FLYERS BLOCK 1 GRADES

Off To A Good Start At 7-3-0

GOALTENDING: A+

J.S. Giguere & Antero Niittymaki have played well above average. Both have a save persentage of .933%. Giguere is 5-2 & 2.09 GA, with one shutout. He has produced tremendous goalie rating numbers, stopping 80% (35/44) & also has stopped all 6 shootout attempts, including 3 GR's. Nitty is 2-1 with a 2.00 GA, contributing with an impressive win at home against an undefeated Ottawa squad 3-1 & a win in Calgary 2-1.

OFFENSE: C

The offense needs to score more if the Flyers are expected to stay near the top of the standings. Only scoring 24 goals in the first 10 games. Simon Gagne leads with 5 goals, Patrick Sharp & Erik Cole each have 3. ALthough Dany Heatley leads the team with 12 pts, he has to do better than score 2 goals a block. There were no goals scored by the blueliners. Michal Handzus was producing, 2G 2A in 5 games before having his season ended on an injury.

DEFENSE: B-

Giving up 2.1 goals per game is good enough to compete for the Cup, but the blueliners are going to have to start contributing more to the offensive production. The D-men combined have 0 goals & 13 assists, Marc-Andre Bergeron leads with 6 helpers followed by Michal Rozsival's 3. The team has a goal differential of only 3. Danny Markov has been successful hitting his opponent 15 out of 17 opportunities.

POWER PLAY: F

Currently sitting 4th from the bottom at 13.2% (5-38) well below the league average of 23.4%. The problem is the same on the road & home. At home 3-21 & 2-17 on the road. Patrick Sharp is the only player to have multiple PP goals with 2.

PENALTY KILLING: A

The PK unit has killed off 28 of 34 chances, currently placing them 7th in the league at 82.4%. Although the numbers look good, there is a big difference between performances on the road & home. At home they are a perfect 100% (15/15) while on the road they are a horrible 68.4% giving up 6 goals on just 19 chances. The team's lone SH goal came on the road with Jimmy Dowd finding the net.

So overall, the feeling in South Philly is that the Flyers are going to have to start finding the back of the net more. The potential is there with 4 solid lines every night & some defenseman that can score.

The Flyers Block One MVP is J. S. Giguere, with Simon Gagne getting the runner-up.