Flyers' lack of size: A big problem?
The new NHL is all about speed and youth, which is why a player such as creative rookie winger Travis Konecny is a welcome addition to the Flyers.
The new NHL is all about speed and youth, which is why a player such as creative rookie winger Travis Konecny is a welcome addition to the Flyers.
The Flyers have gotten younger - they have four players in their first full NHL season - and faster. That, general manager Ron Hextall hopes, will expedite their climb toward being a legitimate Stanley Cup contender.
On the flip side, they have one of the NHL's smallest teams. That will make it difficult to match up with bigger teams such as Anaheim, St. Louis, Dallas, and Washington, among others.
Case in point: Anaheim used its size to win puck battles and set up odd-man rushes, contributing to its 3-2 win over the Flyers on Thursday.
"They're heavy team and put a lot of pressure on the group back there when they were able to get pucks deep," said coach Dave Hakstol, whose defense is smallish without the suspended Radko Gudas, their most physical defenseman.
The 6-foot, 203-pound Gudas is eligible to return from a six-game suspension Tuesday against Buffalo.
The Flyers, on average, stand a little over 6-foot and weigh 196 pounds. That makes them the shortest team in the NHL and places them 28th out of 30 teams in weight.
Does that matter much?
"I don't think it's a problem," said Shayne Gostisbehere, the Flyers' swift 5-foot-11, 180-pound defenseman. "I mean, we just got done with L.A., and they're another big team. I think we can play with any team in the NHL."
The Flyers opened the season with a 4-2 win over the Kings.
Gostisbehere said playmaking, readiness for the game, and making plays quicker can combat the Flyers' size disadvantage.
Speed can overcome size, center Pierre-Edouard Bellemare said.
"If the league was still the way it was a few years ago, I wouldn't have a job here," Bellemare said. Back then, "you would expect the third and fourth lines to be guys who hit hard. But the first-line guys are so fast now that you have to have third- and fourth-line guys that can play [against them] and not lose momentum."
Bellemare offered an interesting observation.
"Some players that are big, they don't hurt when they hit you hard, and some guys that are not that big hurt quite a bit because they have speed when they come at you," he said. "It's kind of like the new hockey. . . . Now if you have guys that are big and fast, that's the best scenario."
Defenseman Andrew MacDonald, who has been paired with Gostisbehere, said there are teams that have had success without great size. He pointed to the Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins, who have the same returning nucleus and have the league's 27th biggest team, based on average weight per player.
"They're not a huge team, but they play their system really well," MacDonald said. "I think a lot of it comes down to execution and playing your system to its full potential."
That said, the Flyers need Gudas back in the lineup because his presence makes opponents think twice about taking runs at players like Konecny, an exciting 5-10, 184-pound winger.
"It's part of the game, part of being a young guy, too," said the 19-year-old Konecny. "I'm trying to make space for myself and hit guys, and obviously some of the guys have been in the league for 10 years and don't like when a young guy is doing that, so I expect it. It doesn't bother me."
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