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The Flyers Are… Better Than You Think?
By Nick Piccone
Published:
What a difference a week makes. Ten days ago, I wrote how the Flyers were worse than we all think. They had just lost their seventh game in a row (and would lose two more after the post was published) and looked abysmal on the ice. There was nothing to be excited about watching them play hockey. Dan Vladar and Joseph Woll were the bright spots, but even they could not stand on their heads enough to notch a victory in the first nine games of the season.
But, in the 10th game…
Something has happened this week. Something cool, in fact. The Flyers have won games. Not a game. Not A game. We’re talking about… games. Plural. Three, in fact. They’ve beaten the 7-3 Ottawa Senators, 5-4-1 Colorado Avalanche (who are Stanley Cup contenders), and most recently, the 4-4-2 Buffalo Sabres, who made the playoffs last season after a 14-year drought. They were good wins. And a huge part of those were the young guys stepping in and looking, dare I say, fast on the ice? Making good decisions? Good reads? Good passes? Not getting outshot 2:1 or 3:1 per game? You mean the Flyers are allowed to do all of that in this economy?
Their first two wins came at home in the Xfinity Mobile Arena, and they notched their first win on the road in Buffalo on Wednesday night.
Cole Knuble, 21 years young, stole the show. He scored the first two goals of his NHL career in front of friends and family – including his father, former Flyer Mike Knuble. Hunter McDonald laid the biggest Flyers hit of the season so far late in the third period, flattening Sabres forward Ryan McLeod, causing Mattias Samuelsson to drop the gloves but also incur instigator and game misconduct penalties. It was the type of hit we haven’t seen from the Flyers since the Penguins playoff series – you know, the one the Flyers won in six games last spring.
You mesh those young guys with Oliver Bonk, Denver Barkey, Porter Martone, Trevor Zegras, and Matvei Michkov, and the Flyers look like a completely different team.
Unfortunately, it will have a shelf life. Owen Tippett, Travis Konecny, Cam York, and Rasmus Ristolainen will eventually return, and these youngsters will find themselves back in Lehigh Valley. But the glimpse they’ve already given us is oddly comforting. I wish they would stay up here and general manager Daniel Briere could find suitable trade partners for some of the others, but I’m not sure that’s coming. But, it’s given us some fun hockey to watch the last three games, a complete 180 from the first nine. They actually might be better than we think. I don’t know if we’ll get to see it for a prolonged period of time just yet, though.
Nick Piccone has covered Philly sports and events for over 15 years with various outlets, including PhillyVoice.com and PhillyInfluencer.com. In 2015, he co-launched the Straight Shooters Podcast, focused on covering the professional wrestling industry. He was a producer at Fox Sports Radio Philadelphia and currently produces broadcast and social media content for the Villanova Sports Radio Network. He grew up in South Philadelphia and South Jersey, and is a graduate of Neumann University. Contact: picconenick@gmail.com