Holmgren's State of the Flyers
Now at the NHL's unofficial midway point of the season, Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren offered up his thoughts on the first half of the year.
Holmgren's State of the Flyers
SUNRISE, Fla. -- It didn’t have any of the tradition or pomp and circumstance of President Obama’s State of the Union address on Tuesday night in Washington, but Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren offered up his State of the Flyers this week.
Watching the Flyers’ 3-2 victory over the Florida Panthers on Tuesday night, it was hard to fathom that 9 out of the 20 players on the ice were not even members of the organization at this point last year. And that number does not include players like Marc-Andre Bourdon, Erik Gustafsson, and Ben Holmstrom, who were with the Phantoms.
All things considered - devastating injuries, scheduling quirks and new faces, as outlined in today’s game story - Holmgren is pleased with what he’s watched through the first half of the season.
“We’ve shown a real resiliency to bounce back and hang in through a lot of tough situations that the team has dealt with,” Holmgren said. “Moving forward, we know we need to get better in a lot of areas. But overall, we’re certainly okay with where we’re at.”
The Flyers (29-14-5) are just 3 points back of the Eastern Conference-leading Rangers and are actually on pace to top last year’s total of 106 points.
In the big picture, few see a team other than the Rangers, Bruins or Flyers representing the East in June’s Stanley Cup final.
Since they’ve lost captain Chris Pronger for the foreseeable future, the only real knock on the Flyers is their lack of defensive depth. Only one team (Boston) has scored more goals than the Flyers. Their goaltending can be better but has been adequate. And they’ve got the intangibles to make a deep a run.
Holmgren lauded Bourdon and Gustafsson for helping keep the team afloat without a noticeable drop-off on defense.
As things stand, Holmgren said he doesn’t have a burning need to make a trade for more defense. But that could change. Holmgren does not deny that the Flyers have perused the market recently, as the Feb. 27 trade deadline is now rapidly approaching 33 days from now.
“I think we still have 4 guys who can play a lot of minutes in all situations,” Holmgren said. “I think the 2 young kids that we’ve got playing have held their own. So, I don’t feel it’s something we have to do.
“I don’t think we’re any different than a lot of team right now. We’re looking around to see what’s available. And if there’s something out there that makes sense, both now and for the future, we would look at that. But I like the way our kids have played. I think that was a real good experience for them [on Sunday], playing against the Stanley Cup champions, and they both fared OK.”
On Tuesday night, Peter Laviolette gave most of the credit to Holmgren and his scouting staff, for putting the team in a position to win nightly with a cast of players who don’t have the big names that they replaced in the lineup, like Jeff Carter and Mike Richards.
With perhaps the boldest moves in the league, on par with Florida’s Dale Tallon, you could certainly make a case for Holmgren as the NHL’s GM of the Year.
Looking toward the second half of the season, Holmgren said his feeling now is the same as it was last year, when the Flyers carried the league’s best record into the All-Star break. And that’s saying something, given their tumultuous summer makeover.
“I don’t feel any different than I have the last number of years,” Holmgren said. “If you get into the playoffs, anything can happen. That’s where we are now, just trying to get in the playoffs.”
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- That's a reasonable argument if you ignore the context that the poster was referring to (Bryzgalov). Who has Bryz made into a successful winner? About as many teams as Vokoun: none. And spare us the Anaheim Cup year. Anaheim waived him.
— icarus 
Um, yeah, I guess you didn't like how Pronger guided the team to Game 6 of the Cup? After he did it witht he Ducks and Oilers?— MichaelZoe- Other than the ridiculous contract given Bryz and his associated performance, I think Homer essentially hit a grand slam with his off-season trades/acqusitions. The Flyers had a very strong first half, and if Bryz can get it together going into the back end of the season - this team can go all the way.— CTL
- I wouldn't pass judgement on Bryzs yet, wait until the playoffs.
