Friday Morning Fly By: Great Start to the NHL Playoffs So Far

Today’s open discussion thread, complete with your daily dose of Philadelphia Flyers-related news and notes …

The Flyers still have a long way to go: [SB Nation Philly]
This teaser just sounds awful: “the Flyers try to remain grounded as they continue on the tough playoff road.” They won one game. It shouldn’t be hard to remain grounded: [CSNPhilly]
The Penguins are contemplating changes to their power play: [Frequent Flyers] [NHL.com] [CSNPhilly]
Jakub Voracek is getting a lot of attention right now: [NHL.com]
Wayne Simmonds is targeting Kris Letang with his dump-ins: [CSNPhilly]
Evgeni Malkin needs to produce for the Penguins: [NHL.com]
Mike Richards… as a… leader? Yeah: [NHL.com]
Announcing the 32 remaining candidates for NHL 13 cover: [NHL.com]
Shea Weber was fined $2,500 – but not suspended – for his hit on Henrik Zetterberg: [SBNation.com]
Byron Bitz was suspended two games for his hit on Kyle Clifford: [SBNation.com]
Looking at the young defensemen in the NHL and possible targets for the Oilers: [The Copper & Blue]
There were a lot of late links posted after compiling this, and since it’s Friday and the Playoffs, I took the time to add them. They are after the jump because they were tardy.

Game 2 previews: [Bill Meltzer]

It appears that Pavel Kubina will play in place of Marc-Andre Bourdon tonight: [delcotimes.com] [Daily News]

The Flyers would like another road win. Obviously: [Daily News]

The Flyers veterans get nervous when consistently playing from behind: [delcotimes.com]

Sidney Crosby put to rest any doubt that he wasn’t ready: [delcotimes.com]

On the Colin Campbell apology and previous examples of Campbell admitting to mistakes by officials! [Of Ice and Men]

The Phantoms need help heading into the final weekend of the season if they want to make the playoffs: [PostStar]

Michael Leighton should get more credit for how great he is in the AHL, like an MVP award: [PostStar]

Two stories on the Flyers blowup last summer. Let’s get this out of the way first: It is way, way, way too early to declare victory. In case you missed it, Richards and Carter both had a pretty good game as the Kings beat the Canucks in Game 1. In case you forgot, Jakub Voracek, Brayden Schenn and Sean Couturier also had pretty good games as the Flyers beat the Penguins in Game 1. I generally don’t like Jack McCaffery and I used to not like Phil Sheridan.

With that said, I highly recommend both pieces. McCaffery got some excellent quotes from Paul Holmgren, and while his headline declares victory, the article is solid: [delcotimes.com]

Phil Sheridan is really changing my opinion about him. This is at least the second, probably third, article of his I highly recommend. He gets it. This is how you comment on the trades, the culture change, the locker room atmosphere, and player personalities without sounding petty or self-important. I once again salute you, Mr. Sheridan: [Inquirer]

Talking Points