Parity is something that sports leagues seem to strive for in this day and age of free agency and salary caps. Well, for those in favor of parity, look no further than the 6th through 13th places in the Eastern Conference. Seven teams, Philadelphis, Florida, the Rangers, Montreal, Boston, Atlanta, and the Islanders are all sitting within one point of each other. Yes a win could cause the Islanders to leap frog seven spots in the East.
Now, as we close in on two-thirds mark of the season, it is not unusual to see so many teams bunched up in the middle of the standings. The standings are very likely change even with a difference of five to ten games, a period of time that will seperate the contenders from the pretenders. Tonight, the Flyers themselves will take on one of the teams they are tied with in the standings, the Atlanta Thrashers in what should be an exciting game.
In my mind, the Flyers have kind of settled into their niche as they easily defeated the Hurricanes and fell short against the Penguins in a short, uneventful week. Philly has an advantage in having at least one game in hand on every team they are tied with, however, that is the lone thing seperating them from other teams. Evenetually, those games in hand will also vanish as the Flyers schedule picks up.
What do the Flyers need to succeed and make the playoffs? Defensemen and I mean real defenseman, having players such as Ole-Kristian Tollefsen, Oskars Bartulis, and Danny Syvret as three of seven defensemen on your NHL club signals a severe lack of depth. The Flyers don't need a top pair guy, just some defensive defensemen who can provide depth and spell Chris Pronger and Kimmo Timonen when need be. The Flyers have not made a trade yet this season, but they must do so soon in order to have a chance to be a multi-round playoff team. All seven teams in that middle group are looking to improve, the teams that play consistently well and make smart trades will make the playoffs, failure to do so will send teams to the golf course.
Thumbs Up This Week
1. Ray Emery- Officially welcome back to the rightful starting goaltender. A shutout against the Rangers and minisucle four goals allowed in the last three games have guided the Flyers, who struggled to score in two of three games this week.
2. Jeff Carter- Three goals this week and all of a sudden, Carter is looking like the NHL's leading goal scorer from last year all over again. Eight goals so far in January for Carter must put him in Player of the Month considerations.
3. Chris Pronger- One goal, two assists in three games this week, but most importantly, he is playing more minutes, seems stronger, and is playing both ways more consistently than the first half of the season. The only detriment could be post-Olympic fattigue, let's keep our fingers crossed.
Thumbs Down This Week
1. Officiating- Watching Sunday's game on NBC, the penalty calling was embarassing the mount of penalties called. It was like watchiing a game of special teams, all goals came on the power play and in total, 23 penatlies were called, 21 of them minors. That's way too many, Penguins-Flyers is a rivalry game, let them play.
2. Dan Carcillo- Thumbs down for Thursday against the Rangers, fighting Marion Gaborik isn't a very gutsy thing to do. He easily won the fight and would fight Sean Avery to a draw later, but thumbs down for instigating with Gaborik.
3. Ole-Kristian Tollefsen- Because you just plain suck, the least amount of heart and effort in an NHL player that I've seen in a while. Not much hockey sense either.
On the Medical Bench
Ryan Parent- He just had back surgery on Monday (finally) which puts him out 4-6 weeks. Worse off, Parent mentioned this past week the injury is similar to one he suffered a few year ago in Nashville. Chronic back problems, anyone?
Danny Syvret- Seprated shoulder, it'll be a while until he's back, at least after the All-Star break.
My Flyers Picks This Week
Perfect 3-0 last week as I have been on quite a roll picking Flyers games lately. It'll be an interesting week as the Flyers have games against three teams around eighth in their conferences; Atlanta, the Islanders, and then a Western Canada trip to see the Flames. I feel tow straight wins over the East for the Flyers before a loss to kick off their road trip in Calgary.
Last Week- 3-0
Season- 18-9
Thurs. vs Atlanta WIN
Sat. vs NY Islanders WIN
Mon. at Calgary LOSS
Around the NHL
Atlantic- Thumbs up to the Rangers-Flyers game that turned into an old-school hockey game with all the fights. Thumbs down to the Rangers lacking in fighters. With Colton Orr off to Toronto and Donald Brashear....missing, Sean Avery was New York's top fighter. Weak.
Northeast- Someone who has impressed me recently is Buffalo rookie defenseman Tyler Myers. He's a defenseman who plays solidly both ways, is huge at 6 foot 8 inches but still has quick feet and a rocket slap shot to boot. Definitly a Calder Trophy frontrunner here.
Southeast- Washington mayeb be tops in the East, but they are in trouble at goalie. With Jose Theodore and Seymon Varlamov both hurt, the Capitals have Michal Neuvirth and Braden Holtby, the goalie tandem from Hershey, in net. Something tells me the Caps better continue scoring LOTS of goals until Theodore is back.
Central- Watch out Patrick Kane, entertainment photos can really bite. After party photos of Kane surfaced online, he is coming out saying the photos are fake. All I wonder is why Kane is 1. partying midseason and 2. worrying about this during the season. Keep your eyes on the prize, Kane.
Northwest- Here is the part where I advertise an awesome day in Canada, where CBC will feature a Canadien tripleheader on Saturday. The Senators-Canadiens will play in the afternoon at 2 p.m. Vancouver will be in Toronto at 7, and Edmonton faces off with Calgary at 10. For all you Americans wanting to catch the tripleheader, all three games will be on NHL Network.
Pacific- Thumbs down today to Dallas Stars' Mike Fistric, who was ejected from last night's Stars-Flames game after fighting Eric Nystrom of Calgary and, after getting Nystrom's helmet off, hitting Eric in the head with it. Stupid move by Fistric, but this eerily reminds me of an incident where former Toronto player Darcy Tucker did the same to former Devil Cam Jansson. Tucker wasn't thrown out. Weird.
What to Watch This Week
Thursday- Chicago at San Jose 10:30 CSN Chicago
Friday- Nashville at Detroit 7:30 FS Tennessee
Saturday- Montreal at Ottawa 2:00 NHL Network
Sunday- Los Angeles at New Jersey 5:00 MSG+
Monday- Buffalo at Pittsburgh 7:00 Versus
Tuesday- NY Rangers at Los Angeles 10:30 MSG
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