Blackhawks a welcomed challenge for Flyers

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Sometimesnot oftenthe NHL schedule actually presents a favor to a losing coach. It happens every now and then.

After falling to the No. 1-seeded Rangers in Mondays Winter Classic, and realizing that right now, the team on Broadway has their number this season, it would be easy for the Flyers to have a major letdown for the next game.

Especially if that next game were against, say, the New York Islanders.

Fortunately for Peter Laviolettes club, next up on Thursday are the Chicago Blackhawks, the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference, tied with the Rangers for the best record in the league with 52 points.

Push aside the three losses to the Rangers and tell yourself this is one of those measuring sticks against the West and a chance to feel good about yourselves heading into the weekend.

Laviolette doesnt fully see it that way.

The fact that sometimes when you do play a big team like Pittsburgh, New York or Chicago, within the year, theyre big teams, I think it does dial-in people a bit quicker to make sure were ready to play and we dont slip, he said.

What Ive said about measuring sticks is that sometimes teams that havent had the year they want or are not where they wanted to be, like if we had won that Winter Classic, we would have been first place in the Eastern Conference.

I dont know when two first-place teams play if you use it as a measuring stick. I never really buy into that. What I think you get is a really good hockey game. Measuring sticks for me were a couple years ago when we were in 13th place and starting to climb up the ladder to make the playoffs.

I like our team. I like a lot of things weve done this year. I certainly hope were excited to play the Chicago Blackhawks because theyre having an excellent year.

That said, Laviolette admitted concern over the Rangers being 3-0 against him this season.

Its an alarm for me because its six points that have gone their way and six points that havent gone our way, he said.

As youre trying to navigate the 82-game season, your objective is to finish first in your division and your conference and finish first overall.

Those six points, you look at it and say, I wonder if that will bite us down the road?

Chicago presents a formidable challenge to the Flyers even though this is a different group of players from the team that won the Stanley Cup two years ago.

The Hawks have four players among the top 22 scoring leaders in the NHL and surprisingly, are led by not Jonathan Toews or Patrick Kane or Patrick Sharp, but by very-soon-to-be-33-year-old Marian Hossa, who has 41 pointsfive behind Claude Giroux.

Hes a top big-time player in the NHL for the last decade, Jakub Voracek said. Im not surprised hes on top of their scoring list. I know him a little bit. Hes a great guy. He does his work on and off the ice and is an all-around player.

Laviolette saw a lot of Hossa when he was coaching in Carolina and Hossa was playing in Atlanta.

Hes one of those guys who is extremely dangerous because he is a combination of speed and skill, Laviolette said. He finds opportunities from his speed. He has the skill to cash in. He draws a lot of attentionyou have to make sure you defend well.
The Jagr situation
The bigger issue, right now for the Flyers is: what does Laviolette do for the next three to five games without Jaromir Jagr?

Jagr said he has a calf injury on Monday, suffered last week against Pittsburgh. General manager Paul Holmgren, perhaps protecting his player from a slash, announced Jagr has a groin pull and will miss seven to 10 days.

The good news? Outside of the Blackhawks, the Flyers play all Eastern Conference cellar-dwellers over the next 10 days, including Ottawa, Carolina and the Islanders.

Voracek looked good filling in for Jagr on the right side against the Rangers, but Laviolette also used James van Riemsdyk, who the coaching staff is determined to get going.
The JVR situation
James van Riemsdyks inconsistent play and his mysterious injuries (could it be something mental?) has people perplexed right now.

Laviolette seemed inclined to give JVR more opportunity there.

I thought he showed some jump out there, Laviolette said. It was more noticeable in his game.

JVR said his coach has been very communicative with him this season about his many issues. He again would not talk about what may or may not be bothering him from an injury standpoint.

Ive had a lot of difficult times with injuries, he said. Just when you start to feel really good out there and some chemistry comes, you get some curveballs thrown your way, he said. Im not too worried about that.

Those curveballs concern line changes.

Then again, given van Riemsdyks wildly inconsistent play, it shouldnt surprise hes been bounced around the lineup.
E-mail Tim Panaccio at tpanotch@comcast.net

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