Seven Players and Seven Goals

James Van Riemsdiek and Claude Giroux are two names that most Flyers fans can recognize. Both the young stars of a young team, JVR and Giroux are stepping into the roles held by former Flyers Jeff Carter and Mike Richards. Once the up and coming stars, these two players are now Philly's finest and the team and city will look to strong play all season behind these now veteran stars.

Philly has played five games this year without recording a regulation loss. They are 4-0-1 with nine points only one behind conference leading Pittsburgh who have played three more games and have two more losses than the Flyers.

I don't think many people expected the Flyers to be so good right out of the gate. Everyone questioned the decisions to get rid of Richards and Carter and to bring in these unknowns but so far it has worked out. The money invested in goaltender, Ilya Bryzgalov, is paying off and the players who have come to Philly through free agency such as former Penguins Max Talbot and Jaromir Jagr and those from the Carter and Richards trades have really come together as a great team so far. Best of all, the Flyers are finally scoring on the powerplay!

I bring up information about this bunch of misfits as it would seem because yesterday night they recorded seven goals, each by a different player. In my mind all of these players are going to mean something to this team in the future and their seven goals last night are almost a statement to those in the NHL that just shook their head when Carter and Richards were trading.

Who's laughing now? Probably Ed Snider for being the genius behind the moves.

Claude Giroux (4) and JVR (2) each contributed a goal which isn't surprising as these two are the ones the team is now looking to for scoring. Giroux's four goals are currently leading the team and put him at the leader board for the NHL. Wayne Simmonds, acquired in the Richards trade tallied his second of the season along with rookie Matt Read, who after only one season in the AHL is already proving his worth in the NHL. Max Talbot got his first goal in a Flyers uniform on Wednesday and so did Harrison Zolniercek, who was playing in his first NHL game. 18 year old rookie Sean Courtier recorded his first NHL goal off of the 4th assist of Read and 3rd of Matt Carle.

So you might not know these names now but come the summer months, most Flyer fans will be able to identify who these guys are. They are paying off right now and they look to pay off in the long haul, all the way to Lord Stanley's Cup.