Kimmo Timonen

Here's what's wrong with the Philadelphia Flyers: a struggling franchise goalie,  a defense plagued by injuries and an offense heavily dependent on inexperienced players.

Friday night’s game against Anaheim was a microcosm of the Flyers’ season thus far, and if the end result is an indication of things to come, the Flyers will certainly take it.

Despite replacing nearly half of last season's roster, the Flyers and GM Paul Holmgren managed to keep the team's defensive unit largely intact. Last season, the star-studded unit performed exceptionally well, despite Chris Pronger's bout with injuries.

With the offseason ending and 2011-2012 NHL season on the horizon, it's time to take a look at what Flyer fans can expect from the team's blueliners next season.

The 2011 offseason has been a tumultuous one for Flyers fans. The team traded away a pair of home-grown stars in Jeff Carter and Mike Richards along with about half of the team's 2010-2011 roster. Chris Pronger's health is still in question. Pundits everywhere are saying the team took a massive step back.

But all is not lost. There are plenty of reasons for Flyers fans everywhere to be excited for the 2011-2012 season. And without further ado, they are...

The NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs begin this week and each first round matchup looks to provide entertaining hockey.

If that's enough for fans though, it also is the beginning of the league-wide Beard-A-Thon. It’s a tradition in the NHL once the playoffs start to not shave until either your team loses or wins the Cup.

It’s always fun to see which players will grow the biggest and best beards and the ones who can barely grow anything (we're looking at you Alexander Semin).

A month into the 2006-2007 Philadelphia Flyers season, veteran GM Bobby Clarke stepped down.

In his place, stepped long time Flyer player and scout Paul Holmgren. Holmgren had been the GM for the Hartford Whalers before joining the Flyers management.

Since taking the helm, Holmgren has the Flyers at 193 wins, 153 loses and 49 ties. In the playoffs, the team is 25-21, with an Eastern Conference Championship under their belt.

One of the biggest successes of Holmgren’s tenure is his ability to entice free agents to come play for the Flyers.

James van Riemsdyk had a career night. He scored his first career NHL hat trick less than 100 miles from his hometown of Middletown, NJ, and the Flyers won the game 4-1.

He was sitting on top of the world.               

And then he heard the following post-game comments from teammate and alternate captain Kimmo Timonen.

Chris Pronger is arguably one of the best defensive defensemen in the league.

His talent and production in all three zones makes him irreplaceable in the Flyers lineup. The only positive with this injury is that he will be better rested for the long playoff haul.

The Flyers, like every other team in the NHL facing injuries, have backup plans for their team.

The following list is of five possible solutions for the loss of production of veteran Chris Pronger.

Reports came out yesterday that Chris Pronger will need surgery to repair a fracture in his right hand.

He will miss three to four weeks, but should return in time for the playoffs.

This will be the second time that Pronger has missed significant time this season. He has already missed 18 games thus far.

It's a theme repeated year after year. Teams must shed players in order to make room for the following year's salary cap. The Philadelphia Flyers may be no different despite sitting on top of the league. The Flyers are sitting at about $3.65 million in cap space. Sometimes these moves are tough, but they benefit the team in the long run. Here are 10 players to keep an eye on going into the trade deadline.

Begin Slideshow

The Philadelphia Flyers beat the Chicago Blackhawks 4-1 on Sunday in their first meeting since the Stanley Cup Finals.

Philadelphia improved to a league-leading 69 points and is 9-2-0 in its past 11.

“It obviously was nice,” Carter said. “We know how last year ended.”

Philadelphia was in charge most of the game against the defending champion Blackhawks, who defeated the Flyers in six games in the finals.

As a Flyer fan it was good to see but we have to look at this game as a learning experience.