Omae wa mo kubininaru [You are already fired]

It has been a frustrating season for the Flyers. The players know it, fans know it, the coach knows it. Everybody knows it. The team was always a step behind and didn't put things together as they are capable of. It sucks but there is no way to change it anymore. The season is already over and they're just waiting for it to end, way too far behind to have any realistic chance at making the playoffs.

The only thing that's left is to show some character and play as best as you can (particularly in two upcoming contests against the Penguins). Nobody appears to know this better than Steve Mason. He has received very little goal support over the last couple of weeks, but has kept the team in games by his lonesome for most of this recent period. He allowed 3 or more goals only four times in his last 18 performances as the goalie on record. He may in fact be the best player on this team, and his detractors and the people who laughed at the Flyers for acquiring him are finally seeing that this guy is actually a talented goaltender who perhaps was overused and ridden into the ground early in his career.

So why the hell does coach Craig Berube deem it necessary to chew the guy out? During last night's loss in Calgary, Mason got the hook more than 37 minutes into the contest after giving up the second goal on 16 shots. Those aren't particularly atrocious numbers and he was screened on the goal that got him pulled. Berube doesn't appear to believe that is a sufficient, telling the press "Well, you know, there are going to be screens. That's the way it is. You gotta find pucks."

Berube is on his way out. Some of his coaching decisions are just baffling, the system doesn't work properly and the way the Flyers completely fell down the well in terms of penalty kill during the season is not a good thing for him either. Berube was mostly hired as a stopgap after a dreadful start last season. A guy the players were already familiar with since Berube was an assistant coach with the Flyers for a long time, but even his time has come now.

To me last nights reaction appears to be a form of lashing out. Berube knows he is done, that he is already fired. Like the fans and the players, he is frustrated. That is understandable to a degree, but at least it could be done with grace and without basically throwing one of the best players, and the best goalie the team has seen in ages, under the bus.

Berube is toast and Hextall is going to put a new guy behind the bench next season, one of his own choice. I have no doubt that the Flyers are going to try and lure Babcock, though my personal favorite is still Tippett though it is doubtful he could be available. Paul MacLean's name has also been thrown around. In any case, it won't be Berube.

Hockey, Punk Rock, and why the Flyers should make Rise Above their goal song

In a recent episode of Marek vs. Wyshynski, the two hosts were asked what style of music is most like hockey. When I heard the question I thought "Punk rock" because this is the only legitimate answer in my opinion. Hockey is all about raw energy, it is disrespectful and often violent. In hockey ugly goals count as well as the nice ones, and in punk rock you can put some nice touches, but the loud, fast, and slightly-off songs just count as much.

Some punk rock bands very explicitly state their fondness of hockey. Whether it's the Misfits' Jerry Only singing how he wants to be a New York Ranger, or The Hextalls stating how they specifically don't want to be that. How the Dropkick Murphys sing songs specifically for and about the Boston Bruins, or The Boils do the same for the Philadelphia Flyers. D.O.A. playing some yuppies in a music video for a cover of "Takin' care of business"? All about that.

So this brings me to the one point where in an NHL game, music and hockey most overtly intersect: The Goal Song. Whenever a team scores a goal in its home arena, the PA system starts playing a specific song in celebration. Many teams even use songs specifically written for that purpose, and a lot of debate is given about merits of each team's goal song in comparison to each other.

For a long time, the Flyers used Bro Hymn Tribute by Pennywise, and as a fan of punk rock that just made me happy. It's not the most sophisticated song in the world, but is it ever fun to song the "whoaaaaaaa-whoaaaa-a-aaaaaa" parts after a goal is scored. The Legend, as told by Andrew Ference, is that Todd Fedoruk was the guy who popularized the song around the league. The Ducks still use the song today.

Unfortunately, the Flyers have chose to abandon the Bro Hymn and have been hopping around different songs ever since. Whether it's DOOP, lighting mups, or the abomination of a song they are currently using and are rightfully admonished for, nothing seems to stick.

However, there is one really good answer for what the quest for a new goal song for the Flyers, and you can find it once again in punk rock: Rise Above by Black Flag.

Not only is it an ingenious little pun ("Flyers" need to "rise above", get it?) but the lyrics in and off themselves are perfect for the team. A song about nonconformity, about "us vs. them" mentality, about overcoming adversity and about simply showing people up. It is the Flyers hockey mentality of the team and their fans all in one package.

The song is just too perfect for the team, and it's a shame that it isn't already in use.


It's also not like Philadelphia crowds are unfamiliar with the tune. As recently as last year the song has been used in commercials for Philadelphia Union games, and the song has also been covered by Philadelphia based hardcore punk band Kid Dynamite (though I'd prefer the original because I like it better).


Lastly I want to acknowledge the Punk Rock and Hockey podcast Up The Pucks. I really, really want you guys to go back and start recording new episodes again.

Someone explain to me why the Flyers get no respect

And we're back. It was offseason and I had some work committments, but I will attempt to get some more things up here over the course of the season. But enough about that.

The 2014-15 NHL season starts tonight. Sleepless nights, excitement, debates, anger, frustration, and joy all lie straight ahead. However, this also means that it is "preview time", with several larger news outlets and websites attempting to find the definitive answer which teams will make the playoffs, win divisions, and ultimately the Stanley Cup.

And it seems that a number of those outlets have pegged the Flyers to miss the playoffs, the Hockey News being one example. A couple of people such as Jeff Marek even see the Flyers as potentially crashing and burning and getting in on "Dishonor for Connor". And I can't quite get my head around why this is.

Now, I can see some scenarios in which this could be the case. Any team can completely and utterly fail. It isn't exactly some great achievement or requires a special talent to do so. And to be frank, the offseason was middling to slightly negative. Losing Kimmo Timonen obviously sucks ass, and Michael Del Zotto isn't exactly going to replace him. R.J. Umberger is closer to doing so for Scott Hartnell, but not quite.

However, there are also some positives to expect here. Some of the younger talent will be a year older and a bit more comfortable in their roles, hopefully Vincent Lecavalier will finally find his place (or be traded soon, which is still my recommended course of action), and at the very least the Flyers should not sleep through the first month of the season like they did last year.

Overall I would say nothing earth-shattering has really happened with the Flyers and they should be pretty much on par with how they were last year. That team put up 94 Points, after going 4-10-1 during the first 15 games no less and with pretty much the worst possible schedule to end the season. I don't think the Flyers are going to be Cup Contenders this year, but I see no definitive reason that they should miss the playoffs.

The only reasonable explanation I can come up is process of elimination. People think other teams in the Division and conference will be better and supersede the Flyers. The Islanders made waves by acquiring Leddy and Boychuck, people think the Devils won't be as awful in the shootout and Schneider will have a good year, and the Capitals impressed people by bolstering their blue line with Niskanen and Orpik. Plus people figure Columbus is a team still on the rise. But I don't think any of these teams are clearly better than the Flyers. On par with them perhaps, but that predicts a dog fight in which the Flyers have more experience and have at least proven that they can beat others out. History is filled with teams that had "showy" offseasons that amounted to little actual improvement.

