PuckUpdate :: The Hockey Blog » Flyers

Three Goalies is the New Two Goalies

Steven Ovadia — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 10:56:09 +0000

So I guess keeping three goalies on the roster is now officially a trend?

The Flyers are keeping three goalies while Ray Emery prepares to return.

The Flyers literally have nothing else to do with their cap space, so they may as well keep all three goalies.

The Islanders are currently rolling three goalies, with Martin Biron the odd-goalie out with the return of Rick DiPietro. The Islanders are waiting to see if the oft-injured DiPietro can handle the physical demands of the NHL. Once they understand DiPietro’s true status, the assumption is Biron will be moved somewhere else.

If DiPietro seems set, perhaps the Isles will trade Biron back to the Flyers, so the Flyers can go with a four-goalie configuration.

To be fair, the Flyers are being smart. They have the cap space to let Emery rehab close to the team, so they’re taking advantage of the situation. It just has be awkward for goalie Brian Boucher, who’s the dead goalie walking around the locker room.

Also, to the surprise of no one, Jamie Langenbrunner was named Team USA captain.

Zach Parise, Dustin Brown, Brian Rafalski, and Ryan Suter were named alternates. Chris Drury, supposedly named to the U.S. Olympic team for his leadership abilities, was not.

I get that Drury made the Olympic team as a link between the old guard and the new guard. I get he’s there as a mentor more than a player. But it still would have been nice if GM Brian Burke had made Drury’s role a bit more official by giving him an ‘A’.

Finally, my take on why the Oilers can’t afford to trade Sheldon Souray.

Laviolette Not Scared of Over-Coaching on New Gig

Steven Ovadia — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 09:26:13 +0000

Peter Laviolette is settling into his new job as head coach of the Flyers and he already seems to be feeling the pressure of coaching a team that on paper should be very successful, but in reality is having some problems.

Witness Sunday’s practice, as reported by Tim Panaccio:

The Flyers did so many drills that Danny Briere admitted he couldn’t remember some of them to differentiate between them for a reporter.

It was a crash course in “Lavvy Hockey,” as the Flyers prep for the Canadiens on Monday night in Montreal.

He’s throwing a lot of information at a team that might be better served focusing less on system issues and more on effort and decision-making.

The funny thing is, Laviolette seems to realize he shouldn’t overload an unsteady team with too much information. Again from Panaccio:

Laviolette said he didn’t want to snowball the team with too much at this first practice and then have them freeze.”

“There’s a lot of things that will remain the same,” he said. We tried to change a little bit today, and we’ll change a little bit [Sunday] and just try to create the identity I want to create.”

Obviously, Laviolette’s coaching didn’t help much in a brutal loss to the Caps this weekend. We’ll see if the coach settles down and focuses on correcting the correctable, rather than trying to re-imagine the team in the middle of the season. It’s normal for a new coach to want to help his team right away, but Laviolette might want to think in term of baby steps. If he can just get the Flyers penalties under control, something previous coach John Stevens really seemed to have no interest in, things will improve for Philadelphia.

Chris Pronger Commits Mutiny Against Mike Richards

Steven Ovadia — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 11:01:44 +0000

I hadn’t realized this, but apparently Flyer fans are blaming some of the team’s struggles on Mike Richards captaincy skills (or supposed lack thereof).

Certainly not helping things is Chris Pronger telling the media he wants to get involved in leading the team, but doesn’t “want to step on [Richards] toes.”

I’m always shocked by the weight people put on the title of captain. Although it is a military rank, the NHL is not actually a military (or paramilitary organization). The captain’s rule is neither binding nor absolute.

That means if someone like Pronger wants to step-up to help a failing team, there’s nothing stopping him. For instance, if Pronger were to stand up in the locker room to try and get the team out of its malaise, there would not be court-martial proceedings.

And that goes for any of the more veteran Flyers. Richards is young and low-key. Sometimes that’s what a team needs in its captain. But sometimes they need another leadership style. And that’s why teams have more than one player. That’s also why teams have assistant captains, of which Pronger is one.

If Pronger really wanted to help the team, he’d stand-up and help the team. If Pronger wanted to throw a young teammate under the bus, he’d go to the media subtly questioning the teammate’s leadership skills. We see which path Pronger chose. And Pronger’s admitting Richards is not in an easy position doesn’t make his other comments any less passive-aggressive, just as saying ‘no offense’ doesn’t make comments any less offensive.

Obviously, the Flyers are a flawed team. They need help. They’ll probably have a new coach soon, and that could be what the team needs to get shaken out of its funk. But I can’t imagine there’s anything any player, captain, assistant captain, treasurer, sergeant, or just regular player, could say in the locker room that would suddenly fix the Flyers. Unless it was some kind of magical incantation and the person saying it was a wizard. I bet that would help.

Sykora Possibly Not Born to be Wild

Steven Ovadia — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 09:57:04 +0000

A couple of weeks ago, the Wild signing Petr Sykora seemed like a brilliant move. I know I sure loved it.

