2013-2014 Flyers Season Ticket Holder Townhall Recap

[Poulin20]

A few weeks ago the Flyers surprised us by announcing that they would be hosting a STH Town hall (as we had not had one for a long time now). I just got back from it and I will recap what I can recall. I have asked Adamflyers, who was there with me, to chip in with the details I may have missed along the way. For those that don't know they break us up into groups and we then have 15-20 minute meetings with different members of the Flyers staff. They generally speak and then allow time for questions.

We started out tonight meeting with Peter Luukko (President and Chief Operating Officer of Comcast Spectator) and Shawn Tilger (Senior Vice President, Business Operations). They began by telling us about how much they appreciated our attendance and loyalty and that they take these meetings very seriously and that they enjoy the interaction with us and that they do listen to us. They said that are sincere in their belief that we are the best fans in hockey. Luukko went on to say that the fans were one of the reasons why Lecavalier gave for wanting to be on the Flyers and said that we have more of an impact than we realize. They were excited that training camp would be at the WFC this year rather than at the Flyers Skate Zone in NJ. This is due to renovations being done to the Skate Zone. They said that they are excited about it as it gives more people a chance to see camp and if they get enough interest they may move it to Philly for good. Tilger and Luukko also were very proud of the draft being in Philly this year as well as the Frozen Four. They said that STH would have priority for tickets to both. They then opened the floor to questions. A question was asked about if the Flyers think that the NHL should be adding teams via expansion or simply moving teams to cities where hockey works. Luukko (who did most of the talking) replied that the NHL recovered very quickly from the lockout and is making more and more money and that the NHL can support more teams and the Flyers are in favor of it. He went on to say that he was glad that the situation in Phoenix seems to be resolved and that the Devils situation is on its way to possibly being resolved. We kind of booed a bit when they mentioned the Devils but Luukko said that he is good friends with Lou Lamoriello and while they may not be chummy on game days he is a great guy and that they don’t wish the Devils an ill will. Luukko basically said that all 30 teams are partners in this entire thing we call the NHL and don’t wish each other ill will. Someone asked about the outdoor games and what they thought and Luukko said that at 1st he was against the idea of all those games as it would dilute the novelty but the NHL people kind of talked him into it as they basically said that teams like the Kings and Ducks would never be selected as the New Year’s Day game as there would be no ratings if that was the NHLs 1 game a year showcase. So in order to mix things up they are having more games. (On a side note the Kings are asking the Flyers for tips on things like the Alumni game and Luukko is coordinating everything with Luc Robitaille who answers the phone "Flyers West" anytime the Flyers call him. He is also good friends with Luukko apparently) The NHL told the Flyers that they would be in the mix for outdoor games constantly a lot due to good ratings and the fan base excitement for them. They were asked if the NHL would continue to open the season in Europe and if the Flyers were in the mix for starting the season in Europe at some point. They answered by saying "Yes and yes". There was a question about Saturday afternoon games and why there were so many more in the 2nd half of the season, We were told that this was due to NBC setting these times and that it was subject to change as they need to have what NBC calls "Flex windows" Luukko asked us if we liked afternoon games and most of us said no and they basically said too bad as we make a lot of money off of them and it is good for families and kids. Then someone asked if the Flyers supported the players going to the Olympics and they said yes! They also said that this year they would try and have tape delayed viewing parties for the fans down at Philly Live complex. Next someone asked why the Flyers could not win the cup this year and we were told that they believe they can win the cup every year and that is the goal again this year. They said that they are embarrassed about missing the playoffs although with the salary cap it is now harder than before to make the playoffs (they said they are not making excuses) but if you get in anything can happen. Finally there was a question about the KHL and if there is any fear that it is a viable competitor with the NHL. Luukko said none whatsoever. He said that in reality it is a bit of a mess and that the teams are run poorly and are losing money and that most players still dream of coming to the NHL. He cites his experience with Global-Spectrum as evidence for this as they run some of the arenas where KHL teams play.

