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Meltzer's Musings: 3/2/11

March 2, 2011, 11:54 AM ET [ Comments]
Bill Meltzer
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Over the last couple days, there have been a couple interesting and indirectly-related stories involving Mike Richards.

As detailed by Philadelphia Sports Daily's Stephen Whyno, the Flyers' captain went public with criticism of head coach Peter Laviolette for what Richards perceived as excessive line juggling on the power play.

Richards feels that the line switching has been detrimental to trying to re-establish special teams chemistry on a club that scored at better than a 20 percent clip in each of the three seasons preceding this one, but which has tumbled to 16.7 percent (tied for 22nd on the NHL) this season. Others, including Ville Leino, echoed similar sentiments when asked by Whyno.

Many people would say that Richards is making excuses and passing the buck to Laviolette and power play coach Joe Mullen for the failures of the players on the ice. To an extent, I'd agree. The power play has been a sore spot for the club all season, and the changes weren't some knee-jerk reaction to a two- or three-game slump.

Regardless of the personnel combinations, is ultimately up to the players to make it work. When a team has as much offensive talent as the Flyers, blaming the coaches for power play failure is pretty weak. That's especially true when Richards himself has simply not played very well on a consistent basis in the past couple months.

That being said, part of a team captain's job is to occasionally take some heat on himself and speak out if he feels strongly about an issue. If the locker room feels like Laviolette has not been sufficiently patient with the combinations and Richards himself has already discussed it with Laviolette and Mullen without feeling like Laviolette has listened to the players' concerns, it was entirely proper for the captain to deliver his message another way.

Coaches do the same thing -- deliver certain messages to the team through the media -- and it can be an effective tool if done selectively. I suspect that Laviolette doesn't mind Richards speaking out, so long as it helps produce positive on-ice results.

Today's Philadelphia Daily News has an article by Frank Seravalli on Richards' evolution and maturity as a team captain. I think his calculated comments this week about the power play are part of the process that's described in the article.

A couple years ago, I don't think Richards would have uttered a word in public about it, no matter how he felt. Even now, when there's something to be said through the press, it's usually Chris Pronger (who, unlike Richards, enjoys the verbal cat-and-mouse game with the media) who delivers the message. For Richards to say something, it has to be something that the players collectively feel.

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James van Riemsdyk (lower-body injury) and Dan Carcillo (flu) missed practice yesterday. Prior to the All-Star break, JVR missed a couple games with a groin pull. There has been no official word yet on the nature of this injury.

Chris Pronger (hand/wrist contusion) and Blair Betts (lacerated finger) continue to practice. Betts is likely to play against Toronto tomorrow. Pronger's status still remains to be seen.
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