How can the Flyers build a resilient team moving forward?

Photo Courtesy of Kyle Ross, USA TODAY

After a season full of disappointment and unachieved expectations one thing made abundantly clear about the current makeup of this Philadelphia Flyers roster is their lack of resiliency. The team was quick to fold in various high pressure situations this season. In many different scenarios they did not respond on the ice and let their poor play spiral into even worse performances. Several lengthy losing streaks the team went on this season only solidified the Flyers inability to show any semblance of resilience throughout the 2021-2022 NHL regular season. 

As a result, it’s easy to see that going into next season one of the integral aspects of the roster that must be addressed is the team’s lack of resiliency. Any successful NHL team and franchise that is trying to build a winning culture needs to be able to bounce back and respond when things begin to get tough on the ice.

Last season and the season prior the Flyers lacked that quality and it was quite apparent. In many cases they were unable to come back in games while trailing or respond to on ice adversity. For example, this past season the Flyers were 0-40-1 when trailing by 2 goals or more in a game. They were also the only NHL team without a win when trailing by 2 goals or more in a game. What the above demonstrates is that when trailing by two goals this season the Flyers were unable to respond effectively to any on ice adversity in a manner that ever resulted in the team winning a game. The fact that they were the only NHL team to accomplish this feat further cements the importance of this upcoming off-season. 

In terms of improving their individual games or recovering from and battling through injuries the Flyers do not lack resilient roster players. A variety of cases with different players this past season easily showed that. Travis Sanheim was the Flyers best defenseman after an initial month where he struggled. Travis Konency’s play significantly improved while playing under Mike Yeo. Kevin Hayes battled through multiple injuries to score at an almost point per game pace to finish the season. Carter Hart was very solid in net this past season after his worst statistical NHL season in 2020-2021. Ivan Provorov also finished the season strong and was playing well defensively, while producing offensively. As it can be seen, the team has players who are resilient and can bounce back from spells of poor play, injury and other obstacles that present themselves. 

What the organization really needs is a Head Coach that can establish an identity within the team’s play. Hiring a Head Coach with a clear vision of how he wants his players to play on the ice and that can begin to create an accountable culture needs to be bought into by the roster.

Essentially, this would mean that players execute the system and equally hold one another accountable in regards to playing said system on the ice in the way that it was envisioned by the Head Coach. Ideally this would be the way to create a resilient team. Having a group of players compete for one another, while holding each other accountable to the systems they are executing as a collective on the ice is the first step to becoming a resilient NHL hockey team and competing with the upper echelon teams in the NHL.

Ultimately such thinking above epitomizes how crucial the upcoming Head Coaching hire really is for the Philadelphia Flyers franchise. It’s been shown in the past that a coach who creates a team culture and  holds his players accountable to that identity, as well as, the on ice systems being implemented can significantly alter the outlook of a team and it’s performance. Recent examples of coaches who have had that type of impact are John Tortorella with the Columbus Blue Jackets, Barry Trotz with the New York Islanders, and Gerard Gallant with the Vegas Golden Knights and New York Rangers. 

Gettin Gritty Wit It: Episode 109

On this week’s episode of the Gettin Gritty Wit It podcast we welcomed Jamey Baskow to the show. We discussed a wide array of topics surrounding the Philadelphia Flyers and the NHL, while also diving into the state of the team from a different perspective. 

The overall theme addressed whether or not the Flyers are a resilient team. We also dissected what the makeup of a resilient team actually is and how the Flyers can improve their resiliency. Along with this, we delved into what Chuck Fletcher’s off season plans may be and what the plans should consist of.

Some other topics we got into are listed below:

• McClennon not given an entry level contract 
• Samson and McLaughlin given bonafide offers for ELC’s 
• Flyers not drafting Russians? (report refuted by team)
• Draft Talk, Slafkovsky ranked #1 on Corey Pronman’s draft prospect list 

Thanks for listening to the episode. Have a great weekend everyone!

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