Next we moved on to meet with Homer. Homer also thanked us for being there and told us that last year was unacceptable and that the mood of the players is one of anger about what happened. He said that we are a playoff team and once you get in anything can happen. He then asked us to fire away. The 1st questioner asked Homer if he thinks that Mark Streit was the fix to all our defensive problems. Homer then said that he gets pissed when people suggest that we have a crappy defense. He explains (as most of you know) that Streit was not brought in for defense but for offense as goals are tough to come by in the NHL and that we could use some more punch from our blue line in that regard. He then said that although the defense was suspect last year, it was due to injuries and that all were better including Mez and that we should expect to see better things from them this year with them all being healthy. A question was then asked if Pronger would ever play again and Homer said he doesn’t think so and that he has been taking different roles with the team to stay occupied but has so many health issues that it is hard for him to even do that. Another person asked if we plan to re-sign Gagne. Homer said that right now we do not have the money to do so. He said he is however in contact with Gagne's agent every week. Basically Homer said that Gags can come to camp and try and win a job but that nothing is set in stone with him. He went on to say that with the cap going down there are tons of older serviceable players out there that are in his position of being unsigned and that they are all stuck in a wait and see type limbo. Speaking of cap room, Homer mentioned that when Pronger goes back on LTIR that we will have $5 Mil in cap space. Someone asked if we planned to spend it and Homer said in so many words, we are the Flyers that is what we do, of course the move or moves would have to make sense for the team. Then someone asked about the off season acquisitions. Homer basically said that he feels that we got the best players available at all positions (Streit, Lecavalier, and Emery) and that he was very proud of the off season acquisitions. On an interesting side note Streit's father's favorite team is the Flyers and Streit's dad is overjoyed about him coming here. It sounds like the Flyers didn't expect Lecavalier to become a UFA and he was not in their plans at 1st but when he became available they got interested and Lecavalier himself was very interested and seemed as if he wanted to be here. He cited that he liked the Flyers organization and how they were run like a family and also as I mentioned before, the fans. Homer also said that he was really pumped about Emery and that he was great for us before and that he was one of the best goalies in hockey last year and that he can be great again. The Flyers were very impressed how he came back from the injury and they never thought he would play again honestly. That led into the next question which was about who would be the starter. Homer said to ask Lavy and he didn’t care as long as someone was in net who could win hockey games for the Flyers. Homer then spoke about Mason and said that he thinks that he can return to his original form. Homer thinks what happened is that he had some success and "got fat". We thought he meant physically but Homer said no, he got a fat head but that he seems to be calming down again and looks ready to play again at a high level. On the subject of being too fat, someone asked a question about if missing the playoffs was bad for the team as they would be on a much longer vacation this year and would get off to a slow complacent start because of it. Homer kind of laughed at the guy and said "you don’t know pro-athletes at all; these guys work out all the time and are almost never at rest or on vacation as there is too much at stake for them financially to not ever be at their best". He seemed pretty dismissive of this guy and his question. There was then a question about Scott Laughton and/or Cousins could make the team this year, they then went on to say that maybe not as the team have enough Centers already. Homer said that Laughton and Cousins could make the team out of camp if they "busted the door down" however he didn't think that this was too likely. He then went on to say that the Flyers philosophy is that like defenseman you can never have too many centers (He also said that Giroux was a winger that they converted to center) and that we need to always have a lot of offensive "bullets in the chamber". There was a question about injuries and Homer said that all were healthy except Eric Wellwood who is still a long way off with his severed tendons. Talbot is supposedly fine as is Mez who Homer asked us to look to for a great year as he is the healthiest he has been in a long time. The last question was about Danny Briere. Someone asked Homer if it was hard to let him go and Homer said yes, and that he "cried". We laughed and he said he is not joking that he did cry and that Danny was such a great guy on and off the ice. Homer said that Dabby B always wanted to be a Flyer and that even though we gave him a lot of money to do so he turned down even better offers to be a Flyer. With that we moved on to Lavy.

Lavy is always great as he is quick witted, funny, and brutally honest. As usual he didn't disappoint. The 1st question was about Lavy being selected to coach the US Olympic team with Dan Bylsma and how that was going to work out and if it was a bit uncomfortable. Lavy stumbled a bit with this one and didn't know what to say as he was trying to think of a diplomatic way to answer. He basically said yes it is a bit uncomfortable and that it does suck having to work under Bylsma and he and Bylsma did speak about it and how the Flyers and Pens hate each other (players, coaches, fans etc.). Lavy feels that he imself is a nice guy and Bylsma is a nice guy and that in the end it is a different situation and that they are going to work together just fine. Lavy did say that in reality he himself really is a nice guy and that even his wife was surprised at how he yelled at Bylsma from the bench during that one game. Next there was a question about the slow starts last year and why we came out flat at the beginning of games at times last year? Lavy said that he completely disagreed that we came out flat at the beginning of games last year, he said rather that when we came out flat for games we came out flat for the full 60 mins last year and that we needed to be better in all aspects of our game last year both offense and defense. Someone then asked if we were going to continue to play the same system next year or be more conservative? Lavy said again that we need to play better in all aspects of the game, both offense and defense and that his key for next year is to "fix the goal differential". He believes that we did not score enough last year or keep the puck out of our net enough and they are going to work on ways to fix both (he says that they actually did a tweak to the defense last year but would not elaborate). He said that he recently watched a video of all the goals we gave up last year and that they were almost all on transitions where we were transitioning and then something went wrong (a guy fell down or missed the puck) or just plain giveaways. He said that these aspects of our defensive game must be fixed as must our offense which stunk last year in his opinion. He says that he thinks that Streit will make a big difference in this aspect and will especially help the PP which has been good but could improve. He also said that almost all players are angry and resolved to do a better job in all aspects of the game. For example he says that Hartnell is working out constantly this summer and is out to prove that he is that 37 goal scorer that he was 2 years ago. He mentioned that he is excited for camp to be here in Philly and he is also equally excited about their team building exercises in Lake Placid which he feels is an awesome venue and that he feels will really benefit the team as teams are not as close as they used to be or should be in the modern era. Then there was a question about Lecavalier and what line he would play on. Lavy said that honestly he has no clue as he hasn’t seen him in camp yet and until he does he couldn't say. He said he is never good at guessing these things as he never thought that Giroux and Jagr would fit well together and he would have never put them together on paper however in the pre-season he saw the chemistry and realized that he was wrong. He said off the top of his head he sees Lecavalier with Read and maybe Simmonds as the muscle on the line. He said that he sees at times Lecavalier going out on the line with Giroux just as the Pens put Frankenstein and Cindy Horseteeth together (He didn't say it like that BTW) on occasion but not often. He then went on to ask us to watch for Matt Read to have an awesome year this year as he was actually one of our best players at the beginning of last year but got a rib injury early in the season that he never recovered from. He also said to watch for Mez to have a bounce back year as he is finally healthy and before the injury was one of our best defensemen. Finally someone asked Lavy about Laughton and Lavy said that he loves Laughton and that he hopes and actually thinks that he will make the team. Lavy said that overall he is really optimistic about this season and that he has a great feeling as to how it is going to go.

