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MUSINGS: ON GIROUX, HART TROPHY, AND COMMENTS ON BOOING
A Hart Trophy finalist during the 2013-14 season, Flyers captain Claude Giroux had the statistically best and most consistent campaign of his NHL career in 2017-18.
He set new career highs in goals (34), assists (68), points (102) and plus-minus (+28) and never went more than two straight games without a point. Giroux played the most disciplined hockey of his career, and took only 10 minor penalties for the entire season while dressing in every game.
In terms of clutch performance, Giroux merely carried his team on his back down the stretch, especially in the final push that secured a 98-point season and third place in the Metro Division for a Flyers team that only had 88 points last season and missed the playoffs. Giroux was one of the NHL's most dominant faceoff men, winning a robust 58.6 percent of his draws.
In terms of leadership, despite his longtime star status in the NHL, Giroux showed not even a drop of ego or reluctance when he was asked to switch from center to left wing. He embraced the idea from day one.
Even more important, the team went through a major trial by fire where the leadership group was severely tested. When the team was mired in a 10-game winless streak and the team had been written off and eviscerated by much of the media and a very vocal segment of the fan base, the positive-focused Giroux was a vital force in keeping the Flyers' locker room united and close-knit. There were plenty of shares of the credit to go around for how the Flyers put together the NHL's fourth-best record after Dec. 3, but it started with Giroux and goaltender Brian Elliott never pointing fingers and simply plowing forward. Others fell in step.
Plain and simple, the guy with the C on his chest had not been such a galvanizing force to keep everyone on the same page, the rest of season may have gone even further off the rails rather than snapping back on track. When the Flyers later encountered a brutally tough stretch of seven games in early March with both Elliott and Neuvirth injured -- and trade acquisition Petr Mrazek performing very inconsistently with only rookie Alex Lyon as an alternative option -- Giroux once again stepped up to make sure everyone stayed focused even after a string of losses. He led by example and elevated his game even higher to pull the team through a scare and clinch a playoff spot in their final game of the season.
None of this was good enough, apparently, to merit a top 3 spot in the Hart Trophy balloting this season. The award will go to one of Taylor Hall (New Jersey Devils), Nathan MacKinnon (Colorado Avalanche) or Anze Kopitar (LA Kings); all of whose respective candidacies were based on a similar premise to Giroux's in that their clubs would almost certainly have not made the playoffs if not for their excellence. All are deserving and it's a matter of splitting hairs in perception, but in my opinion, Giroux deserved at least a top three slot. I believe he should have edged out Kopitar, at least.
The Professional Hockey Writers' Association votes for the Hart Trophy among other NHL Awards (the Calder, Norris, Selke and Masterton among them but not the Vezina). In recent years, the voting process was changed to reduce "geographical bias" that stemmed from a heavier concentration of members covering teams based in the East. Now there are mechanisms whereby not all members directly vote (although they have a voice within their chapter). For the first time, this year will be the first time when the identity of voters and whom they selected will be publicly released after the NHL Awards are presented.
Full disclosure: Because of my ongoing working relationship with the Flyers, I had to relinquish my PHWA membership this season. I was still a member last season while working for the Flyers primarily in 50th Anniversary coverage plus prospect reports. This year, the bulk of my work related to the current team plus a similar portion devoted to prospect coverage.
Giroux's disappointing playoff performance against Pittsburgh did not weigh in the balloting, as the deadline for award voting was before the start of the playoffs. It is worth noting, though, that while Giroux had just three points (one goal, two assists) in six games, Kopitar had two points (one goal, one assist) as his team got swept. Hall and MacKinnon had stronger first-round series than Giroux. None of their respective teams made it to the second round of the playoffs.
Lastly, I want to address Giroux's comments during "Exit Day." What happened was that Giroux was asked a leading question during his media availability. He was asked a very specific question with a premise of whether the team sometimes tries to do too much to please the home crowd when it starts booing. Any player in any market -- but especially a high-pressure one like Philadelphia -- who answers such a specific question honestly would answer in the affirmative.
