The report from Tim McManus yesterday that defenseman Erik Gustafsson had been recalled from the Adirondack Phantoms was made official this afternoon. In the last hour, the Flyers released the explanation why- Kimmo Timonen and Andrej Meszaros will be out of the line-up “indefinitely” with lower body injuries.
It was believed for awhile that Timonen was playing hurt, so sitting him to rest for the playoffs was a concept that had been floating around, but losing Meszaros puts a more immediate strain on the blue line if the team has to rely on a rookie and a veteran who played just three games in the last month for the foreseeable future.
The pairing of Matt Carle and Braydon Coburn will likely continue while Pavel Kubina will remain paired with Nicklas Grossman. Gustafsson and Lilja will make up the fifth and sixth defensemen.
Holmgren’s trades look particularly smart in the light of these injuries. Had Homer balked at losing draft picks, the Flyers would have to rely on Marc-Andre Bourdon in a top-four position (although he’s out with an upper body injury of his own) and one of rookies Blake Kessel or Oliver Lauridsen as the sixth defenseman.
The Flyers have responded well this season in light of injuries. The December 15 win against the Montreal Canadiens after losing Claude Giroux (and Chris Pronger, to an extent) comes to mind as a good example of how the character of this team has handled the roster changes well.
Hopefully they can make up for the drop in experience and talent with conservative play and sixty minutes of effort.
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Every year, it seems to be the same thing with this organization. The are always injury plagued. I’m starting to think Snyder pi$$ed someone upstairs off. Two things will never change with this team, & you can bank on it, they will be injury plagued every year, & the goalies will be horrid! The track record isn’t a figment of my imagination. It’s ashame that we will be one & done this year, because it started out so promising, despite the rebuild in the beginning of the year.
I try to imagine Lilja and Gus as the second defense pairing and a tear slowly rolls down one cheek…
The Flyers are #11 in NHL in man-hours lost to injury with Pens and Habs at top. The Flyers forwards are #3 youngest in league in weighted average (takes into account games played); would be lower except for 40-y-o Jagr. Only 3 of the 10 youngest teams (forwards) are even in the playoff picture right now, and the Flyers are the youngest of those 3.
Why one would ever think the Flyers would end up in top 3 in eastern conference is pretty ridiculous, considering their “top” goalie has perhaps worst save%, and after losing one of best D-men in entire league in Pronger… very similar to few years ago when Hatcher was so hurt he could barely play. It’s no brainer why Detroit and Pens are doing well because they also have the oldest team average in age… experience! Detroit has for years played with older players; Scotty Bowman with Detroit and Canadians always preferred experienced players (and excellent skaters) and brought up young guys after honing their skills in minors.
I picked the Flyboys to finish in bottom half come playoff time as they have so many rooks/youth playing. The really young ones haven’t developed their bodies for the grueling end of season/playoffs. Homer has to be patient with these young guys and Lavi has to keep teaching fundamentals and his system until the kids know it in their sleep. Hopefully Bryz’s shutout in D.C. is sign that he’s finally getting used to the eastern style and might even get hot right at playoff time. By then hopefully Grossman and Kubina will have also adapted to help the team defense out… they are big guys!
I can’t figure Flyers either : always injured…Can’t figure Laviollete either: he gives ‘too much love, won’t drop hammer…Very curious.
It’s called a lack of heart, This Ownership & GM for way too long continue to coddle it’s players as if they are 18 Years old… This Team lacks leadership on the Ice and in the Locker Room and has a few Seasons now… Coach Lav has to share in the balme here too and he continues to get a free pass in my opinion…
I don’t know how much frustration to feel over this team. The Islanders made a decision a few years ago to go solely with youth. It’s worked out very poorly, but I could understand the logic behind the pursuit.
The Flyers, consciously or not, have made a huge youth push when unloading the locker room trash (Carter and Richards) for very young players. They’ve also relied upon some other youngsters this season – from drafts. But unlike the Islanders who just can’t get it together, the Flyers look like they have tremendous promise and chemistry into the future.
I guess the Flyers have great balance right now. The weakest link that I see (other than the goalies being mental patients) is the coach. His track record doesn’t bode well for long-term success and his scheme is exploited by teams like the Rangers but he doesn’t seem to adjust (where in Philly sports have we seen that problem?).