Just Not Good Enough

That is the sad verdict handed down upon the Philadelphia Flyers tonight. I'm disappointed, but the plain truth is they lost to a better team, and they got much further into the playoffs than I ever imagined they would back in February or March.

Early in the playoffs, my evaluation of the Flyers went like this: they need two more impact players, one on defense, one on offense, and they need to solidify their goaltending before they can legitimately contend. The team got within two games of the Cup, but I still think that analysis holds. Adding Pronger was not enough for their blue line; clearly, they need one more big, preferably fast defenseman to make their D rock solid. Can they get more out of the front line with maturation by young players like Leino and van Riemsdyk? Or do they really need to add another scorer? Not sure about that at this point, and I suppose it will have to wait to see who is available in the off-season via free agency or trade.

The goaltending is also a matter for deep thought. Clearly, neither Leighton nor Boucher is going to be the answer there, despite this year's success. Both were exposed against Chicago. They still have Emery (I think), and perhaps he can come back next season and be a solid number one goalie the whole way through. Perhaps.

Then again...perhaps the most galling part of this result lies in the fact that my two favorite teams went out in successive rounds to the same team. First the local team, the Sharks, laid an egg against Chicago, then the Flyers, the team of my youth, couldn't measure up to the Blackhawks. It's worth noting that Nabokov will be a free agent this summer. While he has taken a lot of heat around here for the Sharks' playoff failure, the plain fact is he's a cut above both Leighton and Boucher right now; Nabokov didn't give up 5 or 7 goals to the Blackhawks in any of those four games.

It's very possible, then, that the Flyers will go after Nabokov this summer. Would they have won the Cup with their current team, had Nabokov been in the net? There's no way of knowing, of course, but it is a scenario worth pondering. We will see what we will see.

So congratulations to Chicago, and thanks to the Flyers for a terrific run. I already can't wait for October.