The middle of November in the marathon that is the NHL season usually is a time for honoring the games past (i.e. the Hall of Fame Induction in Toronto), beginning the process of evaluating where your team is settling in regarding strengths and weaknesses, and looking for league wide issues and trends that appear to be developing. Without further adieu, lets spend this weeks Jacksons Five doing a little of all of that.
Hail to Howe
Most who followed his career wondered why it took so long, but Mark Howes induction into Hockeys Hall of Fame this week was still very special. His career numbers alone were reason enough for being included with the sports very best, but to watch how the converted winger completely mastered the position of defense made it a no-brainer.
Howe spent a decade in the orange and black and certainly more than made an impact. In fact, even with a franchise as rich in success as the Flyers, when the question comes up as to the best defenseman in team history, there is hardly any hesitation in proclaiming Howe as numero uno. Thats saying something. The Flyers have been around well over 40 years and have won a lot more than they have lost. That means there have been a lot of great players. Yet, there really is no argument. Howe has been the best blue liner.
And he carries himself with grace and class. Congratulations, Mark! This honor is long overdue and richly deserved.
Trap gate
Last weeks intrigue brought on when the Flyers refused to move the puck up ice against the trapping Tampa Bay Lightning is no small deal. It brought to light the seemingly ongoing battle that rages in hockey. Does a coach instruct his team to try and score goals to win? Or does he try to sit back and not allow goals and bank on turnovers from the opposition to squeeze out some scoring opportunities to win?
When two attacking teams go at it, hockey is a thrilling combination of speed, grit and passion. Great skill is on display. Play usually gets more physical. Goaltenders are called upon to make spectacular saves. The crowd will invariably be fully involved.
When teams sit back and trap, hockey can get quite tedious. Most of the play is in the neutral zone and it consists of players getting smothered with little to no room to get creative. There are fewer shots and chances. Theres usually less physicality. The crowd has trouble finding reasons to get excited.
NHL
One might be able to understand why less talented teams would try to slow things down with a trapping style. Its simply a way of making any talent disadvantage have a smaller impact on the game. Hang close and try to sneak away with a win. Coaches are paid to get wins so many arent worried about entertainment value.
However, this should not apply to Guy Boucher, whose Lightning boast some of the most talented offensive players in the NHL with the likes of Steven Stamkos, Martin St. Louis and Vincent Lecavalier. To shackle talented players like this is simply not in the best interest of our sport. Last weeks game brought this point to light.
As the leagues governors and general managers hold meetings over the next month, lets hope they can develop some ideas to try and force coaches to strategize to win by outscoring the opposition as opposed to sitting back and putting everybody to sleep.
Yes, its about winning. But we are in the entertainment business, too.
Flyers' PK picking up
A major ingredient in the Flyers 5-0-2 run over the last couple of weeks has been the effectiveness of the penalty killing unit. Over the seven-game stretch, the Flyers have killed off 30 of 31 opposition power plays, while scoring three shorthanded goals. Doing the math, the club is plus-2 on the penalty kill over those seven games.
Making it even more impressive is the fact that two rookies are a huge part of the unit. Sean Couturier and Matt Read have each scored shorthanded goals during the run and their ability to dissect plays and disrupt enemy offensive rushes has been immense.
After allowing 10 power-play goals in their first 10 games, they have allowed but one in their last seven contests. That is quite a turnaround.
Rinaldo reality
Zac Rinaldo in an interesting study. He has the potential to be a very effective third or fourth line energy player. He certainly has the energy, attitude, courage and ability necessary to contribute at the NHL level. If only the officials would let him.
It seems due to his reputation built with hundreds of penalty minutes at the junior level and last season in the American Hockey League, officials are paying particular attention to the 21-year-old cannon ball. There have been at least three instances already this season, when Rinaldo has thrown thundering, but clean, body checks, but still wound up in the penalty box.
The fact is, despite being listed at 169 pounds, Rinaldo has the ability to absolutely rock opponents with his hits. Its possible the referees look at this and just cant quite fathom a small player being able to send much bigger individuals flying without something being illegal about it. In reality, this kid just has the knack for big hits. I hope hes allowed to use it without ending up in the penalty box unless he actually does commit an infraction.
With all of the justifiable focus on player safety these days, we still cant take the physical part of the game away. The game would not be the same.
Bryz is back
Ilya Bryzgalovs first six weeks as the No. 1 goaltender in Philadelphia have certainly been a roller coaster ride. Right now, the ride is clearly back on the upswing. Bryz has found his way out of the woods with a compass as he said. And hes wandered into a special place.
The veteran netminder has gone 4-0-1 in his last five starts, stopping 139 of 148 shots in the process for a sparkling .939 save percentage. Hes played well in games where hes been busy (33 saves vs. Columbus and 31 saves in Florida) and hes been solid when facing less rubber (24 stops vs. Carolina, 22 in Tampa). His adventures in puck handling are becoming more infrequent.
In short, Bryzgalov has settled in. Now, well see if he can make the remainder of the season less like an amusement park ride, and more like just getting down to business.
It will be a big week for Bryzgalov as he faces his former team, the Phoenix Coyotes. That should bring plenty of excitement to Thursday nights match at the Wells Fargo Center. Then, the Flyers travel to Winnipeg to play a game for the first time in more than 15 years. So, an interesting week ahead as the Flyers try to maintain their place near the top of the Atlantic Division.
E-mail Jim Jackson at jjackson@comcastsportsnet.com