The Flyers absolutely deserve to miss the playoffs, but that doesn’t mean they haven’t had a stellar second half to the season.
“The Kids” are finally making an impact
Who would have thought that firing Dave Hakstol would see the Flyers improving this much? Oh wait, almost all of us did. I understand that Philly fans will run someone out of town if they don’t win or produce, but it sure feels good to be right about this one. They are currently rolling on a 19-6-2 run and are 12-2-1 against non-playoff teams. The second stat line is great, because the teams of the past would go out and beat the top teams in the league, and then lose to teams they are 15+ points out of a playoff spot, and that is extremely frustrating to watch. But thats not what I want to focus on here, the kids are finally up and producing, and man is that fun to watch.
I remember sitting around and talking about how the future of the Flyers was good, just give them a few years. That’s why it was so annoying to watch Hakstol continuously play guys just because they’re veterans. When Gordon stepped in, one of the first few things he did was give Travis Sanheim more minutes, and brought up 20-year-old Cart Hart. Sanheim, who was picked #17 overall in the 2014 draft, has proven why he should be getting more minutes, as he has 9 goals and 22 assists so far this season. This also includes when Hakstol was riding him on the bench and giving him less than 10 minutes a night, so it’s no surprise that he has put out this much production after his minutes increased.
Another player who has had an awesome second half is Nolan Patrick. He had a quiet first half, as did many of the younger players, but he has become a force during this run. What I notice the most from him is what he does when he doesn’t have the puck. He is so quick to take pucks away from opposing players that he makes the game very exciting to watch. Patrick is going to be a number one center on this team in a few years, and it’s good to see him making a positive impact already.
Phil Myers is another guy who people should be looking out for. He was an undrafted free agent signing by the Flyers in 2015, and man what a gem he is. The Flyers brought him up earlier this season, something Hakstol/Hextall would have never done, and he has already showed why he deserves a spot on this team next year. He is big, fast, and a great skater. All of these qualities will make him a special talent in the NHL for many years to come. Although the sample size is small, he has been fun to watch.
Quick Takeaways
The Flyers played the Penguins again last night, and guess who lost in overtime again? Coots embarrassed Crosby on his way to sniping Matt Murray for the overtime winner with 3 seconds left to go. Does anyone remember earlier in February when Claude Giroux did a similar thing in a certain outdoor game against a certain team? It feels good to have the Penguins number again, and it sucks that we aren’t going to have a chance of redemption this year in the playoffs.
I thought it was funny that Penguins fans were chanting “16,000”, which is the number of days it has been since the Flyers won their last Stanley Cup. I would rather take those 16,000 days as a loser than knowing that my franchise almost moved to a different city because they were so bad. People love to forget the Penguins almost relocated to Kansas City almost 15 years ago, what a joke. You may have 3 cups in the last 15 years but at least I can go to bed at night knowing my boys were never bad enough to warrant a god damn relocation. Anyone who cheers for a team that had three consecutive first overall picks in a row should be ashamed of themselves.
The Flyers will look to end the year on a good note, and hopefully this is the last time they miss the playoffs with this roster.
