After an icy start to the Peter Laviolette era in Philly (heck let's make that the entire 2009-2010 season up until recently), the Flyers have become one of the hottest teams in the NHL.
The Laviolette experiment didn't seem to be working as the Flyers went 2-7-1 during his first 10 games on the bench.
The Fly Guys were outscored 34-18 in those 10 games after Laviolette replaced former coach John Stevens. They scored two or fewer goals eight times and skated like they were in sand while being physically beaten in the process.
Then, Laviolette woke them up.
Since their 10-game orientation phase, the Broad Street Bullies have gone 11-4-1. Coming into Wednesday they had climbed into a tie at No. 6 in the Eastern Conference standings.
"I think everybody is getting a lot more comfortable with the system," center Danny Briere told Philly.com of the alarm clock-esque turnaround.
In their last 16 games, they have outscored their opponents, 57-41 while averaging 3.6 goals per contest.
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But, it's about more than just scoring with the Orange and Black. The drop-the-gloves attitudes of Scott Hartnell and Dan Carcillo have added a spark to not only the bench, but the fans as well.
Fear the Orange Crush.
"I think they believe they're going to win before they go out on the ice," Laviolette told Philly.com.
"For me, that's a really large step in the right direction to winning a hockey game -- knowing, and thinking, that you're going to win... We're getting there," said the coach.
The Flyers are 3-1 on a season-high six-game home stand that continues Thursday against Atlanta.
