Back by popular demand . . . or not.

To say that the dedication to this blog is a direct reflection of my attention span is an understatement. I have some catching up to do, but I am both ready and willing to fill in the months of missed blogging.

Ironically in the last paragraph of my last post I noted that "if this team remains healthy". It seems year after year this IF for the Flyers get's bigger and bigger. Admist a 10 game winless streak, the Flyers had seen Mike Richards, Joffrey Lupul, Derian Hatcher, and newly acquired Modry on the injured list. Not to mention Gange being counted out for the season. Even amongst this losing/injury streak the Flyers hold onto a playoff spot.

My take on shutting down Simon for the year is that it was the right thing to do. Early in his return from the concussion he was noticably not playing like himself. Not only was he not playing physical, it seemed like he was going out of his way to avoid contact. In his first 11 games back from his concussion Gagne recorded zero hits. Shutting him down for the season was the best thing they could do for him, and the team. No distractions with attempted returns, and hopefully, no early retirement for Gagne.

Losing Mike Richards, and Joffrey Lupul had a huge impact on this team. Once Lupul went down again, it was evident this team needed other players to step up, but once Richards went down, it seemed like we could see an early end to the season.

Enter Jeff Carter. Carter, with the trade deadline behind him, has elevated his play to where they expatations of him lie. Carter is playing with energy, confidence, and leadership. With this new on/off ice mentality the puck seems to be following him, and soon finding the net. FINALLY Jeff Carter has arrived.

To revisit the kids, we have a new talent to evaluate. Ryan Parent seems to have concreted his position as a Philadelphia Flyer. This was the initial evaluation of him, before we traded Vandermeer, and got Modry.

The formula is simple. Parent brings more to the table than Vandermeer or Kukkonen. He will probably make similar mistakes, and rookie mistakes, but his upside is there. If you have a defensive prospect that has been playing well in the AHL all season, and a handful of NHL d-men are struggling there is no reason Parent shouldn't be up for a few games. He is a very good passer. He had some jitters and turned the puck over a few times because of it. He is very quick, and good positionally. While he did not deliver the hardest checks I have ever seen, he took the body every time he should have. He pinched effectively when the D was activated, and never got caught being to deep leading to a odd man rush. For a rookie defenseman playing close to 17 minutes in his 2nd NHL game ever I'd say the experiment was a success. He will make mistakes, as all rookies do, and he did last night, but the skill is obvious. I'd personally rather see Parents skill/growing pains than Vandermeer coughing up the puck every other time he touches it with no hope of him becoming a better defenseman.

Parent since, has been playing key minutes, in important situations. Proving his talent, reliability, and Stevens trust in the kid.

For the rest of the season that lies behind us, let's just leave it there. From here on out, with the most important 13 games of the season in front of us, we can look foward to getting healthy, and with any hope making the playoffs.

The race in the East is closer than it has been all season, and with all but 4 of the next 13 games being division games the Flyers could very well wind up with a much higher seed than 8th.

Given this team gets healthy at the right time, making it to the ECF is not all that far fetched. Let's not get ahead of ourselves though.