Flyers 08 Playoff Review

The Unexpected Run Playoff Review:
The Philadelphia Flyers 2008 Post-Season in Depth
By The RipperEagle-Flyer

After the unexpected success that the season had brought to the Philadelphia Flyers, predicting what would happen when the team made the playoffs was an even more of a tricky situation. Because for the Flyers, their first opponent was the Washington Capitals, a team that had made the playoffs by winning the Southeast Division title on the second to last day of the season and were dubbed as the hottest team from either side going into the playoffs. And the first series proved an ecstatic high and a pitfall low for the Flyers: after blowing a two-goal lead in the opener, the Capitals won the game 5-4 but the Flyers would split in Washington with a 2-0 win before pulling out both wins in Philadelphia by scores of 6-3 and 4-3, the second game in double overtime. However, the low hit when the Capitals went back to Washington for game five and won it 3-2 before going back to Philadelphia to win game six 4-2. But the Flyers put an end to that one as they went back to the Verizon Center in DC and forced overtime at what time the Flyers won about six minutes into the first overtime 3-2 to take the series in seven games.

Only two days later, the Flyers semifinal match-up with the Montreal Canadians would start: Montreal, the top seed in the Eastern Conference, put away the Boston Bruins in similar fashion to how the Flyers beat the Capitals in seven games. And as was the case with the opener against Washington, the Flyers built another two goal lead only to see Montreal tie the game up with 29 seconds left in the game and then they won it 50 seconds into overtime as Montreal took game one. But much like the previous series, the Flyers would take away home ice advantage with a 4-2 win at the Bell Centre before returning to South Philly to win both home games again by scores of 3-2 and 4-2, the first of which was made 3-2 due to a five minute boarding major assessed to Defenseman Derrian Hatcher. But the Flyers went back to Montreal in game five managing to do what they couldn’t do in game five from DC, and that was close out the series at the first available chance as they defeated the Canadians 6-4 to win the series in five games!

As Philadelphia had closed out Montreal on Saturday, the Flyers would only have to wait one more day to find out their opponent, as the Pittsburgh Penguins went on to eliminate the New York Rangers on Sunday in a 3-2 overtime victory to win their series in five games as well, setting up for the turnpike series. And the Flyers, for the third straight series, would go on to lose their first series game 4-2 but only this time, they were unable to win game two as the Penguins won again by the same identical score. But even South Philly was no comfort for the Flyers, as they lost 4-1 in game three from Wachovia Center before managing to avoid being swept with a 4-2 victory in game four. But it was of little use, as the Flyers were decimated by the Penguins in game five 6-0, which was the most amount of goals the team had allowed in one game and the most since the five in the Capitals series opener.

And just like that, after 17 playoff games and a trip to the Eastern Conference Finals, the season was over for the Flyers. But once again like with the season, it did not come without stories and some admittance of pride along the way: after all, the Flyers not only gunned down a pair of division winners, but one (Washington) was the HOTTEST team going into the playoffs, and the other (Montreal) finished tops in the East and third in the NHL in points with 104 during the season.

And one thing that was noteworthy was the dominance of one certain player in each series: in the Capitals series, Daniel Briere posted six goals and four assists for ten points in seven games, and worked his chemistry to a mastery with Vinny Prospal. In the Canadians series, RJ Umberger, who had 13 goals all season including six against the Penguins, had EIGHT goals and an assist in only five games against the Habs and played like he was seemingly everywhere at once. And in the Penguins series, the only serious bright spot was Mike Richards, who had three of the teams’ nine goals in the series and three assists in five games.

And the run marked the first time that goaltender Martin Biron, who is 30-years old, made the playoffs and started all games, as he compiled a 9-8 record with a shutout and 2.97 GAA and a 0.904 save percentage. That isn’t exactly a stellar showing by any means, but when he was hung out there to dry as much as he was thanks to that putrid defense, those numbers are far misleading and to be honest, his only bad games were the opener against the Capitals and the final game against the Penguins, surrendering 11 of the 52 goals allowed in them two games alone.

But enough about the summary crap: it is time to break the column down to analyze the players by their playoff production (or in the case of some, lack there of) and as I did with the season review, the players will be reviewed by forwards from most to least points and then defenders from most to least.