So why aren't the Flyers getting any respect? I for my part have no idea.

Thank you, Scott Hartnell

After playing some video games for a couple of hours yesterday, I got back to my PC to look up what's new and the world shocked me once again. Scott Hartnell was traded to the Columbus Blue Jackets in return for R.J. Umberger and a 4th round pick. My regular forums, Twitter and Reddit were abuzz and nobody really knew why this trade went down.

Scott Hartnell is simply a favorite among the Flyers fans. He is an upstanding guy who writes childrens books, is always up for any charitable event (including donating his own hair) and a class act all the way through. He took anything in stride, whether it was little rubs from his fans, counting up how often he would fall down during a game, or his enemies throwing juvenile insults at him and him just going along with it.

I checked both his Twitter and Facebook pages immediately, and he had already made posts saying thanks to the Flyers, their fans and the city of Philadelphia and had already created a 50% discount for his personal merchandise.

But Hartnell was more than just a great person to the Flyers fans, he was also a great player during his time in Philadelphia. He scored 326 points with 157 goals in his 517 games as a Flyer in the Regular season, plus another 32 points with 12 goals in 52 playoff games. But even beyond simple stats, Hartnell was great as an all-round power forward. He worked well with virtually every line he was put on, whether as a winger for Jeff Carter, Danny Briere, Claude Giroux, or whomever. He was always there and he always put in effort. And from all accounts he was also always a locker room guy here, true glue and always fun to be around.

In a way, Hartnell was what you think of when you think of a Flyers player. A rough guy with a heart of gold, who will go into the dirty areas, fight if he has to, with questioned but nevertheless present hockey skill, beloved by the Flyers faithful and vilified by their rivals.

Hartnell loved the Flyers, and the Flyers loved him back.

And thus it is even more puzzling why and how this trade happened. Hartnell had a No Movement Clause on his contract, which means that any and all movements of him as a player, whether trade or assignment to the minor leagues, must be approved by him. From the press conferences it appears that it was Ron Hextall who put the trade forward, wanting to speed up the team, and Hartnell agreed after learning of it and believing he was no longer wanted by the organization.

This is Ron Hextall's first major move as the Flyers GM, and it is a shocker for the fans, and even some of the players. Very disappointing and somewhat puts Hextall himself into question about understanding the fans.

At least the Flyers got an acceptable return. R. J. Umberger is a good player, and somewhat comparable to Hartnell in production, age, contract etc. but not in play style. Justin Bourne immediately called the trade for the Blue Jackets, and the numbers seem to agree with him. I myself believe Hartnell to be the better player, but I also think Umberger is severely underrated, and a good playoff performer who unfortunately never really got the opportunity to show it on a weak Columbus team hardly ever making the playoffs.

My thinking is that Umberger will slot in as a left wing on the second line alongside Brayden Schenn, while Wayne Simmonds will take over Hartnell's spot on the first line with Claude Giroux and Jakub Voracek. Simmonds is basically a carbon copy of Hartnell in terms of physical presence and play style, making this look a likely scenario.

In any case it will be hard for Umberger to replace Hartnell's presence among the fan community, making it big shoes to fill. Umberger does have a headstart here though, as he was a fan favorite with the Flyers before, but unfortunately was the odd man out when a great playoff performance in 07-08 and a new contract meant he would be too expensive for the Flyers to retain and was traded to Columbus.


But to finally wrap this up, I believe I speak for all Flyers fans when I say "Thank you, Scott Hartnell, for the joy and the memories you gave us. Best of luck to you. We will miss you."

Adam Hall and the importance of bottom six players

And we're back. Work and other things have kept me from writing a bit, but now I want to get back and at least put some thoughts to the virtual paper while hockey is still on.

The Flyers season ended a couple of weeks ago, and while I would have liked to do a full analysis of the season, I think other sources have done so better than I could and now it's a bit too late to do that anyway. However, yeah, it sucked ass, but the future is looking not all that bad. The Flyers are an up and coming team with a lot of young talent that will develop given enough time.

However, just as every time a season ends for any team, the discussion turns to what will change, and what will have to change. Besides the biggest and most obvious desire/need for a true #1 defenseman, shared with about half the league, a lot of discussion on the Flyers end was about the 4th line. Fans in general are sick of having fighters like Riley Cote, Jody Shelley, or Jay Rosehill, and agitators like Dan Carcillo or Zac Rinaldo taking up space and contributing very little to a team.

I can't help but agree here. Don't get me wrong, fights are fun, and I don't really think badly of these players as people. Some are even quite entertaining. But their contributions aren't really all that helpful in winning hockey games. Penalty minutes are detrimental, and as much as I like a big hit, a hit always means that your team does not have the puck. To be helpful to a team, some these players have to bring something else to the team as well.

To illustrate this, let's take a look at my favorite 4th line in the history of the Flyers consisting of Darroll Powe, Blair Betts and Ian Laperrière. Now Lappy is a notorious fighter with more broken noses than I want to count, but he was also a great contributor by being a great presence on the penalty kill, plus a genuine heart and soul kind of player every team should want as a leader by example. Darroll Powe also was a tough customer, a pure energy guy putting pressure and bruises on players through his quick skating, but not all that bad defensively (and he has a fantastic hockey name). Blair Betts was also a great PK player and a fantastic face-off man.

All of these players brought something to the table and helped the Flyers go to the Final in 2010. They contributed in multiple ways and added depth to the Flyers while filling roles other players were not cut out for. I just find it unfortunate that Lappy's career got cut short by this season through post-concussion syndrome, and Blair Betts' injury riddle career also ended a season later.

What's good for the Flyers is that while they should get rid of players like Rosehill who can only punch people in the face, they have players that can contribute in a similar manner like the 2009-10 season. The biggest example here is Adam Hall.

Hall is a genuine journeyman who is now on his 7th NHL team, and that illustrates where so many teams go wrong, because any team should love to have Hall on their roster. Hall is the quintessential 4th line center. He is an absolute fiend in the face-off circle, winning 59.6% of the 527 faceoffs he took this season. There are only four players in the league with similar numbers and a better winning percentage: Joe Vitale, Vladimir Sobotka, Zenon Konopka, and Rich Peverley. Manny Malhotra with a 59.4% win rate on a ridiculous 952 faceoffs also deserves a special mention.

Hall is also a great penalty killer, helping the Flyers to become one of the best PK teams in the league, though I guess we can't understate the impact of Sean Couturier and Matt Read on that front.

Adam Hall is not a scoring threat, and he doesn't need to be. He adds value to the team in other ways. He carved out his niche and fills it out entirely in a role that every team needs and every team should look to have. And he basically only costs you a league minimum wage.

