Stevens has passed his three year anniversary as head coach of the Flyers.
At some point it has to click in everyone’s head. What exactly is wrong with this team?
They’ve spent the offseason adding a guy like Chris Pronger, who is the best player currently on the roster, to a lineup including Mike Richards, Jeff Carter, Danny Briere, Simon Gagne, and Kimmo Timonen. That’s not to mention Scott Hartnell, Claude Giroux, James vanRiemsdyk, Braydon Coburn, Matt Carle, arguably the best group of role players/fourth liners assembled in the NHL, and a goalie that’s been to the Stanley Cup finals before. What is wrong with possibly the best team the Flyers have had on paper in the last two decades?
It’s certainly not the general manager. Since the black season of 2006-07 the Flyers have completely changed the roster. 06-07 was Stevens first stint as head coach in the NHL, and though he replaced Ken Hitchcock, it’s hard to believe that the Flyers would have been any worse under him.
A trip to the NHL basement earned the organization a second overall selection (James vanRiemsdyk), but the new era of Flyers hockey would not be built around him. Instead Holmgren, replacing Bobby Clarke, who resigned for an executive position with the organization, turned the team completely around.
The only regular players from the black year still on the Flyers’ active roster are Simon Gagne, Mike Richards, and Jeff Carter. Braydon Coburn joined the team late in the season after the trade deadline so he hardly counts as a member of that team. Riley Cote was also on that roster though he played most of the season in the AHL.
Players on this year’s team who were not on the 06-07 roster:
- Arron Asham
- Blair Betts
- Brian Boucher
- Danny Briere
- Dan Carcillo
- Matt Carle
- Braydon Coburn (trade deadline 06-07)
- Ray Emery
- Claude Giroux
- Scott Hartnell
- Ian Laperriere
- Ryan Parent
- Darroll Powe
- Chris Pronger
- Mika Pyorala
- James vanRiemsdyk
- Danny Syvret
- Kimmo Timonen
- Ole-Kristian Tollefsen
That’s 19 players of the Flyers current 23-man roster that Holmgren has put in place after the black season. They include role-players, snipers, play makers, goaltenders, star defensemen, and locker room leaders.
After such an incredible turn around in just a couple of seasons, it would be very bizarre if the team played the same type of hockey as 2006-07. Unfortunately that is the problem with the team.
Goaltending continues to be the scapegoat. Biron was blamed last season, and Emery is not far from being blamed for this year’s issues as well. But oddly enough the issues are the same. The team is the same as the 2006-07 team with just more talent.
This reflects the coaching staff, and who has been coaching the team since that year?
John Stevens.
So just what are the problems costing this team important games?
Lack of a defensive system:
Oh, there is definitely something in place, but nobody is really sure what it is. Instead. stopping forwards from having open season on the goalie is the Flyers’ skill and aggressive forecheck. Two-way efforts by Giroux, Richards, Carter, and Gagne along with many other forwards as well as efforts by Timonen and Pronger in their own zone are the only things holding black the flood gates. Playing between the pipes for the Flyers is a goalies worst nightmare.
Inability to clear the zone:
It is understandable at times that the Flyers would have a problem clearing the zone on the penalty kill. The thing is that they don’t. The penalty kill works very well compared to most teams. In fact the entire special teams grouping is spectacular both on the kill and on the powerplay. You can thank Craig Berube and the other assistant coaches for that.
For some reason when clearing the zone 5 on 5 the team the team has a desire to move the puck east and west instead of north and south. While the Flyers have enough skill to get away with it at times, the results speak for themselves. Turnovers lead to quick goals even with the best defensemen and goaltenders in net.
Ever wonder how the Flyers can pour on the pressure offensively for 60 minute games and still give up quick goals like candy even when opposing teams have no momentum or forecheck? The Flyers’ outlets to escape the zone when playing 5 on 5 create chances and momentum for even the weakest opponents. They are a goalies’ nightmare. This is how you can watch the Flyers outplay the Penguins and other high-end NHL squads while giving up more goals than they themselves can put in. It’s much like a game of Russian Roulette.
When their east-west outlet game does not work the team tries long break out passes which also have very little effect outside of springing a breakaway every now and then.
5 on 5 play:
While some are blaming Carter and Gagne for slumps, not everyone is Alexander Ovechkin. Slumps happen. The reason the Flyers have all of this depth is so that at least someone is scoring every night. While usually you expect certain players to contribute more to the offensive production, when is the last time a player scored more than 82 goals; one for every game?
The Flyers create plenty of pressure, plenty of turnovers, and plenty of scoring chances. The offense does its job nearly every night even if they don’t score 5 goals. 3 goals is the average, and the Flyers can do that on most nights. The problem is that their poor technical play when coming out of their own zone often does not give them the chance to win on nights when the team only scores 2 or 3 goals (see inability to clear the zone).
