At the beginning of the season it would have been crazy to say the Flyers were going to contend for a top spot in the east. But, they did it, and were as high as the 2nd seed behind Ottawa in parts of December and January.

In January, when they were the 2 seed and atop the Atlantic, it would have been crazy to say the Flyers could possibly miss the playoffs; even in a tight eastern conference race, they were clicking on all cylinders. But yet again, a once crazy thought is becoming more and more likely. The orange and black h

ave been beaten in routes, heartbreakers, and overtime games too. The bottom line is that they are 0-8-2 in their last 10, and have picked the very worst time to start falling apart. The team has played bad hockey, there’s no getting around that. However, there have been injuries to key players…lots of injures. It’s as if the sports gods are yet again pulling the rug out from under another potential championship Philadelphia team.

When talking of recent Flyers injuries, the lead off is obviously your reliable, play making 40+ goal scorer Simon Gagne. Advised by concussion specialists in North Carolina to sit out the rest of the season, the team has a huge hole to fill offensively. He’s only played in 25 games this year, but he had 18 points, and is always dangerous when healthy and consistently on the ice. How about Joffrey Lupul? He’s probably the most successful (and surprising) acquisition of the off-season. Lupul was recently sidelined after his own teammate, Derian Hatcher, laid him out by mistake. After finally coming back he re-injured himself, this time a high ankle sprain, against Montreal on the 16th. He’s missed 3 games so far and is expected to be sitting out for another 2-3 weeks. His numbers speak for themselves when you wonder what you’re missing by losing Lupul: 18 G, 21 A in 44 games. And speaking of Hatcher, the big man is also injured right now with a right knee injury that’s expected to keep him out 3 weeks as well. A disappointment last season, Hatcher has played his defensive position with excellence this year. He looks quicker, handles the puck better, and can still throw his weight around pretty darn well. Steve Downie also recently joined the MASH unit formally known as the Flyers locker room. Downie suffered a concussion and is listed as day-to-day. With his injury you obviously are missing a physical aspect of the game and a great fighter(let’s face it, Riley Cote is an awful at it). But fighting and checking aren’t the entirety of Downie’s game; he has showed the ability to score a pretty goal and know where to be for his linemates to create offense. Another huge loss. Oh yea, and all-star center Mike Richards is also injured with a hamstring tear. He’ll miss a couple weeks, but he hasn’t done that much, right?

Teams in every sport will tell you that injuries are unfortunate but in every case, they are part of the game. When faced with challenges and players dropping like flies, the rest of the team has to step up. Players must excel in a higher level of play, and every game is magnified as your team races towards the playoffs with a shorter, and now less experienced, bench. But an 0-8-2 record in their last 10 games says that nobody has stepped up. No single player has took it upon them self to become the leader that the Flyers need without a Richards or Hatcher. The team has not gelled together with the lines constantly being shuffled around to try and find a combination of offense that works. Getting rid of Jim Vandermeer (although fantastic) is not enough to right the ship. The first player to look at with a feeling of bitterness and disdain is the man with the big contract, Danny Briere. Yes, he has 22 goals so far this year. But when he scored against Florida a few days ago, that was his first goal since the beginning of the month. A man who was signed to a contract of over 50 million has to give you more than that. Also, if Briere isn’t giving you that goal scoring ability, he has to be able to excel in other parts of his game. The fans are starting to boo Briere when he touches the puck, and for good reason. He holds a -23 plus minus for the season, and has been somewhat of a bust so far.

But this doesn’t all fall on the shoulders of Briere. There are lots of guys on this team that are more than capable of upping their game and haven’t. The results have been ugly; their play looks like that of last year: the 22 win team. They can’t find a way to score. They aren’t getting the bounces. They’ll score and let up a goal 30 seconds later. It’s the little things like that which take the wind out of your sails. It’s the little things that the Flyers need to start doing if they want to even have a chance at the playoffs. The game against Florida was a perfect example of the recent 0-8-2 stretch. The Flyers were up 1-0 and Briere was our goal scorer. It wasn’t often the Flyers have had the lead in any game recently, but they were up 1. Now, it wasn’t a pretty game, that’s for sure. The offense still looked out of sync, unable to piece anything together with great consistency, but they were about to get 2 very important points and that’s all that mattered - ending this losing streak. Then with under 4 seconds left, Florida scored. The fans at the game who were standing and cheering were sent into a trance. It was complete shock and disbelief, which later turned into rising anger and frustration when Olli Jokinen fired a slap shot into the net with just over a minute left in the extra session. All you can really mutter is “unbelievable.”

Is the chance for a playoff berth over? Hell no. The Flyers have played 62 games, leaving 20 very important contests to determine their berth in the Stanley Cup playoffs. As of right now, they are on the outside looking in, essentially tied for 9th with the Islanders, with 67 points. It’s hard to believe that all this has happened so fast. Just a month ago the Flyers were atop the division, 2nd in the east, and a goal scoring machine. Fast forward to the present and it’s painful to watch them play. They can only do one thing now, and that is go out and play one game at a time. Cliche, I know, but every potential 2 points are so essential for the Flyers. They’re bruised and battered, but not out of it. A chance to end the 10 game losing skid comes tonight when former Sabre and the rest of the Flyers visit Buffalo: the team sitting in the 8th spot with 1 more point than the Flyers.

If they want a shot at the playoffs they better start winning, and fast. Tonight would be a good time to do so.