The bad thing is that it looks like the Flyers might not bring him back. Now they have a decent excuse with the glut of centers they have. Claude Giroux, Luke Schenn, Sean Couturier, Vincent Lecavalier, plus Scott Laughton on the horizon is stiff competition for Hall. Personally the first guy I would get rid off from these six players is Lecavalier as elaborated on previously and the playoffs did little to change that opinion. However, Hall's expiring contract would be the easiest and the front office of an NHL team rarely passes on an easy out. However, while Hall is not a priority player I think it would be good for the team if they retained him.

A team needs players like Hall which bring different things to the table and fill roles in this kind of manner. Just look at the Pittsburgh Penguins as they were just eliminated by the Rangers exposing one of the biggest flaws in their team: An awfully weak bottom six forward group. They have very little forward depth and while they have a similar player like Hall in Joe Vitale, the rest of their bottom six is a burning wreck.

I like to compare them to a spinning top. They can move fast and overcome obstacles through velocity, but if they are upset enough they lack the solid foundation to remain upright. They topple over for that reason.

Compare that to recent cup-winning teams like Boston, Chicago or Los Angeles to find a good mixture between star-quality forwards in the top two lines, and solid role players in the bottom six. Even look at the 2009 Penguins and their bottom six compared to today (though I would also like to mention another thing that squad had that's missing from the Penguins today: veteran leadership).

For the Flyers this should be a guiding line. A team can't just be a number of scoring players. They need some solid backup and have multiple dimensions filled, rather than stacking up in one direction and neglecting another. Unlike Dungeons & Dragons, min-maxing doesn't really work in hockey. Sometimes that means that players like Adam Hall are more valuable to a team than Vincent Lecavalier. Let's just hope that the Flyers manage to see the same thing, rather than have to find out the hard way.

Flyers vs. Rangers - A long time coming

The Playoffs start tonight and while I am still not entirely happy with the new restructured NHL, it is kind of undeniable that it resulted in some compelling first round matchups. Chicago vs. St. Louis should make for some quality hockey with one Stanley Cup hopeful gone after seven games or less. San Jose vs. Los Angeles should make a new great rivalry. Boston and Detroit also looks to be very interesting.

For my favorite team it means that they meet one of their more traditional rivals in the New York Rangers. Personally I would have rather had the Penguins, simply because it is a better matchup. Against the Rangers is kind of 50-50, and home ice advantage could be a deciding factor as the Flyers have failed to beat the Rangers in Madison Square Garden in their last eight tries. The matchup is however not hopeless and Giroux and Co. would be loathe to do anything but beat the Rangers.

The two teams have had a longstanding animosity, mostly fueled by the rivalry between the two cities. As an outside observer it seems to me that the dichotomy between Philadelphia and New York is rooted in how each view the other. New York is seen as a high society town, but is also called out for arrogance and entitlement, while Philadelphia is more associated with a working-class mentality, but also regarded as violent and low-brow. This rivalry is also noted in other sports, particularly football as the Philadelphia Eagles an the New York Giants have been division rivals for ages. In Baseball, the New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies also don't exactly like each other.

The Flyers and Rangers have also shared a division for a long time, in fact since 1974 when the NHL dissolved the "East" and "West" Divisions created by the 1967 expansion and formed the Divisions called "Norris", "Adams", "Patrick" and "Smythe". However, considering that the teams have played 276 regular season games against one another (the Flyers most common opponent in the history of the franchise), it is kind of surprising that the teams haven't met in the Playoffs recently. In fact, the last time this happened was in 1997, 17 years ago (let that sink in for a moment).

The Flyers and Rangers met a total of 10 times in the playoffs so far, with the Flyers winning six of those. The first two of those series are of particular interest because of Hall of Fame Coach Fred Shero. Shero actually played for the Rangers for 145 games in three season between 1947 and 1950. He was sent down after that and continued in the minors. After his playing career was over he remained with the Rangers on the coaching staff in their minor league development system.

However, the Rangers seemed unappreciative of his talent as a coach and his long commitment to the club, and appeared unlikely to give him a promotion to head coach any time soon. Without the chance of proving his true worth with the Rangers, he was successfully poached by Flyers General Manager Keith Allen in 1971, one of the kind of moves that gave Allen the nickname "The Thief". The Rangers would soon rue that day when in 1974 the Flyers defeated the Rangers in a playoff series going the full seven games on their way to their first Stanley Cup victory. It was the first time an expansion team beat an Original Arbitrary Six team in a playoff matchup.

The Flyers would make two more appearances in the Stanley Cup Final with Shero, winning again in 1975, but losing against the Canadiens in 1976. However, even the greatest coaches have shelf lives, and Shero himself knew that, submitting a letter of resignation in the '78 offseason and then signed a five year contract to coach the Rangers. However, he was still under contract with the Flyers who had refused to accept the letter. The end result was that the Rangers sent their first round pick for the 1978 NHL Amateur Draft alongside some monetary compensation to the Flyers to avoid tampering charges. The Flyers selected Ken Linseman with that pick.

However, Shero had not lost his coaching mojo and lead the Rangers to a 40 win season the following year. As fate would have it, the Flyers and Rangers would meet in the playoffs and this time the Rangers prevailed 4 games to 1. Shero would manage a fourth appearance in the Final in six years, but would again be vanquished by the dynastic Canadiens.

The next season the two teams would meet again, this time the Flyers would return the favor against their former head coach as this time they took a four games from the Ranges while surrendering only one, but they also could not reach the chalice as they were defeated by the other New York team, the Islanders.

Several more playoff bouts between Broad Street and Broadway followed. A total of five meetings in the 80s seesawed. The Rangers won in 1982 and '83, but were defeated by their upstart little brother both times. The Flyers fired back in '85 and made it to the Final, but lost to the Edmonton Oilers featuring Wayne Gretzky. The Rangers won again in '86 and ended a tormented season by the Flyers who were still shocked by the death of their goalie Pelle Lindbergh. The Rangers for their part lost to the Canadiens. The Flyers took one back in '87, but again fell to the Oilers in the Final. Then the two teams avoided each other until '95, when the Flyers beat the Rangers, reigning Stanley Cup champion at the time, and pulled ahead in playoff series victors, 5-4. The Flyers would lose to the Devils the next round.

When the two teams last met in the actual playoffs, it was seen as a passing of the torch. The Rangers had signed "The Great One", Wayne Gretzky during free agency the previous offseason, while the Flyers had "The Next One" on their roster as Eric Lindros had established himself as a true force in the NHL.

Lindros was acquired by the Flyers during the 1992 draft in a blockbuster trade with the Quebec Nordiques. The Rangers were also in the running for Lindros and the Nordiques actually preferred the offer by the Rangers, but an arbitrator ruled that the Nordiques had already entered into a verbal agreement with the Flyers when their General Manager solicited another offer from the Rangers.