Next we moved to Hexy who just joined the team in an official capacity a week ago. Homer told us that Hexy was really trying to get up to speed and doesn't know much about the Flyers farm system yet. Hexy was greeted warmly with a hearty round of applause. He was very gracious and kind. Because we were told he didn’t know much abut the farm system yet ,at first there were no questions for him as the fans seemed afraid to ask him anything. The 1st few questions were jokes such as "Is it true that we got you in here in case Emery breaks down again"? Hexy said, "believe me, I wish I could still play, I would do that over this any day, but this is not a bad job either". Another question was if he would help with the goalie coaching. Hexy said that that is Reese's job and that he will leave him and that he has a lot on his plate with this new job anyway. However he did say that in LA he did speak with the goalies on occasion if they were struggling mentally. He was then asked if he was brought here to bring a new mentality to the Flyers. Hexy said that he was brought in to run the farm system and that his strongest suit was being an evaluator of talent. He said that players are so close in talent now that it is hard to judge who is better than the other. He says it is a science of splitting hairs and that usually players are only 5% different from one another talent wise but it is that 5% that is the difference between good and great and that is what he was here for to look for that 5%. He said that in the end Homer makes all the final decisions and that he is not there to change any mentality just to judge talent. He went on to say that the Flyers don’t need a mentality change and that they are always working hard trying to win and that "it is friggin hard to win in this league man". He says in a cap world especially that it is even harder and that there is so much luck involved in winning especially as it pertains to injury. He says we in Philly are lucky as we are almost always competitive and almost always have a chance to win. He said that when he arrived at the Kings that they were a mess and had to be built from the ground up and it was not easy by any means. A fan then asked if the Kings had a different approach to the Flyers patchwork approach. Hexy said that he disagreed that the Flyers had a patchwork approach and that we do have good long term plans in place and that sometimes it is good to try and add a piece at the deadline as you just need to get in and then see what happens (He was the 3rd person to tell us this tonight after Homer and Luukko) and we should know this from the Flyers in 2010 and the Kings in 2012. He also said that in planning you do have to think long term and that you need to build a long term window for winning (7 to 8 years) he said that the Flyers have an amazing stable of young talent and have built that window and that these guys just need time to develop. He said that he is not joking when he thinks that our top 9 forwards are enough to make any team in the league envious. There was then a question about if he what he took from Dean Lombardi. Hexy said that he was his own man and was not Lombardi, Homer, or Clarkie and that he learned a lot from each of them and that he would be bringing us all the best things he learned from each person. He was also asked what he thought of Gretzky's comment about how he was "the best goalie I (Gretzky) had ever faced". Hexy says he didn’t care at the time as he was so pissed about losing the cup in 1987. Finally someone asked Hexy if he thinks that character is over rated and Hexy said "absolutely not" and that it is one of the most important things that he looks for. He says that although they were not as talented as the Oilers in 1987 that they nearly won the cup on "shear character" and that people like Kopitar had great character as they allowed themselves to be coached from good players into great players. He said that Kopitar and many of the Kings were actually molded into winners by Terry Murray who forced them to learn to play defense as well as offense. He said that gone are the days that you can be successful in this league just playing offense and that people like Brayden Schenn just need to learn that a little more and that when they do they will become great players (as you can imagine he loves ex-Kings Schenn and Simmer and spoke very highly of them) and he is so excited about our potential as our current players are in this process now and are getting better every day. He said as goals are hard to come by nowadays that great players are the ones who can play a 2 way game and these are the kind of people he is looking for.

Finally we moved on to Chris Pryor who is the director of scouting. He showed us the 1st video in the "Flight Plan" series and asked us what we thought. He went into a bit about how Morin rose on their draft board and how his stock kept rising the more and more they watched him. In the end they chose him as he seemed to be on the most upward trajectory of the people that were left. They didn’t expect people like Jones to be left anyway and Morin was the one they wanted of the people they expected to be there. Someone asked Pryor of he was surprised that Jones slipped as far as he did and Pryor said no and that all of the rankings made by the so called experts are a bunch of baloney anyway. Finally he was asked who in the pipeline was the closest to joining the team. Pryor said Laughton and he, like Lavy thinks that he will make the team (recall Homer did not think so, so it is 2-1 in favor). He like Homer agreed that Cousins is a little further off.

