Recently on NHL.com I came across an article that suggested Claude Giroux could be a finalist for the Hart Trophy (Most Valuable Player of the league) after the season is over. This came to me as a bit of a surprise, but since the article was written Giroux has 7 points in just 4 games. Two of those games were against the top team in their division, Pittsburgh Penguins, and another against the defending Stanley Cup champions, Chicago Blackhawks. After watching the past few games, I see the chances of him being a finalist pretty likely (although Sidney Crosby will most likely win the award). In order for him to be a finalist I think he will have to do all of the following by the end of the season:
* Get the Flyers into the playoffs
* Continue to score at the pace he is now
* Be in the top 3 for points throughout the league
Doing all three of those don't seem as impossible as they may have earlier this year when it took him 15 games to score his first goal. Since then it seems he easily takes control over games to lead the team to victory. He has done an outstanding job on the power play and has even played a lot of minutes shorthanded this year. While on the power play, it seems his line is out there for the full 2 minutes almost every time (if they don't score before then).
Last year Alexander Ovechkin won the award after getting off to a slow start and eventually turning it around, maybe this year Giroux could do the same. After starting the past two years slow with wrist injuries, it seems like the team only plays as well as their captain. The teams record when he scores a point proves it, as they are 32-13-3 when he does get on the scoresheet.
What do you think? Should Giroux be named MVP or, at least, be a finalist for the award?
Thursday, March 20, 2014
Friday, March 14, 2014
Post Trade Deadline Rant
The NHL trade deadline is always a time of excitement for hockey fans. Many
teams make trades that try to improve the team to be more of contenders for the
Stanley Cup. The Flyers are almost always a team that will trade assets for an
aging player, who most likely may not even sign back.
This year the Flyers started off by trading Matt Mangene from the AHL, 3rd round pick in 2014, and a 2nd round pick in 2015 for Andrew Macdonald from the New York Islanders. Shortly after, the Flyers traded Andrej Meszaros to the Boston Bruins for a 3rd round pick in 2014. In all likelihood, the organization thinks this move will help them be more competitive in the playoffs. This may help them get into the playoffs and maybe to the 2nd round, but not much further.
Kimmo Timonen is a 38 year old defenseman who has been on the team for a few years now. The current group of defensemen on the team simply aren’t good enough to win it all. Timonen is the best defensemen on the team, but has been slowing down showing signs of his age constantly throughout the season. Last season the team resigned him, which I thought was a mistake. There really is no excuse to not trade Timonen to a contending team for picks or prospects. At his age, he is not going to lead a team to the Cup, but he has a much better chance of winning one helping out another team. The trades that were made this year will not improve the team at all. Macdonald is only a slight upgrade over Meszaros, and in getting him the Flyers gave up more and got a later 3rd round pick. Hopefully next year the Flyers will learn their lesson and try to build a good group of defensemen, but probably won’t. This year though the team missed out on upgrading the team.
This year the Flyers started off by trading Matt Mangene from the AHL, 3rd round pick in 2014, and a 2nd round pick in 2015 for Andrew Macdonald from the New York Islanders. Shortly after, the Flyers traded Andrej Meszaros to the Boston Bruins for a 3rd round pick in 2014. In all likelihood, the organization thinks this move will help them be more competitive in the playoffs. This may help them get into the playoffs and maybe to the 2nd round, but not much further.
Kimmo Timonen is a 38 year old defenseman who has been on the team for a few years now. The current group of defensemen on the team simply aren’t good enough to win it all. Timonen is the best defensemen on the team, but has been slowing down showing signs of his age constantly throughout the season. Last season the team resigned him, which I thought was a mistake. There really is no excuse to not trade Timonen to a contending team for picks or prospects. At his age, he is not going to lead a team to the Cup, but he has a much better chance of winning one helping out another team. The trades that were made this year will not improve the team at all. Macdonald is only a slight upgrade over Meszaros, and in getting him the Flyers gave up more and got a later 3rd round pick. Hopefully next year the Flyers will learn their lesson and try to build a good group of defensemen, but probably won’t. This year though the team missed out on upgrading the team.
Tuesday, March 4, 2014
Update 03/04
The Flyers got back to the season this past Thursday and have played 2 additional games since. They played the San Jose Sharks, New York Rangers, and Washington Capitals.
The team started the second half of the season slow, as they got beat 7-3 against San Jose. As the weekend approached, however, they began to play very well. On Saturday, the Flyers beat the Rangers 4-2. On Sunday, the Flyers played a great game by coming back from behind to win in overtime against the Capitals 5-4.
Wayne Simmonds seems to be the team's most improved player this year. He is using his physicality to translate into many goals because he is now second on the team in points. He had 3 points in the first two games back from the break. Claude Giroux had a huge 3 point night on Sunday to lead his team to victory.
Mason played in all 3 games. Ray Emery was injured with a lower body injury for both weekend games. Cal Heeter was the backup for Mason. The Flyers next game is finishing off a home-home series against the Capitals this Wednesday.
The team started the second half of the season slow, as they got beat 7-3 against San Jose. As the weekend approached, however, they began to play very well. On Saturday, the Flyers beat the Rangers 4-2. On Sunday, the Flyers played a great game by coming back from behind to win in overtime against the Capitals 5-4.
Wayne Simmonds seems to be the team's most improved player this year. He is using his physicality to translate into many goals because he is now second on the team in points. He had 3 points in the first two games back from the break. Claude Giroux had a huge 3 point night on Sunday to lead his team to victory.
Mason played in all 3 games. Ray Emery was injured with a lower body injury for both weekend games. Cal Heeter was the backup for Mason. The Flyers next game is finishing off a home-home series against the Capitals this Wednesday.