In any case, the Series was hard fought, but Lindros and the Flyers prevailed in five games and moved on to the Stanley Cup Final against the Detroit Red Wings, which was unfortunately lost.

This year is the first time the two teams meet in the postseason since 1997. However, that doesn't mean there haven't been any significant or important games between the two teams since. For example in 2010 the final game of the season was between the two clubs and a playoff berth was on the line. The Rangers had kept themselves alive by defeating the Flyers the previous game at Madison Square Garden and were in a tie with the Flyers. The winner of this game in Philadelphia would jump ahead of the Montreal Canadians for 7th place in the conference. The loser would have nothing to do but book a tee time.

The Rangers 4th line fighter Jody Shelley scored an early game, but the Broadway Blueshirts had little to show elsewhere as the Flyers threw everything they could the other way, outshooting them by a final tally of 47-25. However, their goaltender Henrik Lundqvist held steady and kept everything out, until in the 3rd period Matt Carle finally tied it. The Flyers continued their onslaught but the Rangers could no longer stay back and needed to put out some offense as well. No decision could be made though and the game was pushed into a shootout. Daniel Briere and Claude Giroux scored, while Brian Boucher stopped Olli Jokinen who had to score to keep the game going. This started the Flyers on a nearly miraculous run which ended only in overtime of Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final that year.

This first round matchup is definitely compelling. Two teams that do not like each other, and who have a long and storied history with each other. As it turns out this matchup usually also has a lot of implication for the rest of the NHL. If you take note with the Exception of 1974 when the Flyers won, every year the Flyers and Rangers met in the playoffs, the team that would defeat the victor of that battle would go on to win the Stanley Cup. It should be interesting to observe whether this pattern holds up, breaks, or perhaps one of the two combatants actually manage to lift Lord Stanley's Chalice this year for themselves.

The Greatest Franchises in the History of the League (and why the Flyers are among them)

With each passing season new history is made. Some franchises improve, find success, write new stories which will later be passed along by fans and media alike. They add to their legacy. Other franchises don't do so well, and while tragedies also make for great stories and add a certain kind of mysticism and intrigue, it requires perseverance to suffer through them and find new glory rather than fail and sink into a swamp of misery.

As a fan of the Flyers I find it interesting how this year went. From the miserable start to a remarkable turnaround which saw them return to the playoffs after last year's absence. It is already a season to remember for it, and it bodes well for the future too. Captain Claude Giroux solidified his role on the team and his position as one of the premier forwards in the league, while a lot of the young talent that surrounds him is also improving and finding their place in the league. Throughout the season the Flyers have shown the resiliency that is required to be successful and the team has with it done their heritage proud.

The Flyers put together another winning season, and the franchise thus remains as the team with the 2nd best yield of points in the history of the league. This will also be the 38th time they will make the playoffs in 47 years of team history, or more than 80% of the time. And while they haven't won the Cup in a while, they are known to make a run with 8 appearances in the Stanley Cup Final, which is the 3rd most of all franchises since they entered the league (and until last year it was tied for 2nd most). The Flyers also have 16 division titles to their name.

They may not have as many Championships as I might like and some other teams do, but they are always a threat to look out for. And the longest lull in their history was a period of 5 years in the early 90s in which they missed the playoffs, but only once were they out of it by more than 4 points.

They are, to put it simple, the picture of constant high level play and continuous success. And even outside just being successful the Flyers have influenced the league, the Broad Street Bullies and the Lindros trade (probably the 2nd most significant trade in NHL history, after the Gretzky trade) just to name a couple of examples.

Still, some people seem to look at me incredulously whenever I exclaim how proud I to be rooting for one of the best franchises within the sport. In their mind, only teams from the Original Arbitrary Six have a claim at such a legacy, which I find strange considering that the expansion of the league began almost 50 years ago.

It appears to me that they are thinking solely in absolutes. Team X has more Cups/Playoff Appearances/Division Titles/1st place finishes etc. than Team Y so it is automatically better, and seem to simply neglect the fact that Team X has been around twice, sometimes three times as long. They also conveniently overlook the fact that it was easier for a franchise to win something back then than it is today. Now a team has to beat 29 other teams. Back then it was only five others.

Simply in the interest of fairness we have to handicap the Arbitrary Six to a certain extend, and if it's only dividing a teams success by the number of years of their existence.

But even taking such things into account I will easily admit that the Montreal Canadiens are the cream of the crop. They have won the Cup 24 times (as any Habs fan will pretty quickly remind you) and even after expansion they were a force to be reckoned with. They have the best points yield of any franchise throughout history and a slew of division titles and other accolades. However, their grasp on the power has been waning since their last Cup victory in 1993, with 7 missed playoffs and 7 first round exits since.

On the other hand, Canada's other A6 franchise should be excluded from the "great franchise" debate outright in my opinion. Yes, the Toronto Maple Leafs are no longer a great franchise, and haven't been for a while. They have won the Cup 13 times, but all these victories came when there were seven or fewer teams in the league On one occasion it was only four. It doesn't take a lot of math to figure out that even a base probability of a Cup win is much lower now that 30 teams are in the league.

What nails down the Leafs however is their lack of success ever since the 1967 expansion. They have not only failed to win a Stanley Cup, they have failed to even make it to the Final. In 47 seasons they have only won their division once and missed the playoffs 19 times. And since the lockout that ate the 2004-05 season they have only made the playoffs once, failing in spectacular and soul-crushing fashion in Game 7 to the Boston Bruins. Add in their horrifying collapse this year that rivals that of the New York Mets in 2007, I have a hard time believing that anybody still thinks of them as a great franchise.

This brings me to the Chicago Blackhawks, who are kind of the reverse Leafs. They were absolutely atrocious during the A6 era, qualifying only twice for the playoffs in 14 attempts between from 1944 to 1958. After that they made 28 consecutive playoff appearances from 1969 to 1997, but never managed to win a Cup losing in the Final three times. After another decade of losing and consistent bottom rung finishes they amassed talent through the draft and won the Cup for the 2nd time in four seasons last year.

A similar story is told by looking at the Red Wings, though with a higher peak. They were a force in the Original 6 era, and were a veritable Dynasty in the last two decades, managing to make the Final six times between 1994 and 2009. This year they qualified for the playoffs again, making it their 23rd consecutive year doing so.

However, separating those two runs was the "Dead Wings" era. In between 1966 and 1986, the Red Wings were perennial bottom dwellers, missing the playoffs 16 times and getting past the first round only once. They were the absolute laughingstock of the league and a shame to everything that came before.

For both the Hawks and Wings recent success is fine and dandy, but it can not overshadow their long bouts of futility entirely. A franchise has to live with its history. If I had to make a choice between the two, I would take the Red Wings. The Hawks could prove me wrong in the immediate future though.