That was basically it, I am sure there were some things that I missed but hopefully my brother can fill in some gaps.

A few quick bullet points that I found interesting were:

Luukko seems to be a bit chummy with the league now where in the past the higher ups seemed more combative

There are a few team mantras out there that are being repeated by different team officials

1. It is hard to score in this league due to the cap

2. It is hard to win due to the cap

3. Just get into the playoffs and anything can happen

Finally there seems to be a real sense of optimism about this team's chances in the next few years due to the young talent. It seemed to be a real sense of optimism rather than a contrived smoke blowing propaganda optimism to try and sell tickets to the fans. :PHI:

[beachflyer]

Great read and insight. Thanks to you (poulin20) and adamflyers.

[fan4ever]

@Poulin20

Great (and very thorough) re-cap!!! Thanks for sharing!!!

[hf101]

@Poulin20

Hey Poulin, Thanks for that. 50 days until the Flyers play Toronto, and 33 days until we play Toronto in the Pre - season... Can't wait!!!!

This has to be the best read all summer.

[flyerrod]

@Poulin20 Awesome read! Thank you for taking the time and effort to put this in print for us fans who are logistically too far away to attend.

[Adamflyers]

I don't have much to add. Poulin hit pretty much every point that I was able to remember as well!

The only thing I can add is to that story about Gretzky saying Hexy was the best goalie he had ever played against. Hexy reminded us that it was during the 1987 finals that Gretzky said that, and that even though Wayne is a very good and gracious guy, he wonders if it was more of a mind game to get in his head and make him overconfident. He said that if Wayne was being sincere that it was a very nice thing to say though and that he is honored that he ever thought that about him.

Pryor was talking about Ghost and someone asked him when he thought Ghost would be ready to leave college and enter the pros. Pryor said that kids just have to be ready to enter the pro game. He said imagine forcing any kid into a situation he is not ready to handle. You are not going to get the results you are looking for because the kid isn't ready and doesn't want to be there. He said these kids make the decision to leave college, not the team. He never really said when he thought Ghost would be ready, but he sounds high on him and is excited to see him make the jump.

The only other thing I can add is that we both picked up the vibe that everyone within the org is very high on Laughton. Sounds like we should expect to see him up with the team soon. Homer cautioned that he didn't expect it to be this year, but they all sound like they expect him to be an impact player for this team in the near future.

I just tried to upload a great pick I snapped of Hexy, though I don't know that it worked. It is on my hard drive and it asked for a URL to post it, so I have a feeling that won't work. Do pics have to be on the web to work here? I was right, it didn't work. Can someone tell me what I need to do to add a pick. I'm really not technologically challenged, I just don't know all the features of this site that well!

Thanks to HF for telling me how to attach pics!

Edited August 13, 2013 by Adamflyers

[hf101]

@Adamflyers

You can download the pic as an attachment.

Use the "More Reply Options" next to "Post" and click "Choose Files".... and then "Add Reply"

The pic will download here then directly from your computer.

[Adamflyers]

Thanks HF! I'll get that pic up there shortly

[Bertmega]

@Poulin20

@Adamflyers

Great work as usual guys! Thank you for giving us all an insight to the behind the scenes stuff. I am particularly interested in Laughton and it sounds like 2/3 rds of the brass are high on him. I wonder if he is an impact player that this would make Couturier more expendable?

[mojo1917]

@adamsflyers

@Poulin20

Great read guys, thanks for posting.

I like the part where Homer shuts down the guy razzing him about Briere, I'll bet that Paul can still be pretty intimidating in person. So when he says "no i'm serious" i can imagine season ticket holder X feeling about an inch and a half tall. i also think homer uses that dryness to his advantage.

I appreciate that these guys have good humor and candor with these meetings.

[murraycraven]

Great read Poulin! I cant wait for the season to get under way!

"The last question was about Danny Briere. Someone asked Homer if it was hard to let him go and Homer said yes, and that he "cried"..." Crying? Crying? There is no crying in hockey!

[ZeZel25]

Good work guy's, and thanks. Did anyone ask, I would have If I were there, WHY Goulbourne in the 3rd round and were they ever close to moving up near the top of the draft.

[Poulin20]

Hi all, it is Adam's and my pleasure to bring you this info as we know we are very fortunate to live in the area and have season tickets!

@mojo1917 - Yes homer is very intimidating in person in fact the couple of times I have shaken his hand after meetings he crushes it like a vice grip! He is never afraid to joke with and make fun of the fans who are out of line.

@ZezelTop25 - Unfortunately nobody thought of that question, while the questions were good this year I think we fans were all a bit off of our games as we have not thought of the Flyers as much during the off season! (Normally these meetingts occur right before the playoffs start.)

