After 50.

The Philadelphia Flyers are having quite the season through 50 games and their numbers can prove the Flyers' worth.

With 71 points (33-12-5), the Flyers are in a virtual tie with the Vancouver Canucks (31-10-9) in their bid for the President's Trophy- awarded to the team with most points at seasons end. However, the Flyers have two wins over the Canucks and have scored nine additional goals over Vancouver as well.

The Flyers won all but two games in January and ended the month with wins over the Chicago Blackhawks and the Montreal Canadiens. The victory over the Blackhawks was special yet bitter-sweet as the Hawks managed to beat the Flyers last spring in six-games to win the Stanley Cup. Beating the Canadiens iced the season series three games to one. That win gave the Flyers their 1,000th home-ice victory making them the first expansion team to reach that mark and also let the Flyers' three All-Star Weekend representatives enjoy the weekend on a high-note. Danny Briere notched two goals in Raleigh, N.C. for Team Lidstrom while Claude Giroux played against Briere on Team Staal  and also had two points with a goal and an assist in a losing effort (11-10) to Team Lidstrom co-led by head coach, Peter Laviolette.

The club also had off-ice success in the head office as the Flyers extended some key contracts with Jeff Carter (44 points, 23G:21A), Claude Giroux (47 points, 19G:28A), and club GM Paul Holmgren who almost single-handedly crafted the Flyers into what we are seeing today.

And if all these numbers weren't enough to convince hockey fans that the Flyers are playing well then perhaps rookie goalie sensation, Sergei Bobrovsky can. Bobrovsky, or "Bobs," started the season as an unknown Russian and quickly turned heads in the pre-season and cranked the heads all the way around with a major first career win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on opening night as the Flyers beat the Penguins on the road and crashed their grand opening of  new state-of-the-art stadium.

"Bobs" has since improved his English and has strung together 21 wins and leads all rookie goaltenders in that same category. His save percentage dropped slightly during a short slump but since rebounding, he is back to form and has seemed to take an edge for the No.1 starters spot over teammate Brain Boucher.  "Boosh" has also played with the same magic he casted over the New Jersey Devils and Boston Bruins in the post-season last year as he helped to guide the Flyers to the Finals before being forced out of action against the Bruins due to a serious knee injury. The Flyers rallied from a three-game deficit to storm back and beat the Bruins in game seven in a remarkable game that showcased the Flyers ability to rally after going down 3-0 in the final game and come back to win the series and become only the third team in professional sports history to achieve the milestone.



The Flyers have eight players with 10 or more goals on the season and 10 players with 20 or more points. They are 28-8-2 versus Eastern Conference teams and have an impressive 12-2-1 record against their division rivals.

The Flyers have been able to avoid the injury bug for the most part, minus the brief absence of veteran Chris Pronger who needed surgery to repair a broken foot. Their highly touted defence core was able to cover his absence brilliantly however as they continued on without him in the line-up and stuck to their game plan. Arguably their brightest new season aquisition, Andrej Meszaros currently leads the NHL in plus/minus with a plus 28 and was a stand-out fill-in for Pronger's recovery time.

The future looks bright for the "orange and black" and if these numbers are a tell tale sign of things to come then it would be a safe assumption to assume that they will get into the post-season a little easier than by a save in the shoot-out by Mr. Boucher over the New York Rangers.