Around the Rink: Flyers Emergency edition

Courtesy of The Province

by Bob Herpen
Phanatic Hockey Editor 

Good morning and welcome to the sixth year of my wide-ranging, semi-regular column on the broader world of hockey.

The lead in my first installment this season is Craig Berube's current six-day war. When your team is staring down the barrel of a franchise-worst 1-7-0 start with a league-worst 11 goals in eight games, dipping into the bunker mentality might be the best course of action for this proud franchise's new head coach.

What's known is, "Chief" was a player who got by for parts of 17 seasons on grit, guts, guile and the speed of his fists more than any other skill. When one steps behind the bench, though, those qualities can only provide the basis for a smarter, more detailed approach to deal with 23 different personalities and skill sets, all of which are in crisis mode.

We know he can work hard, but can he work smart?

What's also known is that Berube has only had fleeting chances to properly introduce himself to his roster, and this strange break in the schedule is his own personal proving ground, the only significant space until the Olympic Break in which he'll have to lay the groundwork for whatever obstacles lay ahead.

The primary and most engaging sortie Berube will make is restoring Claude Giroux to a reasonable facsimile of the player he was two years ago, and the player the organization has expected him to be.

Speaking to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette prior to Thursday's 4-1 loss to the Penguins, the 24-year-old came up with a pair of quotes which would cause coaching staffs not mired in an epic struggle to wring their hands and reflexively pull their collar away from their neck.

Flyers captain Claude Giroux, on facing Penguins tonight. "I’m guessing we’ll be ready to go. This could be a turning point of the year."
— Dave Molinari (@MolinariPG) October 17, 2013

Giroux, on his poor start: "I always put pressure on myself. I criticize myself a lot, even when it’s going well. That’s nothing new for me"
— Dave Molinari (@MolinariPG) October 17, 2013

It's been stated previously in Philadelphia papers that confidence has been an issue for the young star and leader, and if the above passage wasn't just about selling the fans of the opposing club a bill of goods, Berube has a major problem on his hands.

That doesn't sound anything like the man who demanded Peter Laviolette give him the first shift of the clinching Game 6 against the Penguins 18 months ago. That sounds like a player already at a loss about how to motivate himself and his teammates, one looking broadly and philosophically at issues that require a steadier hand -- one which has lost and knew how to grow from those defeats. There is no one on the roster who has crawled through the muck and come out clean on the other side.

Giroux went scoreless in his first five games this season, but has rebounded to post a single assist in each of the last three. Is his recovery from that freak golf-club splitting accident a factor? You don't have to read between the lines. Yes, it is.

The fact that Flyers often defy medical timetables and recover roughly one-to-two weeks ahead of previously-established guidelines is the problem here. If Giroux is not the bankable star, he's not rushed back at the precise moment doctors can clear him; fully healed, Giroux himself then won't permit any doubt about the healing process affecting his shooting, passing and stick-handling impede his progress.

If Giroux can't score, if he can't be the motor that drives the offensive engine, then what does that mean for the rest of the roster that hasn't been able to solve their woes? Giroux is the type of leader whose skill and numbers point the way. Stripped of that, especially at such a young age, and you have to find ways to encourage him to develop leadership skills that aren't stats-based.

It's obvious already in the post-game, that Giroux badly needs the latter. He does not stand firm, his voice wavers and is not strong. When he's lost for answers, you know it. You don't get the sense that he's angry more than confused. 

That's where Berube, and more to the point, his ability as instructor and delegator of responsibility will be key. Forget about the what and how of on-ice drilling during the break. If Berube, behind closed doors, is the kind of old-school motivator that is of the "do or do not, there is no try" mold, the one who does not waste words or provide much information under questioning, Giroux is sunk.

If Berube is smart, and recognizes that he himself might not be able to relate to the type of player he never was, he'll call upon his coaching staff and other Flyers principals to sit Giroux down and provide guidance.

He can start by summoning Chris Pronger. Pronger's struggles as a #2 overall pick in Hartford early in his career are well-documented, as were his battles to get the perennially-mediocre Blues over the hump, and his sparring with Philadelphia media, along with his current struggle to just be healthy again.

He'll let 500-goal scorer and Hall of Famer Joe Mullen talk about adversity in small-market St. Louis in the 80s, triumph in Calgary and Pittsburgh, and how to deal with the pitfalls along the way. He'll have good cops and assistants in Ian Laperriere and John Paddock -- two men who know something from hard knocks -- for additional counsel regarding their respective rugged paths to a career in the game.

If the in-house counsel fails, nothing wrong with sports psychologists. 

To paraphrase George Clinton, once Giroux's head is freed, his hands will follow. Then, the long-awaited waterfall of offense will trickle down like lifeblood to the rest of the forward lines. 

