NRH

I dunno

Another lock-out might be good for the rebuilding Flyers

@  Yeah, pretty sure he was the last rookie to win. Quite the accomplishment when you think about it. Before Cam I'm thinking it was Ken Dryden? I know Steve Penny made the finals in his rookie year, but did not win.

Actually, now that I think about it, Niemi was a rookie was he not?

Before Cam was Roy and then Dryden in the 70s.

Hextall would have had a cup as a rookie as well if it wasn't for Wayne's Oilers.

@  If Bryz ended up winning the cup for somebody, I'd have to quit watching hockey.....forever. I'd be to bitter, and to worried it was somehow fixed.

Its going to happen

Its going to be a huge deal too

How often does a team get booed when it wins the cup and then cheered when its losing the cup?

I think Mike Smith makes a little more playoff magic for the Desert team.

That and some random goalie gets hurt and someone signs Bryz and he wins the cup after stepping in to save the team and becomes the hero of a whole different city.

Just because that's what happens when everyone else leaves here.

@radoran  Yeah, even with a goalie on a torrid hot streak, you usually do not go far without having guys who have been there and done that. I'm a big believer in learning (through experience) how to win. There is no replacement for the trials and tribulations of the Conference Finals and the SC Finals. You gotta get through it, then apply the knowledge you gained.

Cam is the last Rookie to win a cup isn't he?(goalie)

I just wish Kimmo would play through less injuries, its clear we can operate without him on the ice with our plethora of D-men waiting in the wings. Its better to have him at 90% than to have him skating around through two sprained ankles and a sore elbow.

They have stats for the entire league actually.http://www.sportingcharts.com/nhl/stats/player-giveaways-statistic/2012/

For Shea Weber numbers I think Timmo is a good deal in comparison.

Cam Ward saved that Canes team though, Is Mason or Emery of that caliber of goalie Heroics?

Five teams from the 2012 playoffs didn't make the playoffs in 2013:

Florida, New Jersey, Phoenix, Nashville and the Flyers.

 

Florida was the fluke SE conference team; Nashville lost most of its scoring and arguably its best Dman; Phoenix is, well, Phoenix; The Devils have been due for a swoon.

 

And the Flyers. Who had the same coach, playing the same system with a team that was more experienced ("made the second round!"). They also named a new captain and claimed to have upgraded the defense.

 

What "time" did they not have that the Rags, Sens, Broons, Caps, Pens, Canucks, Kings, Blues, Shahks and Blackhawks did have?

 

An argument can be made that in an 82-game season they could have come back and made a run at the end.

 

If only those other 29 nefarious owners hadn't conspired to lose half a season of hockey just to stick it to the Flyers!

 

 

Since it wont let me outside of your quote box.

 

Out of all those teams I'd say Florida wasn't as big a fluke as it would seem, they did have the best overall record in their division regardless of how.

 

But the point wasn't that the they didn't have the same disadvantage as the other aforementioned teams. Even though the most of those teams have had mostly the same lines the last 4 years.

 

Every year seems to be a re-tool year for the Flyers lately, you never see the same first line from year to year. One year its Carter and Richards the next its Jagr Giroux Hartnell the following year its Giroux Hartnell Vora

 

The defense is much the same way and the constant "goalie woes" don't help build continuity for a team.

 

But, they were slowly righting the ship late in the season, wasn't in Boucher that sent the team to the play-offs in 2010 on the final game of the season in a shoot-out and then Leighton that saved them again at the brink of elimination?

I think Lavi realized it -- albeit too late -- last season when they won 10 of their last 15.  Once he stopped trying to play defensemen in roles they could not fill (Coburn is not Matt Carle and cannot be, for example) and closed the gap between the forwards and defense, they got a lot better.  That's with a depleted D corps, too.  If they go with the same defensive scheme with their regular 6, they can make some noise and make the playoffs.  I have no doubts.  This team has a 2007-08 sort of "feel" to it.

 Minus the lockout and with 82 games I think that last years team could have probably made the play-offs too.

I don't get why Insurance is so hard to provide, the NBA does it and I'm sure the NFL would if any other country though it was a legitimate sport.

I agree NRH...   I know a lot of people love having the NHL players in the Olympics but I can't take it and I hope this is the last.   I much rather see the "amatuers" battle in the Olympics.   If a club is paying you I think it is only fair that a club does not have to worry about extra games being a liability to a player. 

 

I get the whole "playing for your country" thing but just wish the NHL would keep the players from the Olympics.  If Crosby, G, Tavares or any other player would get hurt it could ruin the teams NHL season.

While I like the concept of the Amateurs in the Olympics, its something that is impossible to enforce world wide. Many nations would still provide the free living that most American(among other countries) Amateurs can't have. That is the whole reason the AAU was disbanded as a governing body in the first place to create a level playing field among athletes that qualify for the Games. That along with all the best players going pro and completely avoiding the games.

The Olympics need something better defined for hockey. The OG just lost their allure after the miracle on ice.

As I recall, the Flyers club team was better than the Russian team in the 70s anyways. I'd rather see a club world cup than the OG.

I understand the guy has his off ice antics, but the impact he made for them in the playoffs was immediate, He has to at least be somewhat of a presence in the locker room or at least was.

Its also understandable that you can't keep a cancer outside of the team on the team.

Good question. I'm not sure why HC felt the need to express any sort of comment regarding Giroux's absence. It's just the Olympics. Yes, that's right, I said it. Giroux's employer - the people who have given him financial freedom for his family and a few future generations of Girouxs - is more important than the Olympics.

Giroux no longer lives in Canada. He can't vote in Canada. He doesn't pay taxes here. His kids won't go to school here. So HC needs to chill out.