The Boston Bruins also have a similar history, though their only true futile years were 8 seasons in the 60s in which they failed to qualify for the post-season. They also had kind of a lull through the 90s and 00s. However, 18 Division Championships and 9 appearances in the Final since the league expanded are a strong language, particularly if added to their recent Cup victory and last years appearance in the Final.

This leaves the New York Rangers, who are definitely a step below all teams named so far. The Original Arbitrary Six era was not kind to them, as they missed the playoffs 18 times in the seasons between 1942 and 1966. In the 6 years they managed to qualify, they made it out of the first round only once, and were then dispatched. There's also the infamous 54 year Cup drought from 1940 to 1994, with little to write about between those years or since that Victory twenty years ago. Even with the advantage of having played within a league that consists of only six teams they were incapable of amassing the accolades like their colleagues from the same era did. The Rangers are an old franchise. Successful is a different matter.

So with the Original Arbitrary Six covered, let's look at some more recent additions to the league.

The  New York Islanders and Edmonton Oilers are a curious case of symmetry. Both teams entered the league in the 70s, wear Orange and Blue, quickly established themselves as veritable dynasties, but have fallen flat ever since and are currently trying to rebuild through the draft. The Oilers have a little bit of a better claim, with one more Cup victory in their history, plus a somewhat miraculous Final appearance in the deviant post-lockout 05-06 season.

However, whatever capital both teams amassed through their dynastic years in the 80s is long gone, fallen by the wayside through years of losing and both teams have become the laughingstock of the league at one time or another through bad management. How the mighty have fallen.

From the 80s we jump to the 90s and 2000s, in which for the most part the Colorado Avalanche and New Jersey Devils split whatever the Red Wings left over.

While Wikipedia is trying to fool people by separating the seasons in Quebec and Colorado, the Avalanche are still the same franchise as the Quebec Nordiques and the Nordiques' years must be taken into account when looking at their franchise history. Make no mistake, the Avs won the Cup in their first season in Colorado because of the players amassed in drafts and trades made in Quebec so it is only fair to count the losing years of the Nordiques against the Avs franchise history. And lose they did often, collecting four consecutive 1st overall draft picks in the late 80s and early 90s.

The Avalanche made good use of those picks, and the rewards for trading away one of those draft choices named Eric Lindros and won two Cups, but the Avalanche never made another appearance in the Final since their last victory in 2001. Since then they have fallen off, but thanks to talented amassed in the drafts they seem to have returned to form. This hasn't delivered anything too outstanding yet, though it seems to be developing that way.

The Devils also once played in Denver, and Kansas before that, but all those years were miserable and hardly worth mentioning. Even after moving to New Jersey little happened, to the point where they were infamously declared to be a "Mickey Mouse franchise" by the best player to ever play the game. However, thanks to four appearances and three victories in the Stanley Cup Final over nine years they managed to get rid of that moniker. But those seemingly dynastic years are now in the rearview mirror and the franchise is running on the fumes of old glory. They had another appearance in the Final only two season ago, but the leading player in it, Ilya Kovalchuk has since "retired" from the league as well, leaving the Devils somewhat stranded, with Martin Brodeur, the last vestige of their glory days appearing to leave the franchise in the immediate future.

Finally, let's take a look at the nouveau riche of the NHL, the Pittsburgh Penguins. Since their incarnation the Penguins were a doormat up to them drafting Mario Lemieux, which was pretty much a race to the bottom with the Devils. The interesting thing though is that even with Lemieux in their lineup, there was little immediate impact. When they drafted Lemieux in 84, they had already missed the playoffs twice. They would miss it another 5 times in the next 6 years before winning two Cups, conveniently falling in between the end of the Oilers Dynasty, and the start of the triumvirate of the Red Wings, Avalanche and Devils. They also only managed to do that after luckily picking up another all-time great forward in Jaromir Jagr.

While continuous playoff appearances followed, the unfortunate illness of Mario Lemieux would put a dent into their hopes of regaining another Cup to the point were they traded an unhappy Jagr for players that never panned out. Mismanagement on both the financial and athletic side followed with the team becoming a bottom dweller just at the right time to pick up a couple more generational talents in Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby, a player they literally won in a lottery. Talk about lucky.

The little secret here is that even after putting up two more Stanley Cup Final appearances and another victory in it, and while retaining those two generational talents, the Penguins are far from threatening now. They have been routinely exposed by a variety of opponents in the playoffs as unfocused and easy to manipulate, and are thus less thought of as the team to beat than other recent Cup winners like Boston, Chicago or Los Angeles.


The NHL has a number of great franchises. I'm lucky to be a fan of one of the best of them as they can very much hang with any other franchise in terms of team success, pride, community and history. If you ask me, while the Canadiens are the clearcut all-time leader, they are slowly fading, and teams like the Flyers, Red Wings and Bruins are gaining on them. Of that pack I think the Flyers are a nose ahead, though that may be bias on my part speaking. The Bruins are improving though and may soon be in position to make a claim for it. However, saying that it isn't close is a mistake I don't think any fan should allow themselves.

Which franchise is truly the best ever can never be truly answered while the league is still running of course, which I hope it will for a long time. This leaves us with continuously adjusting a franchises reputation and whether their recent play solidified their legacy or brought shame on itself and took away from their history. However, this also keeps things interesting as a franchise can not simply rest on its laurels.

The Flyers are a raging success, and Claude Giroux is their captain

The Philadelphia Flyers had a terrible start to the season. This is no secret. The reasons are many. They had tuned out the coach. The training camp was an absolute disaster. Claude Giroux suffered a freak golf injury during the offseason and missed training camp entirely. They had a terrible time to find the net, etc. These things aren't as much excuses as they are observations.

Then the Flyers were at a 1-7-0 record and seemingly at the end of their wits, team captain Claude Giroux had the following to say:

"We're not far off at all. How many points are we out, six? To think of the start that we had and we're that close. We never thought about not making the playoffs. We've got to go game by game and we will make the playoffs."

Reading over it now, the statement seems a little bit innocuous, but nevertheless a lot of media outlets picked it up as a sort of Mark Messier-esque guarantee. And so did fans, eager to have a laugh at the expense of a downed opponent. Just take a look at the commentary sections of this article on Yahoo, or this article on ESPN.

Commentators such as Ryan Lambert, the Bill O'Reilly of hockey, also had their field day dancing on what seemed to be a grave already. Particularly after the Flyers hit rock bottom in their lousy and embarrassing game against the Capitals. The cake probably takes the column entitled "Philadelphia Flyers are a screaming disaster and Claude Giroux is its captain".

Now we are here, 5 months later, and the Flyers clinched a playoff berth with a 5-2 win over the Florida Panthers yesterday night.

While it would be a delight to go back and pick out some choice comments from the naysayers, but I think looking at the above mentioned comment sections speaks for itself. Rather, let's take a look at some of the factors why the Flyers made that remarkable turnaround.

