When your top scorer and your starting goalie go out for a few weeks and your two top defenseman are on IR for an extended amount of time, most NHL teams would be severely slumping, right?  Wrong, in this case, meet the Philadelphia Flyers.  This offseason, the Flyers did have to drop some "dead-weight" due to the salary cap and while losing scoring threats Tony Amonte, John LeClair and Jeremy Roenick, the Flyers were still one of the biggest buyers in the offseason.  Their biggest acquisition was without a doubt was signing former Avalanche center Peter Forsberg, a two-time MVP and one of the most prolific players of our time.  Also, RW Mike Knuble has been a great addition to the monsterous first line that features Knuble alongside of Forsberg and team-leading scorer Simon Gagne.  On D, Mike Rathje has played decently and has been attributing more "D" than "O".

But after a great first quarter of the year, the injuries started to total on this team.  First, captain Keith Primeau went down (and still is) after a concussion and D Eric Desjardins also suffered a more mild concussion and about 2 weeks after returning, Desjardins now has a seperated shoulder.  Then Forsberg went out with a groin injury after nearly scoring a hat trick against the Boston Bruins.  Without Forsberg, the team was a tad inconsistent but were still fighting, albeit with 8 players who played on the reigning AHL champion, Philadelphia Phantoms.  But nearly simultaneously, goalie Robert Esche and Gagne went out with groin injuries and will be back in the next week.  Then Joni Pitkanen, one of the most improved players on the team is now on IR along with Desjardins. 

Though, having a champion team like the Phantoms in your farm system helps, the Flyers still are right behind rivals, the New York Rangers in the standings and can still pull away.  The young guns have played unbelievably well with rookies Mike Richards and Jeff Carter leading the way.  Richards seems to always play with a chip his shoulder and with his grit and his 16 points can go a long way as a rookie.  Carter, who started the season out dangerously slowly has found a niche and his 15 points have regained his spot on the team.  Unbeknownst to most hockey fans, RJ Umberger has been way better than his numbers indicate and with 8 points, Umberger has been rock-solid in his stay with the Flyers.  Also, while not exactly scoring, Ben Eager has proved that maybe big hits are not completely out of style in the "new"-NHL and with his big hits, he has sparked fear in other opponents.  You can't even forget about goalie Antero Niittymaki, last year's Calder Cup MVP, has made clutch saves this year for the Flyers and after bombing in the shootout against the Predators, he redeemed himself by shutting out the Calgary Flames, last week.

That being said, maybe it's a homer thing, but the Flyers appear to remain a force now and in the future.

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