Laperriere, Betts bring strong work ethic to penalty kill
(from the Philadelphia Daily News)
By Frank Seravalli
Philadelphia Daily News
October 3, 2009 - RALEIGH, N.C. - The Flyers' penalty kill got much stronger in the offseason with the additions of Ian Laperriere and Blair Betts.
Laperriere earned his penalty-killing stripes in Los Angeles, and brought them with him to Colorado, where he spent the last four seasons. A major reason for Betts' signing on Thursday was his experience on the penalty kill.
"It's part of my job," Laperriere said. "For some guys, it's power play. For me, it's penalty kill. I don't want to get scored on when I'm out there. You need good special teams to be successful in this league."
The Flyers had the second-best penalty kill in the exhibition season, killing off 38 of 42 chances, good for 90.5 percent, up from last season's 83 percent.
Flyers coach John Stevens was quick to temper all of the penalty-kill hype.
"I don't want to get too excited with the penalty kill," Stevens said.
"I don't think a lot of the power play units are what they're going to be during the year. I think there are a lot of people coming out of the lineups, so I think it's tougher to execute on the power play than the penalty kill in the preseason. But I think we did a really good job getting everybody on the same page."
Overhyped or underrated, the Flyers' penalty kill was excellent in last night's 2-0 victory, converting at an 8-for-8 clip. If they continue to sit in the box for eight penalties a game, it will have to be good to succeed.