Flyers Forwards:
#48 Daniel Briere
On a team that had many players with little or no playoff experience on it, the addition of Briere, who was in the playoffs with the Phoenix Coyotes and Buffalo Sabres previously, paid dividends early on in the Capitals series with his six goals and four assists. But after that series, Briere became more and more distant and the ineffectiveness of him and Prospal became more evident. In fact, after the quarterfinals round, Briere was actually a plus three (as opposed to his horrid minus-22 in the season) but would end up a minus-three for the playoffs but yet he still led the team with 16 points and six power play goals while finishing second on the team with a 20% shooting accuracy.
Player Grade: B+ (88%)

#20 RJ Umberger
Umberger would have had a decent playoff run had it not been for the Montreal series, which is what really put him on the map. For the playoffs, Umberger was the only Flyer to post double digits in goals (10) which included eight of them against the Canadians in the semifinals and finished with 15 points total. Umberger was unstoppable against Montreal, which is something he usually saves for the Penguins but he was only there against them and Washington.
Player Grade: B+ (88%)

#18 Mike Richards
We already knew that Richards was a man of many talents and skills, but even I was not aware that he could be a game changer like he was in many wins this post-season: despite the seven goals, it doesn’t go as far as to show how his hitting and checking created chances not only for himself but also his line mates. Richards often got under the skin of the other team’s superstar forwards with his hitting, and his ability to bury shorthanded chances (he had the only two shorthanded goals on the team) were uncanny: his 53 shots were also second most on the team.
Player Grade: A (93%)

#40 Vinny Prospal
Prospal appeared, as the stats say, in all 17 games, but you would be hard pressed to tell me that after the first four games against Washington that he was actually ever ON THE ICE at all because he managed all three goals he scored in the first four games and seven of his team high ten assists in the first series. After that he was MIA, managing only three points in ten games after the first round while also being broken up with Briere for the last two games against the Penguins against whom he managed only one assist in five games.
Player Grade: C- (70%)

#17 Jeff Carter
Considering that Carter was the leading shooter for the Flyers during the season, there wasn’t much surprise at all that he again did it with 72 shots in 17 games. But perhaps what was surprising was the fact that he only scored six goals and was most famous for his stick blade breaking at the worst possible time (see game one of the Canadians series). For the playoffs he ran with Mike Knuble and Scottie Upshall in the “Action Line” and posted 11 points for the duration.
Player Grade: B (85%)

#15 Joffrey Lupul
Lupul had done everything right except for put a puck in the net, but yet he was the one who won the series for us against the Capitals and scored the game winner the very next game against Montreal: for the playoffs he had four goals and six assists for ten points with only one penalty taken in 17 games.
Player Grade: B (83%)

#19 Scotty Hartnell
The team’s ultimate agitator in the Capitals series, he was most famous for running into and right over top of Capitals goalie Cristobel Huet, but just as famous for his passing ability and top line quality opportunities, as he finished with three goals and four assists and tied for third on the team with 20 penalty minutes. Much like his running buddies however, he would also finish in the minus with a minus-2 rating.
Player Grade: B- (80%)

#22 Mike Knuble
Prior to injuring his MCL in game five against the Capitals, Knuble was a force with Carter and Upshall: in 12 games he posted three goals and four assists for seven points and had one game winning goal in game four going into double overtime against Washington. His playoff experience was notably a big help to the younger forwards that he worked with.
Player Grade: B (87%)

#9 Scottie Upshall
If the season often appeared as night for Upshall, then the playoffs were clearly his light: Upshall turned up his annoying factor and went to work making plays and punishing the opposition with three goals and seven points, including the game winner which sent us to the finals in game five against Montreal. Coach John Stevens might have had problems with Upshall and his consistency during the year, but in the playoffs he more then proved his worth.
Player Grade: B+ (89%)

#34 Jim Dowd
The ten team warrior was what you expected him to be: a valiant face-off man, a bumper and grinder, and a penalty killer as he posted a goal and two assists in 17 games played. His time might be up in the NHL, but he reminded everyone why he made it this far and played as long as he did.
Player Grade: C+ (78%)

#24 Sami Kapanen
A hard worker but of little advantage anywhere, Kapanen played 16 games and scored on two gimme goals (both in the Capitals series: one was a give away right in front and another was when the goalie got run into by his own defenseman) but he finished a minus-4 for the playoffs.
Player Grade: C- (70%)

