This Flyers team was supposed to be great. They were supposed to return to the Stanley Cup and bring this city a championship. They weren't supposed to get swept by the Bruins in one of the franchise's most embarassing playoff defeats.Heading into the All-Star break the Flyers were 33-17 with 71 points and standing tall as the best team in the NHL. But something happened after the All-Star break. The Flyers unexpectedly fell apart and struggled greatly down the stretch especially in the final week of the regular season. The Flyers literally stumbled into the playoffs and barely survived their first round match up against the Sabres. They then got rocked by the Bruins and found themselves with an early playoff exit and a sour taste in their mouths. Now Flyers fans are left scratching their heads wondering what went wrong. I have a few theories as to why the Flyers fell apart and what could have possibly caused this team to completely self destruct.
Chris Pronger- Chris Pronger is the key to the Flyers power play, a top line defender and overall the main leader on this team. After the All-Star break and in the playoffs Pronger was not fully healthy and not as effective. Also having him in and out of the line up during the second half could have disrupted the team chemistry and definitely could have played a major role in the Flyers collapse.
Sergei Bobrovsky- While I don't think that Sergei Bobrovsky was the reason for the overall Flyers downfall, Bob was definitely inconsistent during the second half of the season which led to many Flyers losses. His streaky play in the second half could have been a result of the heavy work load he was given. The rookie appeared in 54 games this year for the Flyers which is 19 more than the amount of games he played last year for his KHL team in Russia. The intense NHL schedule as well as the fast pace North America style of play could have been tough for Bob to adjust to.
Sergei Bobrovsky- While I don't think that Sergei Bobrovsky was the reason for the overall Flyers downfall, Bob was definitely inconsistent during the second half of the season which led to many Flyers losses. His streaky play in the second half could have been a result of the heavy work load he was given. The rookie appeared in 54 games this year for the Flyers which is 19 more than the amount of games he played last year for his KHL team in Russia. The intense NHL schedule as well as the fast pace North America style of play could have been tough for Bob to adjust to.
Injuries- In addition to Pronger's injury, Carter, Betts, Richards, Nodl and Meszaros were all hurt during the playoffs. Read more about the Flyer injuries HERE and the Flyers off season surgery plans HERE.
Lost Playoff Drive- Last year the Flyers clinched a playoff spot in the very last game and entered the playoffs hot with a ton of momentum. This year the Flyers had pretty much clinched a playoff berth at the All-Star break so besides a top seed and home ice advantage, the Flyers had very little to play for in the second half. As a result the Flyers lost that drive that was present during last year's Stanley Cup run. When the Flyers finally decided to turn it on it was too late and they were unable to flick that switch.
Overall it was a very disappointing season for a team with such high expectations. Hopefully the Flyers will make the necessary off season upgrades and be ready to go for next year.
Overall it was a very disappointing season for a team with such high expectations. Hopefully the Flyers will make the necessary off season upgrades and be ready to go for next year.
No comments:
Post a Comment