@Bertmega - It didnt sound like anyone was expendable in fact one thing I forgot to mention was that fans pressed Homer on keeping the young players and not trading them away and he made it out as if that was the long term plan.

Edited August 13, 2013 by Poulin20

[DaGreatGazoo]

Great write-up! Thanks for sharing....

[doom88]

Thank you very much gentleman. I look forward to reading these things every year.

[Navyhockey]

Thank you @Poulin20 and @Adamflyers, this was a great read. I wonder with Hextall now in the fold, will the Flyers take a step back on trading youth for veterans since that's where he is more experienced?

[pilldoc]

@Poulin20

@Adamflyers

Great write up guys! Thanks for sharing. Sounds like everyone is chomping at the bit to get back on the ice. I love the insight that the Flyers top brass shared. I did not know that Lavy and Bylsma are gonna coach together for the Olympics. I must of missed that somewhere. I'm sure whatever differences they have are going to be put aside for 2 weeks. It was interesting hearing how they thought Morin's stock kept rising. Finally I'm really glad Hexy is back. Very curious to see how he brings players in to develop.

Once again guys "Thank You" for the awesome write up.

EDIT: PS ....Just curious....do other teams conduct similar meeting with their STH's ?

Edited August 13, 2013 by pilldoc

[jammer2]

Thanks Poulin and Adam for the excellent update! Great work guys, thanks for keeping us in the loop. I'm surprised each and every year by their cantor and how they don't just give politically correct answers!

[AlaskaFlyerFan]

@Poulin20

@Adamflyers,

Awesome write up! Thanks so much!

[Quint]

Good info.

Enjoyed your take on things, guys

Thanks.

[Howie58]

A few weeks ago the Flyers surprised us by announcing that they would be hosting a STH Town hall (as we had not had one for a long time now). I just got back from it and I will recap what I can recall. I have asked Adamflyers, who was there with me, to chip in with the details I may have missed along the way. For those that don't know they break us up into groups and we then have 15-20 minute meetings with different members of the Flyers staff. They generally speak and then allow time for questions.

We started out tonight meeting with Peter Luukko (President and Chief Operating Officer of Comcast Spectator) and Shawn Tilger (Senior Vice President, Business Operations). They began by telling us about how much they appreciated our attendance and loyalty and that they take these meetings very seriously and that they enjoy the interaction with us and that they do listen to us. They said that are sincere in their belief that we are the best fans in hockey. Luukko went on to say that the fans were one of the reasons why Lecavalier gave for wanting to be on the Flyers and said that we have more of an impact than we realize. They were excited that training camp would be at the WFC this year rather than at the Flyers Skate Zone in NJ. This is due to renovations being done to the Skate Zone. They said that they are excited about it as it gives more people a chance to see camp and if they get enough interest they may move it to Philly for good. Tilger and Luukko also were very proud of the draft being in Philly this year as well as the Frozen Four. They said that STH would have priority for tickets to both. They then opened the floor to questions. A question was asked about if the Flyers think that the NHL should be adding teams via expansion or simply moving teams to cities where hockey works. Luukko (who did most of the talking) replied that the NHL recovered very quickly from the lockout and is making more and more money and that the NHL can support more teams and the Flyers are in favor of it. He went on to say that he was glad that the situation in Phoenix seems to be resolved and that the Devils situation is on its way to possibly being resolved. We kind of booed a bit when they mentioned the Devils but Luukko said that he is good friends with Lou Lamoriello and while they may not be chummy on game days he is a great guy and that they don’t wish the Devils an ill will. Luukko basically said that all 30 teams are partners in this entire thing we call the NHL and don’t wish each other ill will. Someone asked about the outdoor games and what they thought and Luukko said that at 1st he was against the idea of all those games as it would dilute the novelty but the NHL people kind of talked him into it as they basically said that teams like the Kings and Ducks would never be selected as the New Year’s Day game as there would be no ratings if that was the NHLs 1 game a year showcase. So in order to mix things up they are having more games. (On a side note the Kings are asking the Flyers for tips on things like the Alumni game and Luukko is coordinating everything with Luc Robitaille who answers the phone "Flyers West" anytime the Flyers call him. He is also good friends with Luukko apparently) The NHL told the Flyers that they would be in the mix for outdoor games constantly a lot due to good ratings and the fan base excitement for them. They were asked if the NHL would continue to open the season in Europe and if the Flyers were in the mix for starting the season in Europe at some point. They answered by saying "Yes and yes". There was a question about Saturday afternoon games and why there were so many more in the 2nd half of the season, We were told that this was due to NBC setting these times and that it was subject to change as they need to have what NBC calls "Flex windows" Luukko asked us if we liked afternoon games and most of us said no and they basically said too bad as we make a lot of money off of them and it is good for families and kids. Then someone asked if the Flyers supported the players going to the Olympics and they said yes! They also said that this year they would try and have tape delayed viewing parties for the fans down at Philly Live complex. Next someone asked why the Flyers could not win the cup this year and we were told that they believe they can win the cup every year and that is the goal again this year. They said that they are embarrassed about missing the playoffs although with the salary cap it is now harder than before to make the playoffs (they said they are not making excuses) but if you get in anything can happen. Finally there was a question about the KHL and if there is any fear that it is a viable competitor with the NHL. Luukko said none whatsoever. He said that in reality it is a bit of a mess and that the teams are run poorly and are losing money and that most players still dream of coming to the NHL. He cites his experience with Global-Spectrum as evidence for this as they run some of the arenas where KHL teams play.

