Another Flyers season ends but the future remains bright

It really wasn't supposed to happen this way for the Flyers, at least not this season.  No, I'm not talking about how the Flyers weren't supposed to lose to the Devils; the Flyers weren't supposed to even get to the second round this season.

After making drastic changes last offseason, the Flyers instantly entered a rebuilding mode, one that will feature a number of young players who are years away from their primes.  Sure, the Flyers were still supposed to be competitive but they really weren't expected to be serious Cup contenders until the kids had a chance to develop.  Really, anything that happened this season was gravy.

So why is it still so disappointing to see them lose to the Devils on Tuesday and get ousted from the playoffs?  Mostly because of how much fun it was to see these upstart Flyers stick it to the Penguins in one of the most entertaining series of games in many years.  To follow up all of that entertainment with four straight losses to the Devils in a series of games that were very uneventful was what was so disappointing.

The future is very bright with these Flyers. Claude Giroux could still get better.  The 8 rookies that hogged all the ice time this season should only improve with even more experience.  Chris Pronger hopefully will return.  Ilya Bryzgalov will hopefully keep his head on straight.  There is a lot to like about the future of the Philadelphia Flyers.

Despite all of this, it still hurts to see them lose to a Devils team that doesn't really feel like a great team. Hey, we'll always have that Penguins series.
(Getty Images)

Shutout! Bryzgalov, Flyers blank Devils

It's been a long, long time since the Flyers had a shutout.  85 games to be exact.  It's only fitting, then, that the supposed savior between the pipes ends the drought.  Ilya Bryzgalov stopped all 20 shots he faced as the Flyers blanked the Devils, 3-0, to remain unbeaten through two games.  Here are a few of my thoughts on the game:

-Bryzgalov gets credit for the shutout but he didn't have to do much work as he had some long stretches between shots.  That is often more difficult for goaltenders to have sporadic work than to be in the middle of the action for the entire game so Bryz certainly earned his shutout.

-Plenty of credit for the shutout should also go to the penalty killers, who were a perfect 5 for 5.  The Flyers continue to give the kids, Sean Couturier and Matt Read, plenty of penalty kill time and they haven't dissapointed.  Read also notched his first career goal and will be fun to watch develop over the course of the season.

-I said after the last game that Claude Giroux would score 40 goals this season but I might amend that to 50 goals.  With the way he is already clicking with JVR and Jaromir Jagr, 100 total points really doesn't seem to far-fetched for Giroux.

-It's hard not to notice all the things that Wayne Simmonds does well on the ice.  He only got 12:52 of ice time but he made the most of it, picking up a goal, a fight and 4 shots on net.  If Brayden Schenn turns out to be the player everyone thinks he will be, the Flyers won't have any regrets about trading Mike Richards.

Two games in and 82-0 is still in play for the Flyers!  After the disappointment of the ending of the Phillies season, this hard-working Flyers team is the perfect thing to wash away the pain.
(AP PHOTO)

New-look Flyers win season opener

After knocking off the defending champs, the Flyers are on their way to a perfect season!  Ok, not really, but the Flyers did look pretty impressive in their season opening 2-1 win over the Bruins.  Here are my thoughts on the win:

-It was exciting to see all the new faces and what their contributions would be to the Flyers.  With more than half a dozen skaters suiting up for the Flyers for the first time, we almost needed a scorecard to keep up with the action.  Of the newcomers, I was most impressed with Matt Read, Wayne Simmonds and, of course, Jaromir Jagr.  Read didn't get a ton of ice time but he did play some on the penalty kill and was aggressive.  Simmonds picked up a few penalties but he will quickly become a Flyers fan favorite.

-Jagr and Claude Giroux are going to be fun to watch this year.  The two playmakers worked together for their first of many goals tonight and had several quality chances throughout the night.  Giroux could easily get 40 goals playing with a motivated Jagr.

-No, it wasn't that elusive shutout the Flyers have been looking for, but Ilya Bryzgalov looked solid in net.  While he only had to face 23 shots, Bryzgalov stayed sharp and buckled down after giving up the first period goal.  It's way too early to tell if he is a significant upgrade in net but that was as good a start as you can ask for.

-Waaaaay too many penalties for the Flyers.  It's an issue that has plagued this club since their inception but the Flyers continue to give their opponents too many power play opportunities.  Maybe they just wanted to test out their PK?

-I'm not a big fan of Zac Rinaldo.  At all.  I like Jody Shelley better and that's really saying something.

At the very least, this should be a very interesting season for the Flyers with all the new players in the lineup.  While I still have some worries about where the offense is going to come from (besides the top line), their defense and goaltending should keep them in most games.

Flyers sign Ilya Bryzgalov to 9 year contract

After the two huge trades, we knew it was a matter of time before this was announced: according to TSN, the Flyers have signed Ilya Brygalov to a 9 year, 51 million dollar contract. He will have a cap hit worth 5.67 million dollars per year, a nice value considering he wanted 7 million per year.

The Flyers have made a statement today: no longer will their goaltending be the laughing stock of the NHL. They dealt away two huge pieces to get it done but the Flyers have solidified the goalie position for the first time in many years. Let's hope they have enough pieces left around Bryzgalov to still be an elite team.

Flyers acquire rights to goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov

The Flyers may have finally found the goaltender they've been searching for, acquiring exclusive negotiating rights to goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov from the Coyotes. Bryzgalov will be a free agent on July 1st, so the Flyers have a little less than a month to try to get him signed to a deal before any team in the league has a shot at signing him.

To get the rights to Bryzgalov, the Flyers parted with forward Matt Clackson, a 3rd round pick in the 2012 draft and future considerations. While it was a bold move by the Flyers, it won't mean a thing unless they can sign Bryzgalov, who made 4.25 million last season and will likely demand a huge, long-term salary from whoever signs him. While Bryzgalov is good enough to be worth that kind of money and he would certainly solve the Flyers goaltending issues for years to come, will the Flyers be able to afford to his huge salary? And if they do, who from the current roster will go? Jeff Carter? Kris Versteeg?

At almost 31 years old and with several good seasons under his belt, Bryzgalov could be the answer in net for the Flyers murky goaltending situation. While he has never been the number one goaltender on a great team, Bryzgalov has put up some eye-popping numbers, including 15 shutouts over the last two seasons. For a team that couldn't even manage one shutout last year, Bryzgalov would be the answer to all that ails the Flyers. Now we just have to wait and see if they can actually sign the guy.