Unfortunately, removed of its context, the quote is being spun as if Giroux (and, to a lesser extent, Sean Couturier) were whining that the fans at the Wells Fargo Center boo too much and it affects the players. Perhaps Giroux should have prefaced his response the same way that Couturier did, by saying that much of the booing came in games where it was deserved, but he has just that in the past when asked about fan response during a particular game.
Couturier is taking less heat largely because of his outstanding efforts in Game 5 and 6 of the series while playing on a torn MCL but also because he started out his response to the same question with the caveat that he felt the booing was situational and mostly deserved. Then he said the screams of "shoot!" on power plays get frustrating at times, which is actually a pet peeve of players everywhere and the subject of a very funny video by Andrew Ference.
Giroux and other Flyers players who came up small in the Pittsburgh series -- Jakub Voracek, Shayne Gostisbehere and the far-less-than-healthy Wayne Simmonds and Elliott among them -- all manned up after the series and were bluntly honest about their dissatisfaction with their own play during the series. So was Ivan Provorov about the third period of Game 6, despite the fact that he was playing with one arm due to a grade-3 shoulder separation and a loss of feeling in his left arm that rendered him unable to pass, handle or shoot the puck.
No one shirked their share of the blame, and no one tried to pin on the fans. That's the reality.
Player after player, including Giroux, knew where the blame lay for the team's 0-3 home playoff record and five-point downturn at home during the regular season, it wasn't in the stands. I thought Giroux and company made that clear, but apparently not.
Anyone who believes that Giroux was saying "the fans made us play poorly at home against Pittsburgh" (or any other time it happened) is either a) unaware of the context of his comment, b) still caught up in the visceral disappointment of losing the series in ugly fashion and now suddenly down on Giroux after chanting " M-V-P! M-V-P!" at him in the final two games of the season, or c) able to dish out criticism freely about someone being thin-skinned but yet completely unable to process even his mildly worded agreement with the premise that Philadelphia fans (actually, fans everywhere, but particularly on the east coast and in the Canadian NHL markets) are quick to turn on their team and that players sometimes try a little too hard to please the crowd and get them back on their side.
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PHANTOMS POUND PROVIDENCE, 4-1
The Lehigh Valley Phantoms won a pivotal "swing game" in their best-of-five first round playoff series with the Providence Bruins, skating off with an impressive 4-1 win in Game 3 on Friday night as the rest of the series shifted to the PPL Center in Allentown. The Phantoms took a two games to one lead in the series and will have a chance to close out the series with a win tonight. If necessary, Game 5 will be on Monday.
The Phantoms had been lucky to earn a split in the two games in Providence, as they had slow starts to both games and never got in rhythm in losing Game 2. In Game 3, the Phantoms were firing on all cylinders. The additions of Oskar Lindblom and Travis Sanheim, reassigned back to the Phantoms for the duration of the Calder Cup playoffs, pushed the team to another level.
Lindblom led the way offensively for the Phantoms in Game 3, notching shorthanded and power play goals. The Phantoms also got goals from rookie defenseman Philippe Myers and center Mike Vecchione. Sanheim assisted on Lindblom's power play goal and used his speed and puck moving ability very effectively while playing a solid two-way game. Sanheim also nearly scored a goal as he joined a play offensively, flying past defenders on the pinch before they recognized he was coming, and came within a whisker of re-directing a pass into the net.
After Alex Lyon got the start in Games 1 and 2 of the series, Phantoms coach Scott Gordon tabbed veteran Dustin Tokarski to start Game 3. He responded with 32 saves on 33 shots, including 16 saves in a third period that saw the Phantoms have to kill off two penalties and stave off a 6-on-5 push late in regulation. The only puck that got past Tokarski was a power play deflection goal by Austin Czarnik in the middle stages of the second period.