Next we moved on to meet with Homer. Homer also thanked us for being there and told us that last year was unacceptable and that the mood of the players is one of anger about what happened. He said that we are a playoff team and once you get in anything can happen. He then asked us to fire away. The 1st questioner asked Homer if he thinks that Mark Streit was the fix to all our defensive problems. Homer then said that he gets pissed when people suggest that we have a crappy defense. He explains (as most of you know) that Streit was not brought in for defense but for offense as goals are tough to come by in the NHL and that we could use some more punch from our blue line in that regard. He then said that although the defense was suspect last year, it was due to injuries and that all were better including Mez and that we should expect to see better things from them this year with them all being healthy. A question was then asked if Pronger would ever play again and Homer said he doesn’t think so and that he has been taking different roles with the team to stay occupied but has so many health issues that it is hard for him to even do that. Another person asked if we plan to re-sign Gagne. Homer said that right now we do not have the money to do so. He said he is however in contact with Gagne's agent every week. Basically Homer said that Gags can come to camp and try and win a job but that nothing is set in stone with him. He went on to say that with the cap going down there are tons of older serviceable players out there that are in his position of being unsigned and that they are all stuck in a wait and see type limbo. Speaking of cap room, Homer mentioned that when Pronger goes back on LTIR that we will have $5 Mil in cap space. Someone asked if we planned to spend it and Homer said in so many words, we are the Flyers that is what we do, of course the move or moves would have to make sense for the team. Then someone asked about the off season acquisitions. Homer basically said that he feels that we got the best players available at all positions (Streit, Lecavalier, and Emery) and that he was very proud of the off season acquisitions. On an interesting side note Streit's father's favorite team is the Flyers and Streit's dad is overjoyed about him coming here. It sounds like the Flyers didn't expect Lecavalier to become a UFA and he was not in their plans at 1st but when he became available they got interested and Lecavalier himself was very interested and seemed as if he wanted to be here. He cited that he liked the Flyers organization and how they were run like a family and also as I mentioned before, the fans. Homer also said that he was really pumped about Emery and that he was great for us before and that he was one of the best goalies in hockey last year and that he can be great again. The Flyers were very impressed how he came back from the injury and they never thought he would play again honestly. That led into the next question which was about who would be the starter. Homer said to ask Lavy and he didn’t care as long as someone was in net who could win hockey games for the Flyers. Homer then spoke about Mason and said that he thinks that he can return to his original form. Homer thinks what happened is that he had some success and "got fat". We thought he meant physically but Homer said no, he got a fat head but that he seems to be calming down again and looks ready to play again at a high level. On the subject of being too fat, someone asked a question about if missing the playoffs was bad for the team as they would be on a much longer vacation this year and would get off to a slow complacent start because of it. Homer kind of laughed at the guy and said "you don’t know pro-athletes at all; these guys work out all the time and are almost never at rest or on vacation as there is too much at stake for them financially to not ever be at their best". He seemed pretty dismissive of this guy and his question. There was then a question about Scott Laughton and/or Cousins could make the team this year, they then went on to say that maybe not as the team have enough Centers already. Homer said that Laughton and Cousins could make the team out of camp if they "busted the door down" however he didn't think that this was too likely. He then went on to say that the Flyers philosophy is that like defenseman you can never have too many centers (He also said that Giroux was a winger that they converted to center) and that we need to always have a lot of offensive "bullets in the chamber". There was a question about injuries and Homer said that all were healthy except Eric Wellwood who is still a long way off with his severed tendons. Talbot is supposedly fine as is Mez who Homer asked us to look to for a great year as he is the healthiest he has been in a long time. The last question was about Danny Briere. Someone asked Homer if it was hard to let him go and Homer said yes, and that he "cried". We laughed and he said he is not joking that he did cry and that Danny was such a great guy on and off the ice. Homer said that Dabby B always wanted to be a Flyer and that even though we gave him a lot of money to do so he turned down even better offers to be a Flyer. With that we moved on to Lavy.

