It’s been a very long time since I watched a Flyers game and thought they played within their system for an entire 60 minutes.  It seems like for most of this season and even the season prior, the Flyers had a very difficult time putting together three solid periods of hockey.
If tonight’s game against the Rangers is any type of barometer of what’s in store, the Flyers could pose a serious threat in the postseason.  If the Flyers sneak in as one of lower seeds, you can bet they will be the sleeper pick of many hockey analysts league-wide.
During John Stevens’ tenure as head coach of the Flyers, every game with a one- or two-goal lead entering the third period was a wild adventure.  It seemed like anything that could go wrong, would go wrong.  The Flyers inability to play with a lead plagued this team game in and game out.  It appears those dark days have passed and it can only be attributed to their new style of play.
The Flyers of old were passive and reactive.  When they had a lead they played on their heels and allowed teams to enter their zone at will.  They took very little risks and as a result, they reaped little to no benefit for their actions.  Under Laviolette, the team is built to pressure the puck and force turnovers by making their opponent predictable.  This high-pressure system and the players buying into it have the Flyers playing dangerous hockey.
I ca not sing enough praise to the current scheme in place.  I can’t remember ever seeing the Flyers’ defense pinch in to keep a puck in the offensive zone with just 6 minutes remaining and a 2-0 lead. And yet, tonight I witnessed this first hand when Braydon Coburn pinched to keep the Rangers pinned in their own end.  Just a month ago, that same situation would have resulted in the Ranger player being able to turn along the wall and gain the neutral zone with speed to rush up ice.
I was able to catch the postgame interview with Rangers’ coach, John Tortorella and his comments regarding the Flyers ability to shutdown a Rangers offense that scored 14 combined goals their previous two games was right on the money.  He said, “I thought they [Flyers] did a really good job in the neutral-zone, they play a lock style, they defended the redline well, you have to give them credit because they were disciplined there.”
The fact that a coach from an opposing team is using a word like “discipline” to describe the Flyers shows that this team has taken a step in a new direction.  In a preseason post that I wrote, I said that if the Flyers expected to be a successful team, they needed to be held more accountable and needed to play with discipline.  With Laviolette at the realm this seems to be coming to fruition.   The Flyers are clearly a different team now and are finally, after three years of inconsistency, a team with a lunch pail identity.  I am still worried about the team being able to keep pace when the injuries start to add up again but that’s for another post.
By the way, if you have some free time on your hands, I advise you to youtube ‚ÄúJohn Tortorella‚Äù. ¬†This guy gives the best interviews out there. ¬†Even after last night’s game he got into a confrontation with NY Post reporter Larry Brooks. ¬†As you will see, these two have been going at one another for a very long time.