Hot goalie.— Willysoup - Hind sight is alway 100% correct. Overall,Holmgren has made some very smart moves and his team, despite a huge face lift is right there and very young. I really hope that they will give Bobrovsky a shot. He seems much sharper this year. I think it's due to the lighter work load. As it stands now he is the one I'd go into the playoffs with.— djlen
- I always argue that Holmer gets the big moves correct, but struggles with the little moves. O'Donnell was worn out in the playoffs, but would have be a perfect guy to keep around this year. If they were sure of their young guys, they should have dumped Nodl and Powe. But Powe was a good fit, better than resigning Nodl only to demote him. Getting Walker's salary cap hit and bad hip for Gagne was bad. And signing Lilja was a waste. The group of Harry Z, Rinaldo, and even Seistio remind me of the young guys from Detroit (Maltby, Holmstrom, McCarthy). So we have a good team, but are strapped by the Cap. And we need to replace Pronger, period. Goaltending, ya can't win. But I would seriously consider moving a prospect or current player if someone wanted Bryzg's contract (for the cap floor). And they MUST, they MUST, trade, jockey or position themselves for the next #1 round draft pick for a goalie and snag him. They appear to have finally found a group of forwards and even decent 4-6 defensemen to groom. If I'm looking at Schenn/Couturier/Giroux as Towes/Kane/Sharp plus the other young guys, we're in great shape. Burn through goalies until Bob is a game stealer or we draft a great one. Bryzg is a stop gap who if he doesn't rebound, will end up backing up Leighton in the AHL.— MichaelZoe
- But that said, I applaud the Flyers for signing Bryzg. Holmer's related weakness is the Cap/Contracts"...too many long-term deals and poor Cap management. But hey, they went out and got one of the best goalie's in the league. Don't believe me, then let me know the last time the Flyer's had a Vezina Winner and we'll talk. The fact that is playing poorly stinks, but he's not that bad. Let's just hope he gets hot, like goalie's do, and is a game stealer going into the playoffs. It's completely within the realm of possibility.— MichaelZoe
- So is Bryzgalov stopping a deflection or a wrap-around. But that doesn't make it likely, based on the first half of the season. — icarus
- I have a great idea. Holmgren should trade two 1st round picks and a 3rd round pick for a defenseman in the last year of his contract. That defenseman should play poorly for the Flyers, get hurt and miss the second round playoff series where the Flyers lose to the Bruins. The defenseman is so expensive the Flyers decide not to offer him a contract, they stick with the young guys who do ok. The 1st round pick they traded away turns out to be a solid 40 goal scorer from Sweden who wins a Cup with that team. In 14 years the Flyers pick up this Swedish goal scorer via free agency and he is hailed as the final piece of the puzzle to bring a Cup back to the Flyers after 51 years. We must win the Cup. FYI all trades and signings can be looked at in a million ways. I get it. The only thing that matters is how that player plays on the ice and if we win a Cup. The fact is Bryz was a great signing who has played poorly. Michael Leighton's stats compare favorably with Bryz this year. I want a Cup before my kidneys fail me. My coffee is cold. My teeth are yellow. My blood runs orange and black.— derkaiser
- I have a great idea. Holmgren should trade two 1st round picks and a 3rd round pick for a defenseman in the last year of his contract. That defenseman should play poorly for the Flyers, get hurt and miss the second round playoff series where the Flyers lose to the Bruins. The defenseman is so expensive the Flyers decide not to offer him a contract, they stick with the young guys who do ok. The 1st round pick they traded away turns out to be a solid 40 goal scorer from Sweden who wins a Cup with that team. In 14 years the Flyers pick up this Swedish goal scorer via free agency and he is hailed as the final piece of the puzzle to bring a Cup back to the Flyers after 51 years. We must win the Cup. FYI all trades and signings can be looked at in a million ways. I get it. The only thing that matters is how that player plays on the ice and if we win a Cup. The fact is Bryz was a great signing who has played poorly. Michael Leighton's stats compare favorably with Bryz this year. I want a Cup before my kidneys fail me. My coffee is cold. My teeth are yellow. My blood runs orange and black.— derkaiser
- What Homer failed to address was how his team played in the 2nd half of last year. Its no sense of comparing it to the team of the first half of last year. You redid this team you should be comparing it to the 2nd half or last year. There is still a goalie carousel here so my pick so far would go to Florida's GM he didn't sign a head case for a goaltender maybe Bob will be more affective this year with less time in net. So far he is doing all the little things that Ilyia doesn't. Puts himself in a better position when he is down low to stop deflections and been getting better at stick handling. Now if they can only get this guy to do some interviews on TV. translater or not this guy knows how to speak some english. Oh JesseH your an idiot Sean O'donnell was useless here.— ONLYinPhilly
- Play Bob!— dontlikeneocons
- @heyeaglefn. This Flyers team, right now without Pronger and even with a shaky Bryz (or Bob in net), is a much tougher out in the playoffs than last year's version was. He traded away two pieces and made the team (and the locker room) better. It's clearly a better team if you watch, even if the record doesn't show it yet. Ask any team around the league if the Flyers are tougher to play against this year with the amount of depth (guys like Matt Read) they have. I think the answer would be yes.— Realistic One
- Bob was sharp last night.— Northcountry
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