Holmgren's possible gambit

So you want a trade. Some of you want Sabres sniper Thomas Vanek and are willing to give up two young chips to get him.

Here are two problems with that: idea a) Buffalo, though struggling, is an inter-conference rival and the Flyers front office traditionally finds intra-conference clubs as favored trading partners and b) any trade this early into Berube's coaching tenure runs the risk of messing with the chemistry he's desperately trying to build during this week-long break with only a handful of games under his belt and the roster at his disposal.

Besides, we're not even at the 10-game plateau, the time when 29 other GMs are picking up the phones and not just wasting breath on pleasantries and gauging interest. Past that point, injuries and poor play can be evaluated on a larger scale, so if Holmgren is going to make a move, we should give him until at least Halloween before ramping up the rumors and criticism for failure to act.

Seven years ago, the Flyers began the season with a 1-6-1 record and made a slew of changes to their power structure -- kicking Bob Clarke upstairs, letting Holmgren take the reins after almost 11 years and inserting "good soldier" John Stevens as head coach. Holmgren wheeled and dealed, but the organization as a whole let the 2006-07 season, the franchise worst, progress as it did in hopes that Stevens could guide the younger talent and break his NHL cherry without much pressure.

In 2013, however, the Flyers are coming off a rare Spring without a postseason. A second in a row is simply unacceptable. It is unlikely, mythical "hot seat" or not, that Holmgren will let this year slide into oblivion. His reputation is at stake.

The last, and only Flyers GM to have three non-playoff years on his ledger is Russ Farwell, whose early 90s teams missed out in all four of his campaigns (1990-94).  Farwell, once a genius at the Canadian junior level, didn't carry the burden of old-school Flyerdom and the weight of responsibility as keeper of the flame as Holmgren does. 

Patience is not a virtue shared at the highest levels inside the big building on South Broad Street. Winter is coming. You can take it to the bank that Holmgren has the power and the will to make the changes. Whether they will be the right ones under duress if things don't change quickly, could determine the course of the on-ice product for years to come.


Biron announces retirement

You'd have to look deeply, but Martin Biron's biggest fault when he played in Philadelphia might have been daring to ask for the kind of money he felt he was worth heading into free agency in the Summer of 2009.


All in all, if that's the worst thing you could say about the guy, that's pretty good.

Biron announced his retirement Sunday morning after playing parts of 16 seasons in the NHL. His professional pride unable to bear sitting the rest of the season in the minors, with the Rangers still on the hook for the remainder of his salary.

After thinking about it it with my family, I've decided to retire as a player and move on to a new chapter. Thank you all for your support.
— Martin Biron (@martybiron43) October 20, 2013

Unfortunately, the last snapshot we'll have of the genial 36-year-old Quebec native is of the helpless goaltender posterized by Sharks rookie Tomas Hertl and his between-the-legs and behind-the-back goal to cap a 4-score night in a 9-2 rout of New York earlier this month.

That isn't the way to end a long and fruitful career, with an 0-1-0 record, 7.61 goals-against average and .763 save percentage. Neither was the infamous Game 6 collapse against the Penguins four years back, a 5-3 home loss which ended a first-round series with the Pens and was the last time Biron wore the Orange and Black. 

What should come to mind, at least regarding on-ice pursuits, was the stabilizing force he provided in net as the designated starter from the time he arrived from Buffalo in March of 2007 until his departure for Long Island more than two years later. From the bones of that franchise-worst season, Biron rose to backstop a successful ensuing regular season and the surprising run to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2008.

His only two playoff campaigns came in Philadelphia, and Biron compiled an 11-12 record, 2.87 goals-against average and a pair of shutouts. Impressively, both of those postseason whitewashes were performed on the road, against offensive powerhouses Washington ('08) and Pittsburgh ('09). A season-saving 28-stop performance in the Steel City against the eventual Cup champions which enabled the Flyers to get to that infamous Game 6 was one of the best starts in the club's recent playoff history. 

Biron ended up with a 65-47-19 mark, 2.71 GAA and seven shutouts over 139 regular-season appearances here.  Early in the 2007-08 season, he became the first Flyers goaltender in six years to record back-to-back shutouts, en route to being named the NHL's First Star of the Week  posting a 3-0-0 record, 0.66 goals against average and .982 save percentage. He did it again, blanking the Devils and Pens, in the final two games of the regular season as the club attempted to shore up a playoff berth. 

One can point to any one of a number of small decisions which set the franchise on a certain path to this moment, but if Holmgren didn't favor an image-rehabbing and cheaper Ray Emery in July of 2009, Biron's presence may well have removed any need for and to put a stop to a goalie carousel.