Flyers fairly pleased with how season has gone so far

There has been an endless amount of injuries.

Danny Briere has played in only nine games and the season began with two defensemen out for 3 months each. The first six games went by without a win and the hole the Flyers dug at the start of the season was significant.

But now, with 41 games down and the All-Star break coming in 2 weeks, the body of work for the Flyers' first half has been pretty good - 22-10-9, first place in the NHL's Atlantic Division, third in the Eastern Conference.

That's not bad for a team that had a bad start and 19 injuries.

"It's been good," said Jeff Carter. "First place . . . It's where we want to be. We've battled through a lot of injuries.

"Guys have stepped up and played different roles than they're used to. That's what has really brought us together, everyone's on the same page. I'm happy."

And why shouldn't he be?

Carter was chosen as the Flyers' lone representative to the All-Star Game and before last night's games was in a three-way tie for the league lead in goal scoring with 27.

It's a good place to end the first half, but anyone who watched the Flyers last season knows that this is just about where they were in terms of their record and place in the standings.

And when they came out of the break, they went into the tank and went 10 games without a win.

So the focus isn't on what they have accomplished, but what lies ahead.

"The first half was very good," said Mike Richards. "Obviously, we like the position we're in, but I think we can play more consistently throughout the game."

When asked yesterday what the team could do to improve, coach John Stevens responded by asking whether he could go back to his desk and get his list.

He was joking, at least a little. Stevens remembers last season, and he wants improvements from his team.

"Halfway through the year, we've done a lot of good things that we've wanted to do," Stevens said. "We're really happy with where we're at, but we have a lot of work to do to be a better team. If you look around the league, there are some really good teams that are good in all areas.

"We've done well against a lot of those teams, but for me, if we're going to be able to compete at the end of the year we're going to have to continue to get better in a lot of areas. I think it's just a process you go through."

Stevens would like to see a reduction in penalties, but he would more like to see the puck turned over less. If there has been a consistent problem, that has been it.

Most of the chances against the Flyers have come from hurried plays, incomplete passes and turnovers.

"One area that keeps coming up for me is turning the puck over. If we could just clean that part of our game . . . " Stevens said. "I think sometimes fatigue is a factor, but most of the time when we turn pucks over, it comes from not moving our feet."

The one thing the Flyers have no control over is their health. They haven't been lucky, but there are signs it is getting better.

Joffrey Lupul skated hard yesterday and should play tonight against Toronto, and Briere could be back from his groin trouble for the Penguins on Tuesday. Just having those two forwards back in the lineup would help.

"He looked good today," Stevens said of Lupul. "He looked like he was flying ." *