Lavy is always great as he is quick witted, funny, and brutally honest. As usual he didn't disappoint. The 1st question was about Lavy being selected to coach the US Olympic team with Dan Bylsma and how that was going to work out and if it was a bit uncomfortable. Lavy stumbled a bit with this one and didn't know what to say as he was trying to think of a diplomatic way to answer. He basically said yes it is a bit uncomfortable and that it does suck having to work under Bylsma and he and Bylsma did speak about it and how the Flyers and Pens hate each other (players, coaches, fans etc.). Lavy feels that he imself is a nice guy and Bylsma is a nice guy and that in the end it is a different situation and that they are going to work together just fine. Lavy did say that in reality he himself really is a nice guy and that even his wife was surprised at how he yelled at Bylsma from the bench during that one game. Next there was a question about the slow starts last year and why we came out flat at the beginning of games at times last year? Lavy said that he completely disagreed that we came out flat at the beginning of games last year, he said rather that when we came out flat for games we came out flat for the full 60 mins last year and that we needed to be better in all aspects of our game last year both offense and defense. Someone then asked if we were going to continue to play the same system next year or be more conservative? Lavy said again that we need to play better in all aspects of the game, both offense and defense and that his key for next year is to "fix the goal differential". He believes that we did not score enough last year or keep the puck out of our net enough and they are going to work on ways to fix both (he says that they actually did a tweak to the defense last year but would not elaborate). He said that he recently watched a video of all the goals we gave up last year and that they were almost all on transitions where we were transitioning and then something went wrong (a guy fell down or missed the puck) or just plain giveaways. He said that these aspects of our defensive game must be fixed as must our offense which stunk last year in his opinion. He says that he thinks that Streit will make a big difference in this aspect and will especially help the PP which has been good but could improve. He also said that almost all players are angry and resolved to do a better job in all aspects of the game. For example he says that Hartnell is working out constantly this summer and is out to prove that he is that 37 goal scorer that he was 2 years ago. He mentioned that he is excited for camp to be here in Philly and he is also equally excited about their team building exercises in Lake Placid which he feels is an awesome venue and that he feels will really benefit the team as teams are not as close as they used to be or should be in the modern era. Then there was a question about Lecavalier and what line he would play on. Lavy said that honestly he has no clue as he hasn’t seen him in camp yet and until he does he couldn't say. He said he is never good at guessing these things as he never thought that Giroux and Jagr would fit well together and he would have never put them together on paper however in the pre-season he saw the chemistry and realized that he was wrong. He said off the top of his head he sees Lecavalier with Read and maybe Simmonds as the muscle on the line. He said that he sees at times Lecavalier going out on the line with Giroux just as the Pens put Frankenstein and Cindy Horseteeth together (He didn't say it like that BTW) on occasion but not often. He then went on to ask us to watch for Matt Read to have an awesome year this year as he was actually one of our best players at the beginning of last year but got a rib injury early in the season that he never recovered from. He also said to watch for Mez to have a bounce back year as he is finally healthy and before the injury was one of our best defensemen. Finally someone asked Lavy about Laughton and Lavy said that he loves Laughton and that he hopes and actually thinks that he will make the team. Lavy said that overall he is really optimistic about this season and that he has a great feeling as to how it is going to go.

Next we moved to Hexy who just joined the team in an official capacity a week ago. Homer told us that Hexy was really trying to get up to speed and doesn't know much about the Flyers farm system yet. Hexy was greeted warmly with a hearty round of applause. He was very gracious and kind. Because we were told he didn’t know much abut the farm system yet ,at first there were no questions for him as the fans seemed afraid to ask him anything. The 1st few questions were jokes such as "Is it true that we got you in here in case Emery breaks down again"? Hexy said, "believe me, I wish I could still play, I would do that over this any day, but this is not a bad job either". Another question was if he would help with the goalie coaching. Hexy said that that is Reese's job and that he will leave him and that he has a lot on his plate with this new job anyway. However he did say that in LA he did speak with the goalies on occasion if they were struggling mentally. He was then asked if he was brought here to bring a new mentality to the Flyers. Hexy said that he was brought in to run the farm system and that his strongest suit was being an evaluator of talent. He said that players are so close in talent now that it is hard to judge who is better than the other. He says it is a science of splitting hairs and that usually players are only 5% different from one another talent wise but it is that 5% that is the difference between good and great and that is what he was here for to look for that 5%. He said that in the end Homer makes all the final decisions and that he is not there to change any mentality just to judge talent. He went on to say that the Flyers don’t need a mentality change and that they are always working hard trying to win and that "it is friggin hard to win in this league man". He says in a cap world especially that it is even harder and that there is so much luck involved in winning especially as it pertains to injury. He says we in Philly are lucky as we are almost always competitive and almost always have a chance to win. He said that when he arrived at the Kings that they were a mess and had to be built from the ground up and it was not easy by any means. A fan then asked if the Kings had a different approach to the Flyers patchwork approach. Hexy said that he disagreed that the Flyers had a patchwork approach and that we do have good long term plans in place and that sometimes it is good to try and add a piece at the deadline as you just need to get in and then see what happens (He was the 3rd person to tell us this tonight after Homer and Luukko) and we should know this from the Flyers in 2010 and the Kings in 2012. He also said that in planning you do have to think long term and that you need to build a long term window for winning (7 to 8 years) he said that the Flyers have an amazing stable of young talent and have built that window and that these guys just need time to develop. He said that he is not joking when he thinks that our top 9 forwards are enough to make any team in the league envious. There was then a question about if he what he took from Dean Lombardi. Hexy said that he was his own man and was not Lombardi, Homer, or Clarkie and that he learned a lot from each of them and that he would be bringing us all the best things he learned from each person. He was also asked what he thought of Gretzky's comment about how he was "the best goalie I (Gretzky) had ever faced". Hexy says he didn’t care at the time as he was so pissed about losing the cup in 1987. Finally someone asked Hexy if he thinks that character is over rated and Hexy said "absolutely not" and that it is one of the most important things that he looks for. He says that although they were not as talented as the Oilers in 1987 that they nearly won the cup on "shear character" and that people like Kopitar had great character as they allowed themselves to be coached from good players into great players. He said that Kopitar and many of the Kings were actually molded into winners by Terry Murray who forced them to learn to play defense as well as offense. He said that gone are the days that you can be successful in this league just playing offense and that people like Brayden Schenn just need to learn that a little more and that when they do they will become great players (as you can imagine he loves ex-Kings Schenn and Simmer and spoke very highly of them) and he is so excited about our potential as our current players are in this process now and are getting better every day. He said as goals are hard to come by nowadays that great players are the ones who can play a 2 way game and these are the kind of people he is looking for.

