2010 NHL Predictions: Philadelphia Flyers
Written by Anthony Moretti - Google +
Recently it seems the secret to winning the Stanley Cup is getting close enough to taste it. Then using the experience of getting oh so close as motivation to get back and win it. Both Chicago and Pittsburgh came just short of winning the Stanley Cup, before their eventual victories.
Can Philly be next? Their run to the Stanley Cup last season re-energized hockey in Philadelphia, bringing a ton of new fans and old ones back to the rink. Not unlike Chicago this transition from a very bad team to cup contender fill seats in their arena likely giving Philly one of the best home ice advantages in hockey this season. It is no secret Philadelphia is a tough place to play and if last season tells us anything the teams with great attendance like Chicago and Washington (#1 and #2 last season) were both monsters on home ice.
Plus Philadelphia quietly had a great off-season they acquired Andrej Mezaros, Sean O’Donnell and Nickolai Zheredev to a team that already good depth. Brought back both goaltenders that were instrumental in their playoff run Brian Boucher and Michael Leighton. Bringing both back was key, as there are only a very small handful of goalies ever who have won the cup starting over 65 games. Looking at the last 5 goalies who have won the Stanley Cup none have played more than 62 games.
I even like the release of Simone Gagne it is no question he was an emotional leader during the run to the Stanley Cup, but Simone has played an average of just 54 games over the last 3 seasons he did score a lot of goals in the playoffs but most were of the garbage variety. By comparison Danny Briere has played an average of 61 games over the last three seasons but did not miss time in the playoffs scored more than Simone and he made things happen anytime he touched the puck, on the rush in the zone he was flat out dominant. The decision facing Philly was which injury prone winger has the most upside? They could not afford to keep both, Briere has more left and is simply the more dynamic player when healthy.
Looking at the Odds
The Flyers are listed by Bodog as 14 to 1 odds of winning the Stanley Cup.
In the end I like the Flyers overall picture they have a good mix of experience and depth and playoff grit few teams can match. They have proven to play well even when down so if they go down 2-0 again they are not going to panic plus they will bring one of the most rested goaltenders into the post-season. In the East Pittsburgh and Washington have to be considered front runners but Philadelphia is not far behind at all but offer much longer odds so if your looking for futures value don’t look past the Philadelphia Flyers.
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