The Fifth Liners

Today it was announced who has been nominated for the Hart Memorial Trophy, the three players considered to be the elite players of the NHL this season are as follows. Sidney Crosby ( Pittsburgh Penguins )  Ryan Getzlaf ( Anaheim Ducks ) Claude Giroux ( Philadelphia Flyers ) So which one of these fine players will be rewarded for the efforts? On paper it would appear to be Sidney Crosby who will walk away with the main price because he has had a fine regular season where he lead the league in point scoring. But however, his play off form has been fine to materialize and it was until last nights 2-0 over the New York Rangers that he finally scored his first play off goal. But year in and year out this man is nominated and feels like a far too safer bet- don't get me wrong I am not saying he doesn't deserve to be here, just it is becoming common. Personally I would prefer to see Ryan Getzlaf rewarded for his continually excellent form for Anaheim and this season in ...

It's that time of year.  Last week, a loss in overtime meant that you only took one point. This week it's a game lost that could see your team one step closer to elimination from the playoffs. 14 teams didn't even make it this far. Nobody expected in October that the Toronto Maple Leafs wouldn't be making a post-season appearance. Likewise nobody would have expected injury-ravaged Detroit to get as far as they have. Holding into a wildcard place while dressing half their AHL affiliate to replace experienced superstars. Some teams have cruised to the playoffs, as expected while other teams have surprised us all. Who would have thought that the Colorado Avalanche would have made it so easily? The Flyers had a dreadful start, but captain Claude Giroux turned the ship around. Now comes the NHL.com Bracket Challenge. A time for myself and Alex to go head to head. His insane hockey knowledge against my knack for predictions (dumb luck). Last season I predicted ...

Earlier this year I wrote a piece which posed the question ' What's Going On With Philly?' and this was one thing everyone in the city of brotherly love was pondering! To begin this season, the Philadelphia Flyers seemed to be in free fall with only one win from a possible nine games and sat 15th overall in the Eastern Conference- only the Buffalo Sabres seemed to be having a worse time. But since sacking head coach Peter Laviolette in October, new coach Craig Berube has reignited the competitive flames of Philly and currently they have surged up the table to now lie 8th overall in the East with a noteworthy 16 wins to their name and now an outside chance of a play-off appearance- now who would have predicted that? But what has been the kick starter in this dramatic come back? Well the answer points to one man who initially was label as the key problem... Claude Giroux! Earlier this year the Flyers captain seemed to be going through an almighty crisis and not helped by ...

The Philadelphia Flyers, to put it bluntly, aren't flying. In fact it's hard not to notice how badly the team is performing this season. Only Buffalo sits below the Flyers in the league. Many fingers across the internet are starting to point at Flyers captain Claude Giroux . Last season Giroux averaged a point per game, even more the season before that. So far this season? After 15 games, he's contributed seven points. All from assists. There's no doubt that assists are important, but the Flyers have scored the fewest goals in the league so far. The top five teams' first lines are averaging 15 goals each, while the Flyers' front line has scored seven. Now it's hard to compare the best teams in the league with Philadelphia, a team still being rebuilt, but Giroux has said this season that the Flyers are going to challenge for the Stanley Cup. If that's really going to happen, the Flyers are going to need a lot more goals. This is the thing. Gir...

Mike's question this week focuses on our friends in the city of brotherly love, as it was asked "The Flyers glory days seem to be long gone. What can they do to be a serious cup threat again?" Well the answer to this one will be require some serious thought- right let's go to work! The Philadelphia Flyers are a team with a famous history with the 'Broad Street Bullies' team including Bobby Clarke, Dave Schultz, Joe Kelly and Bernie Parent which brought them back to back Stanley Cups in 1975 & 1976, to the Eric Lindros years from 92 to 98 where he continually led the league in scoring. Their last cup final appearence came back in 2010 where they were narrowly beaten in six games by the Chicago Blackhawks. But last season was one to forget for the men in orange as they finished fourth in the Atlantic Division and 10 in the Eastern Conference, missing the playoffs for only the ninth time in their history! Also things werent helped by the poor net minding ...

Philadelphia Flyers captain Claude Giroux will be sitting out for the next month or so after a golf club shattered and damaged some of the tendons in his index finger. This means he will likely miss the Flyer's summer training camp.  Recovery is expected to take five to six weeks. This will be a concern to the Flyers faithful as the team's first regular season game is in less than seven weeks.  Surgery was reported to have went well and we hope to see Giroux back on the ice soon. Mostly cos he's the Flyers' only dependable forward.