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These aren't your father's Flyers Print
Features
Written by Brett Friedlander   
Saturday, May 29, 2010 01:26
When you think of the New York Yankees, you think of the Bronx Bombers with an intimidating lineup full of heavy hitters. When you think of the Los Angels Lakers, it’s the glitz and glamour of Showtime.

Then there’s the Philadelphia Flyers.

Since their glory days of the 1970s, they’ve been known as the toughest team on ice – a rough-and-tumble group of Broad Street Bullies with about as much finesse as a bull in a China shop.

That changed dramatically last December 4, when general manager Paul Holmgren, one of the original Bullies, decided that a change was in order – and not just a symbolic change behind the bench.

By firing coach John Stevens and replacing him with Peter Laviolette, Holmgren helped change the entire philosophy of the franchise.

Suddenly the punishing, physical style that has always been the Flyers’ trademark went out the window and was replaced by an aggressive forechecking style that emphasized speed, skating and – gasp – discipline.

Though the transformation didn’t exactly fit the image of the team or the city it represents, it turned out to be just the right fit for the personnel currently wearing the Orange and Black.

“I’m sure (Holmgren) had a tough decision to make, and I’m sure at times questioned it. But it certainly was the right move,” veteran defenseman Chris Pronger said. “The first few weeks with Peter were tough. Obviously, with us learning a new system and us being in a funk and not playing very well … there was a lot of a sleepless nights, I’m sure.

“But once we started kind of turning that corner, understand the system, buy into the system, buy into what Peter was selling, you started to see the team kind of take shape and players start to take form and play better.”

It took about 10 games for the changes to begin taking hold. Even then, it would have been impossible to imagine the transformation these new Flyers were about to undergo.

They stood 14th in the Eastern Conference when Laviolette took over. In the weeks that followed, they slowly but steadily rose in the standings as they began to get healthy, gain confidence and adapt to a style of play that helped Laviolette’s old team – the Carolina Hurricanes – skate away with an unlikely Stanley Cup in 2006.
Another unexpected piece was added to the puzzle when the Flyers picked up another reject off the Carolina scrap heap, journeyman goalie Michael Leighton.

Fitting in perfectly behind a deep, veteran defense led by Pronger, Matt Carle and Kimmo Timonen, Leighton took advantage of his first extended opportunity after a season-ending injury to No. 1 goalie Ray Emery. The Flyers' surge continued even after Leighton himself was sidelined with a late-season injury.

They only qualified for the playoffs on the final day of the regular season, when backup goalie Brian Boucher beat the New York Rangers in a shootout.

The story has only gotten more incredible from there.

First came an opening-round upset of the second-seeded New Jersey Devils. Then after losing the first two games of their second-round series against the Boston Bruins – and losing Boucher to injury – the Flyers came back behind Leighton to become only the third team in NHL history to successfully rally from a 3-0 series deficit.

The roll continued with an easy dismissal of the equally surprising Montreal Canadiens in the Eastern Conference Finals, putting the new-look Flyers within grasp of the most improbable Cup title in recent memory.

Not that Leighton is feeling the pressure.

“Obviously, I've been on highs and I've been on lows,” he said during the pre-Finals media day. “Maybe that's why I'm not that nervous and not trying to think about things too much. I'm obviously happy with where I am and proud of where I am, but I've got four more games to go.”

In order to get those wins, Philadelphia is going to have to find a way to beat a team that is something of a mirror image of itself – with a lot more offensive firepower at its disposal.

To pull it off, the Flyers will have to continue to play strong defense, be opportune on offense and stay true to the aggressive philosophy that is rapidly becoming the new image of their proud, storied franchise.

“It’s obviously an effective system,” captain Mike Richards said of Laviolette’s preferred style of play. “It’s pressure all over the ice. And you need to be in great shape to do it. So since he’s taken over, he’s got us in a lot better shape and obviously playing a system that we have success with.”

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