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Vadered
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It's pretty much all in the title. Rather than individual games, we will look at how the Flyers have performed over the first fifty games of the season. Special rules for this one: They have to be individual players. No "defensive turnovers" or "the refs" or even "our Dmen."
Stars:
1. Giroux - While he's been in a goal slump for pretty much an entire month, Giroux has still been really good. And despite that goal slump he's still number two in the NHL for points, behind Evgeni Malkin. I think we were all expecting good things from him, but many were probably thinking that having him on the top line and thus against the opponent's top defense pairings might dull his potential at least a bit. I know I was, and boy was I wrong. The one area I would like Giroux to improve in is +/-, as he's even as of this post.
2. Timonen - Timonen is always willing to block shots, to play the man, and most importantly, to do what it takes to get the puck out of danger. He has the best +/- of the defense by FAR and has been helping on the power play as well.
3. Hartnell (sorry Tox). Hartnell is usually expected to run the goalie and occasionally contribute offensively. This year he is contributing offensively and occasionally running the goalie. Seriously though, the man has the best +/- on the team, has set a career high for power play goals with 32 games to go in the season, and is on pace to demolish his career high of 60 points. His production is a full eight minutes better than his career best, and is actually right on pace with Giroux's. He is having a breakout year in a year where we have a chance to run deep. He really took control of his conditioning in the offseason, and training with Jagr after normal practice can only help that. He still needs to watch his PIMs, but other than that he's been a breath of fresh air from the last few years.
Goats:
1. Bryzgalov - Yes, I know he's gotten it together recently. Yes, I know the Flyers defense was doing everything short of shooting it at him in order to help the other team out for a large portion of the season. And yes, I know that half a season is not a good judge of a nine year contract. That said, the entire reason we shelled out over fifty million dollars was to fix the goalie situation, and quite frankly, until his last five or so games he's not been the fix we ordered. That 5.6 million could have gone towards improving defense, or paying Giroux more. Granted, knowing us we would have used it to sign 5.6 more Jody Shelleys, but who knows? Maybe if we had a fresh Jody Shelley every game he wouldn't suck so bad. I'm not saying Bryz is a failure and we are doomed, I'm just saying I'm hoping this recent streak turns into the rule and not the exception.
2. Van Riemsdyk. Not that he's played terribly - 22 points and -1 in 37 games, but I think many of us were hoping for a big breakout year after seeing him on fire in the playoffs last year. Also, considering he's been on the second line or worse for most of the year, -1 is not good. Yes, I know he's hurt, but he's just not living up to where we need him to be.
3. Shelley - Not that he plays a big role on the team, but that's exactly why he's a goat. We pay the guy $1 million in cap space and he's played 100 minutes in 20 of 50 games and is -6 to boot. Can't waive him, because between the salary of his replacement and the 50% cap hit when some other team inevitably claims him we'll actually end up spending more for his replacement, so we're stuck with him too. WHY DO WE PAY YOU MONEY, SHELLEY?
Surprises:
1. Scott Hartnell - While Hartnell hasn't been the best player on the team for the first fifty games, when compared to what we thought he would be - an agitator who contributes a bit offensively but isn't first line material - I think it's pretty clear that he's our number one surprise, if not the number one star.
2. Matt Read - He's leading the league in rookie goals (16). That's kinda cool. He's also 5th on the team in points (32), and 4th in +/- (+11). He's really fast, and has a really accurate shot. He's also contributing a lot on the PK, where he's usually paired with...
3. Sean Couturier - We all knew he was good, but he's GOOD good. Not a ton of points for him (19), but he doesn't get the ice time Read and others do and he's a SOLID defensive player. He's 3rd on the team in +/- at +13, which is only one behind the rookie +/- lead.
Please post your opinions/flames/insults; I'm interested to see how everyone else feels about the season thus far.
Stars:
1. Giroux - While he's been in a goal slump for pretty much an entire month, Giroux has still been really good. And despite that goal slump he's still number two in the NHL for points, behind Evgeni Malkin. I think we were all expecting good things from him, but many were probably thinking that having him on the top line and thus against the opponent's top defense pairings might dull his potential at least a bit. I know I was, and boy was I wrong. The one area I would like Giroux to improve in is +/-, as he's even as of this post.
2. Timonen - Timonen is always willing to block shots, to play the man, and most importantly, to do what it takes to get the puck out of danger. He has the best +/- of the defense by FAR and has been helping on the power play as well.
3. Hartnell (sorry Tox). Hartnell is usually expected to run the goalie and occasionally contribute offensively. This year he is contributing offensively and occasionally running the goalie. Seriously though, the man has the best +/- on the team, has set a career high for power play goals with 32 games to go in the season, and is on pace to demolish his career high of 60 points. His production is a full eight minutes better than his career best, and is actually right on pace with Giroux's. He is having a breakout year in a year where we have a chance to run deep. He really took control of his conditioning in the offseason, and training with Jagr after normal practice can only help that. He still needs to watch his PIMs, but other than that he's been a breath of fresh air from the last few years.
Goats:
1. Bryzgalov - Yes, I know he's gotten it together recently. Yes, I know the Flyers defense was doing everything short of shooting it at him in order to help the other team out for a large portion of the season. And yes, I know that half a season is not a good judge of a nine year contract. That said, the entire reason we shelled out over fifty million dollars was to fix the goalie situation, and quite frankly, until his last five or so games he's not been the fix we ordered. That 5.6 million could have gone towards improving defense, or paying Giroux more. Granted, knowing us we would have used it to sign 5.6 more Jody Shelleys, but who knows? Maybe if we had a fresh Jody Shelley every game he wouldn't suck so bad. I'm not saying Bryz is a failure and we are doomed, I'm just saying I'm hoping this recent streak turns into the rule and not the exception.
2. Van Riemsdyk. Not that he's played terribly - 22 points and -1 in 37 games, but I think many of us were hoping for a big breakout year after seeing him on fire in the playoffs last year. Also, considering he's been on the second line or worse for most of the year, -1 is not good. Yes, I know he's hurt, but he's just not living up to where we need him to be.
3. Shelley - Not that he plays a big role on the team, but that's exactly why he's a goat. We pay the guy $1 million in cap space and he's played 100 minutes in 20 of 50 games and is -6 to boot. Can't waive him, because between the salary of his replacement and the 50% cap hit when some other team inevitably claims him we'll actually end up spending more for his replacement, so we're stuck with him too. WHY DO WE PAY YOU MONEY, SHELLEY?
Surprises:
1. Scott Hartnell - While Hartnell hasn't been the best player on the team for the first fifty games, when compared to what we thought he would be - an agitator who contributes a bit offensively but isn't first line material - I think it's pretty clear that he's our number one surprise, if not the number one star.
2. Matt Read - He's leading the league in rookie goals (16). That's kinda cool. He's also 5th on the team in points (32), and 4th in +/- (+11). He's really fast, and has a really accurate shot. He's also contributing a lot on the PK, where he's usually paired with...
3. Sean Couturier - We all knew he was good, but he's GOOD good. Not a ton of points for him (19), but he doesn't get the ice time Read and others do and he's a SOLID defensive player. He's 3rd on the team in +/- at +13, which is only one behind the rookie +/- lead.
Please post your opinions/flames/insults; I'm interested to see how everyone else feels about the season thus far.
