First of all I would like to apologize to all of the readers for not being able to post an article lately. I recently moved and was without internet for a while, and the last thing I wanted to do is write an article mid-series. Thanks to all for understanding.
The only way I can describe the 2009-2010 Philadelphia Flyers season is with one word.
Unbelieveable.
When the Flyers acquired Chris Pronger, it was unbelievable.
When they went into a downward spiral in November: Unbelievable
Four different starting goaltenders: Unbelievable
Getting into the Playoffs with a shootout win: Unbelievable
Coming from down 3-0 in the series to Boston: Unbelievable
The way the Stanley Cup Final ended: Unbelievable
The 2009-2010 Flyers season was the most unpredictable, nerve-wracking, and .....unbelievable season I've ever seen.
Most critics are saying the season was still a success because the Flyers were never expected to make a run at the Stanley Cup.
While I agree that there are a lot of positives to take from all the turmoil that happened this season, we're in Philadelphia.
Anything less than a Stanley Cup is a failure.
However, you can't look at this team as a failure, because Philadelphia hasn't seen exciting hockey like this since the kids in 1987.
As I explained before, in Philadelphia, we don't care so much if you win or lose, just as long as you leave everything out there you possibly can. Coming back down 3-0 to Boston showed that there was no quit in this team. They played hard game-in and game-out and simply refused to lie down.
After the Flyers came back from that series, it just seemed like as Danny Briere put it...
"Destiny."
For a team to defy all the critics and odds and to pull off the most historic comeback in NHL history, it sure seemed like it.
That is until the Flyers met up with the Chicago Blackhawks. The Flyers had to play catch-up once again after falling in the series 0-2. It sure seemed like the Flyers still had magic in the tank until the 3rd period in Game 4.
Blackhawks' coach Joel Quenville changed the lines to throw off the Flyers defense. It worked. He successfully took Chris Pronger's focus off of Dustin Byfuglien and Jonathan Toews by putting them on separate lines. Even though Chris Pronger can play a ton of minutes a night and never seems to lose energy, even he can't be double-shifted too often.
When Peter Laviolette was forced to play Lukas Krajicek and Oskars Bartulis more often, it was only a matter of time before a quick change would get the Hawks offense going. Chicago responded by netting 2 goals in the 3rd and making Game 4 closer than the score really showed.
From then on, you could see the Flyers could not keep up with the speed of the Chicago Blackawks.
Game 5 was a complete disaster, and although the Flyers put up 4 on Antti Niemi, shaky goaltending by Michael Leighton and Brian Boucher put them in a bad spot.
The Flyers came out with adrenaline in Game 6, and everyone thought the series was going the distance.
During the 3rd period, before Scott Hartnell's goal with 3:59 remaining, you could see the Flyers were just out of gas. The long playoff run had finally caught up with them.
Although they had the heart to try and finish the job, you could see that there was just no extra burst in the tank to get one more goal.
To put it in perspective, here's an example of how I saw it.
If you've seen Saving Private Ryan, remember the scene at the end of the movie? Captain Miller gets up to grab a gun as the Nazis are bringing heavy fire from across the bridge. Miller, who is already weakened is stumbling over to get this gun, and he is shot. He falls down and just lies against a few sandbags, shooting a pistol at a Panzerschrek, knowing right well that there's nothing he can do, but using every last ounce of strength he has to fight.
Suddenly, a plane flies overhead, blowing up the Panzerschrek. Miller, who was fatally wounded, tells Private Ryan to "Earn this," then dies.
The Flyers were wounded when Chicago took a 3-2 lead into the 3rd period, and they used every ounce of energy to tie it up in the 3rd. As the 3rd period clock was ticking down, Scott Hartnell scored with a tap-in. The Flyers proved their resiliency again by just leaving everything out there to knot the game up, but when the overtime came around, you could see the desperation, but they didn't have enough in the tank to get it done.
If you ask me, it was more mental exhaustion than physical. The Flyers just seemed drained by all they went through, as they had been playing playoff hockey since practically Feburary. As much as the Flyers preached playing when behind, you could see that while they never gave up, it became a harder climb up the mountain each time.
The Flyers earned every right to hoist Lord Stanley, but Chicago beat them to it.
And while the goals Michael Leighton allowed during the finals were considered questionable, you can't discard the fact that the Flyers would not even be there in the first place without him. Not only did he come in off waivers and take over, but the Flyers likely weren't going to beat Boston without him. That's not discarding Brian Boucher, but the Flyers played more confident in Leighton.
No matter what though, the loss of a Stanley Cup is always devastating. It doesn't feel good to anyone when you see most of the players fighting back tears during the post-game interviews, knowing that some of them will never get the chance to play for Lord Stanley again.
But for the younger players, it's nothing more than a learning experience.
Sometimes you need to learn what it's like to lose, before you know what it takes to win.
Overall, it was an unpredictable season, and while losing the cup is a major blow to the team because of all they worked through, they probably learned the biggest lesson of all.
Never give up, no matter the odds.
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I'll be back in the next day or two with an off-season gameplan for the Flyers. I'll sum up how Peter Laviolette changed the face of the team, and how I think that Jeff Carter and Michael Leighton may have played their last game in a Flyer uniform.
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