The Phantoms dominated the first period and easily could have gone off to the first intermission leading by a 4-0 or even 5-0 count instead of a two-goal edge. Jordan Binnington, who made 17 saves in the first period, was the main reason the game stayed within reach for Providence.
At 6:05 of the first period, the fleet-footed Myers took a drop pass from Vecchione, and from the mid-slot, the righthanded shooting defenseman rifled home a shot for a 1-0 lead. Danick Martel got the secondary assist.
Binnington kept the deficit to a single goal, denying numerous quality scoring chances, until the 12:50 mark. With Tyrell Goulbourne in the penalty box for roughing (the only penalty called from a mutually aggressive scrum), the Phantoms broke out on a shorthanded counterattack led by Cole Bardreau. The Providence goalie stopped Bardreau's initial wrist shot from the right circle but, as Lindblom arrived, the puck rebounded off his skate and then he got a piece of it with his stick to put the puck in the net. The goal was reviewed for a potential kicking motion and no subsequent stick contact but stood as a legal goal.
First period shots were 19-6 in the Phantoms' favor. Tokarski continued to see little rubber fired his way through the first half of a scoreless middle frame but started to get very busy as the feistiness level of the game was dialed way up and Providence finally started to generate some push back in what had been a lopsided contest.
In the meantime, the Phantoms converted an early second period power play to temporarily build a three-goal lead. At the 2:06 mark, Lindblom tallied a power play goal as, from point blank range, he potted a feathery touch pass from Sanheim.
The secondary assist on the goal went to Phil Varone. It was the 2017-18 Les Cunningham Award (AHL Most Valuable Player) winner's second point of the series. Later, Varone had to leave Game 3 with an apparent upper-body injury.
Czarnik got the Bruins deficit back to two goals on the power play at 13:42 with T.J. Brennan in the box for taking an extra roughing minor from a scrum with Providence's Adam Payerl.
The Phantoms played with fire by twice taking too many men on the ice penalties -- first in the latter portion of the second period and then again about seven minutes into the third period -- but Tokarski and the penalty kill stepped to keep the Phantoms ahead, 3-1.
As the third period progressed, the nastiness intensified on both sides. The Bruins also generated 16 of their 33 shots on goal for the game and grew frustrated when they drew no closer on the scoreboard.
At 15:16 of the third period, the Phantoms restored a three-goal lead to make it 4-1. Chris Conner fired from the right side. Binnington got to it but Vecchione put the loose puck over the goal line before teammate Max Lamarche made certain it was a goal by tapping it into the back of the net. The goal was credited to Vecchione, for his second tally of the series, with Conner getting the lone assist.
Tokarski took it the rest of the way, nailing down the 4-1 victory despite a late push by Providence with Binnington pulled for an extra attacker. The were numerous "calling cards" left for Game 3 over the latter part of the game as the built-up hostilities boiled over, albeit not in any full-blown fights.
Game 4 is on Saturday night at the PPL Center at 7:05 p.m. EDT. Lyon is expected to back in goal for the Phantoms. Varone's status is unknown. If Providence forces a Game 5, it will be played on Monday.
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CHL PLAYOFF UPDATES
* OHL; The Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds took a three games to two lead in their Western Conference Final series with the Kitchener Rangers by virtue of a 7-3 home win in Game 5 of the series. The series returns to Kitchener on Sunday for Game Six. If necessary, Game 7 would be in Sault Ste. Marie on Monday. The home team has won every game in the series to date.
For the third straight game in the series, Flyers 2017 first-round pick Morgan Frost did not record a point after he'd posted at least one point in 12 of the Greyhounds first 13 playoffs games (every game of a first-round sweep, six of seven games in the second round and the first two games of the current series).
The slightly-built center, who has played more minutes across every game situation than he ever has before in his career, was remarkably consistent all season not just in his point production but in his attention to detail and overall game. As the the playoffs have progressed, however, he seems to wearing down with each successive round. It's not just the mini-slump in terms of points.