Finally we moved on to Chris Pryor who is the director of scouting. He showed us the 1st video in the "Flight Plan" series and asked us what we thought. He went into a bit about how Morin rose on their draft board and how his stock kept rising the more and more they watched him. In the end they chose him as he seemed to be on the most upward trajectory of the people that were left. They didn’t expect people like Jones to be left anyway and Morin was the one they wanted of the people they expected to be there. Someone asked Pryor of he was surprised that Jones slipped as far as he did and Pryor said no and that all of the rankings made by the so called experts are a bunch of baloney anyway. Finally he was asked who in the pipeline was the closest to joining the team. Pryor said Laughton and he, like Lavy thinks that he will make the team (recall Homer did not think so, so it is 2-1 in favor). He like Homer agreed that Cousins is a little further off.

That was basically it, I am sure there were some things that I missed but hopefully my brother can fill in some gaps.

A few quick bullet points that I found interesting were:

Luukko seems to be a bit chummy with the league now where in the past the higher ups seemed more combative

There are a few team mantras out there that are being repeated by different team officials

1. It is hard to score in this league due to the cap

2. It is hard to win due to the cap

3. Just get into the playoffs and anything can happen

Finally there seems to be a real sense of optimism about this team's chances in the next few years due to the young talent. It seemed to be a real sense of optimism rather than a contrived smoke blowing propaganda optimism to try and sell tickets to the fans. :PHI:

Thanks so much for your assessment and recall..much obliged. Howie

[Poulin20]

@Navyhockey to answer your question it seemed to be confirmed by both Homer and Hexy that their strategy is to hold on to the young guys. Homer was grilled about it by a fan who seemed to be alluding the Richards and Carter trades even though she didnt mention them by name and he said "yes we plan to hang on to our youth". Hexy kept gushing about our young guys on the current roster and suggested that we are in a really strong position with this current group of forwards in the near future and there is no way we have no plans to get rid of them.

To the group as a whole I did have a flashback to another thing that was discussed that I had forgotten to mention which was the re-alignment of the league. The fans asked Luukko and Tilger what they thought and they said the "Loved it!" they said the "Loved having Detroit in our conference". They then asked us if we liked how we would play every team at least 1X a year and we said "yes" and they said "good, so then you plan to come to games where Phoenix and Columbus play?" The fans all said "sure the Blue Jackets are in our conference now and we get to see Bob play....Luukko was like "yeah....you get to see Bob" I wont say for sure that he was uncomfortable making that statement (Adamflyers feel free to chime in) but it seemed a little like a red face moment. In that sequence the fans also asked about the Division names and what they think? Luukko said "oh yeah our new division name was all Tilgers idea!" He was joking of course and we all had a good laugh. They said that the Flyers did dislike the new name and would love a return to the Patrick Division style of names.

If I remember anything else interesting I will let you know...

Edited August 14, 2013 by Poulin20

[ctid]

I'm away on holiday (Greek island)...actually had a "minor" fight with the girlfriend over this. I apparently always spend way too much time on here, or as she would say it "alt for lang tid på det der dumme ishockey forum." So naturally, me checking in and just had to read this awesome write-up triggered the fight...so worth it though!

thanks guys

btw, think she had flashbacks from last year, we were away on on holiday as well, when the Flyers signed Weber to the offer sheet...with me checking in ALL the time for an update, so naturally she was worried this may result in the same thing. Ok, this was a bit of a side note....thanks guys, great read!

[goalnut3133]

EDIT: PS ....Just curious....do other teams conduct similar meeting with their STH's ?

This was an awesome re-cap, good work!

Yes, pilldoc, actually the 'Nucks have the same thing in Vancouver for their STH's (which I'm not, so I didn't even know this till this year!)...& you can bet that GM Mike Gillis got some big questions fired at him this year! LOL

[Flyskippy]

I was led to this recap thread from Bill Meltzer's blog on Hockeybuzz.

I just want to add my thanks for the recap.