Garrett Simmons

Being a huge Denver Broncos fan, I pondered long and hard about putting together a Tim Tebow column. But after being inundated with story after story on the famous quarterback, I decided to write about my other passion — the Philadelphia Flyers.
What the team has been able to accomplish this season is nothing short of astounding. Philadelphia sits in fourth place in the Eastern Conference, and is one of the highest-scoring teams in the league.
All of this has been accomplished without two of the team’s leading scorers from a year ago, forwards Mike Richards and Jeff Carter, and without Chris Pronger, the team’s No. 1 defenceman.
When Richards and Carter were shipped out of town in the offseason, one had to wonder how that production would be replaced. You had to think the acquisition of Ilya Bryzgalov in goal would lessen the need for the Flyers to score four goals a game to win games, so perhaps the team could get by with 25 goals less in 2011/2012.
However, the Flyers are scoring at an even greater clip this season, at 3.35 goals per game through 43 games. Last year’s squad posted 259 goals, second in the league, at an average of 3.16 per game.
It is defensively where the Flyers have struggled, as this year’s team is giving up 2.98 goals per game, compared to 2.72 last year, as Bryzgalov’s goals against average of 3.07 and save percentage of .891 are among the worst for starting goaltenders.
So how have the Flyers replaced that production? The players Philadelphia received in return for Richards, who now skates for the Kings, have certainly helped. In particular, Wayne Simmonds has picked up 12 goals and 11 assists, while Brayden Schenn, who was injured at the start of the year, is now beginning to show who he was the league’s top prospect last season. He’s only scored two goals and added one assist in his 15 games, but a breakout is coming.
Jacob Voracek and Sean Couturier, whom the Flyers received from Columbus for Carter, have also produced. Voracek has six goals and 20 assists, while the rookie Couturier has been very impressive, with nine goals and seven assists for 16 points, and a plus-12 rating, despite spending a lot of time on the penalty kill.
It is conceivable Couturier and Schenn alone will be replacements for Richards and Carter, while Voracek and Simmonds will continue to be great role players for the team for years to come.
But for all these new acquisitions have done, the two biggest surprises for the Flyers have to be Jaromir Jagr and Matt Read. Jagr, long thought to be washed up, at least at the NHL level, has teamed with Claude Giroux and Scott Hartnell to form one of the league’s best lines. Jagr looks dangerous every shift, and has put up 32 points in 37 games, while Giroux has blossomed into one of the top offensive forces in the game. Hartnell has responded with 19 goals and 19 assists. and is on pace for a career year.
Read, another rookie, has virtually replaced the production of Richards himself. Read has 27 points on 13 goals and 14 assists in 40 games, while Richards has 26 points on 14 goals and 12 assists in 38 games for Los Angeles. Carter, in an injury-riddled year, has only 10 goals and seven assists in 30 games for Columbus. Maxime Talbot, who the Flyers signed from Pittsburgh, has also potted 10 goals, to add yet another threat.
It is realistic Philadelphia could have nine 20-goal scorers this season, a figure which could be even higher if Schenn had been more healthy, and if Voracek can hit a hot streak and pump home a few more goals the rest of the way.
Balance has been key for the Flyers, even though an established star like Danny Briere isn’t having a huge year, with 13 goals and 16 assists, and one of the league’s top up-and-coming players, James van Riemsdyk, who is now out with a concussion, has had a slow start with 11 goals and 11 assists.
Should everyone get back healthy and 100 per cent, the Flyers boast a top-nine forward group few teams, except Boston, can match. It should allow the team some flexibility close to the trade deadline, as Philadelphia seeks to replace Pronger, who is done for the year, and could be done for good.
Imagine if the Flyers can land a legitimate top-four defenceman, who they can certainly afford with Pronger’s salary off the books, and if the team gets better play down the stretch from Bryzgalov. It could all lead to another long playoff run for the Flyers, a team many thought may be in a small one-year rebuilding mode without Richards and Carter. Now, the team is bigger, faster, younger and maybe even a little more hungry.
If all goes well, hopefully, the Flyers will hoist the cup in 2012, and put to rest a drought which has lasted since 1975. That would be a great story, especially with Richards and the Kings at the bottom the Western Conference’s top eight, and the lowest-scoring team in the league, and Carter’s Blue Jackets at the bottom of the entire league.