MELTZER'S MUSINGS: JANUARY 15, 2016
1) Standing at the mathematical midpoint of their 2015-16 regular season schedule, the Philadelphia Flyers (19-15-7) have set up an interesting second half for themselves in a tightly packed Eastern Conference playoff race. The team has gone 14-7-4 over its last 25 games and it will probably take a similar pace in the vicinity of a .640 points percentage to overtake clubs ahead of them and assure themselves of a playoff spot.
First the good news: As of the end of last night's NHL games, the Flyers are just two points behind the Boston Bruins for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. They are three points behind the Tampa Bay Lightning for the higher wildcard seed. Philly is within six points of the New York Rangers (who lost in regulation to the Islanders on Thursday night) for the guaranteed playoff spot that comes with finishing third in the Metropolitan Division.
Another hopeful sign is that the Flyers have games in hand over all of the teams they are chasing in the standings. Compared to Philly's 41 games played to date, the New York Islanders (eight points ahead) have played 44 games. The Rangers and Tampa have played 43 games. Boston has played 42. Carolina and New Jersey have each played 45 and are currently each two points ahead of the Flyers. Pittsburgh (42 games played) and Ottawa (44 games) are each one point in front of Philadelphia.
Now the bad news: As indicated above, the Flyers have a lot of teams to jump over to land a playoff spot. That's tough to do, and Philly used up any semblance of a safety net by virtue of its 5-8-3 start to the season and 0-3-0 California road trip after the Christmas break. Even after the aforementioned stretch of 32 points in the last 25 games, the Flyers still find themselves in seventh place in the Metropolitan Division and 13th place in the Eastern Conference.
2) Flyers head coach Dave Hakstol was absolutely right when he said after Tuesday's practice that pretty much every game at this point is "the most important game of the season" because of the effect it will have on the team's position in the standings.
The Flyers have had a "relaxed" schedule -- not in terms of quality of opposition, but in terms of rest and preparation time -- thus far in January. Things are about to get very busy with a three-in-four guantlet of hosting the Rangers on Saturday afternoon, going on the road and playing in Detroit on Sunday evening and then hosting the Toronto Maple Leafs (a potential "trap game" scenario) on Tuesday.
Philly is 11-5-4 on home ice this season but just 8-10-3 on the road; a similar situation to last year when the Flyers were a 53-point team at home but just a 31-point club on the road. The pre-All Star break schedule will conclude with three of the last four games being played on the road (in Pittsburgh on Jan. 21, in Brooklyn two nights later, at home to conclude the season series with Boston on Jan. 25 and in Washington against the NHL-leading Capitals on Jan. 27).
While it is one of the sports world's biggest clichés to say the team is taking things one game at a time, that truly has to be the Flyers' mentality as they try to continue their winning ways.
3) Barring any setbacks at practice on Friday, the chances look good for Shayne Gostisbehere to be ready to play on Saturday afternoon against the Rangers. Although he has generally played well of late, Brandon Manning seems to be the lead candidate to be a healthy scratch as the seventh defenseman.
4) In the meantime, forward Jordan Weal will have to continue to wait his turn to make his Flyers debut. It is not going to happen while the team is riding a winning streak. It's probably going to take a loss or an injury in the forward corps. While R.J. Umberger is the consensus pick to sit in favor of Weal, Umberger has actually played pretty well as of late (and his ice times have correspondingly been in double-digits the last two games) even though the former five-time 20-goal scorer is no longer a threat to put the puck in the net.
5) Most of the Flyers players who participated in the World Junior Championships returned to their teams last week and have since played a few games. The Western Hockey League's Calgary Hitmen elected to give forward Radel Fazleev (Russia) and defenseman Travis Sanheim (sparingly used by Team Canada) last weekend off. The two Flyers prospects will rejoin the lineup on Friday night as the team has a road game against the Swift Current Broncos.
6) Kudos to the Flyers for going all out on their Make-a-Wish Foundation night on Wednesday as the organization, from top-to-bottom, created a very special night for 14 children (ages six to 15) dealing with life-threatening illnesses. Both on-camera and off, the Flyers staff went out of their way to make the kids the genuine first stars of the night.
Among other experiences, the kids got the chance to sit on the Flyers' bench during warm-ups, sit in the penalty box during the game, ride the Zamboni, meet the broadcasters at work in the radio and TV booths, high-five the players from the ice near the benches as they stepped out to skate, and then met the players in the locker room post-game.
