Playoff flyers

Kimmo Timonen and Braydon Coburn of the Philadelphia Flyers defend against Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

Ryan Dixon
2009-01-26 14:18:00

If there is one label every club aspires to, it's 'playoff team.'

In a recent debate over who might emerge from the East, it was suggested by one THN staffer that the Philadelphia Flyers have the genetic make up of a squad destined for post-season success.

The Flyers, surprisingly, advanced to the final four last year and certainly have their share of players who represent the combination of skill and grit it takes to win in the spring.

Mike Richards is a two-way force; Jeff Carter isn't overly physical, but he's got the big body to absorb abuse and Scott Hartnell loves getting his nose dirty as much as scoring goals.

Throw in the sheer skill of Simon Gagne and the fact Martin Biron proved himself a playoff-worthy goalie last year and it's easy to see why Philly will have something to say about how the East shakes down.

THE HOCKEY NEWS POWER RANKINGS
RK.	TEAM	LW	OVERALL	L10	THE SCOOP
1		1	34-6-5	7-2-1	A strong finish over the final two months would make sure any Game 7 showdown with Detroit gets played in San Jose
2		9	29-15-3	7-3-0	Won five contests during a six-game road trip and haven't given up more than two goals in a game since Jan. 13
3		2	31-9-6	7-2-1	Will have some high-profile cheerleaders in Pavel Datsyuk and Nicklas Lidstrom after the pair was suspended one game by the league for playing hooky at the All-Star Game
4		5	28-14-4	7-3-0	Rene Bourque and Curtis Glencross are two pickups who've worked out very well
5		3	34-8-5	6-3-1	Watching Big Z break the hardest shot record was one of the highlights of all-star weekend
6		4	30-15-3	6-4-0	Ovie, and everything about him, made the entire weekend a highlight
7		10	25-12-9	6-2-2	Might send 18-year-old defenseman Luca Sbisa back to the Western League for more seasoning
8		7	28-16-4	6-3-1	Thank you, Marc Staal, for trying to inject some life into the dreaded event known as the YoungStars game
9		8	25-12-8	5-4-1	How good does Kris Versteeg for Brandon Bochenski look right now?
10		6	27-13-6	6-4-0	Enthusiasm shown by Montreal fans during the entire all-star weekend demonstrates why it's still special to play for the Montreal Canadiens
11		12	24-19-5	6-4-0	So who had Shane Doan picked to win the SuperSkills shootout event?
12		13	24-18-5	7-3-0	Buffalo is 3-3 so far in the midst of a crucial stretch that sees them play nine of 10 away from home
13		18	24-19-3	7-3-0	Hey, look who might be a factor in the West after all
14		14	21-17-8	5-2-3	Still haven't consistently hit the gear they need to be in to end a long post-season drought
15		20	23-20-5	5-5-0	Cam Ward has been strong the past couple times out, but consistency hasn't been his thing this year
16		11	22-20-5	5-4-1	R.J. Umberger on pace for a nice 26-goal season
17		15	23-21-5	4-6-0	It felt like Anaheim could go either way at points this season and right now, they're headed the wrong way
18		17	20-18-7	5-3-2	James Neal enduring a first-year slump with just one point in his past seven games
19		16	23-21-4	4-6-0	Speculation continues to suggest coach Michel Therrien hasn't got long to turn this thing around
20		19	23-20-3	5-4-1	Marek Zidlicky started slow, but has five goals and 10 points in his past eight games
21		22	16-21-10	6-4-0	Bolts have quietly separated themselves from the league's pushover pack
22		25	16-21-7	4-4-2	No Ottawa goalie has more than nine wins this season. Good luck, Brian Elliot
23		26	19-23-4	5-4-1	Carlo Colaiacovo has four points in his past four games, but more encouraging than that, he hasn't been hurt since joining the Blues
24		21	23-23-1	4-6-0	Safe to say the Darcy Tucker experiment hasn't gone according to plan. Then again, what has this year for Colorado?
25		23	22-19-7	2-4-4	OK Mats, anytime now…
26		27	19-20-7	4-5-1	Good to see young defenseman Jack Johnson back and getting his first goal after missing 41 games with a shoulder injury
27		28	17-26-5	5-5-0	Can't wait to see how this Rich Peverley thing works out
28		24	20-23-3	3-7-0	Radek Bonk is the NHL's second-best faceoff man, winning draws 61.4 percent of the time
29		29	17-22-8	2-6-2	Let the firesale begin
30		30	13-29-5	2-7-1	Bye bye to Rickety DiPietro for another season