Forty-one games is the halfway point only on paper. In the players minds halfway is the All-Star break. So considering how the last day before vacation usually is the longest day of the year for you, me and millionaire athletes alike, give the Flyers credit for a workmanlike 3-2 win Tuesday night in Florida that sent them into the break with reason to enjoy it.
The Flyers have not had Chris Pronger for 35 games, Brayden Schenn for 18, James van Riemsdyk for 11, Jaromir Jagr for eight, Danny Briere for five, Claude Giroux and Sean Couturier for four and Matt Read for three. And Philadelphia still is three points from the conference lead and just four out of the overall lead.
Peter Laviolette must be practicing something, if not the shootout. Without Pronger, who figured to remain their most essential player, the Flyers are right there with the big boys, and despite currently playing eight rookies, might even be the biggest boys in the league if they had more reliable goaltending.
It gets harder from here, of course. Rookies hit the wall, the injury rate rarely improves, and well see if that 1-4-1 record the Flyers have against the Rangers and Boston combined continues to leave them on a plateau below the teams they will chase for the top seed. But Paul Holmgren has a depth of skilled and fast forwards; assets to trade for a defenseman, and a viable postseason alternative in goal in Sergei Bobrovsky should Bryzgalov continue to struggle.
Considering the Flyers extensive remodeling of their top two lines, Bryzgalovs not unsurprising fidgets during his first year under the hot lights, van Riemsdyks failure to bud as the star the Flyers had reason to expect a second-overall pick to be, plus the loss of the top two centers and a best defensemen with concussions, 29-14-5 is a record for which only a fool wouldnt signed in October.
The Flyers are good and have a chance to get better, practically all you can ask of a team in any late January.
Jay Greenberg covered the Flyers for 14 years for the Daily News and Evening Bulletin. His history of the Flyers, Full Spectrum, was published in 1996. He can be reached at jayg616@aol.com.