'Ones' That Got Away Have Helped Dig Hole for Flyers
The late comedian Mitch Hedberg often quipped in his standup routine, "If I had a dollar for every time I said that, I'd be making money in a very weird way." In similar fashion, if the Philadelphia Flyers had one extra standings point for every time someone said after a game, "We left a point out there tonight," they'd have found quite an odd way to be in much better position to compete for a playoff spot.
In general, the Flyers have played solid hockey since the All-Star break. They are defending better. The goaltending has been good. They've gotten secondary scoring -- which they've needed because the top line has hit dry spell -- and they have been scoring first in games rather than have to play comeback hockey. The penalty killing has been much improved, too.
The team is 5-0-2 since the break. Any team would gladly take 12 of a possible 14 points. It is also no disgrace to take one point away from games against the Metro Division leading New York Islanders or a road point against the Montreal Canadiens.
Unfortunately, the Flyers put themselves into position in the first half of the season where they cannot afford to lose any points within their grasp. The recent games against the Islanders and Canadiens are symptomatic of a bigger picture issue that has helped dig the hole the team finds itself in with 28 games left to play.
The Flyers' six shootout losses and three overtime losses this season are tied with New Jersey for the eighth most one-point games in the NHL this season relative to the current number of games played. Among those nine one-point games, there have been three -- a shootout loss on Oct. 11 at home against Montreal, a New Year's Eve overtime loss in Colorado and Tuesday's overtime loss in Montreal -- where the Flyers were unable to protect a third-period lead and went on to settle for one point. The first one against the Habs was especially galling because the Flyers held a 3-0 lead heading int the third period.
There have also been a pair of multiple extra-round shootout losses -- Dec. 18 at home against Florida and last Thursday's home tilt with the Islanders -- where the Flyers had two or more chances to get a bonus point if someone would have scored a goal. Actually, in the Isles game, the Flyers had a win on their stick four times between a Sean Couturier breakaway in overtime and unsuccessful shootout attempts in rounds four, five and six.
Additionally, there have been two regulation losses -- Nov. 20 at home against Minnesota and Dec. 2 in San Jose -- where the Flyers were less than a minute away from securing at least one point only to yield a goal in the final minute of the third period and end up with zero points.
Finally, there was the first meeting with the Islanders this season where Steve Mason posted a shutout for 65 minutes on a night where the Flyers got outplayed for the majority of the game. All he needed was one measly goal of support and the team would have had itself an extra point instead of a shootout loss.
Right there, that is a minimum of eight points that were right there for the taking but slipped through the Flyers' grasp. The club is currently eight points behind lower wildcard seed Boston. I am not counting among "lost points" the games Flyers lost in regulation to teams lower in the NHL standings -- such as the club's two losses to New Jersey or their losses to Carolina and Arizona.
The same exercise can be done for any team. Any team can beat another on a given night, and all clubs periodically lose winnable games. That's not the point.
The point is that the Flyers cannot control what happens to other teams. They can only control their own games. That's why every team wants to avoid the position of needing outside help in the playoff chase; especially this time of year when three-point games tend to be abundant.
What separates the playoff contenders and playoff pretenders many seasons is how they fare in the games were they have two points in reach. How many times do they settle for one point rather than leaving with two? How many times do they have late third period breakdowns and end up with zero points instead of one or two?
Mathematically, all regulation losses are alike in the standings and all overtime/shootout losses count for one point. However, there is also a very real psychological component and an effect on morale. Some losses hurt -- and carry over in future games -- more than others. The winnable ones that get away late usually hurt the most; even more than the occasional blowout loss where nothing goes right all night.
Viewed strictly on their own merits, the Flyers shootout loss to the Islanders and overtime loss in Montreal were not a big deal. In the bigger picture of being games where the Flyers never trailed at any point of regulation and failed to step up to take a second point, the two post-All Star break points the team has thus far NOT claimed are emblematic of why the team has essentially no margin for error.
