Well, this isn’t how the Philadelphia Flyers‘ season was supposed to start.
A slow-ish start likely would have been taken in stride by both fans and observers of the team. But this? A 7-0 non-competitive drubbing in the home opener by the team’s biggest rival, and then a 3-2 OT defeat that would have been another blowout had Joseph Woll not stood on his head in his Flyers debut? Yeah, that’s going to rightfully worry people.
It’s not that the Flyers lost their first two games. It’s how they lost their first two games. They’ve looked out of sync and totally unprepared for the start of the season — a season that stood as an opportunity to solidify their status as a consistent playoff team.
So what explains the horrid start? Let’s explore ten theories, from hyper-pessimistic to overly-hopeful, from serious to whimsical.
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12 Comments (11 conversations)
Mike
Well done. Great final line!
fiat500
it’s the glasses chuck
emoney5823
Just hoping after tonight the forwards of the team will have combined to score more goals than shesterkin on the season
Donald Pigeon
100!
Marc
Thorough!
I lean towards 5 and 6.
I think the slowness of the Flyers centers is also being exploited. Need more back-pressure to force dumps and give D more time on their retrievals to make a clean first pass.
Donald Pigeon
Hell, the Avalanche lost 7-3 at home to the Flyers themselves last year!
Matt O'Brien
I thought you were off today?
Bob MCH
Make it 0 and 3 now, after the Hurricane game. Is it too soon to discuss if there is a 1-C in the top five of the next draft? Do they have the Toronto first rounder in 2027, or is it coming in 2028? Be nice to get two of the top five picks in this next draft. Drafting in spots 12 to 23 just isn’t getting it done. Nice to see MM get on the board. Does Martone need some AHL time?
Marc
@Charlie What did Couturier do for summer Captain’s Practices/scrimmages? It just looks like the Pens (Crosby) are playing with serious pace from the start. Devils and Canes, too.
Jason
Thoroughly enjoyed this article and the format. Very nicely done.
David LaVeck
Great list of theories, #10 is definitely the right choice and those glasses aren’t helping as they are distracting the players on the bench. 😉 I will add another simple one: the players became too comfortable, this applies to players such as Zegras and Drysdale as they received new contracts, albeit justified, but it has made them and others around them complacent. Not many took the same approach the Michkov has coming into the season and it shows. He seems a step ahead of others on the team except for maybe TK who seems like a good line mate for Matvei, at least for now. The rest of the forwards seem a step too slow. On defense, Sanheim seems like the only one who came in ready. The pairing of York and Drysdale does not seem to be working.
ifollowcharlieo
Correlation doesn’t prove causation, but we can’t ignore the possibility that the glasses are part of the problem. More data needed.