OK, the NHL season is almost a week old, so I can’t really call this a Flyers preview. Let’s instead call it a preview/one-week status report combo. Basically, here’s what I have to say: The Fly Boys look very strong!

Many may recall that I have voiced grave concern over the summer about the makeup of this team. I had several worries that were leading me to believe that Philadelphia could be in for a long year. Well, so far my trepidation has been for naught. I know they’ve only played three games so far, but after three wins, the club is head and shoulders above where I thought they would be. I will now address some of these issues and then detail why they aren’t (at least currently) the problems I believed they would be.

• Ray Emery: Alright, when the Flyers eschewed the steady Martin Biron and Antero Nittymaki for the head case that is goalie Ray Emery, I wasn’t pleased. While
  

  Call me Razor... or I'll cut you.

  Emery did take the Ottawa Senators to the Finals a few years ago, he became such an off-ice problem and was so streaky that no team wanted to take a chance on him and he was banished to Russia’s KHL. However, after a full year there, Philly took a chance on him. After all, the city loves rebuilding projects (see: Michael Vick, Jeremiah Trotter, Brad Lidge, Pedro Martinez, Paul Coffey… the list goes on and on), so it made perfect sense. But who knows? Maybe the KHL did Razor some good. Through his three wins he has looked extremely sharp, quick and square to the shooter. However, most of all, he’s been incredibly composed. That’s the main thing. There hasn’t even been a hint of psychosis yet. A shutout in his first game against Carolina was impressive. Against New Jersey the other night, I thought the short-handed goal he gave up to Jamie Langenbrunner was a bit soft, and he also iced the puck on the power play (which should never happen), but otherwise he was brilliant and I can’t take anything away from him. And yes, last night against the Caps he did let up five tallies, but most of them weren’t his fault (though I didn’t love the Morrison goal. I felt rebounds were a problem for him through the preseason). So, while he hasn’t been perfect, he hasn’t needed to be and he does look solid. I may have to eat my words on this one, but then again, he IS streaky and we’re only three games in.

• The signing of Chris Pronger: Whoa, take it easy. I don’t have a problem with Pronger. He’s awesome, and a future Hall of Famer. The problem was that I thought it might leave us a little thin on D, taking into account Pronger’s salary, Luca Sbisa leaving in the deal, the subsequent demotion of Randy Jones, and the fact that the team might be relying on the aging backliner a little too much. However, Chris has only lightened the load on his fellow defensive mates and made them better. Kimmo Timonen and Braydon Coburn no longer have to shut down the opposition’s top players on their own, and they already appear much fresher with Pronger logging a ton of time. Also, Matt Carle (4 assists last night!) has been stellar alongside Pronger and is now looking like a poor man’s Scott Niedermayer. It seems that the coach, John Stevens, is using everyone properly, and with the four of them working in tandem (and not solely asking Pronger to do everything) I’m not worried anymore.

• The goon patrol: No one has any idea how elated I was to see the opening night lineup without Riley Cote and Arron Asham on the roster. While the Flyers don’t have a true heavyweight, they have plenty of toughness with Dan Carcillo and Ian Laperriere. I really thought Stevens was going to start the year with all four of these grinders on the ice (not to mention the nights when Ole-Kristian Tollefsen plays), and the resulting penalties and lack of offensive would sink the squad. Thankfully, cooler and smarter heads prevailed. And let’s give double thanks that rookies James vanRiemsdyk and Mika Pyorala were good enough to make the team (and look great). Granted, the team has still taken a ton of penalties and that’s going to continue, but the penalty kill has been fantastic and will need to continue to perform like a top-ten unit all year for the Flyers to have a chance. Sure, there will be nights when, depending on injuries and the team they’re playing, that Cote and Asham do dress, and tensions will boil over to resemble a scene from Slap Shot, but at least it will be interesting. Besides, Jeff Carter and Mike Richards look incredible right now, so maybe the team will still have enough offense on those nights to win.

It’s gonna be an interesting year, for sure, but regardless of what happens, I feel an orange and black attack coming on.

One Response to “Let’s Go Flyers!”

1. Jay Bird says:

   10/10/2009 at 12:33 pm

   Chris Pronger was an excellent addition. I think someone has been spending too much time w/ Vivid Video and cannot appreciate Pronger’s playoff experience and leadership skills!