First must be Claude Giroux. After the statement he made he kept his end of the bargain, placing first on the team in points and goals, and is as of this writing 4th in the NHL in points. After a brutal start that took him 6 games for the first assist and 15 games to score his first goal, that is quite something to behold. It even places him into the Hart Trophy race. I've made my feelings about this known, though unfortunately the Professional Hockey Writers' Association treats it as a general, league-wide MVP award so it is a foregone conclusion that Sidney Crosby is going to win it.

Claude Giroux also had several late-game heroic scenes, such as overtime winners against Chicago and Columbus in rather spectacular fashion, which showcases the Flyers resiliency. They have a ton of games in which they trailed at some point in the third only to tie it back up and get at least one point, or even win outright.

Special teams play has also been a constant factor. The Flyers are ranked 10th in Power play percentage and 6th in the penalty kill. The guys over at Broad Street Hockey have an excellent article on the Flyers PK unit and how they make their opponents lives tough through shot suppression.

The Flyers also were horribly snakebitten in the early part of the season. They only scored 11 goals in the first 8 games of their season. Since then everybody has stepped up, as the Flyers can now boast that they have 7 different players that have scored at least 20 goals. They are the only team sporting that number.

All of this is nice and fine, but the season is not over yet. They still have to vie for positioning. They are most likely playing the Rangers in the first round of the playoffs, and home-ice advantage will be paramount. They have a game in hand, but since the Rangers hold the tiebreaker the Flyers need them to screw up at some point, though their schedule is rather easy.

Yes, the shootout is still important

With the playoffs drawing closer and teams clinching, I basically stare at the standings at least once a day, usually more often than that, at the NHL.com standings. One of the most interesting numbers in the standings is the Shootout wins and losses. I use it as a barometer on the strength of teams, particularly those on the bubble. Good teams win and are able to deny their opponents points by outscoring them in regulation, or at least punch through in overtime. The number of shootouts they are involved in will generally be low. Other teams have to rely on the shootout scrap points together. However, this also means that they gift points to their opponents, making it overall tougher for themselves.

Personally I don't really mind the shootout as much as the fact that it shouldn't be worth the same as a regulation win (as explained in a previous blog post). Even the NHL kind of admits to that by making win totals excluding the shootout the first tie-breaker in the standings (provided equal number of games played). However, it is definitely a crutch some teams exploit and I call teams whose success is based in it paper tigers, fakes which look stronger than they actually are.

It is undeniable that some teams make the playoffs based on the shootout. As a Flyers fan people are quick to bring up the season-ending shootout in the last game of the regular season against the Rangers in 2010. It came down to a shootout, with the winner of it making the playoffs and the loser being on the outside looking in. The Flyers luckily made it, starting them on their run that ended in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final.

The funny thing though is that it's not the Flyers who profited from the existence of the shootout that year: It was the Boston Bruins. The Bruins finished 3 points ahead of the Flyers and 4 points ahead of the Rangers. However, this lead was based in the fact that the Bruins participated in 19 shootouts that year, winning 10 of them. They were 14-13 in games going over regulation time that year. In comparison the Flyers had a 4-3 record in shootouts that year, with a 6-6 record in games decided in OT or the Shootout. The Rangers were 4-11 in games decided past regulation time. In most other point systems, such as the three point system I would like to have in the NHL, the Flyers and Rangers would have already been qualified before the final game of the season, and the Bruins would have been eliminated.

A similar example to the 09-10 Bruins can also be seen this year in the Washington Capitals. They too have participated in 19 shootouts, winning 9 of them. They are for now on the bubble, though two points behind the Blue Jackets who have a game in hand on the Capitals, making me think the Caps won't make it. The Capitals saw 25 of their 76 games played so far this season go into overtime, often by their own inability to hold a lead. It may very well be the reason they are on the outside looking in, as they have bled extra points to their opponents. However, without the extra points they earned in OT they wouldn't even have the chance to make the playoffs either.

On the flipside we have the New Jersey Devils who had to 11 shootouts this year, losing all of them. Yesterday night they lost to Buffalo in a 9-round shootout despite scoring two goals themselves, tripling the season total on successful shootout attempts for the year. They are now 3-for-39 in shootout attempts on the year, which is not surprising considering that their head coach Pete DeBoer does not practice the shootout.

Seriously, how does this happen in a league that has the shootout? If the Devils went as much as 5-6 in their 11 shootouts this year, they would now have 85 points, pushing them into a playoff position ahead of the Red Wings and Blue Jackets. If they had been able to flip their shootout record around, going 11-0, they'd be 2nd in the division and on the brink of clinching a playoff spot. By choosing not to practice this part of the game the Devils are essentially surrendering points to their opponents from the outset, and the importance of these points becomes more and more evident with every passing day this time of year.

Yes, the shootout does not exist in the playoffs. And yes, a team should not be reliant on the shootout to win a hockey game. But as much as I think that the shootout win should not be as valuable as a regulation win, matter of fact is that the shootout is still important and an opportunity to improve point totals and positions in the standings. Not even practicing the shootout should be immediate grounds of termination for any head coach.

However, this also makes me wonder about the Flyers. The last two games were decided in a shootout, losing both of them to the Bruins and Blues. It is good that they got the equivalent points as a win from two games against the two best teams in the league and giving them the extra points does not hurt the Flyers too much, but they are now again at a 3-7 record in the shootout this year. These are similar numbers to the last couple of seasons. In overall, the Flyers are 11-23 in shootouts since 2010, and Berube appears to not have put any more emphasis on the shootout than Laviolette did before him.

While it is always a delight to watch players like Claude Giroux show off their skillset in the shootout, it would be nice to actually win a couple of them. Particularly now as the Flyers are struggling to gain home-ice advantage. The Flyers are pretty much set to face-off with the Rangers in the first round, and they have a terrible record at MSG for the last couple of seasons. Leaving these points on the table could very well cost them dearly.

Flyers vs. Capitals: A blood feud in the making

There is no love lost between the Philadelphia Flyers and the Washington Capitals. Together with the Pittsburgh Penguins they are in a triangle disdain, with every team hating the other two very much. The Flyers-Penguins rivalry has been taking all the headlines, but now it seems that the matchup between the Flyers and Capitals is hitting its boiling point.

The two teams have been staring at each other pretty much since the end of the 04-05 Lockout. Alex Ovechkin was ascending to superstar status and the Flyers made a quick rebuild and played their typical Flyers hockey under the leadership of Mike Richards and Jeff Carter. The two teams met in the first round of the 2008 playoffs which was decided in a game 7 overtime by a goal by Joffrey Lupul. Since then the two teams pretty much fought each other to a standstill with nine of the last fifteen regular season games decided by a goal or less, many of them in overtime, with each team getting one up on the other on various occasions (my personal favorite being the game on December 20th, 2008, in which goaltender Antero Niittymaki was the first star in a 7-1 Flyers win because he had 47 saves and miraculously kept the Capitals off the scoreboard in the first period. Perhaps the best game of his career).

