Catalogue of Sins

Things are so bad with the Flyers, I can't really pick on them game to game anymore. Besides, when you've still only won three games, and its November, more problems become evident when the games and losses start to blend together.

The first and most pressing problem, even before the obvious defensive deficiencies, is the level of play throughout any given game. Forget the cliche'd "full 60 minutes." Forget 40, or even 20. The Flyers go in spurts from one shift to the next in intensity, for periods no longer than a few minutes, then lapse back into their general state of catatonia. I give them credit for hanging in last night in Toronto - even then, it was Niittymaki's effort that kept the game tied 1-1 rather than the rest of the team taking it to the Leafs. Like any game in the late 90's, having a 40-shot game doesn't necessarily mean any kind of dominant play. They seemed to pack it in until the third in the Capitals game, only played in small spots in the first and third periods against Tampa, and were outplayed save for two world-class Forsberg goals in the Chicago game. If John Stevens is powerless to provide the necessary jolt, trades are required to alter team chemistry.

The second problem is one that has dogged the team for centuries - the game plan to generate offense. Judging from the parts of the game I was able to see when I wasn't covering Ottawa-Washington, the 40 shots didn't exactly come from 2-on-1's, slick passing, and open men within 10 feet of the net. Since the Lindros Era, the plan has been to either dump and chase, relying on speed and muscle for puck possession, or generate a rush, but head for the goal line and cycle endlessly until some space somewhere opens up. With Knuble on the shelf for another two weeks, that's one less free-thinking forward with sniper ability, and his absence throws a severe monkey wrench in the first line's ability to catch the opposition off-guard. Even with the benefit of the new rules last year, the Flyers refused to use the two-line pass to generate chances. They refused to use the skill from the top two lines in the bigger offensive zone to create space within the zone from which to shoot, instead relying on a hard-fought possession game to try and generate chances. Well, it took until Christmas for the other 29 teams to figure out Philly was up to their old tricks, and teams began to outskate, outpossess and outchance the Flyers, culminating in the Buffalo series where it seemed the Flyers couldn't hold onto the puck for more than 10 seconds.

Now, we get to the defense. I was never a fan of Freddy Meyer, and forget all the nonsense about me being a BC graduate and Meyer playing for Boston University. I can't get over Clarke's (or Holmgren's or whomever's) cold feet back in March, when he passed on dealing Umberger to Pittsburgh for Mark Recchi, and Meyer in any number of possible deals after both kids were instrumental in a home win over Carolina right before the trading deadline. Randy Jones is pretty much a non-factor, but it's only a matter of time before he becomes a full-on liability. Rathje, Baumgartner, and the enigmatic Lars Jonsson are failures. Derian Hatcher gets a boost from an F to a D because he looks like he's really trying, and Joni Pitkanen has largely been a disappointment as he has not grown as expected after a promising 05-06. If you listen close enough, you can hear Kim Johnsson laughing through the snow and ice fog all the way from Minnesota.

Next, the captaincy. Peter Forsberg is not the guy. Period. The end. I had severe reservations about his abilities as the team leader on and off the ice, and it's not working. It has nothing to do with the Tampa game "meltdown" where he left the arena without answering questions. It has to do with his laconic Scandinavian nature. Unlike Mats Sundin, who has been captain in Toronto for nearly a decade, Forsberg does not wear his emotions on his face, and he really doesn't do it with his body, either. Sure, he relishes physical contact, but when was the last time you saw him fired up after scoring a big goal? I don't remember him in a fiery mood after either goal against the Blackhawks. Sundin? You can tell by looking at him, that he burns with desire to win, to succeed, to correct problems. Even when Forsberg does stick around after practice, or after games, there is no hint of deeper emotion with microphones in his face. Even Canadians, who usually spout nothing but time-tested cliches to the media, you can tell with the eyes and with the brow, that there's fire lurking just beneath the surface. I peer into Forsberg's icy blue Swedish eyes, and see no hidden spark. He didn't learn enough all those years with Joe Sakic, who, although gentlemanly on the ice, has come up with some fiery sermons in the locker room with that crazy Croat temper.

Finally, the kids. Anybody with about six ounces of critical thought and insight while attending any Phantoms game in this millennium can tell, the Flyers farm system is unprepared at best, a joke at worst. It doesn't help that the Flyer organ-eye-zation has misused most of whom they've "brought up" from across the parking lot. As mentioned before, Meyer and Jones are not-ready-for-prime-time on the backline. Stefan Ruzicka has predominantly looked lost without the structure of having a specific job on every shift. Ben Eager, while a good temporary addition because of his energy and slight scoring touch, may be too big for the speedier NHL. Umberger, Carter, and Richards, the current crop of forwards who made the big club off the Phantoms' 2005 Calder Cup victory, are lagging far behind the curve. Last year's goal and point inflations haven't helped their cause this year, where, although goals have been harder to come by league-wide, consistent hard work won't cure their scoring slumps. Wherefore art thou, Sharp and Sim? We surely could use you now. Hell, we could have used both of them in the second half of the season last year. Since the inception of the Phantoms, each and every Phantom called up to the Flyers, with the exception of some long-time veterans (Mark Freer, Peter White among others) has been shipped out for veteran talent or draft picks after a brief audition. Many, like Vaclav Prospal and Ruslan Fedotenko, have gone on to fame and fortune and recognition with other teams.
The rest have been rushed up, shoved into the lineup and shipped off, leaving the Phantoms scrambling for fresh young talent, and the Flyers deprived of any chance to let any of those players grow.
So why keep Umberger, Eager, Carter and Richards, even if they have a Calder Cup to their credit? Part of it is the front office's hyper-literal take on the NHL being a young league, so I guess they feel obligated now to constantly work in new talent. It's still about the right young players, not just about a total roster overhaul that dropped the mean age on the roster from 29 in 2004 to 25 in 2006. As a scout, or GM, or president, you still need to be discerning on which AHL players can hack it in the Big Time. Sharp (in Chicago) and Sim (in Florida and now in Atlanta) are putting up great numbers, and are on their way to staying in the NHL. All the kids seeing time on the Flyers now? Well, they might have some big time in them somewhere, but it's not there yet, especially since during John Stevens' tenure as Phantoms coach (04-05 excepted), the team was nothing more than a factory for learning Ken Hitchcock's rigid offensive and defensive systems.

All in all, we'll have to wait a few more weeks before other teams besides Phoenix are itching to make deals and remake horrible starts into playoff contention. Trades are not the cure-all for this disaster, but it is the biggest step in the right direction the Flyers can make between now and the merciful end to the season, now only 5 months away.