Wrong attitude/wrong mentality:
Picture if you will a Flyers post-game press conference after losing game six and being ousted from the playoffs by the eventual Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins. Also note that the team outplayed the Penguins for the majority of the series yet still found a way to blow a gigantic lead in game six. Coach John Stevens sits in his chair for all the media to see and claims that he is happy with the effort the Flyers gave against a high-end NHL team.
Let that sink in for a second.
He does not mention that he is frustrated with the loss. He instead compliments his players on a JOB WELL DONE. This would have been acceptable in 2007-08 after the Flyers came from the basement to the Eastern Conference finals after one offseason and battled serious injuries throughout that series. In 2008-09, with a much improved team that took it to the Pens for the better part of six playoff games, “We can compete with these guys.” is not the right attitude. Why not, “We can beat these guys.”? Even then…why didn’t we?
There’s a whole lot wrong with this mentality that you can see creeping from John Stevens at every post-game press conference to his players taking interviews in the locker room. How many times has everyone heard the same story, “I thought we played well, but they just out-hustled us in the end. We have to come out firing for our next game. You can’t let these things worry you.”
It’s not that the team gave any less effort. Usually the effort is there, but the coaching is not. The mental lapses are going to happen, but the Flyers’ “system” works in a way that those brief mental mistakes, that would get covered up by the efforts of other players in other organizations, end up costing the Flyers games. Two goal leads become one goal leads, and before you know it, the team is scrambling to tie the game late in the third.
The team plays with the same attitude they carry into the locker room. They seem to just be thankful to be on the ice with some of the players they compete against and beat on a regular basis instead of thinking, “Man we should’ve run them into the ground.”
It is not okay to squander two goal leads against the Capitals even if they are an elite scoring team. It’s certainly not okay to give up late period goals (see Anahiem Ducks @ Philadelphia Flyers, October 10th, 2009). Every once and a while it’s excusable. Playing 58 minutes of hockey and letting the other team score two goals in 2 minutes is not.
On the bench John Stevens’ blank expression will tell the entire story.
What is he good for?
One thing that Stevens does well is help younger players develop quickly. His “player’s coach” mentality gives him the opportunity to help newer players, both rookies and acquired veterans, mesh well with the team already in place. Though he often switches lines seemingly at random to try and spark chemistry, the reason he can get away with it at times is because he creates a very stable locker room.
The players like Stevens. There’s no question about it, but at this point he may not be what a team trying to get over the Stanley Cup hurdle rather than develop into an NHL powerhouse is looking for.
No one can win 82 games, but with the roster the Flyers have they should not be blowing leads or giving up cheap goals. A few games filled with issues, like Sunday’s against the Sharks, cannot be blamed on Stevens. They will happen, but with the way this team has played so far this season, to have four regulation losses is unacceptable.
Hope on the horizon?
- The Flyers, after blowing another two goal lead in Washington were supposed to have tomorrow off. Instead they will be hitting the ice for practice. While no one is sure whether or not the decision came down from Paul Holmgren or John Stevens, showing the team that it is not okay to lose like they did tonight is definitely a step in the right direction.
- Face-offs have been terrible so far this season, and a lot of it has to do with effort. The good news there is that they are getting better.
- Not taking foolish penalties is another part of the Flyers’ problems. If they did not have outstanding special teams play the team would not be playoff bound. This, so far, seems to at least be improving as well.
- The offensive system seems to be fixed. There have been times in the last couple of seasons where the offensive just could not get anything started. They have only had one game so far this year where this has been a major concern. Our forecheck seems to be as inspired and “relentless” as the Flyers’ tag-line for 2009-10 promises.
The Flyers close out the hardest opening month of all NHL teams on Saturday at home against a slumping Carolina Hurricanes team. Their month has been filled with more quality teams and more rigorous scheduling than any in the NHL. If they lose, they close out the season at .500. Regardless of the schedule, a .500 record in inexcusable for this roster after a month of hockey action.
OTHER NEWS:
- Gagne has two small hernias in his right groin. Surgery may be on the horizon for the Flyers’ star, two-way forward. The Olympics might not be despite his resume for international play. He will met with the Flyers’ medical staff today to explore his options. There is obviously no time-table for his return. Expecting the worst and hoping for the best: His road to recovery will be a lot like Danny Briere’s last season. (article on Gagne from Examiner.com written pre-game)
- Gagne’s injury could eventually earn power-forward prospect Patrick Maroon his first NHL action somewhere down the line. Andreas Nodl, Jonathan Kalinski, Jared Ross, Lukas Kaspar, and Krys Kolanos are all waiting in the wings on the AHL roster as well.
- Betts is improving. No word yet whether or not he will be back for Saturday.
- Parent is in the same position as Betts.
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