It’s still a little early to say it’s not working out, but Sykora was a healthy scratch against Nashville last night. That came after getting less than 10 minutes against Chicago Monday night.

Sykora has just one goal in six games this season.

It’s not just Sykora who’s not producing, though. The Wild have only scored 25 goals so far this season, putting them in the bottom third of NHL teams. Only two players have more than two goals. No one on the team seems to be going.

Over in Philadelphia, Simon Gagne is on long-term injury with a hernia injury. Interestingly, the team is calling up Randy Jones, who’ll have to pass through re-entry waivers and plan to have Blair Betts back this weekend. Apparently, the team has no interest in Brendan Shanahan. And the fact that the Flyers now see Jones and Betts as comparables to Gagne and Shanahan tells you just how far the fortunes of both Gagne and Shanahan have fallen.

Speaking of older players, Mike Modano is still interested in playing for the U.S. Olympic team. Step one would be playing in the NHL: Modano’s been out with with a rib injury since the first game of the season. Still, it’s hard to think of USA hockey without thinking of Modano. And I’m not sure it would be horrible to have a more defense-oriented, veteran forward on the team. Just as long as the whole U.S. hockey team isn’t throwback. I don’t need to see Jeremy Roenick trying to launch some kind of comeback on the world stage.

Finally, here is my look at if NHL coaches have an obligation to let their talented, offensive players score as frequently as possible.

Isles and Leafs Place Offense Before Winning

Steven Ovadia — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 11:27:27 +0000

What are we? Two weeks into the season? And already the Doug Weight trade rumors are starting. This has to be some kind of trade rumor record.

The Islanders are still waiting for their first win of the season and are in a challenging situation. Coach Scott Gordon has some talented, but undeveloped forwards and uses a very aggressive, attacking style. So the team has been sacrificing just enough defense to put a win out of reach. Gordon could dial back the offense and play more of a defensive game, but then what is he teaching his young team?

Basically, the Islanders aren’t ready for Gordon yet. But Gordon is an interesting, talented coach, so I’m sure Islanders management, whoever that is, wants to keep him in the organization.

It’s almost like what’s going on in Toronto. There too, you have a coach who refuses to dial back the offense. Of course, over in Toronto, coach Ron Wilson doesn’t have to deal with young, undeveloped talent. His undeveloped talent is older. And Wilson’s goaltending situation is just absurdly bad. But, like Gordon, he refuses to retreat into a defensive posture.

I’m sure it’s frustrating for the fans, but at least it makes for much more interesting hockey.

Speaking of struggles, Simon Gagne is still waiting for his first goal of the season, and is trying not to let it drive him crazy.

And just so we’re not too negative today, how about Colorado not struggling, helped by strong goaltending for the first time since Patrick Roy was an Av. The Avs are riding the shocking emergence of goalie Craig Anderson. Of course, that raises the question of how long Anderson can play, because there’s no one behind him on the Avalanche goalie depth chart. But for now, the Avs are off to a strong start, and a strong enough NHL start can pretty much guarantee you a seat in the playoffs.

Thrashers Trying to Keep Kovalchuk in NHL?

Steven Ovadia — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 10:01:10 +0000

Defenseman Mark Popovic is in Thrasher training camp, trying to earn a contract. He spent last season playing in the KHL and he wasn’t very impressed by the quality of play there.

Popovic played for Atlanta before deciding to go to Russia, so he has a connection to the team, but part of me wonders if someone in the Thrashers organization wanted a KHL player around to constantly remind Ilya Kovalchuk that the KHL game isn’t comparable to the NHL one. I wonder if the thinking is that the Thrashers don’t want to compete against the NHL and KHL in terms of re-signing Kovalchuk next season.

Not to disparage Popovic’s game, of course…

Over in Philadelphia, Simon Gagne seems to have gotten through his first game of the season without injury. It’s going to be a long season for Gagne if he’s day-to-day over 82 games. Hopefully, for the Flyers and for Gagne, his hip/groin issue won’t become an issue this season. Gagne tweaked groin during Team Canada camp this summer, and you hate to see a talented player like Gagne miss regular-season games because of a pre-season game injury.

Flyers Continue to Find Penalties; Rick Nash Finds a Center

Steven Ovadia — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 10:05:09 +0000

The Flyers continue to take penalties like they’re water breaks.

It’s something that made them the league’s most penalized team last season. It’s something that makes a long, grinding season even more difficult. And it’s something that will haunt the Flyers as long as they gravitate toward mean, thuggish players. Dan Carcillo has been taking just about every penalty opportunity available to him in the pre-season. Chris Pronger and Ian Laperriere aren’t exactly known for their on-ice restraint.

Coach John Stevens is making his job needlessly hard. I appreciate the Flyers having an edge and being tough to play against, but this parade of penalties hasn’t done anything for the Flyers but make them tired for the post-season.

This season looks like more of the same.

