The Broad Street Blog

This is going to be a fun series to watch, and that is not just because of the Ovechkin factor. Both of these teams are young, fast and physical.

By finishing in last place last year, the Flyers missed the playoffs for the first time in 11 years. In the offseason, GM Paul Holmgren made some aggressive moves to rebuild the team. They got faster with the addition of Danny Briere They now have the leadership they were lacking with the signings of Kimmo Timonen and Jason Smith. They have also had breakout seasons from young players like Mike Richards, Jeff Carter, RJ Umberger, and Braydon Coburn.

For the Capitals, nobody expected them to make the playoffs this year. In fact, they lost 15 out of their first 21 games. But after a coaching change, this team has charged back. Alexander Ovechkin is putting up numbers that the NHL hasn’t seen in more than a decade. If he’s not named league, MVP, I don’t know who would be. Even though Ovechkin has put many of the Capitals points, they are not one trick ponies. You still have Alexander Semin, rookie Nicklas Backstrom, Victor Kozlov, Sergei Fedorov. Oh yeah, goaltender Christobal Huet has done nothing but win since his arrival in Washington.

Head to Head Comparison:

Flyers

Player to Watch
Mike Richards - This has been the breakout season that Flyers management has been waiting for since drafting Richards in 2003. He was named team MVP by his teammates and has been a force to be reckoned with. This guy does everything, scores goals even strength, is matched defensively with the best players on the other team, scores goals shorthanded, and quarterbacks the Power Play. He is a leader on and off the ice, and has showed those qualities since his rookie year. Everyone keeps talking about how Crosby is the next Gretzky/Lemieux, well this guy is the next Steve Yzerman. He does his job, does it well, and just leads his team. Chances are he will be called upon to match up defensively against Ovechkin and limit his impact on the series.

Depth
The Flyers have a very deep lineup and have the ability to roll 3 solid lines that all can be a threat to score. They have a very balanced attack and get scoring from several different players. The Flyers have seven players with at least 20 goals or more this season and two of them had 30 or more. The youth of this team has really come into it’s own this season. In the past, the team went after veterans, many of whom were past their prime. Now, the team average age is 28, with many of the key impact players being younger than 25. Mike Richards, who is was the team’s leading scorer in the regular season with 75 points, is 23. Braydon Coburn who led the team with a +17 is also 23.

Goaltending
Flyers goaltender Martin Biron has something to prove. This is his seventh NHL season and has yet to play in a playoff game. He also wants to prove that he should be the starting goaltender for this team. Earlier this season, Biron was relegated to the bench while Antero Nittymaki was starting games. In some games this year, Biron let up some back-breaking goals. He was to show that when the pressure is on, he can rise to the challenge.

Role Players
Every winning team has its role players. For the Flyers, one of the main role players is Riley Cote. What makes Cote a great role player is that fact that he understands his role on the team, and does not try to do more than what he is asked to do. He is a disciplined player, unlike players like Ben Eager and Jim Vandermeer, does not leave his position to make a hit, and knows when he needs to drop the gloves. Along with Cote, are two veterans, Jim Dowd and Sami Kapenen. Dowd who is 39, knows that his role is to be that of a checker and energy guy. He also led the team in faceoffs. But he can score a clutch goal from time to time. Sami Kapenen is a buzz saw out on the ice and has no problem hitting someone who is much bigger than he is. He does what the team asks of him and has even been known to play as a defenseman when the team needed it. When this trio is out on the ice, they can give the other team fits. They have shown the ability to put a great deal of offensive pressure on a team who doesn’t see it coming because they are focusing on players like Briere, Richards, or Carter.

Capitals

Player to Watch
Christobal Huet - I know, I know, you were expecting me to take the easy road and pick Ovechkin, but I’m not. Everyone was surprised a bit when Montreal General Manager Bob Gainey traded away his starting goaltender to go with rookie goaltender Carey Price. Everyone was taken by an even bigger surprise when Washington General Manager George McPhee picked up another starting goaltender at the trade deadline, when he already had one. Olaf Kolzig has been with the Capitals since he was drafted in 1989. He has been the starting goaltender for as long as I can remember. Well, since his arrival in Washington, all Huet has done is win, he has 11 wins in 13 games in a Capitals jersey. In his career, Huet has faced the Flyers 5 times, all with the Montreal Canadiens, and has won three. It will be Huet that will need to fend off the balanced Philly attack in order to give his team a chance to win.

Star Power
There is no doubt that the Capitals have star power. There is also no doubt in my mind that Alexander Ovechkin is the best player in the NHL. It should be his face plastered all over NHL media, not Crosby’s, but that is a conversation for another time. Many of the Capitals fans are talking about how the Flyers will probably try to take out Ovechkin early in the series, so they won’t have to deal with him. This can’t be further from the truth. Unlike Crosby, you can’t rattle Ovechkin by playing a physical game against him. What makes him so great is that he’ll beat you with skill, he’ll beat you with speed, and he’ll beat you physically. I love watching this guy play and have a great deal of respect for him. I know that people may find it hard to believe that a Flyers Fan is saying that, but it’s true. Not to be forgotten, the Capitals also picked up Sergei Fedorov at the trade deadline. Even at the age of 38, he can still play. That gives the Capitals a huge 1-2 punch on offense.

Youth
Like the Flyers this team has an average age of 28. And like the Flyers, a lot of their production is coming from the young guns on the team. Ovechkin leads the team in both goals and points. In fact he leads every player in the NHL in those categories. And he is only 22 years old. Right behind him on the Capitals is 20 year old rookie Nicklas Backstrom, who is second on the team in points and second among rookies in the same category.

Goaltending
Like Biron, Capitals goaltender Christobal Huet also has something to prove. He lost his starting job in Montreal to Carey Price, then was traded away on deadline day. You can’t tell me that in the back of his head he isn’t hoping to face the Canadiens in the playoffs and show them they backed the wrong horse.

07-08 Season Series
The Flyers and Capitals split the 4 regular season games that were played this year.

Tags:   Biron · Capitals · Coburn · Federov · Flyers · Huet · Ovechkin · RichardsNo Comments