But something changed this season. Perhaps it's that the two teams are back in one division as they were from 1979 to 1998, though I can't remember this rivalry ever hitting this level of intensity (mostly on the account of the Capitals sucking for most of their existence up to that point).

Many would say that the foundation was laid during the game on November 1st, but they might have forgotten about the chicken-wing elbow John Erskine dealt to Wayne Simmonds the previous season, earning Erskine a three game vacation. However, the first game of the season was indeed a doozy. The Flyers were down in the dumps after an absolutely horrid October in which they went 3-8-0. Though they had won two games against the Rangers and Islanders before being handed a 5-2 loss by the Ducks, the team was still in no mood and they were being outskated and outhustled by the Capitals. The Caps took a 4-0 lead with three goals in the first 3:49 of the 2nd period, and tempers flared and the Flyers lost newly acquired Steve Downie to an injury inflicted at the hands of Aaron Volpatti in a fight.

Joel Ward completed his hat trick early in the 3rd to finish off a 7-0 rout and then the game turned into a complete shit-show. The Flyers, frustrated and fed up with themselves and the Capitals skating circles around them, let it it all out and it ended in a line brawl that injured Vincent Lecavalier and made an enemy of the state of Ray Emery after he fought an unwilling opponent in Braden Holtby.

It was the absolute low point of the season for the Flyers. Bad play, bad sportsmanship and injuries. The future looked grim for the Flyers who had already dismissed Peter Laviolette after just three games and replaced him with Craig Berube. Nothing seemed to work and the team just completely embarrassed themselves.

Thankfully they could right the ship and went 7-1-2 immediately following the debacle against Washington, though they were struggling again when the teams met for a home-and-home in the middle of December. The Capitals were on a 12-5-3 run at that point, though 10 of those 20 games were decided in overtime or a shootout (7 of those won by Washington). The game on the 15th was no exception as the Capitals managed to rally from a 4-1 deficit and push the game to OT on a late tying goal by Ovechkin, and the game was decided in a shootout in which the Flyers are notoriously bad.

The rematch immediately followed on the 17th. The game was somewhat of a see-saw battle early in the 2nd period, but then the Flyers took a 4-2 lead by the end of it thanks to goals by Read, Streit and Voracek. The last two came on a power play following a vicious charging hit by Tom Wilson traveling the entire zone charge at Brayden Schenn, which earned him a 5 minute major. Wayne Simmonds added another tally in the 3rd for a Flyers 5-2 win.

The Wilson hit was subject of a review by the Department of Player Safety. The resulting explanation was a long-winded discussion about fore-checking by Brandon Shanahan, that seemed more like a distraction than anything else. It was very ambiguous in the end. No supplementary discipline was handed out and Shanahan failed to ever refer to the play as illegal, though he also not explicitly declaring the incident fair play. This gave fodder to people who believed that the play itself should not have resulted in a power play for the Flyers or a penalty on Wilson. Such was the opinion of Capitals General Manager George McPhee and head coach Adam Oates as well as many Capitals fans. Retired NHL referee Kerry Fraser disagreed, as did his former colleague Paul Stewart.

In the end it wouldn't much matter as Schenn, despite his dazed behavior directly following the hit, continued to play and did not miss a single game. However, it was undeniable that this hit cost the Capitals a win as the Flyers took all the momentum from the power play, grabbed a lead and never relinquished.

History would repeat itself in the next meeting of the two teams on March 2nd, now the two teams both in the hunt for a playoff spot and only separated by 1 point. The Capitals outplayed the Flyers in the 1st, outskating them and keeping the Flyers on the ropes. They had a 2-1 lead after the 1st period, which could have been greater if not for some great play by Steve Mason and an inconclusive goal review which was called no goal on the ice and could not be overturned.

The roles were reversed in the 2nd period with the Flyers coming out to play and Holtby having to keep them at bay with several unbelievable stops. The Flyers tied the game on a short-handed goal after a give-away by Ovechkin at the side of his own net, but the Capitals answered shortly after during a goal-mouth scramble and Dmitry Orlov would add his 2nd goal of the night (and 3rd of the season, all against the Flyers) with a low shot from the point through a maze of players. The Capitals lead 4-2 after two periods.

The Flyers struggled to get things going in the 3rd and things were looking grim when Brayden Schenn delivered a devastating but clean hit on Orlov. In retaliation Orlov ran Schenn into the boards seconds later. Orlov had to be put into protective custody immediately as Brayden's brother Luke was ready to rip his head off his shoulders, and this again resulted in a 5 minute major penalty that cost the Capitals a game against the Flyers. The Flyers scored once on the PP, then tied the game late with the goalie pulled and earned an overtime victory on a knuckler by Vincent Lecavalier that dipped just under Holtby's glove.

The Orlov hit again resulted in disagreement among hockey fans, with a minority faulting Schenn for putting himself into the position. The majority saw reason however, condemning Orlov for a dirty, high and leaping hit that was predatory and retaliatory. The Department of Player Safety saw fit to suspend Orlov for two games, which included the rematch on the following Wednesday.

The last game of the season series did not disappoint. The Flyers jumped to an early 2-0 lead on the account of a deke leaving Holtby stranded on his back, as well as a power-play goal by Jake Voracek. The game had been feisty up to that point with Zac Rinaldo attempting to turn Mike Green into a parking lot multiple times, but it erupted when a hit by Luke Schenn leveled Ryan Stoa, which prompted Tom Wilson to start a fight. Things did not get started at first as Schenn and Stoa had their legs tangled up, making both unable to get off the ice. When the two finally got separated, Wilson and Schenn dropped the gloves, but meanwhile John Erskine and Vincent Lecavalier looked to do about the same when Wayne Simmonds pulled down Erskine from behind. This lead to a full on line brawl. In the end Lecavalier and Erskine were both thrown out for the game, and after 56 penalty minutes were assessed in total the Capitals ended up on a power-play, which the Flyers killed off.

The 2nd period was not as grinding, but the Flyers extended their lead to 4-0 on goals by Giroux and Michael Raffl, which lead to the Capitals pulling Brayden Holtby in favor of Philipp Grubauer, their trade deadline acquisition Jaroslav Halak having not yet arrived. The Capitals looked just about dead by then with only 7 shots on goal up to that point and the Flyers skating circles around them. However, a power play goal Joel Ward gave them life.

That would be the story for the rest of the night. The Capitals came out guns blazing in the 3rd, putting in 12 shots on goal before the period was halfway done, but it would be the lopsided penalty calling which would work in their favor as the Capitals scored on two more power-play opportunities and a 4-on-4 from offsetting minors. Ovechkin's power-play goal appeared to punch straight through Mason's glove while that of Brooks Laich's tally was deflected with a stick just below the crossbar and sneaking just by Mason. Thankfully for the Flyers they never lost their lead as Jake Voracek scored an insurance goal for a 5-3 lead in between.

