In October of 2013 with a record of 1-7-0 and seemingly unable to put the puck in the net our captain Claude Giroux had this to say “We’ll take it here game-by-game and we will make the playoffs.” There is no reason not to be even more confident in us now, than he was back then, in a very dark hour.
This is not last year’s Flyers. This is not even the early season Flyers. This team is new, it is gelling and it is fighting for every point it can get. Just two points out of a playoff spot going into the winter break, with the start we had, you had better start getting excited to see this team back in the post season.
With the Ghost and Giroux tandem getting our top PP line in a decent rhythm and the new second line duo of Jake Voracek and Wayne Simmonds we now have a PP that can control time, two lines that can put pucks in the net, and a stunningly good 4th line when it comes to controlling the puck and keeping possession while the top three lines catch their breath.
But what really takes the team to that level where we will sit on the right side of the bubble, is something I have talked about since this new resurgence started, this team does not give up. They play for each other, the back each other up, and they will not back down. We are 6-2-2 in the last ten and 8-2-2 over the last 12. They have come back from 2 and three goal deficits to get points and even wins. This is not a team that will see a couple of games back as an insurmountable obstacle, this is a team that will help each other over it.
So while we are still building, and maybe we are a year or two off from being a real threat every time we walk into an opponent’s arena, I still have to believe in some words Giroux said just two years ago. We are a playoff team.
