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Arizona Coyotes Opponents 2015: Philadelphia Flyers

By William Grigsby

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The Arizona Coyotes are getting ready for another season. We are looking at each team and how they might affect that:

Today we look at: Philadelphia Flyers

2014-15 record: 33-31-18, 6th in the Metropolitan, Didn’t make the playoffs

How the Arizona Coyotes did: 2 games, 1-0-1

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Schedule this year against the Arizona Coyotes: Sat 2/27 at Philadelphia, Sat. 3/22 at Home.

Notable additions: C Sam Gagner, G Michal Neuvirth, D Evgeni Medvedev

Notable subtractions: C Zac Rinaldo, D Nicklas Grossmann, G Ray Emery

Coached by: Dave Hakstol (1st year)

Who’s in Net: The Flyers have finally locked in a starter, pegging Steve Mason. They have been looking for years, and he looks like the way they are going. Newly acquired backup Michael Neuvirth should be an adequate replacement in case of an injury to Mason.

Quick thoughts about the Flyers:

  • The big surprise was hiring first-year NHL coach Hakstol, who labored at the University Of North Dakota for the last 11 years.  His teams made the Frozen Four seven times during that period. GM Hextall went out on a limb on this one, but sometimes those are the moves which are most effective and produce results.
  • Flyer fans don’t like missing the playoffs and the Flyers haven’t done it in back to back seasons in over 20 years. It may be 21, sorry.
  • They were less than .500 against the Metro Division last season, and most other division rivals have improved. The bar has been raised.
  • They need better years from Sam Gagner and Vincent Lecavalier. Both have been disappointing, and there isn’t much on this roster after Claude Giroux, Wayne Simmonds, and Jakub Voracek.

Why the Flyers will win the Stanley Cup:

If Hakstol can bring his magic to this team, they will have one of the most dynamic front-line pairings. A lot of youngsters are going to have to perform in a hurry to make it happen, though.

Why the Flyers won’t win the Stanley Cup:

They have too much tied up in a mediocre defense led by 38-year-old Mark Streit. They lack balanced scoring; if you stop the top line then they are dead in the water. Diversity, diversity, diversity.

Three Things We Like About You:

  1. We really like that you hired a new, pretty much unknown coach. It will either blow up in your face, or improve the team. Still, it took guts to do it.
  2. You took Sam Gagner off our hands even though we had to take Pronger’s contract, it was worth it. He just never took the scoring role to heart. Good luck with him.
  3. Mouth-watering Philly Cheese Steaks are a thing of beauty. A long, crusty roll filled with thinly sliced sautéed ribeye beef and melted cheese…what is there not to like?

Three Things We Don’t Like About You:

  1. You gave us Chris Pronger’s contract… how generous of you!
  2. The fans. These are the people who booed Santa Claus and an anti-cancer PSA. They are almost as arrogant as New Yorkers, but they keep trying.
  3. For a team that we really have no rivalry with, it’s still easy to not like you. You sign older players only to discard them when you’re done. SEE # 1.

Prediction: They have solid goaltending and a couple of proven stars on offense.  That is a lot more than some teams can say. They are still a dark horse at best to make the playoffs. and you know that won’t go over well with their high maintenance fans. Other teams in the division improved, and they still have problems, mostly with that overpaid defense.

Next: Arizona Coyotes: Looking Ahead Three Years From Now

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