By. Mr. Pogo (SL)
You know I was thinking, we have alot of the same kids who played last year, who I think will be even better together this year, you know, I mean right off the bat, and I mean Upshall and Carter…and thats a big plus to a big second scoring line, who could feature either Hartnall or Lupul… But thats just small stuff…I dont know if Holmgren did this intentionally or by accident, but lets say is the former. First big move he made in the Offseason was added Timmonen and Hartnall, who also played with Upshall…. Then we offload Pitkanen and Sanderson for Lupul and Smith…. thats alot of different types of chemistry to odd positions if you ask me, we have Oillers Preds FLYERS tandems, that in my mind can and WILL Gell together…I know for fact last years FLyers squad is all about improving obviously, but these new guys you know all they want to do is be the FLYER everyone knows about…Hard working, and Gritty… Thats one big thing I like going into next season…
But this is the BIGGEST!!!!
What we lacked last year was #1 Leadership, sure a few players displayed it, and in my mind it was mainly Gagne…and it wasnt enough, the only LEADING I saw him do, was talking to the refs after penalties…There was no one on this team, when the chips were down and the chances of coming out on top didnt look soo good, were someone stood up and told them…”THIS IS NOT OVER”. There were plenty of times this season games were not over and in the final minutes they played as though it were…..
#2…And in my Mind is the most important, well after leadership is DEFENSE…DEFENSE….and you got it…SHot blocking defensemen… Which we got in Timonen, who can by the way, put numbers up on the offensive side of the box score… and SMith who has lead his team in Blocked shot more than just once, also we have Kukkonen who was a shot blocking beast when we traded Calder (thank god) for him.
The biggest thing, IMO that has me counting down the days till next season, is that we addressed the two things we needed most in dramatic fashion…
LEADERSHIP: Daniel Briere shared Captain with Chris Drury.Timmonen and SMith were both captains….
DEFENSE: Like I mentioned above, Both Timonen and Smith are shot blockers. An Unsung thing to consider, people are expecting the flyers to be big next season…
But what will they do if, Jeff Carter, Mike Richards, UMberger, UPSHALL, HARTNALL, AND LUPUL, Break out next season? Wouldn’t that give us at least 4 lines, that could just destroy you physically, and offensivly? How do you beat a team like that? AND what if this new leadership, gets this whole team on the same page, hell we can afford up to 3 or 4 injuries Forward wise and about 2-3 Defensivly (NOTE THOSE NUMBERS WILL CHANGE WHEN THE FINAL ROSTERS ARE ANNOUNCED)….As a Flyer fan in the NHL ARENA I remember making a post when I first joined . called HOPE FOR THE HOPELESS…. What do I call it next year, if everything I mentioned above happens??….
