The Flyers — and their fan base — entered this season with low expectations, much like the rest of the experts around the league. The team was starting a rebuild and most assumed the Flyers would finish this season much like they did the last: a season’s worth of sound process leading to poor results due to the team’s overall lack of game-breaking talent.
What a difference six months makes! While still fully in a rebuild mentality, the Flyers have been the surprise of the NHL (sorry Vancouver). Hard work, speed, discipline, and more hard work have caused the league to take notice. All this despite some setbacks on and off the ice that would’ve shaken a lot of teams to their core. And while you may not fully agree with the process, the moves at the deadline, or the present trajectory of the team, it’s hard to argue with the fact that this season has, for the most part, been a lot of fun. After the last few years, we could all stand to just enjoy a little bit of fun. Even after Saturday night’s game in Tampa.
Here then are 32 reasons why fans should bask in this season and these upcoming games regardless of wins or losses down the stretch.
1. After Thursday’s game, Tyson Foerster was second in the league in goals by a rookie with 16, just one shy of Connor Bedard and is seventh in plus/minus among rookies with a +5 rating.
2. Not to be outdone in the rookie category, Sam Ersson, who began the season as the backup, is tied for first among NHL rookie goaltenders with three shutouts. He’s also leading with 18 wins, second in goals against average (2.62) and fourth in rookie save percentage (.898).
