With few exceptions, pundit upon columnist upon radio host upon anchor have been proclaiming for weeks now that the Philadelphia Flyers are the team to beat in the Eastern Conference this season (though the odd pundit has claimed Ottawa should be the favourite).
Over the past several seasons, without a doubt, the Flyers have been perennial contenders in the Eastern Conference. They haven’t missed the playoffs in a few years, they usually make it out of the first round, they’ve had some great talent up front, and Bobby Clarke made a great move bringing in Ken Hitchcock, one of the game’s greatest thinking coaches in recent years, to stand on the Philly bench and strategize.
Philly has been a big money team for years….one of the teams that brought hardship on others by spending as much as they could to bring in the best talent in their quest for a Cup. It was the teams like Philly that led the NHL into its lockout situation, and it’s teams like Philly, with their huge payrolls, that a lot of people thought would be absolutely screwed in a post-lockout, cost-certainty, salary cap era. (See NY Rangers, Maple Leafs and Colorado.)
But somehow, even with their payroll above the cap, Bobby Clarke was able to make a few shrewd moves and convince the world that Philadelphia could still compete in a sub $40-million environment. And apparently, he impressed a lot of people in doing so.
Peter Forsberg was brought back to the team that originally drafted him, and he’s a former MVP. And then Clarkie picked up a few stud defencemen in Darien Hatcher and Mike Rathje.
And based on this, many in the sports media are ready to bet all their ducats on Philly.
But is picking up three strong new players enough to make Philly a favourite? Are the Flyers a better team now than they were in 2003-2004, when they were knocked out of the playoffs in the second round?
The answer is no.
The fact is, Philly has lost four of their top five scorers from 03-04. These are Mark Recchi, John Leclair, Tony Amonte and Jeremy Roenick. (The remaining top five scorer is Michael Handzus).
Now some say, sure they lost those four players, but they got Forsberg.
Sorry to break the news to you but, as good as Forsberg is, even as a former MVP, he can play only one forward position at a time, not all three.
So, who’s filling out the other empty forward spots? Turns out, it’s two kids who played major-junior until the spring of last year, and then moved into the AHL only after their junior teams had been eliminated from their respective playoff races: Jeff Carter and Mike Richards.
Don’t get me wrong…these two are going to be fantastic players. Carter is a tall player with very soft hands for his size, and will be a very good power forward with skill once he puts some weight on his 180 pound frame. And Richards is a kid who can skate like a demon, puts every ounce of his smallish body into every hit, has decent hands and pretty much wills his way to success (kind of like Bobby Clarke was back in the day.)
These two will be great hockey players in the coming years, but for 2005-2006, they will not be Jeremy Roenick, John Leclair, Tony Amonte or Mark Recchi.
So, that takes care of the front end, but what about the back end with Hatcher and Rathje?
With the rule changes that have been put in place, the jury is still out whether these two towers will be as effective as they have been in the past. It certainly looks better for Rathje, who, while not as mean or punishing as Hatcher, is a better skater with better lateral mobility.
Regardless, the addition of these two is probably an improvement to Philly’s lineup. But is the addition of two (previously) a-list defencemen enough?
This question is especially compounded by the uncertainty in net for the Flyers. Going into the regular season, Robert Esche has been fingered as their starting goaltender, with unproven Finnish prospect Antero Nyttimaki penciled in as backup. In 2003-2004, Esche battled for the number one job, and shared it throughout the season, with aging veteran Sean Burke, who has landed in Tampa Bay. (In fact, Burke played 47 games, while Esche played only 40).
For the Flyers to be a true contender, Esche is simply not good enough. For the 2004 World Cup of Hockey, Esche was only the third string goalie for the U.S. squad behind youngsters Rick DiPietro (NY Islanders) and Ty Conklin (Edmonton Oilers.)
A third string goalie for the U.S. for the World Cup is not the goalie a team needs to win the Stanley Cup.
And so, in answer to the question of whether Philadelphia Flyers of 2005-2006 are better than the Flyers of 2003-2004, no, they’re not. The 03-04 Flyers were a better team. Better goaltending tandem, better top three lines, better team.
It appears that many analysts have been blinded by Philly’s new bling: Forsberg, Hatcher and Rathje, without looking at the substance of the team.
If the 2003-2004 version of the Flyers couldn’t make it past the second round, how can this season’s version be considered favourites with all that they have lost?