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FLYERS ALUMNI ON THE ICE AND IN THE COMMUNITY
Yesterday morning, I spoke by phone with Flyers Hall of Fame inductee Joe Watson. It was a routine call, updating the schedule of upcoming Flyers Alumni Team games for the
Flyers Alumni Association official website.
In the course of the conversation, Joe casually mentioned to me, "Since we started the Flyers Alumni Team in 1984, we have raised over $3 million -- actually closer to $3.5 million -- for charity and the community. Just our last six benefit games alone, from September (2014) through January, have raised $212,919."
Watson then gave me the breakdown of what each recent benefit game has raised. They have also helped out an impressively wide array of different causes.
For example, the Sept. 6, 2014 benefit for the families of cancer patients raised $145,891 with $13,000 of support going to each patient. Other causes benefited in recent months include the Montgomery County Hero Fund, the Jeff Burd Memorial Fund, National Meningitis Association, USA Wounded Warriors, Wings of Steel Sled Hockey, Woodbury Medical Plaza Gastrointestinal Associates (DiMarino-Kroop-Prieto) and the Center for Autism. The most recent event -- the third annual Center for Autism Winter Classic -- raised $28,428.
I thought that was extraordinary. Even though I've been doing work with the Flyers' Alumni website for the last four months and have gotten to know many Alumni players from the various eras of franchise history, I had no idea that they (and their event sponsors, of course) have raised that much money from the benefit games alone.
It's simply not in the nature of hockey people to brag. Playing the game is still fun for the Alumni guys but they also care deeply about their adopted community and think that giving something back to the community that supported their careers is the right thing to do.
It's not something they do for praise or publicity. That's an admirable trait but it also means the public is unaware -- even the fans of the Flyers -- of the great work the Alumni have been doing for 30+ years. After speaking with Joe yesterday and with others such Todd Fedoruk, Don Saleski and Brian Propp in recent months, their commitment to the beneficiaries of the Alumni activities is what shines through above all else.
There are basically two different aspects of the Flyers Alumni activities -- there are in-the-community activities such as the yearly holiday meal delivery, golf tourney and donations to charities as one segment of their work and then, separately, there the Alumni Team on-ice games -- but they have a joint purpose of firsthand community activism and/or charitable fundraising.
Two of the more diverse recent in-the-community events took place within the span of 24 hours. The common thread: Supporting the youth of the Delaware Valley.
On Feb. 9, Flyers Alumni stalwarts and Flyers Ambassadors Bob "the Hound" Kelly and Fedoruk conducted an open skate at the new Horizon Riverfront Rink in Wilmington.
The event was open to youth hockey players ages 12 and under and their families. During the evening, Hound and Fridge skated and provided instruction to the children on the ice. There were special ticket and autographed merchandise giveaways.
In conjunction with co-sponsor, AAA Mid-Atlantic, the Riverfront Rink event is part of the Flyers Love Our Fans Month, which gives a thank you to Flyers fans through various local and regional alumni appearances and community events.
This and similar events were created to give local youth hockey players an opportunity to learn the game, as well as thanking local parents for their sacrifice in supporting their children’s love of the game. This season, AAA Mid-Atlantic has been asking local hockey parents to share their stories through its Twitter-based
#ShareYourJourney campaign.
On Feb. 10, Fedoruk and Kelly paid a special visit to students at Roosevelt Middle School in Philadelphia as part of the Flyers Alumni's cooperation with the
Future Goals initiative co-founded by the National Hockey League and the NHL Players' Association.
The Future Goals program is designed to teach students STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) skills. The aim of the Future Goals program is to help spark student interest in STEM topics and assist them in becoming college-ready, career-ready, and life-ready young men and women.
In the meantime, the Flyers Alumni team has added numerous upcoming games to its slate of benefits for a variety of worthwhile charitable, community-based and educational causes.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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