| Jak Defak. 22nd October, 2006 - 5:57 am
 The players are frustrated, the coach is lost, and the owner is simply irate. Not much seems to be going well in Philadelphia right now, but despite a very ignominious start to the 06-07 campaign at 1-6-1 (low-lighted by a 9-1 loss to the Sabres), Flyer fans should not be ready to throw everything out the window like owner Ed Snyder is.
The first thing that jumps out at you when glancing over the stats is how unbalanced the team is. Outside of the top line consisting of Peter Forsberg, Simon Gagne, and Mike Knuble, production is either inconsistent or just not there. Just one other offensive play has more than 3 points in the first eight games, the only big-name off-season acquisition Geoff Sanderson, and Sanderson is one of only seven players on the entire team as a whole that have scored.
However, things of this nature are bound to change, assuming the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th line don't continue to get jumbled around on a nightly basis. The CCR line of Mike Richards, Kyle Calder, and Jeff Carter was given just a handful of games before Ken Hitchcock mixed things around, giving no time for this up-and-coming line a chance to break out. Geoff Sanderson seems to lack a niche on the team, being thrown around all over the place, which is giving him little to no chance to having a consistent year. Then the team went and virtually placed their 4th line on waivers unprecedented, hoping for some sort of sparks. But this simply isn't going to work. Hitchcock and Snyder need to slow down and stop worrying so much. On paper this team isn't bad. Simon Gagne and Peter Forsberg is a dynamic 1-2 punch, and despite the lack of speed on defense, Joni Pitkanen and Freddy Meyer have great potential.
The other thing to point out is that of the first eight games, six have been road games, and one of the two home games was the night after a road game. With the next five games at home and seven of the next eight before another three game road trip, look for this team to start getting some points. All five home games are winnable, with Atlanta (as the only true threat), Pittsburgh, Chicago, Tampa Bay, and Washington. Of those, only one made the playoffs last year, and only two right now are in position to make the playoffs.
Finally, what you have to remember about this team is they have two great goalies. Sure, Robert Esche and Antero Nittimaki have struggled so far this year, but if the defense can begin to help out and the offense starts going, it won't be that bad on them. As of right now, it seems Nittimaki is the show-case goalie, starting 6 of the 8 games, however the Flyers only need one of these guys to get hot before they can start flying. It would be too unfathomable to assume that both of these great goalies who had tremendous seasons respectively last year both get hit hard this year.
Overall you can't help but still feel this team has gaps, which they certainly do. A consistent scorer needs to escape the shadows and defensive help is a primary focus. But Ed Snyder, please, for the love of Philly and its fans, do not trash this team. With what they have, they won't be going to a Cup any time soon, but this is still a playoff-caliber team.
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