Flyers Have To Focus On Defense In Second Half

Coming into this season, everyone thought the Flyers' greatest strength would be their defense.  With the addition of Ilya Bryzgalov, the defense was supposed to carry them and the offense was predicted to suffer due to the loss of Mike Richards and Jeff Carter.

But after the first half of the season, quite the opposite has happened.  Young stars and witty veterans have ignited the Flyers offense into one of the best attacks in all of the NHL.  Meanwhile, Ilya Bryzgalov's struggles and Pronger's injury have left the defense searching for answers.

Overall the Flyers finished with 63 points good for 2nd in the Atlantic Division and 3rd in the Eastern Conference.  So to sit here and say that their defense was horrible isn't accurate by any stretch.  But as we get closer and closer to the playoffs, the Flyers will have to figure things out on the defensive end if they want to win the Stanley Cup.  They must decide whether or not to trade for a defender, and more importantly who their playoff goalie will be.

There has been a lot of speculation going around about the Flyers possible interest in trading for a defender.  Aside from Timmonen, the Flyers lack another strong defensive presence.  While adding a defender could certainly help tighten the defense up, the Flyers would have to part ways with one of their young bright stars.  Right now the Flyers youngsters are playing so well together, and trading away one of those guys could be extremely detrimental for this year and in the long run.  Plus there is no guarantee that adding a top notch defender will help Ilya Bryzgalov who right now is the defense's other big concern.

While Bryz's numbers aren't horrible, they aren't great either.  Bryz was supposed to be an elite goalie, but he was extremely frustrating during the first half and struggled to find consistency.  Looking ahead to the second half, maybe Bryz can come back refreshed after the All-Star break.  Bryzgalov has been under the spot light for quite some time now, so maybe a break from all the attention will help the goalie to regain his confidence and he will come back re-energized.  Personally I'm all for continuing to give Bryz the majority of the games as the season progresses.  But if Bob continues play well, the Flyers have to give serious consideration to making Bob the official playoff goalie.

If there is one thing that the 2010 Stanley Cup run taught us it's that a goalie carousel doesn't work.  For this year's playoffs, if you're going to go with Bryz, stick with him.  And if you give the nod to Bob, likewise you have to stick with him.  In the next two months the Flyers have to decide between the two.  I don't care how much money Bryz is making, if his struggles lead up to April, you have to go with the goalie that gives you the best chance to win.

For the second half, I'm not worried about the offense at all.  They are getting contributions from just about everyone and I think they will have continued success.  Defensively the Flyers have a lot to figure out.  If the Flyers don't figure things out by April, it could be another early playoff exit for the Flyers.