#25 Patrick Thoresen
Thoresen played in 14 games, missing one due to the flu in the Capitals series and two because he was scratched in the Penguins series and I was happy, until I saw Steve Downie turn the puck over for two costly goals, then I was happy to see Patrick back: he posted two assists and a plus-1 rating.
Player Grade: C (75%)

#27 Steve Downie
Downie might have had a decent season when he was upstairs and he might have been our top pick in 2004 and he might have a good chance at the roster next year, but that didn’t mean much when he did play in the playoffs. Downie played in six games, posting one assist, a minus-2 rating with some stupid defensive end turnovers, and ten penalty minutes.
Player Grade: D (65%)

#32 Riley Cote
Played in three games (all against Washington) due to the injury suffered by Knuble, and did not record a single stat, not even a penalty minute.
Player Grade not available

Flyers Defenders
#44 Kimmo Timonen
The team’s best defenseman during the season and one half of the shutdown unit against Washington and Montreal (along with the player listed below here) the team suffered a serious blow when Timonen was forced out for the first four games of the Penguins series only to return in game five. For the playoffs he played in 13 games and recorded six assists and a plus-3 rating, which was a plus-5 rating prior to the 6-0 drumming administered by the Penguins in his return game.
Player Grade: A (95%)

#5 Braydon Coburn
The other half of the playoffs shutdown duo as mentioned in the Timonen entry, Coburn would befall his own problems in game two of the finals when a puck nailed him right above the eye and he would miss the final three games of the playoffs due to the swelling around the eye. But up to that point, he had played in 14 games and registered six assists (like Kimmo) and a plus-4 rating with 14 penalty minutes while showing great improvement, beyond that of his season progress as well.
Player Grade: A (95%)

#2 Derrian Hatcher
While playing on a bad knee which needed drained every game was a sign of courage for old Hatch, his play indicated that he probably would have been better off just sitting out instead. Hatcher played in 15 games and posted a goal and two assists while placing second on the team with 40 penalty minutes but it remains a mystery to me how he was a plus-2 for the playoffs. Not only has Hatcher slowed down to a crawl, but his penchant for taking stupid penalties nearly cost us on many occasions, one good one being game three of the Canadians series.
Player Grade: C (73%)

#26 Jaroslav Modry
Why I am wasting an entry on this guy is a hard one to understand, so just know that he played in nine games and had three assists, but he was a team low minus-6 (in only nine games mind you once more) and proved nothing when he was in.
Player Grade: F (55%)

#21 Jason Smith
Another badge of courage must be given to Smith, as we find out after the fact that both shoulders were hurting him, but still, this does nothing to assume the role that he didn’t fill as our “Captain” with two assists and a minus-4 rating.
Player Grade: D+ (68%)

#26 Lassie Kukkonen
I will admit to being one of the most outspoken and Anti-Kukkonen clan members, but as the playoffs went on, he actually got stronger, as he played in 14 games and had two assists and was a minus-1 for the playoffs but hey, considering he was always paired with Modry when Mod was in, that is a rating made of gold!
Player Grade: C (77%)

#2 Randy Jones
Jones was playing well with Hatcher as the second defensive pair, but when Timonen went down injured, he got shuffled between the top two pairs and when Coburn went down, he was thrust into the top defender role and admittedly, he didn’t seem to be ready for it. But he still managed to do what he could with little to no help at all, as he played in 16 games and two assists with a team best plus-6 rating to combat the other deadbeats below him.
Player Grade: B (85%)

#77 Ryan Parent
Parent made his playoff debut in game one against the Capitals with both Jones and Hatcher out, and did not reappear until game three of the Penguins series, but he was steady and much better then Modry, Hatcher, and Smith in his own end and playing transition. Parent played in four games and posted an assist and a minus-1 rating but was not called for a penalty.
Player Grade: B- (80%)

Flyers Goaltenders
#43 Martin Biron
For as strong as Biron was in the playoffs through spots, it would be worth noting the team might have done better overall had the defense played better for him then it did. Still, Biron managed nine wins and a shutout while posting up a GAA slightly under three (2.97) and a save percentage just over nine (0.904) while making many quality saves on the top stars in the league. Again, this writer is left to question just how much better he would have been had the defense been better.
Player Grade: B+ (89%)