Things are going slightly better over in Columbus. After years of searching for someone to center Rick Nash, a search that often felt slightly more reasonable than trying to find a leprechaun, the Blue Jackets seem to finally have found their man: Derick Brassard, who has looked great playing between Nash and Kristian Huselius.

I felt like the Blue Jackets would never find a center for Nash. I can’t even imagine how Nash felt. And the good thing is, with the Nash center checked off of management’s to-do list, they’re now free to concentrate their efforts on trying to find the formula to turn lead into gold.

Briere: ‘Good Lines Come in Small Packages’

Steven Ovadia — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 11:44:14 +0000

Tim Panaccio looked at some of the line combinations coming out of Flyers training camp.

It looks like Claude Giroux is going to spend a lot of time with Daniel Briere, making for a fast, dynamic, and small line. The interesting (and unsurprising) thing is, is that Briere doesn’t see size as an issue, pointing out that the Jordan Staal line had problems with Briere’s smaller line during the playoffs:

It got to the point where we had either Arron [Asham] or Powe on the other side of us, guys to much it up…They had their best games when they played against Richie or Carter’s lines. So size wasn’t the issue there, it was the matchup. When [Staal's line] played against a smaller line, they didn’t play as well.

Coming out of the lockout, a lot of GMs thought the days of size trumping everything were over. And speed is much more of a factor in the NHL game now. But size is still an important ingredient. Giroux and Briere were a tough match-up for a team that forechecks aggressively. But put them against a more passive defense, and they’re never going to get anywhere near the slot. Patience is to speed as Kryptonite is to Superman.

But reading Briere’s comments, I’m kind of curious if he somehow has the ear of a certain GM in Montreal. There’s nothing wrong with a team going small, but sadly, size still does matter in the NHL.

Despite all of that size talk, though, Giroux seems poised for a breakout season. He’ll be moved onto the powerplay and Flyers coach John Stevens seems quite ready to give Giroux as much ice time as he can spare. I know Flyer fans have been expecting great things from Giroux, so it’s nice to see him poised to step up.

Honoring the Fog; Trading Hindsight

Steven Ovadia — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 11:18:16 +0000

This weekend, Tim Panaccio had a great piece on the great Freddy Shero, who for whatever reason, isn’t in the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Coach Shero was innovative, yet complicated. He was very old school, even for the 1970s, yet he was always ready to embrace a new idea.

Panaccio says Shero might not be in the Hall because no one really got to know him personally.

Yesterday’s piece explains why they called Shero “The Fog.” It has nothing to do with his absent-mindedness. It had to do with his ability to see a puck through the fog during a particularly foggy minor league game.

I think I’ve recommended this before, but if you ever get a chance to pick-up SHERO, THE MAN BEHIND THE SYSTEM, by Shero, I highly recommend it. It’s complex hockey ideas explained in very plain language. And it’s a great insight into a fascinating man.

Also, Larry Brooks had an interesting piece yesterday, reporting that Chicago GM Dale Tallon essentially lost his job when he tried to trade goalie Nikolai Khabibulin for Michael Nylander.

In hindsight, that looks like an awful deal, when you consider that Khabibulin helped play Chicago into the playoffs. But back in November or December, Khabibulin was an expensive spare. And while Nylander never really fit into Washington’s north-south attack, his creativity could have really worked well with quite a few of the young Blackhawk forwards.

Plus, don’t forget the Blackhawks didn’t re-sign Khabibulin, and so lost him for nothing. At least Tallon tried to get some return on the investment.

Getting Drafty

Steven Ovadia — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 10:08:53 +0000

I’m never able to get very excited about the NHL draft. Very few draftees have an immediate impact, so it’s hard to get psyched about players you probably won’t see for a while.

Greg Logan had an interesting piece about if teams should take the player they value most highly or the one the market values. For instance, Logan wonders if the Islanders should take Matt Duchene first overall, even though the market has him valued as a third overall.

I’m not a huge fan of the “take the player you value” approach as you’re leaving money on the table. If GM Garth Snow doesn’t want John Tavares or Victor Hedman, he should trade down and get some talent, or talent potential, back. If the Islanders don’t take Taveres at first overall, I suspect the Islander fans are going to freak. A trade-down might soften the blow. Unless Snow plans on drafting Ricky Rubio. I think that might hurt a lot of people.

The Flyers, with the 21st overall pick, might be looking to trade down if they’re not able to trade up, which is a vote for picking the best player, not the most valued. By the 21st player, you’re definitely seeing some dropoff in quality and there probably isn’t a ton of difference between 21 and say, 27, Why not drop down and get the same level of player, plus something for letting another team move up?

Although not necessarily. Bleacher Report had an interesting look at the 10 best draft steals since 1990. And if you learn one thing, it’s that you can, occasionally, find gems in the later rounds.

Also, former Habs GM Sam Pollock’s business card is for sale on eBay for US$2000. Pollock is dead, so the contact information on the card really isn’t going to help you very much. Just an FYI. Thanks to Alain for the link.