Jakub Voracek and Claude Giroux served as the symbolic "co-hosts" of the kids in their game-night suites, dedicated as Make-a-Wish Suites on this night. More than that, though, the two players spent unhurried time with the kids afterwards.
Throughout the season year-in-and-year-out, Voracek is especially generous with his time in these post-game and post-practice meet-and-greets with ill and special needs kids. He's always very engaging not only to the kids themselves but to their siblings and parents who come along. It is very common for Voracek to spend 30 minutes or more talking and joking around and generally treating the kids and their families like they are his own. The other players on the team are great with the kids, too, but Voracek in particular seems to go the extra mile not just because it's the right thing to do but because he gets enjoyment from it, too.
7) The Flyers held an optional skate on Wednesday. Center Sean Couturier shot a profile feature for French-Canadian national network RDS, including donning a Riley Cooper jersey (Eagles wide receiver Cooper, like Couturier, wears uniform No. 14) at Lincoln Financial Field. He also posed in front of wide receiver Jordan Matthews' locker, because Matthews is his favorite Eagles player.
Photo courtesy of Zack Hill/Flyers8) NBCSN studio analyst Mike Milbury was probably just trying to be tongue-in-cheek and play up the "Wednesday Night Rivalry" backdrop of the game between the Bruins (for whom Milbury played and coached) and Flyers when he talked about how much he hates the Flyers and even Ed Snider to this day. Keith Jones had a great retort when he dryly shot back, "They speak highly of you."
The exchange was not meant to be taken seriously. The problem is that Milbury publicly comes across as humorless, condescending and uncharismatic even when he is trying to be lighthearted. It doesn't work, because it's hard to tell when he's joking or when he's simply bloviating for its own sake.
The credibility of Milbury's expertise as he pontificates in the studio is undermined by the staggering incompetence he showed in running the New York Islanders into the ground in almost every possible way: bad talent assessments that led to bad trades, a lack of people-management skills, a lack of patience in player development, budgeting massive contracts to underachievers and pinching pennies on the guys he should have kept happy, subpar coaching when he was behind the bench, disconnection from and even animosity with the community where the team played, and a corresponding plummet in fortunes that took the organization a decade from which to mostly recover.
Not to beat a dead horse with its own shoe (ahem), but Mike Milbury is sort of the George Constanza of hockey: He should first see what his instincts say to do and then do the opposite. Likewise, if Milbury pans something or says he hates it, consider it an affirmation of sorts.
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FLYERS ALUMNI TEAM: UPCOMING GAME SCHEDULE
In addition to the upcoming Orange vs. Black Flyers Alumni Game at Santander Arena in Reading, PA on Feb. 5 -- an event that will bring together the decades as players from every era of franchise history participate -- the Flyers Alumni Team has a busy upcoming slate of games to continue the tradition of directly raising money for worthy charities, families in need and community-based organizations in the Delaware Valley. During the 2015 calendar year, benefit games and associated events involving the Flyers Alumni Team raised more than a half-million dollars, with all net proceeds donated directly to the beneficiary groups. Following is a rundown of the next four events after the Reading game: Feb. 20, 2016: 4th Annual Center for Autism Winter Classic (Ice Works, Aston, PA, 8:15 p.m.). Each year, the Flyers Alumni Team takes on the CFA Puzzlers to raise money for the work the Center does on behalf of autism education and support. Last year, the event raised $28,428. Feb. 27, 2016: Checkmates IBD Benefit (University of Pennsylvania Class of 1923 Arena, Philadelphia, PA, 7:30 p.m.) The Flyers Alumni Team will once again raise money for the support of the department of gastroenterology and hepatology at Thomas Jefferson University. March 12, 2016: Junior Achievement of Delaware Game (Fred Rust Ice Arena, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, TBA). Last season's game was a big hit, raising approximately $125,000. April 3, 2016: 12th Annual Goals for Giving Benefit: The Power of the Game (Northeast Philadelphia Flyers Skate Zone, Philadelphia, PA, 1:30 p.m.): Last year's event alone raised over $107,000. Over the past 11 years, the NHS Goals for Giving Hockey Benefits have raised about $506,000 to directly support the programs and services. HockeyBuzz will have more information about each of these events as they draw nearer, including ticket-purchase and donation information.