No miracle this year: Bruins sweep Flyers out of playoffs

There will be no miracle comeback for the Flyers this season. In fact, the Flyers won't even make the Bruins sweat this time. In Game 4, it was more of the same in this series as the Bruins outplayed the Flyers on both ends of the ice and won, 5-1, and swept the defending Eastern Conference champs right out of the playoffs.

So ends the season for the Flyers, who now can only look back in disappointment. The team dominated the NHL for most of the regular season only to inexplicably stop playing hard in the final month, then saw their lethargic play carry over into a inconsistent playoff effort. While many will blame the goaltending, and rightfully so, there is plenty of other blame that should be placed on the skaters for their lack of intensity even when their backs were against the wall.

The Flyers now enter the offseason with a ton of questions. Do they finally get that elite goaltender that we've been clamoring for? Will they move out a forward or two to make some cap space? What, if anything, can they do to improve their defense? With a long offseason ahead of them, I'm sure Paul Holmgren will wrestle with how to fix this Flyers team that massively underachieved. While there is a ton of talent in this group, something has to change if another Stanley Cup run is to be made.

So another Flyers season ends in disappointment. Not that it makes it any easier but at least were are used to this feeling.
(AP PHOTO)