I understand it is an honour and a privilege for many players to don the jersey of their home nations, but to publicly admonish him for not showing up at a dry land bonding sesh in Calgary in August????

I don't get it.

Well, the Olympics for team sports haven't been that big of a deal since the USSR collapse. They are in Russia in upcoming winter games but I still don't see much incentive for KHL and NHL players making more than 10 million over the course of the next 3 years to actually put their heart into these games, its nothing more than extra ice time that interferes with Post-Season action.

It's a way to turn the doldrums of August into the drama of August.  It does -- and has, thus this thread and many like it on the interwebs -- spur talk.

That makes quite a bit of sense actually, they should just start a summer ball hockey league then.

PK better not fall in love with the weight room too much, putting on all that extra mass  makes for different and not always better bio-mechanics.

 

his play could actually suffer, like Ovechkin's has.

Extra mass on a defender might be a good thing though, if it doesn't disable him too much.

I still feel as if you placed Ovie in a more offensive coaching scheme, he would return to the ways of 60 goals a season. I hate the way he is forced to play now, laying out for shot blocks and constantly being forced to dish the puck rather than pass to himself of the boards to attempt to split the defenses like was doing his second year.

Nah, they have two brodeur's and a schneider

250k per year is a lot cheaper than the nearly 80 million they'd have to pay otherwise.

If anything a "return to contract" where Kovie comes back into the league and resumes where his former contract would currently be at.

or when someone retires they are forced to stay retired.

I don't get why there is a press release for these types of things do fans really support HC more than they do the players that this would be relevant to know?

Was there a big enough of a public presence to pressure HC into answering the question "Where is Giroux?" or "How do you feel about Giroux not skating with you guys?"

@

 

 Probably. I mean a lot of our D is really just 4, 5, 6s. It could mean a whole lot if we could come up with an actual #1 without selling the farm. But depth at that position certainly can't hurt.

We tried to sell the farm to Weber and ended up making him the highest paid player in the NHL who(without Suter) posted similar numbers to Kimmo.

I'd settle for 2s and 3s in this particular aspect, the focus on a goalie seems to be to grab an all-star, rather than some less than A level NHL talent.

Am I wrong in thinking that only your 1st line guys should have anywhere near this many giveaways in a 53 game season? Only because they're on the ice far more than your 2 and 3 and 4th line guys?

  Player Team Giveaways Giveaways Per Game Giveaways Per 60

671 Braydon Coburn PHI 31 0.94 2.49

672 Luke Schenn PHI 31 0.66 1.81

673 Claude Giroux PHI 30 0.63 1.77

674 Jakub Voracek PHI 25 0.52 1.81

675 Bruno Gervais PHI 22 0.59 2.09

676 Scott Hartnell PHI 21 0.66 2.49

677 Kimmo Timonen PHI 21 0.47 1.29

678 Sean Couturier PHI 19 0.41 1.56

679 Wayne Simmonds PHI 19 0.42 1.62

680 Nicklas Grossmann PHI 17 0.57 1.86

681 Matt Read PHI 16 0.38 1.27

682 Erik Gustafsson PHI 16 0.59 1.77

683 Ilya Bryzgalov PHI 15 0.38 0.39

684 Ruslan Fedotenko PHI 12 0.26 1.22

685 Oliver Lauridsen PHI 12 0.80 3.17

686 Brayden Schenn PHI 11 0.23 0.91

687 Simon Gagne PHI 10 0.26 1.12

688 Max Talbot PHI 9 0.26 1.00

689 Vincent Lecavalier PHI 7 0.18 0.60

690 Andrej Meszaros PHI 6 0.55 1.77

691 Adam Hall PHI 6 0.16 0.93

692 Kent Huskins PHI 5 0.26 1.01

693 Ray Emery PHI 5 0.24 0.27

694 Andreas Lilja PHI 3 0.75 2.69

695 Brandon Manning PHI 3 0.50 2.05

696 Mike Knuble PHI 3 0.11 0.50

697 Steve Mason PHI 3 0.15 0.17

698 Kurtis Foster PHI 3 0.13 0.60

699 Zac Rinaldo PHI 2 0.06 0.45

700 Tye McGinn PHI 2 0.11 0.53

701 Jay Rosehill PHI 2 0.18 1.62

702 Matthew Konan PHI 1 0.50 1.94

703 Brian Boucher PHI 1 0.25 0.42

@hf101

 

 We're certainly not wanting in the quantity dept. on defence. It would be nice if we could trade some of that for quality.

Its sad to say but most of these guys will go off into the league the way Justin Williams did.

I've got to think Mez takes that 6th spot. When he's played he's certainly been good enough for 10-14 min per game. MA Bourdon should get some time in the AHL, which I think is a good thing. I really liked his play two years ago when so many defensemen were hurt. While there isn't a top tier defenseman on this team, I do think they've got a good number of NHL-capable players, and with Gothisbere, Lauridson, Morin, and Hagg about 2-4 years away, I'm cautiously optimistic about their blue line recovering after Timmonen and Streit retire, which will be soon I'm sure.

That is if they keep them for 2-4 years.

Not to pile on but that is RUN DMC....not Beasties....semantics! !!!

Well yes, because those lyrics don't match any song by either rap trio.

But what do I know, you're just one of many following the opinions of your friends before you.

@

Even a blind squirrel occasionally finds a nut. The bottom line is they both suck.

Steve Mason also had a amazing rookie season and still has yet to recreate any semblance of it.

He can skate all he wants in the off months with no contact. I hope he can stay healthy but something tells me first good hit and he's toast, French toast.

the France Hockey League

How awesome is it the Leighton found work before Bryz!

Well, Leighton dragged a team that should have lost in the first round to the cup finals, while bryz barely won a 1st round series.