2014-15 Philadelphia Flyers Primer

The Flyers 2014-15 season starts tomorrow in Boston against the Bruins.  Here are some random thoughts and facts to get your ready for the season, as if you weren’t already!

–Berube is much better than I expected.  I’ll eat crow on that.

-The misogynist within all of us can relax because the Ice Girls are back.

-The Flyers still have a miserable goal song by Fallout Boy.

-Vegas has the Flyers Over/Under win total set at 38.5.

-Couldn’t be more stoked about the season with Holmgren and Hartnell out of the picture.  Hartnell had the one good year and hundreds of dumb penalties.  Holmgren was stuck in the NHL of the 70’s.  Ron Hextall as GM should have the vision to get the Flyers back to the top of the NHL as long as Mr. Burns, I mean Ed Snider, doesn’t dictate team style and philosophy.  We’ve been asking for a Hexy as GM since March of 2013!

-The Flyers gave up the 10th most 5-on-5 goals in the league last year.  That was the most of any team to make the playoffs.  Losing Kimmo Timonen only exacerbates this stat. The Playoffs could be hard to reach if this number doesn’t improve.

–Coburn was frustrating to watch at the end of last year.  Are the rumors of the Flyers trying to move Coburn ($4.5M), Grossman ($3.5M) or Schenn ($3.6M) to free up some salary and open up a spot for a young defenseman true?

-The Flyers ranked 8th in total goals last year with 233.  As players develop, that number should increase this year.

-The Flyers power play was solid.  They were average at even strength ranking 15th, but had the 3rd most 5-on-4 goals.

–ESPN NHL Power Rankings has the Flyers 22nd.

-Is Vinny Lecavalier cooked? The Lightning fans thought so when he left town.  They labeled him as “fat off the contract,” “taking plays off,” “lazy.”  Those labels looked true for most of last year.

-Metropolitan looks to be the weakest division in the NHL.

–Voracek is due for a breakout season.  He is gonna have 75 points this year!

–Andrew MacDonald has to step up and help replace Timonen.

-Expect a lot more goalie interference calls this year.  The refs aren’t focusing on the puck crossing the line this year.  That’s what cameras are for.  Instead, they are looking to protect the goalie much like the NFL protects quarterbacks because of an increase in goalie injuries, including the concussions to Smith, Mason, Luongo.

-Below are the odds to win the Hart Trophy according to bodog sports:

-The Hockey News predict the Flyers to finish 5th in the Metropolitan behind Pittsburgh, Columbus, Rangers, Capitals.

-Vegas has the Flyers with the 15th best odds to win the Stanley Cup at +2500. The Blackhawks have the best odds at +550 to 1 followed by the Bruins at +650.

Enjoy the season. GO FLYERS!