Yes, I know this is late, but the Flyers have only played one game so far, and they've got 81 to go because the players and owners have decided to stop being idiots after last season. Now, for your quickie Flyers primer.
Who's in? Ray Emery-G, Vincent Lecavalier-F, and Mark Streit-D.
Who's out? Danny Briere-F, and Ilya Bryzgalov-G.
Do I think these moves help or hurt the team? I think they help the team, Streit was desperately needed for depth with the defensemen and Lecavalier, although he is on the wrong side of 30, he still helps the Flyers tremendously with goal scoring and he is essentially taking Briere's spot. Briere I think was a good player, but he lacked size, and was not worth the money the Flyers were paying him. Then, with Bryz, he was just a distraction for the team and to ship him out was the right move. Emery being brought in for a second stint is a nice addition, especially after his stellar season with the Blackhawks last season.
What else is different? Well, there was realignment which took place over the offseason which decreased the number of divisions to 2, and added a team to the Eastern conference and subtracted a team from the Western conference. The basic gist of it is this. Detroit and Columbus moved to the Eastern conference and Winnipeg moved to the Western conference. The divisions are now called the Metropolitan and Atlantic in the Eastern conference. The Western conference divisions are the Central and the Pacific. Philly is in the Metropolitan conference along with all three New York teams, Pittsburgh, Washington, Columbus and Carolina.
Now, what else to expect in the 2013-14 season? The Olympics are in play this season, so the season is extended by three weeks. The season ends April 13, and the Stanley Cup Final will end in mid June. Also don't expect players to take off their helmets at all during fights. This is a preventitive measure so players get less concussions supposedly. There is also "hybrid" icing, which essentially means that when there is icing, the player who reaches the puck drop circle first is awarded the icing instead of whomever touches the puck. Finally, expect more goals as goalie pads have been forced to be smaller.
What's your prediction for the Flyers? Fourth in Metropolitan division, behind New York Rangers, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Washington Capitals in that order. Flyers sneak into playoffs as 7th seed.
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