Even in the Owen Sound series, Frost's energy looked to be down at times and there were things creeping into his game that weren't there all season -- a significant increase in turnovers, being a tad late in back pressure and forechecking battles, starting to finally fall on wrong side of the fine pacing line between his usual surgical game vs. playing a little too slow, and not being nearly as elusive in his stickhandling. Battles he won time and time again all season are being lost now and passes that were threaded right on the tape are a hair off the mark.
Some of it perhaps is because checking gets tighter and tighter in the playoffs. Mostly, though, these are all classic warning signs of a player who is wearing down in the postseason from all of his accumulated minutes.
Still not quite 19 years old (he turns 19 on May 14), Frost's game is mature and very highly skilled across the board with top-end hockey sense. None of his very recent playoff struggles put a damper on what has been a consistently excellent season or speak ill of his long-term future in the NHL, which could be very bright. However, he is still physically immature, which is the number one reason why his pro hockey ETA is more likely for 2019-20 than for 2018-19.
Of course, this does not mean that Frost cannot get a second wind and get back on his game over the remainder of the playoffs. In the second period of Game 2 against Kitchener, he looked like himself in a dominant collection of shifts. In Game 5, he had a better performance overall than he did in Game 4, when the Greyhounds were collectively awful and Frost had a very rough night individually.
Fortunately for the Greyhounds, other players have picked up the slack while Frost is trying to work his way out of his first slump since very early in the season. Tampa Bay Lightning prospect Boris Katchouk has been dominant in the series and other players such Jack Kopacka (hat trick in Game 5), Tim Gettinger and likely 2018 NHL Draft first-round candidate Barrett Hayton were all quite effective in Friday's tilt.
Kitchener captain Connor Bunnaman, who had an early Game 1 power play goal and two points overall in the series, had one shot on goal and won four of eight faceoffs in Game 5.
The winner of this series will face off against the Eastern Conference champion Hamilton Bulldogs (featuring Flyers prospect Matthew Strome) in the OHL Championship round. The Bulldogs have been outstanding throughout the playoffs while the league-leading Greyhounds (who blasted through the regular season with a 55-7-6 record and never scored fewer than two goals in any game) have been very inconsistent.
* WHL: Leading three games to one with a chance to clinch, Carter Hart's Everett Silvertips return home on Saturday for Game 5 of their Western Conference Final series with the Tri-City Americans. Game time is 10:05 p.m. EDT. Through 14 games to date, Hart is 11-3 with a 2.16 GAA, .934 save percentage, two shutouts plus 30 saves in a combined shutout where he briefly had to leave mid-game due to illness but returned to finish the game.
The winner of the series will take on the winner of the Swift Current vs. Lethbridge series, which is tied at two games apiece with Game 5 in Swift Current on Saturday.
* QMJHL: Coming off a semifinal sweep of the Victoriaville Tigres, German Rubtsov and the Acadie-Bathurst Titan await the winner of the Blaineville-Boisbriand Armada vs. Charlottetown Islanders semifinal series. The Armada took a three games to two lead in the series with a 3-2 win on Friday. Game Six is in Charlottetown on Sunday. Game 7, if necessary, will be in Blaineville-Boisbriand on Tuesday.
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NHL DRAFT LOTTERY DAY
The Flyers will find out in Saturday's NHL Draft Lottery whether they will have two picks or one in the first round of the 2018 NHL Draft. It boils down to this: If the St. Louis Blues win the lottery for the first, second or third overall pick, they will no doubt elect to keep the selection and defer the remaining compensation for the Brayden Schenn trade. In that case, the Flyers will obtain the Blues' first-round pick in 2019 (no lottery protection, even if it is the first pick) and will also get the Blues' third-round pick in 2020.
