Thanks For Playing: Philadelphia Flyers

Each spring 16 NHL teams play for Lord Stanley's Cup. At the end one team is left holding the cup while the other 15 teams can only think of what might have been. 

This is about one of the 15 teams who wasn't so lucky. 

How They Finished: 

47-26-9   103 points  3rd in Atlantic Division, 5th in Eastern Conference. Lost in 2nd Round. 

What Went Wrong: 

Philadelphia did not take New Jersey seriously.

In the 1st round of the playoffs the Flyers had their way with the Pittsburgh Penguins, a team many felt (myself included) were the team to beat in the playoffs.

After disposing the Penguins in six games Philadelphia felt that they were now the team to beat.

Flyers defenseman Kimmo Timonen went as far to say

"After the Pittsburgh series I really thought this is our chance. Look at the teams that were out & look at the teams that were in. I think every team that was in is beatable."

Instead after a seven day layoff Philadelphia came out in game one against New Jersey and proceeded to get out shot 15-6. The Flyers would play better as the game went on eventually winning 4-3 in overtime.

In game two the Flyers got off to another good start, taking a 1-0 lead. In the 2nd period however New Jersey's forecheck was established and Philadelphia had no answer for it.

Goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov did his best to keep the Flyers on top for two periods but the Devils finally broke through scoring four unanswered goals in the 3rd period to win the game 4-1 and even the series at one game a piece.

Things didn't get any better for Philadelphia when they went to New Jersey as they lost game three in overtime by a score of 4-3 thanks to this goal by Alexei Ponikarovsky.

In game four the Devils rallied from a two goal deficit in the 1st period en route to a 4-2 win. In the game the Flyers used the same game plan they used against Pittsburgh in the 1st round and that was to do everything they could to get under the Devils skin causing them to lose their composure.

Instead New Jersey never took the bait and kept their composure throughout the entire game. Because of this the Flyers lost their composure with the most noticeable incident involving star player Claude Giroux.

As a result of the hit Giroux was suspended for game five of the series. The Flyers were able to score first but the Devils would tie the game thanks to a goal from Bryce Salvador.

Just over three minutes later New Jersey would take the lead as Ilya Bryzgalov tried to clear the puck only to have it bounce off the shaft of Devils forward David Clarkson and through his legs.

What a mistake. That goal would give New Jersey a lead they would not relinquish as they went on to win the game 3-1 and the series 4-1 ending the Flyers season. 

Where Do They Go From Here: 

Last year when Philadelphia was swept by Boston that led to sweeping changes throughout the locker room.

Forwards Jeff Carter and Mike Richards were traded away so the Flyers could sign Ilya Bryzgalov to a nine year deal worth $51 million dollars. After this past year though Philadelphia might have a case of buyer's remorse.

In all fairness to Bryzgalov he wasn't horrible this season. His GAA was 2.48, exactly the same as last year in Phoenix and his save percentage was .909. That was playing with a patchwork defense in front of him.

The reason Bryzgalov gets a lot of grief is because of his appearance on 24/7 Road To the Winter Classic.

We all know goaltenders are out there but until now we never knew how far out there they were.

There might be no other position in all of hockey that's under the microscope more than being the goaltender in Philadelphia. After watching Bryzgalov this past season I'm not sure he will be able to handle the pressure of playing goal for the Flyers.

Philadelphia fans are stuck with "Mr. Universe" in net for the near future as he has eight years left on his contract with the cap hit being at $5.67 million. In other words, he isn't going anywhere.

To make matters worse the projected cap space for the Flyers next year is around $3 million. Any changes to the roster will depend on the health of defenseman Chris Pronger.

Pronger missed most of the season with a concussion. As a result Philadelphia GM Paul Holmgren had to remake the Flyers defense on the fly.

Pronger status going into next year will have to be a factor in any roster moves Holmgren makes. If Pronger can't play Philadelphia can put him on long term injured reserve which would free up nearly $5 million in cap space.

Even if Pronger goes on LTIR I don't see the Flyers being active in the free agent market for Ryan Suter or Zach Parise as most of their money is tied up in Scott Hartnell, Danny Briere, and Kimmo Timonen. Hartnell has a no trade clause while Briere and Timonen have no movement clauses.

As a result of their contract issues I don't see any of the unrestricted free agents on the roster re-signing before July 1st. Jaromir Jagr, Pavel Kubina and Matt Carle all made this season more than what the projected cap space is for next season.

The good news for Philadelphia is the young players in their lineup this season all had a positive impact. More will be expected from them going forward as they will play a bigger role in the lineup if the Flyers are unable to bring back Jagr, Kubina or Carle.

During the summer I thought Holmgren took a big risk by trading away Carter and Richards. I can't say it worked out for Philadelphia as they won one more playoff game than they did last year while Carter and Richards are preparing to play in the Western Conference Finals.

But the players acquired for Carter and Richards all had a good first season in Philadelphia. The Flyers will still be a playoff team going into next year and if Holmgren can remake the defense and Bryzgalov can settle down and be more consistent then Philadelpha will have a chance to end their Stanley Cup drought.

In the meantime with New Jersey ending the Flyers season I think Puck Daddy (and huge Devils fan) Greg Wyshynski said it best on twitter.

37. In a Row. #1975