Goaltending masks other issues for Flyers

Mike Richards - photo courtesy of  Bridget Samuels

By John McMullen

PHILADELPHIA (The Phanatic Magazine) -  Forget the goaltending, I'll leave just enough rope for the Peter Laviolette apologists to hang themselves on that issue.

In fact, jump on all the swords you want. Drink all the orange Kool-Aid in the world, just understand Lavy handles goaltenders about as astutely as Osama bin Laden handles Navy Seals creeping up the stairs.

And that's certainly a major reason why the Flyers' season suffered a "double-tap" on Friday in Boston when the Bruins completed the sweep with a 5-1 win.

As lopsided as it was, however, I can't help thinking Chris Pronger would have made a difference.

Remember, the Flyers were down 3-2 to a vastly inferior Sabres team when the big defenseman returned from a hand injury to help the team avoid elimination twice. Pronger clearly wasn't healthy against Buffalo and unable to take his normal spot as the sniper up top of the power-play but his presence and cool demeanor seemed to rub off on a jittery bunch.

Another injury in Game 1 against the Bruins ended Pronger's season. In hindsight the Flyers could have stopped playing then also ... some might say they did.

It would take Sterling Archer and the entire gang at ISIS to get real information from the Flyers regarding Pronger's latest setback, although whispers persist it is a herniated disc in his back, a tricky injury to say the least.

Given the gap between the three-headed monster of Bob, Boosh and Leighton versus Tim Thomas, it's probably pie-in-the-sky type stuff to think that Pronger could have turned this debacle around but even Laviolette considered it.

"You see the impact a guy like [Zdeno] Chara has on the other side," the Flyers coach said. "You don't have your big guy in there who plays the same style and the same way, you miss him."

Translation -- leadership was lacking when Pronger went down.

So why is Mike Richards the captain of this team?

I realize it's nice to have a homegrown young star as the face of the franchise instead of the highly-paid veteran mercenary.

But if one has the cachet to lead people and other doesn't, the answer should be simple. Put it this way, if Derek Jeter went to the Tampa Bay Rays, you really think the clubhouse would be looking to Evan Longoria in tough times?

Everyone already knows Pronger is the real leader of the Flyers but the room is divided. I've always felt Pronger was the cranky vet always questioning the young leader and the hopes of making him better.

It hasn't worked so why not cut the cancer out?

The Flyers are Ed Snider's baby so changes will be made. Richards along with Jeff Carter were thought to be the building blocks and given massive contracts. Now, Claude Giroux and James van Riemsdyk seem to have bigger ceilings as players.

Carter is the already the favorite whipping boy of the fans, especially when the postseason starts but Richards' personality may be the bigger problem.

Moving him is easier said than done in a salary cap world but 36 years tells you nothing is easy when chasing the Stanley Cup.