Fresh off a four game road trip, the Flyers will play one of two straight home games tomorrow night against the visiting Phoenix Coyotes.
The Coyotes are not a rival of the Flyers in any way, shape, or form, but the return of Scottie Upshall since being traded by the Flyers to the Coyotes has gotten the attention of many fans and media members.
Upshall, 27, was very popular among his teammates (not always leading to the smartest decisions) and the fans. There is no question that he was a spark plug on the ice. He had speed, skill, and aggression. He will certainly receive a warm ovation from the faithful tomorrow night.
That being said, the Coyotes themselves are a very daunting task. They've won seven in a row and are now in third place in the west. The Coyotes don't have flashy players (Shane Doan back in the day). They grind it out, are well coached (Dave Tippett), and have one of the best goaltenders in the league (Ilya Bryzgalov).
The key against the Coyotes is to get ahead. If you let them hang around, they will force a mistake and make the Flyers pay for it. If Brian Boucher shows he is healthy after his injury yesterday, expect him to start. But don't be surprised if Bob does either, I haven't predicted a starting goalie correctly all year.
One other problem that needs to be addressed is the status of Nikolay Zherdev. Zherdev has been a healthy scratch for five straight games. The report floating around the Philadelphia media is he was supposed to play Friday against Carolina, yet the team could not find him. Instead Jody Shelley had to fill in ten minutes before game time. Clearly Zherdev has become frustrated and disenchanted. GM Paul Holmgren came out today and said he would be reluctant to deal Zherdev since he sees him as an insurance policy for the playoffs if someone were to get hurt.
I certainly understand where Holmgren is coming from, but the reality is the Flyers are done with Zherdev and will let him walk after the season. Why not try and acquire some picks back (or to trade away again)? The most disappointing aspect of this is that Zherdev has a ton of talent, but he only uses it when it's most convenient for him. This is the chance the Flyers took though when they signed him over the summer.
The puck drops at 7 p.m. tomorrow, look for changes in the defensive pairings with O'D out for the next one to two weeks. (Photo courtesy of Google Images)
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