Nothing is what it seems. Anything and everything are subject to change. Expectations and surprises may mimic each other.
Thats one way to look at Flyers training camp, which opens in full Saturday morning at Skate Zone as veterans join the rookies on ice for the first time.
There will be no less than seven new faces on the roster. There could be more. Or less.
This is the biggest Flyers grab bag of change from one season to another since entering 2007-08 after the Flyers had finished their worst season in franchise history (06-07) and general manager Paul Holmgren tore the team apart.
Yet, if you think for a minute that coach Peter Laviolette is worried, think again. Hes brimming with excitement over the possibilities that radical change can bring a hockey club.
Look what happened, Laviolette said, sitting back in his office chair. Ville Leino hits free agency. Dan Carcillo and Darroll Powe leave. Theres lots of change. Trades Mike Richards and Jeff Carter.
Change can beyou can look at it two ways. Its new and adventurous. There is an uncertainty that goes with it. Everyone around here feels we have a good team and picked up some good pieces starting from the goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov out.
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Adding to the defense and moving up front. And that is really exciting. You go into camp with excitement of having new players. I had players in here and they are really excited. Its a fresh start for them.
Bigger? Yes. Better or worse?
Different, general manager Paul Holmgren said repeatedly over the summer.
When Laviolette took over in December of 2009, he didnt have the benefit of a training camp. He plunged headfirst into the schedule with the Flyers in 29th place in the standings.
Danny Briere, someone who can frame something from the past and apply its relevance to the present, was here then. Briere believes that the Flyers start to 2010-11 shares a common denominator with Laviolettes first months here.
The one thing that scares me when you bring in a bunch of new playersand we saw this a few years agois how long does it take to jell? Briere said. That is the only thing. Hopefully, it doesnt take us as long as two years ago where we have to make the playoffs on the last day of the season.
Laviolette plans to ease the transition of new faces by simply doing what hes done before. He will pair guys who have played with each other before and then add a new player to the line.
For instance: The Flyers top line for much of the past two seasons was Briere centering Leino and Scott Hartnell. Leino is in Buffalo now. So, Hartnell will remain on the line and Laviolette plans to start camp with free-agent signee Jaromir Jagr in Leinos spot.
His plan is to do that throughout the lineup. But it could change, too.
Laviolette does have one reservation across the board during the opening week of full camp.
When you get traded to a team, it takes time to find your way and see where you fit, he said. We have to collectively not try to dance our way around here. We have to come in here and grab hold and become part of the fabric as quick as we can. Right away.
There is a lot of change. You cant come in and see how you blend in ... The players already here, players who are new, this is our team. This is the Philadelphia Flyers. Now, we need to go to work.
Some things are a given. Bryzgalov will be the starting goalie.
Other things are not so obvious. Where does Brayden Schenn fit? Is Max Talbot better on the wing or at center? That could be impacted also if Sean Couturier were to emerge and make the roster instead of going back to junior.
To do that, he has to surpass Schenn. One of them wont be here when camp ends.
Jagr and Michael Nylander had the kind of chemistry in Washington and New York some years ago that faintly reminded people of Jagr with Mario Lemieux and Ron Francis in Pittsburgh. That was a long time ago but
Can Nylander do what Bill Guerin could not? Guerin had a tryout last fall and didnt make the team. Adam Mair is on a tryout, as well. The odds are stacked against both making the roster.
There is always opportunity, Laviolette said. Even last year, you could put our lines together based on the run we had before and personnel we had in place. You could say that this was probably our team. But that was not to say someone could have come in and really put pressure on to make a case for themselves making our club.
That opportunity is presented year after year for players to come in and wow somebody and show they can play at this level. But I do think, more so than in years past, there will be opportunity for players to come in and make it.
A lot of the opportunity, Laviolette predicts, will come in the form of moving up or down on lines, adding or subtracting minutes and roles on special teams.
Players such as Claude Giroux and James van Riemsdykthe two new faces of the franchise are expected to earn more minutes everywhere. That, of course, depends on how they look in camp.
Lots of line bumping, Laviolette predicted. Are you going to play 18 minutes or 14 minutes? Fourteen minutes or nine minutes? That should make for a competitive camp and ultimately, a competitive year. That should help guys bring out the best in each other, too.
Where do Jakub Voracek and Wayne Simmonds fit? Can Matt Read upstage Andreas Nodl? Is Zac Rinaldo a solid replacement for Carcillo or should that 13th forward spot go to someone else?
On defense, the pairs wont change once newly-named captain Chris Pronger is healthy and playing. His active participation in camp is not expected until near the end.
Andreas Lilja, signed in free agency to replace Sean ODonnell, will be paired initially with Andrej Meszaros.
Which raises this question, between Oskars Bartulis and Matt Walker, who is the seventh defenseman? Walker physically transformed himself over the summer.
Also, can any youngster, such as Erik Gustafsson, grab the seventh spot over them?
Training camp will be used for putting things in place, Laviolette said. By the end of camp, it wont be perfect, but hopefully it will be a really good foundation of what we have to do and where we need to be at.
We should enter the season with a good understanding of what we need to do and then continue to build on it.
E-mail Tim Panaccio at tpanotch@comcast.net.