Philadelphia Flyers Stanley Cup Playoff Preview

If the Flyers want to upset the NHL Odds makers in 2008, the first step is to stop the genius of Alexander Ovechkin.

It was touch-and-go for the Philadelphia Flyers at the end of the season, but they ended up completing their one-year turnaround and qualifying for the playoffs. In fact, the Flyers ended up a point ahead of both the Ottawa Senators and the Boston Bruins in the standings, so they’ll enter the playoffs as the Eastern Conference’s No. 6 seed.

That means a date with Alexander Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals in the first round, and that’ll be a big test for one of the Flyers’ key performers: goaltender Martin Biron. The Flyers’ starting keeper had an up-and-down campaign, but he did end the year with respectable numbers – 30 wins, a 2.59 GAA, and a .918 save percentage.

Biron’s job, then, will be to limit Ovechkin to just one or two goals a game, and hope that his offense can produce against the Capitals. Leading the way up front for the Flyers all season have been Mike Richards and Daniel Briere, who combined for 59 goals and 147 points. Forwards Mike Knuble and Jeff Carter potted 29 goals apiece during the regular season, while Scott Hartnell contributed 24 goals to the team’s totals.

Philadelphia will be missing a key performer in Simon Gagne, who was lost for the season with a concussion. The Flyers added Vaclav Prospal at the trade deadline to fill in for Gagne, and he picked up 14 points in 18 games. Briere has been hobbled by a sprained knee over the past week, but he’s expected to be ready for the first game.

Defenseman Derian Hatcher has been out of the lineup with a broken leg, but he’s also expected to be ready for the team’s playoff opener. Hatcher brings a physical dimension to the team that complements offensive rearguard Kimmo Timonen (44 points in 80 games), and solid play by those players will certainly help Philly’s Stanley Cup odds.

The Flyers finished with the worst record in the Eastern Conference last season, so it’s a pretty big step for them to make the playoffs this year. If you had the foresight to do some futures NHL betting on Philadelphia prior to the season you’re probably pretty keen on having them do well in the postseason. However, Philly’s odds to win the 2008 Stanley Cup won’t improve unless they show they can contain Ovechkin.