Written by Stefan Nadzam Saturday, 21 November 2009 11:20
The Coyotes have built an intriguing, defensive-minded team that should be competitive. Young forwards like Peter Mueller and Martin Hanzal need to be huge offensively for Phoenix this year.
Phoenix Coyotes Vs. Philadelphia Flyers 
The Coyotes have built an intriguing, defensive-minded team that should be competitive. Young forwards like Peter Mueller and Martin Hanzal need to be huge offensively for Phoenix this year. With the addition of defenders Aucoin and Vandermeer, their blue line situation is looking a bit brighter and Ilya Bryzgalov is going to be the No.1 goalkeeper. But their squad is wafer thin and the Western Conference is too tough. I'm not optimistic that they will make the playoffs this season. The injuries of Ed Jovanovski, Kurt Sauer and Zbynek Michalek will be a huge blow to their defence tonight.
Click to see the team statistics and graphical analysis of the game!
John Stevens is entering his fourth season as Flyers head coach, and has earned the right to be called one of the conference's top bench bosses. His system works and Philadelphia have won five matches from their last six. The team, on paper, is one of the best the Flyers have had in a very long time and they should be among the favourites to win the Cup. There have the leadership and talent. With the addition of Chris Pronger, the Flyers defence is best in the Atlantic Division. But as it always is in this town, it comes down to the goalkeeping, and Ray Emery is not exactly the best person to calm their fears.
Verdict: The Flyers are a Stanley Cup contender and they should comfortably win this game...away win for Philadelphia.