Many anticipated overtime with only a matter of time until Alex Ovechkin or someone would find the net, or the Flyers were called on yet another penalty, but the Flyers managed to hold them off until time ran out. Steve Downie scored on his second attempt for the empty net and the game ended, perhaps with things left undone.


What's left now is wait for the playoffs. With the new structure of the NHL, it is not entirely unlikely that the two teams meet in the first or second round. However, this would require the collapse of the Rangers, Maple Leafs or Red Wings, if not multiple of them. But if the two teams meet open warfare is to be expected with a slew of recent events resulting in bad blood. This rivalry has all the qualities to be a bitter one for years to come.

Why Vinny has to go

When the Winter Olympics come to a close and the NHL starts back up, there will only be a couple of games left before the Trade deadline and thus it is time for a lot of teams to evaluate their current positions and expectations. Are they buyers or sellers? Should they make some changes? Are there any holes to fill and are there people available for a reasonable price to do so?

For the Philadelphia Flyers this will be a bit of a conundrum, as they have a definitive and glaring need (a #1 defenseman), but few sellers in that category. To make matters worse, it seems like the player they would do best to trade away was a recent signing that just doesn't seem to fit in: Vincent Lecavalier.

Now I'll be the first to admit that I was rather happy with the Lecavalier signing. I thought last year the Flyers lacked a veteran presence among the forwards who could guide some of the younger players. I would have preferred a wing, but Lecavalier was in my opinion the best forward available, could provide some leadership, give the Flyers some depth in case of injury, and should also improve the Flyers horrendous face-off percentage from last year (Giroux was excellent at 56.9%, but the player with the best percentage after that took at least 100 draws was Maxime Talbot at a measely 47.9%, with Couturier, Schenn, Briere, and Fedotenko being even worse. This lead to Giroux taking the most face-offs in the entire league. Meanwhile Lecavalier won 54.5% of his faceoffs last year). Even price point seemed pretty reasonable at $4.5 million a year, though I would have liked somewhat less than 5 years and the NMC seemed annoying.

The problem is, that it didn't quite work out as it seemed. The plan was definitely for Lecavalier to be placed at 2nd line center, and permanently convert Brayden Schenn to wing. However, the Flyers had an absolutely horrible time at finding chemistry early in the season. Various lines involving Lecavalier showed promise, but even they couldn't break the Flyers out of their team-wide scoring slump and the line-juggling continued until the injury bug struck and took out Lecavalier himself for a total of 13 games so far.

In the meantime, two changes to the line-up seemed to bring some life into the team. First Maxime Talbot was traded to Colorado in exchange for Steven Downie, giving the team an actually competent 3rd line winger. Then when Lecavalier suffered a non-displaced fracture in the back, Michael Raffl was recalled and showed some promise after being placed on a line with Giroux and Voracek.

And then suddenly the Flyers had some balance in their roster. They had a finesse-scoring line lead by Claude Giroux. They had a grinding scoring line dominating the boards with Hartnell, Schenn and Simmonds. They had a shutdown line frustrating the opponents with Downie, Couturier and Read. And they had an energy line of Rosehill, Hall, and Rinaldo, getting limited ice time. While the individual lines got hot on separate occasions, they all had a defined and complementary purpose.

When Lecavalier eventually returned, the Flyers had a problem in finding a spot for him, reluctantly placing him as a wing with Couturier. Lecavalier himself is rather ill-equipped to handle this role, being a negative possession player and being woefully inept at playing wing, a fact he himself admits in an episode of the Flyers web documentary series Flight Plan. The odd man out on this scenario was Steve Downie, who would get placed on the 4th line or scratched altogether for BS reasons such as "lacking intensity".

Before the Flyers went on a 5-out-of-6 run ahead of the Olympic Break, they had some struggles, leading to further line-mixing in order to get things going, leading to the following lines:

Hartnell - Giroux - Voracek

Lecavalier - Schenn - Simmonds

Downie - Couturier - Read

Raffl - Hall - Rinaldo

Now this line-up isn't all bad, and giving the Flyers a very competent 4th line (which has also been a weak point throughout the year, though the contribution of Hall on the PK and in the face-off circle can't be understated), but Lecavalier is still placed on a position he can't succeed, and his stats show it. Bouncing around the line-up Lecavalier has only collected 23 points in 46 games this year. His only valuable contribution at the moment is that he gives a powerful threat on the 2nd power-play unit, as seen in his 7 power-play goals and 11 points on the man-advantage, but that only emphasizes his lack of production at even strength.

Now this isn't entirely Lecavaliers own fault. It is hard to find your role in the line-up when injuries strike and your line-mates change so often. However, it also shows that Lecavalier is the odd-man out as the Flyers are actively searching for a spot for him as no natural integration into the line-up is taking place.

Lecavalier is the solution to a problem that the Flyers don't have, namely a 2nd line Center. Thus it leads to the natural course of action the Flyers should undertake: Trade Vincent Lecavalier. Ideally for a defenseman and/or a left wing.

Now this could be a messy divorce as Lecavalier decided somewhat quickly on Philadelphia, partially because his wife reportedly loved the city after visiting it and asking him to leave again so quickly could leave a bad taste. The bigger problem is that Vincent Lecavalier's contract has a No Movement Clause. This doesn't mean that Lecavalier can't be traded, only that he has to approve a trade. Considering that he is most definitely not oblivious to the fact of his changing linemates and scoring trouble, it shouldn't be too hard to convince him that he would do better playing for a different team that could actually accommodate him.

The other problem is finding a suitable buyer who can offer an appropriate return. While Lecavalier's trade value is definitely down after this season, he should have enough name recognition and promise left to get at least a decent offer. A defenseman is a top priority here because despite some good prospects like Gostisbehere, Hagg and Morin in the pipeline, the Flyers have an immediate need on the blue line. Another thing that would need be addressed is replacing Lecavalier's production, limited as it may be.


The Flyers could also gamble and retain Lecavalier. During the Olympic break he would have had some time to heal from the injuries he suffered earlier in the season (and quite clearly returned to early from) and the team would have to hope that he would finally acclimate to a position as a wing. Another road to go down could be trading the Schenn brothers, but considering what the team has given up to acquire the two I think Paul Holmgren would be loath to do that.

The madman solution for the problem of finding a spot for Vinny is placing him at first line center and moving Giroux to wing. Giroux has played wing before and Vinny is definitely a natural center. However, Giroux is the top line center on this team and there is no reason to move him out of that position and disrupting the Flyers current best line.

To make a long story short, Vincent Lecavalier is a player that simply doesn't have a role in this line-up and seems incapable of adapting to a different role than a scoring center. I would definitely not be surprised if he was gone at the trade deadline.