The Flyers have been a team worth watching as of late. The players are building chemistry, making better decisions on the ice, and overall playing solid hockey.
A considerable shift in player attitude has been evident this season. There have been a few established players who have paved the way of leading the team to this new found confidence.
Claude Giroux has definitely been earning his "C" as of late. With 28 points in 33 games, Giroux is playing with force and power. He is leading the team to success with assurance. The play of Brayden Schenn, Michael Raffl and Shayne Gostisbehere has been a boost to Giroux on the ice with them. Giroux has led the NHL in points over the previous five seasons and is one of the best face-off men in the league.
"At the top of his list is his intensity and competitiveness," head coach Dave Hakstol said of Giroux. "I could give you a long list, but let’s start with those things, and those are two pretty good things to start with as a leader."
Giroux recently moved into fifth place all-time in games played for a Flyers captain with 244, solidifying his place as one of the franchise's long-standing captains.
Wayne Simmonds, the assistant captain of the team, is also a front-runner. With 33 games played and tallying 17 points, Simmonds is proving his determination to lead the team to playoffs. In Saturday's game against the Columbus Blue Jackets, Simmonds was charged 17 penalty minutes: a five minute major for fighting, two minutes for instigating, and a 10-minute misconduct.
Philadelphia did not think it was a fair call after Brandon Dubinsky was given a two-minute penalty for kneeing Jake Voracek. In particular, Simmonds didn’t appreciate the hit and charged at Dubinsky in defense of his teammate.
The moral of these 17 penalty minutes is that Simmonds was standing up for a fellow teammate. The Flyers have been doing much of supporting each other lately, and Simmonds is leading that charge.
Another power player proving his veteran guidance is Voracek. He may not be scoring as much as he wanted, but Voracek is determined. His attitude is a worthy attribute. He will not give up and he plays tough. In the last five games, he has scored two goals, and it seems that he is on his way to improvement in point production, particularly as part of a new line switch that has him playing left wing alongside Simmonds and Sean Couturier.
This is just the kind of attitude that the rest of the team needs to feed off of. It's early, but it has pushed the team into a position to potentially make a push for the playoffs in the coming months.
Denise Mroz is a contributing writer for Flyerdelphia. Follow her on Twitter @denisemroz10.
