Hello and welcome to the weekend edition of Between the Pipes. The Flyers are off to one of their better starts in years, winning three out of their first six games and collecting points in four of them. Let's take a look at some of the headlines that are making the rounds.
Flyers GM Ron Hextall disagrees with NHL's decision on Rinaldo – [Fox Sports]
Hopkins Take: While Hextall has stood up for Zac Rinaldo in the past (namely concerning the Kris Letang incident last season), he certainly can't try and justify this one. I'm quite befuddled as to how Patrick Burke and his Player Safety team got this one wrong. Their justification for NOT suspending Rinaldo after what Hextall called an "irresponsible hit" was that he did not leave his feet and the head was not the primary point of contact. Whether the shoulder or head was the primary point is debatable in my opinion, however, what's not debatable is that these are they types of hits the game has to try and rid itself of. Rinaldo purposely charged an unsuspecting player who no longer was within reach or control of the puck. Some can argue he was simply finishing a check, but the intent was visibly different, despite what the former Flyer would have you believe. Hextall is a firm believer that players settle their score on the ice. That being said, Boston will visit the Flyers on January 13th. Retribution? We will see!
Flyers fourth line creating a buzz – [Jeff Neiburg – Philadelphia Daily News]
Hopkins Take: Simply stated, the Flyers fourth line of Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, Chris VandeVelde and Ryan White has been the team's most consistent unit thus far through six games. While their names do not show up nightly on the scoresheet, their value to the team through their many intangibles is irreplaceable. As pointed out by Ron Hextall, the energy that the line provides often is a precursor to the success of one of the club's scoring lines. Bellemare and VandeVelde have been two of the better penalty killer's as well, thwarting away a great majority of chances and alleviating the pressure on the defensemen and goaltender. As for White, he possesses a little bit of everything. He is strong on the forecheck, can hit, is accountable in his own zone AND can be inserted on the powerplay unit when need be. If it wasn't already obvious, just look at the fact that the fourth line has remained intact while Sam Gagner, R.J. Umberger and Vinny Lecavalier have been the healthy scratches.
Flyers not concerned with sitting high-priced players – [Dave Isaac – Courier Post]
Hopkins Take: Vinny Lecavalier. Sam Gagner. R.J. Umberger. Luke Schenn. Those are a few of the guys the Flyers have scratched thus far in the 2015-16 season. In the past, high-salaried players such as those listed would rarely, if ever, sit in the press box, regardless of how poorly they might have been playing. In this case, the Flyers are not concerning themselves with salaries; they simply want to put the best team out on the ice. That much was evident when the club waived Andrew MacDonald and sent him and his $5 million yearly contract to the AHL. At this point, it will be hard work and skill that consistently keeps these guys in the lineup, not their paychecks. In Lecavalier's case, well, he may need some Divine intervention.
Zach Hopkins is a contributing writer for Flyerdelphia. Follow him on Twitter @healedbyhockey.
