What was supposed to be an encore performance for the unlikely Philadelphia Flyers team that made the Finals a year ago turned out to be a major fall from grace this year. Swept out of the semis by (wait for it) Boston was no way for a team who had high expectations to leave. Part of that could be put on the absence of Chris Pronger, who showed his importance to the team when he went down with an injury late in the year. Even though he's nearing 40, he's still a top line defenseman. Nikolai Zherdev did provide some offense, but as the Flyers found out, like Columbus and the New York Rangers have before, he doesn't give 100 percent, which explains why he was a healthy scratch for a number of games. There's still an APB for Michael Leighton, who never had a chance to build on his breakthrough season last year. Inconsistent play, combined with the above average Sergei Bobrovsky and the always there Brian Boucher left Leighton in the minors for most of the season.
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