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.