Gameday: Philadelphia Flyers vs Columbus Blue Jackets
It’s the first Flyers game night of the year and they kick things off in Columbus as they take on Johnny Hockey and the Blue Jackets. There are a lot of storylines in this game with it being the first game of the season, the south jersey connection, Ivan Provorov playing his first game as a non-Flyer, and of course Cam Atkinson taking on his former squad in his first game in over a year.
Let’s start with the lineups for each team for tonights match up. The Flyers had some decisions to make up front and on the backend but this is the lineup Torts has decided to go with.
Farabee-Couturier-Brink
Tippett-Frost-Atkinson
Laughton-Cates-Konecny
Deslauriers-Poehling-Hathaway
York-Sanheim
Staal-Walker
Zamula-Seeler
Hart
General Manager Daniel Briere hinted that opening night would be a veteran heavy lineup and that is the case. People are going to be annoyed but it’s the right thing to do so let’s try not to overreact to much it is only the first game.
We all assumed that Carter Hart was going to be getting the start but there was a little worry as he had been battling an illness over the last couple of days. But he is indeed in the net tonight for the Flyers.
As for the Blue Jackets, they have high hopes for this season and it already got off to a rocky start as they had the whole Mike Babcock situation. Now, luckily for them it was handled before the start of training camp, but still a little wrench that was thrown right before the season.
The main thing for Columbus this season will be for them to stay healthy. Last season they were decimated with injuries and their record showed for it. They will look to stay healthy and have a bounce back year where they are competing for a playoff spot and not a lottery spot. Here’s how they lineup tonight…
Sillinger-Laine-Gaudreau
Texier-Jenner-Bemstrom
Marchenko-Fantilli-Danforth
Robinson-Kuraly-Roslovic
Werenski-Peeke
Provorov-Severson
Bean-Gudbranson
Merzlikins
Familiar Face, New Place:
For the first time in his career Ivan Provorov will not be wearing a Flyers jersey. Having been traded during the offseason in a pretty big deal, he will get his chance to show Columbus what he can do. Look, say what you want about Provorov but he was a great player for this Flyers team and he logged a lot of minutes. I don’t blame him for not wanting to be here as it just wasn’t working and he never took that next step into elite defenseman territory that we had hoped for. Wish him nothing but the best in Columbus and hope he can get back to his form that we saw flashes of during his time here. I just hope he doesn’t come back to hurt the Flyers too much during the rest of his career.
Fantilli Debut:
Tonight the Columbus Blue Jackets will get a look at their third overall pick Adam Fantilli as he makes his NHL debut. This kid has superstar potential and on top of his NHL debut it is also his birthday. I’d bet a decent amount on that he ends up getting his first career goal tonight. The Flyers defense will have to try and slow him down along with the rest of the potentially high scoring offense of the Blue Jackets.
On The Brink:
Bobby Brink is in the lineup tonight and is going to get a real shot at making an impact on this team. After having a very successful training camp along with some great play in the preseason games this is well deserved for Brink. He is also going to get the chance to play on the top line along with Coots and Farabee. It’s a great opportunity for him to really showcase what he can do. If Brink can consistently produce with the likes of Coots and Farabee the Flyers rebuild may end up being expedited. Between the top line and being on the top powerplay unit, there will be no reason to say that Brink didn’t get his fair chance to show what he can do.
Final Thoughts:
With this being the start of a new era of Flyers hockey, for the first time in a long time there is excitement surrounding this team. Will they actually be good? Is this another year they’re competing for a top 5 pick? Can they stay healthy? These are all the important questions coming into this season and they won’t all be answered right away. As someone that has covered this team first hand from the start of camp, there’s a different feeling in that locker room. They hear what people are saying about how they aren’t going to be good and are already counting them out. The guys in that locker room believe in each other and believe in what John Tortorella is doing, trust me if they didn’t they wouldn’t be here.
I’m not saying that you have to fully invest in this team right away. But this isn’t the same Flyers they have been in the past few years. You can feel the culture change happening and it is going to be important for them to get off to a good start and be competitive. They may still be a few years away from being a true contender, but do not count this team out and don’t be surprised if they are fighting for a playoff spot come February/March.
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-Walsh