Around The NHL In 30 Days: Philadelphia Flyers
By Editorial Staff
The Fansided NHL Network, that SenShot is proud to be a member of, is embarking on its NHL preview. Each day in September, one of its members will be posting a preview for their club. SenShot will look at their preview, and let you have a look. After that, we will provide our own perspective. Jared will handle the Western Conference teams while Tony will look at the East.
Today, we’ll preview the Philadelphia Flyers.
Here’s what Broad Street Buzz‘s lead writer, Eugene Markman had to say:
"“Who the hell is that guy?’ That’s going to be the question most fans will be asking once the puck drops on the regular season. After a major roster overhaul, a ton of of familiar faces are gone, with new ones in their place. What was clearly a top contender for the Stanley Cup, is now a team whose fate is really up in the air. With that, lets look at whose gone, whose here, and what lies ahead.The new look Flyers will be very, very different from last season. If healthy, they’re coming back with a stingier defense than last season. Chris Pronger is now the captain, taking over the role vacated by Mike Richards. Aside from a new title, that doesn’t really change Prongs’ role on the team. He’s been a very vocal leader since coming over a few years ago. The goals should be a bit harder to come by for opposing teams because ofIlya Bryzgalov in net. While Bobrovsky was very, very good, he wasn’t great. He could play, but he didn’t seem to be able to handle the workload. Maybe that’s the coaches fault, but that’s a different discussion.Scoring will be a bit harder to come by. Giroux and Briere are now the top centers, and behind them, we don’t know what else we have. In addition, the Flyers expect JVR to play like the monster that he was in the playoffs last year. We’ll have to wait and see how well the new guys and the youth infusion mesh. All of the lines will be new, so right now it’s impossible to guess how potent the offense really will be. I do think we take a large step back from last year.In general, there are many, many questions surrounding this team. Who will kill penalties? How good is the team defense? Do we have enough scoring depth or will we have problems like the Rangers have had the last few years? Will Giroux thrive with the added responsibility? Will all of the trades pay off? Will Pronger be healthy enough to be a factor in the playoffs? Will we definitely make the playoffs?Click here to read the entire Broad Street Buzz preview."
You can follow Eugene on Twitter here for all your Flyer’s news and info.
Here’s SenShot’s take on the upcoming Flyer’s season:
Coming into this season, there is a lot of uncertainty surrounding the Flyers’ roster. With so many new faces, and the loss of so much fire power, how will their line-up stack up? Everybody assumes that the Flyers will be fine as they have Briere and Giroux, but those two will now be going up against other team’s best defense pairings. And with first line minutes comes first line expectations, and Briere and Giroux will have to be at least point-a-game players if the Flyers hope to succeed.
With as many questions the Flyers have up front, they have even more on the back-end. With their two best defensemen in Pronger and Timonen both 36 years old, the Flyers will be depending on these two old horses to carry the load from the blue line. With Pronger not expected to be ready for the start of the season, the Flyers’ D will be hard pressed all season to be the dominant unit they have been in the past.
And finally hoping to solve their long-term problem in goal, was Bryzgalov the ride horse to hitch their ride to? Having proven nothing yet in his career, the Flyers are locked in for nine years with Bryzgalov, for better or worse.
I believe the Flyers will make the playoffs this year, but their power house status in the Eastern Conference has fallen and they will have to battle with a number of teams for the final few playoffs spots left in the East.
Check back here tomorrow when we preview the Phoenix Coyotes and their upcoming season.
**Don’t forget to buy your Tickets for SenShot’s Alfie Night in Ottawa on November 11th, 2011. Click here for more details**
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