That scenario is rather unlikely, but then again, the Flyers had slim odds of moving up last year and jumped from the default 13th overall spot to second overall due to good luck in the lottery. The overwhelming odds are that the Blues' pick stays at 14th overall with a very slim possibility of dropping one spot to 15th.
As such, chances are the Flyers will obtain the 14th pick to complete the Schenn trade (St. Louis only gets the deferral option if they win the lottery for picks 1, 2, or 3). Philly will then have the 14th and 19th picks of the first round.
During his Exit Day interview, Flyers general manager Ron Hextall did not rule out the idea of trying to package the 14th and 19th picks (and possibly something else if it would get the Flyers near the top of the draft) to move up multiple spots. However, he said the draft is deep enough that he is also enticed by the idea of adding more high-quality prospects to an already very deep development system.
The 2018 Draft is really not a star-studded draft in terms of projected superstars who are either NHL-ready now or will be in a year. Shoo-in first overall pick Rasmus Dahlin is a projected franchise defenseman in the longer term with rapid NHL readiness in the short term. The likes of right winger Andrei Svechnkov, left winger Filip Zadina and center/winger Brady Tkachuk are considered players with first-line upside within a few years of the draft. Noah Dobson is a highly regarded righthanded-shooting defenseman with a lot of upside if he develops his all-around game as expected over the next few years.
From there, there are plenty of prospects with considerable long-range upside but who may take a few years to arrive in the NHL and a few years beyond that to really start to emerge at the top level.
Morgan Frost's Greyhounds teammate, Barrett Hayton, is a high-quality two-way center with all-situations pro upside who needs only to fill out a bit more to add some more power to his skating. If the Flyers stay at the 14th overall pick and Hayton is still there -- two big ifs, especially the latter, because many scouts see him as a potential top-10 pick and possibly the first true center off the board -- he could be a very attractive "best player available" type of selection even though the Flyers already have Frost and Rubtsov (who played right wing most of this season) in development, the 19-year-old Nolan Patrick in the NHL and Sean Couturier in is prime. Hayton is a heady and mature kid, who was also the OHL's Academic Player of Year in addition to earning high praise for his hockey sense and overall game.
USA National Team Development Program left winger Joel Farabee has some size question marks but his hands are among the silkiest in the draft. He works hard but will need to fill out and could spend a couple collegiate seasons at Boston Unversity before he is ready.
Keep in mind that Philly always goes the best available player route in round one. That won't change. They tend to prefer centers to wingers, and may shift a junior center to a wing as he turns pro such as Travis Konecny or Simon Gagne, but if there's a clear cut superior winger as best available player, they'd go that route.
It is extremely hard to predict how the draft will play out down to the 14th spot or to say how the Flyers have certain players rated -- that info is kept very tightly guarded, and is no longer even hinted at beyond the innermost circle. I have no idea where the Flyers will have anyone ranked beyond the virtual given that Dahlin will be every organization's number one on the board this year.
Also of note: there are a couple of highly skilled Finns projected to go in the first round this season. Although it's been quite a while since the Flyers selected a Finnish player in the draft, that has been a matter of circumstance rather than design. The organization was believed to be impressed with Teuvo Teräväinen in 2012 and Rasmus Ristolainen in 2013 but both were off the board by the time Philly's pick came up, and there were other prospects the Flyers liked those years, including the guys they selected (Scott Laughton in 2012 and Samuel Morin in 2013). So it would be foolish to say, "The Flyers never draft from Finland anymore, so you can cross Rasmus Kupari (Kärpät Oulu center) and Jesperi Kotkaniemi (Ässät Pori center) off the list."
Again, I have no idea where the Flyers will have either of those guys ranked, or any other players on their radar. Talent profile wise, Kotkaniemi may be the more balanced overall talent and has good size while Kupari is a highly skilled little waterbug type of forward who just turned 18 and is already a scoring threat in Finland's top pro circuit, Liiga (albeit not as good of a league as it was about 10-15 years ago).
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