playing a physical game is still needed if a team is to withstand multiple grueling seven-game series on their way to be able to hoist the cup. My, how times have changed though: Philadelphia only had eight players on their final roster this year that had over 50 hits this season. This statistic is just embarrassing considering the league leader (former Flyers) Radko Gudas had a total of 250 this year. 

Some teams that play a physical brand of hockey and have success with it are: 

Las Vegas highlighted by the feisty Will Carrier and Ryan Reaves; New York Islanders with the bruising Matt Martin, Cal Clutterbuck, and Ross Johnson; Reigning Stanley Cup Champion Tampa Bay Lightning with the scrappy Barclay Goodrow, Patrick Maroon, and Mikhail Sergachev.

All of these players will sacrifice their body for any one of their teammates’ honor. They police the ice and keep the Tom Wilson’s of the league in check. 

The current Flyers team doesn’t feel the need for this type of player. They chose to only play Sam Morin 20 games this season. A 6’7 behemoth who is more-than willing to drop the gloves when needed to come to the defense of his teammates was relegated to the press box all too often. Not playing Big Sam left players like Oskar Lindblom (who was battling his way back from cancer) and Nolan Patrick (who was coming back from being out an entire season with concussions and migraines) to answer the bell when these situations arose this season. I don’t know about you, but to me the fact that these players had to do that is just ridiculous!

Some of you may be saying “NO. What the team needs is defense and goaltending,” to which I would not disagree with you. For far too long the Flyers have relied solely on one guy on their back end to play an insane amount of minutes and thus hopefully carry the defense. Some past examples of this were Mark Howe, Eric Desjardins, and Kimmo Timonen. Currently that person is Ivan Provorov, but Philadelphia still hasn’t learned their lesson in this aspect, seeing that (like the ones before) him Ivan has been dealt a lackluster supporting cast. 

With that being said, the Flyers must put a renewed emphasis on strengthening their defense. Many teams that you can still watch on a nightly basis playing for their chance to raise the Stanley Cup have built their clubs from the blue line out. This only substantiates what legendary University of Alabama football coach Paul “Bear” Bryant was once quoted as saying: “Offense sells tickets. Defense wins championships.” This holds true in hockey as well.  What I wouldn’t give for a defense like Carolina’s, whose 6^th defenseman is just as good as their 1^st most nights. Or how about Colorado’s young defensive core of Cale Makar, Devon Toews, Bowen Byram, and arguably the most underrated defenseman in the league right now (in this former goaltender’s eyes) Ryan Graves, who is a plus/minus prodigy.

Just a renewed emphasis on the current defense may not be enough though, the team ought to take a different approach altogether when selecting future blue liners as well, ones that focus more on preventing goals first and believe scoring or assisting on a goal as a subsequent task. 

Regardless of what Philadelphia decides to focus or strengthen this off season, they most certainly have a lot of areas to pick from with which to start. Promptly focusing on any one of these above-mentioned areas of concern would surely better their chances of returning to the playoffs next season. The team’s management should be intently watching these games on a nightly basis right now to help them formulate a blueprint of sorts on how to navigate their way through this off season successfully. Let’s just hope they are tuning in.