Had the Flyers won last night's game in Montreal, it would have been the kind of game referred to as a "character win," meaning that despite some ugly play, the Flyers did what they had to do to get the win, even if they weren't the best team on the ice.

Instead, the Flyers' 3-2 overtime loss will be another example of how perhaps the Philadelphia Flyers, who have been terribly inconsistant so far this season, were not built for this new style of hockey. All night long, the speedy Canadians beat the Flyers to open pucks, and to be perfectly honest, we expected that. The Canadians are 7-2 so far this season for a reason, and it's no secret that the new wide open style of hockey greatly benefits their quick skaters. But what we didn't see coming was that the Flyers would be dominated one-on-one along the boards for most of the night. If the Flyers are blessed with anything this year, it's size and strength, but last night they failed to use either to their advantage. They were also dominated in the faceoff circle, winning 25 of 59, including only 4 of 16 in the defensive end. Still, despite such sloppy play, the Flyers led 2-1 after 40 minutes of play.

Tuned in to the TSN feed thanks to the miracle of DirecTV's Center Ice package, I watched Ken Hitchcock give a quick interview between periods. He broke down the final period as such: "Whichever team takes less penalties will win the game."

Apparently, Hitch forgot to share such insight with the players, who took the ice for the third period and proceeded to take five straight penalties. Tripping, hooking, interference, goalie obstruction, crosschecking; most, if not all, of these penalties were careless, and most likely a result of the Flyers' frustration with not being able to catch the quick Canadians. And so, the Flyers, the third worst penalty killing team in the league, spent the majority of the third period shorthanded. It came as no surprise, then, when the Canadians, owners of the 12th best power play in the league, capitalized halfway through the third period, tying the game at 2. Were it not from some superb goaltending from Robert Esche, the game would have been over then. But Esche looked like his old self, eating up everything that came near him and saving the Flyers from their own mistakes. He couldn't do it all on his own, though, and after two and a half minutes of Canadians-dominated hockey, Mike Ribeiro took advantage of a Flyers' defensive mistake and inevitably put the puck past Esche to give Montreal the win.

Bob Clarke seemingly made all the right moves this past offseason, signing Peter Forsberg, Derian Hatcher, Mike Knuble, Mike Rathje, and a slew of others. And certainly, several of them have been impressive thus far. The Forsberg/Gagne/Knuble line, despite a poor performance last night, has been electric. Esche appears to have returned to form, though he still struggles with controlling rebounds. Youngster Mike Richards has been impressive in his smooth transition from the Phantoms to the Flyers, and Michal Handzus continues to make plays around the net. Pitkanen continues to look more and more like the player we all hoped he would eventually become. The Flyers' penalty kill, tested so frequently, looked much better than in previous games, and a power play unit that has looked dismal all year managed two goals.

And so, the question must be asked. Was last night's performance simply the result of too many days off so early in a season following a lockout, and the general rustiness that comes with it? Or, was it proof that the Flyers, despite having an abundance of talent, aren't built for this new style of NHL hockey? Were the 11 Flyers penalties a result of their frustration at not being able to keep up with the much-faster Canadians? Are they having trouble adjusting to the new rules that completely prohibit the clutch and grab? Have they not yet discovered a way to be physically dominant without taking penalties? Are they still confused, as many players are, as to what constitutes a penalty these days?

Seven games into the season, perhaps it is a bit early to expect the new-look Flyers to have found their identity. Over the next few weeks they'll have quite a bit of work to do to become the team we all thought they'd be out of the gate, and it certainly won't be easy. But if they can adjust to the new rules and learn to play smarter, cleaner hockey, it will be well worth the wait.


More Notes on the Flyers/Canadians game:

*The Canadians announcers are, hands down, the best in the league. They called the game objectively, pointing out when the Flyers got a raw deal or when a Canadian deserved a penalty, and offered more insight into the game than any other announcing duo I've heard. Just another reason that the Center Ice package was worth every penny.

*Speaking of TSN's hockey coverage, there's a commercial running this season for Molson celebrating the return of hockey. It features random guys singing along to "What A Feeling" from Flashdance. It's the follow-up to a commercial Molson ran when the lockout was announced, featuring the same guys solemnly singing along to Culture Club's "Do You Really Want To Hurt Me?" For the thousandth time, I have got to live in Canada.

*Attention Robert Esche. One word: rebounds. Learn how to control them. Thank you.

*How can anyone take Jose Theodore, the Canadians goaltender, seriously when he wears the number 60?

*I know the Canadians fans are supposed to be highly-intelligent hockey fans, because it's in their blood and all that. But why the constant booing last night? Every non-call on a Flyer, every call on a Canadian, every time something mildly significant happened, the Canadians fans erupted in a chorus of boos. I may have to watch more Canadians games to figure out if they're consistantly this unhappy when watching their country's national sport.