The Philadelphia Flyers are a team with a new identity

About a quarter of the way through the season, the Philadelphia Flyers are in third place in the Metropolitan division. What has the team done differently compared to the undesirable team last season?

Alain Vigneault

“Be a f***ing Flyer”

In his first season with the Philadelphia Flyers, coach Alain Vigneault has made an obvious impact. His style of coaching is different from what this young team is accustomed to. Holding players accountable is the new forte of the squad. This is crucial in player development, as AV leads a team with an average age of 26.21.  Coach Vigneault is beginning to make the team play for passion, not play for dollars.

Travis Konecny

Travis Konecny has come out hot for the Flyers so far this season. Through 18 games, the newly extended goal scorer has eight goals and 11 assists for the team. His impact has teammates such as Oskar Lindblom beginning to thrive for the team as well. Being one-third of the “TLC” line, where Konecny, Lindblom, and  Couturier all stand atop the team in points. This line has dominated opponents on the ice, and the Flyers have been thriving on their success.

Carter Hart

After a slow start to the season, Carter Hart has bounced back. In his five starts, the youngster has posted a 4-0-1 record with a .935 save percentage. He has helped lead the Flyers to essentially stealing points out of games. Last season, if a Flyers’ goalie faced 35 shots, it was more than likely that more than one was going to light the lamp. The youngster has kept the Flyers afloat in the defensive zone.

The Flyers are… Winning Shootouts?

We all know one thing that has been the Achille’s heel of Flyers: Shootouts.

The team has been collecting points nonstop, and this has been key this season. In their past seven games, the team has a 5-0-2 record, with four straight reach overtime, and three straight reach a shootout. The Flyers won two of those shootouts and reached a four-game winning streak during this stretch as well.

The season is still young with plenty of ups and downs are to come, but there is one thing we can say for sure about the Flyers. This team is different– and better – than last season. Fans should continue to fill Wells Fargo Center up, and expect more cheers than boos this season.