Monday, February 24, 2014
Olympics
The Sochi Olympics ended yesterday, so it was the last game for the men's hockey. The final four teams came down to Finland, United States, Sweden, and Canada. Both Canada and Sweden won in the semifinal rounds. This left Finland vs United States to decide who was going to win the Bronze medal.
Unfortunately for the United States, they were shut out 5-0. For Flyers fans, however, long time defenseman, Kimmo Timonen, was able to bring back a medal. Congratulations to him because I believe that is his 4th medal that he has won. In the gold medal game, Canada won the gold once again. This was another shut out win (3-0) for goalie, Carey Price. This year's Olympics mostly depended on defense and goaltending, rather than offense.
The NHL starts back up again tomorrow, Tuesday February 25, but the Flyers do not play until Thursday against the San Jose Sharks.
Unfortunately for the United States, they were shut out 5-0. For Flyers fans, however, long time defenseman, Kimmo Timonen, was able to bring back a medal. Congratulations to him because I believe that is his 4th medal that he has won. In the gold medal game, Canada won the gold once again. This was another shut out win (3-0) for goalie, Carey Price. This year's Olympics mostly depended on defense and goaltending, rather than offense.
The NHL starts back up again tomorrow, Tuesday February 25, but the Flyers do not play until Thursday against the San Jose Sharks.
Monday, February 17, 2014
Catching Up
Since I have not posted in a few months, I thought I should update
on some of the biggest things that have happened so far.
Head coach Peter Laviolette fired and Craig Berube hired:
After only 3 games the head coach was fired. This move was not surprising to me, but happened a lot earlier than I thought. It really made no sense when he could have just been fired over the summer. If they do that, the team has more time to learn a new system under a new coach. This may have been a more effective move because after the coaching change the team was still playing poorly.
Max Talbot traded for Steve Downie:
It was not until after October 31 when the Flyers traded Max Talbot in exchange for a former Flyers draft pick, Steve Downie, that things started picking up for them. I believe the Flyers got the much better player (although some only remember him for this dirty hit). Downie brings physicality and a bit of playmaking where Talbot was just a 4th line penalty killer for the team.
Unfortunately, in his debut game back he suffered a concussion. A few games later he returned on a line with Sean Couturier and Matt Read where all three played extremely well. They continued to play well until Downie got hurt again. Since returning from his last injury he has not been as good, even getting benched a few games. Hopefully the long Olympic break will allow him to recover more.
Unfortunately, in his debut game back he suffered a concussion. A few games later he returned on a line with Sean Couturier and Matt Read where all three played extremely well. They continued to play well until Downie got hurt again. Since returning from his last injury he has not been as good, even getting benched a few games. Hopefully the long Olympic break will allow him to recover more.
Steve Mason:
The biggest and most important player on the team this year (besides point leader Claude Giroux) has been goaltender Steve Mason. He has been outstanding in net & the best player on the ice, even stealing a few undeserved wins. His record is currently at 23/14/5 (W/L/OTL) with 3 shutouts and a 2.49 GAA. It looks like the Flyers finally got a good starting goalie. He will continue to be the Flyers starting goalie for the next 3 years, after signing a contract extension on January 18.
The biggest and most important player on the team this year (besides point leader Claude Giroux) has been goaltender Steve Mason. He has been outstanding in net & the best player on the ice, even stealing a few undeserved wins. His record is currently at 23/14/5 (W/L/OTL) with 3 shutouts and a 2.49 GAA. It looks like the Flyers finally got a good starting goalie. He will continue to be the Flyers starting goalie for the next 3 years, after signing a contract extension on January 18.
Sunday, February 16, 2014
Back Again!
My name is Jayson. I am a 23 year old at West Chester
University. Being a huge Philadelphia Flyers fan, I originally created this
blog to stay more up to date with other hockey/Philadelphia Sports news stories.
For the remainder of the season, I plan on consistently
writing about the team’s big games and news. This may be the best time to start
blogging because, just passed the halfway point, the team looks to make a run for
the playoffs that hopefully will be exciting.
Sunday, September 29, 2013
Predictions for 13-14 season
The Philadelphia Flyers season starts this Wednesday night against the Toronto Maple leafs. Despite adding Vinny Lecavalier, Mark Streit, and Ray Emery to create more depth in each position, this preseason has seen the Flyers coming out as uninterested in playing as they were last season. A move has to be made to try to improve the team before the season starts, because I see plenty of potential in the players they currently have. If they do start off slow, I think that the head coach, Peter Laviolette, will be fired. In addition to the coach, I think the General Manager, Paul Holmgren, will be fired in favor of newly hired assistant GM, Ron Hextall.
In order for the Flyers to succeed, Brayden Schenn and Sean Couturier have to step up this year. Both players faced sophomore slumps last season and will be asked to contribute. Eyes will also be on Jakub Voracek, who had his best season yet last year. With the addition of Lecavalier on offense, I think Voracek will have another great year. Will Claude Giroux not only be one of the best players on the Flyers again, but in the NHL, as well? He certainly still has untapped potential. All in all, I think the Flyers will be a 6-8 seed team in the playoffs come April due to the improved goal tending of Steve Mason and Ray Emery.
In order for the Flyers to succeed, Brayden Schenn and Sean Couturier have to step up this year. Both players faced sophomore slumps last season and will be asked to contribute. Eyes will also be on Jakub Voracek, who had his best season yet last year. With the addition of Lecavalier on offense, I think Voracek will have another great year. Will Claude Giroux not only be one of the best players on the Flyers again, but in the NHL, as well? He certainly still has untapped potential. All in all, I think the Flyers will be a 6-8 seed team in the playoffs come April due to the improved goal tending of Steve Mason and Ray Emery.
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