Flyskippy

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?"

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.

Sept 15th Flyers first pre-season game which is televised.

Game Chat!

n00b question: Is the Game Chat divided into different areas for each game going on each night?

 More like "in my time of dying"....ha ha!

@TedZep

Your time is gonna come...

@ruxpin

I wasn't going down that road alone. Your post made me think of that hollow desolate place that was the WG BMW commercial campaign. Had to share my journey: "Yea, though I walk through the valley of soulless commercials, I will not fear for thou art with me."

With you here, too. But you know from the day he arrived in town they were going to do it at the first opportunity. It had mistake written all over it. For ME, though, the mistake was Richards at that point in time, on that team, and in this city.

The captaincy wasn't the only mistake with him. The contract was, too. I just don't give my kid the keys to the BMW (if I had one--I don't) and tell him to go for a spin when the kid is still working on his learners' permit. THAT part is where I blame management. (to @fanaticV3.0 "that" was meant specifically for that portion of the discussion; not intended to be all-encompassing)

Al Morganti? Is that you?

http://youtu.be/KLFRIgOW6bk

@Flyskippy

I don't think Homer is a "bad" gm. I just don't think he's very good either. His record includes some nice draft picks, but way more that he's traded away. It's insane the length of time this franchise has gone without a decent goalie. He never seems to have a plan, it's always reactionary. When he decided to trade Carter and Richards, that was the perfect time to bring along Bobrovsky with a young core of Giroux, Voracek, Schenn etc. Let them grow together. Instead, he brings in Headcase.

I actually agree with most of this. That's why I have a short leash for both Laviolette & Homer. Homer's leash would be longer if Lavi were let go & a young coach were brought in to grow them all together. They can do that with Mason but can he ever recapture his rookie form? I'm still not sold on Bob, as leaky as he could be.

Time will tell and we'll all have forgotten what each other said so it's a good thing we have Google to look it up.

@Flyskippy

Also, Bob doesn't have to have another Vezina-type season to call that trade dumb, stupid, idiotic. Several of us were "lamenting" that trade when it happened...because the Flyers finally had a good goalie prospect for the first time in over 2 1/2 decades and they threw him away. Did anyone really think the Bobrovsky we saw was the finished product? Cause I sure as hell didn't.

See, this is where my lack of history here (and no one seeing what I had posted elsewhere) works against me: I'm not 100% on board with the moves. I can see why Homer made them, but (as a follow-up) his coach and owner kind of boxed him into a corner to make them. He should NOT have dispatched Bob, never should have signed Bryz (see my 2011 summer posts at Hockeybuzz where I said I wanted the Flyers to roll with Bob and a veteran [i was hoping they'd trade for Nabby] and stay away from Bryz), etc. I guess I come off as talking out of both sides of my mouth, but I'm not ready to fire Homer yet. So, yes, I see some mistakes that were made and attempts to fix them. Every GM makes mistakes. They're human. I just think there is a HUGE gap between someone like Homer and someone like John Ferguson, Jr.

Now, having said that, if the Flyers stumble out of the gate, fire Laviolette (for his mishandling of Bob, refusal to adjust this past half-season until it was too late, and mishandling of Couturier this past half-season), and fire Homer for not replacing Laviolette sooner and wasting another year.

It's a fine line between my approval/rejection of the GM and coach, but that's the bed they've made.

@DaGreatGazoo

Just pass the rum!

I know now why "the rum's gone."

Oh, I was never referring to Hitchcock, mostly because this topic is about Reese, not Hitchcock.

In fact I never said anything about Hitchcock, so your anger is your own fault.

However, if we want to get technical, Reese was an Assistant coach when he won the cup with the lighting.

Let's not skew the history to fit our point:

http://www.legendsofhockey.net/LegendsOfHockey/jsp/SearchPlayer.jsp?player=18365

http://flyers.nhl.com/club/page.htm?id=53073

He was quite clearly working with the goaltenders, not running the D or being an "eye in the sky."

I'm a 45-year fan who has seen the ups and downs. I agree they have the same goal.

I just disagree with their means of achieving it.

And I don't have any faith in the guy(s) who made one of the single worst decisions in the history of hockey by tying the franchise to a crippling nine-year, NMC deal, dealing away a future Vezina winner (because they screwed up on how many games he could play and be waiver exempt) and then forcing the cancellation of half a season of hockey to make that decision go away will "get it right next time."

They very well might - and I'll happily be at the parade a block from my house on Broad Street.

Been waiting for that since 1975.

A lot of hindsight (which has the benefit of seeing 20/20) and small sampling (Bob) in that critique:

Via Pronger, Homer brought the team closer to a Cup than anyone since 1987.

Snider tied Homer's hands with having to solve a problem that was not there: Laviolette caused that by mishandling Bob in 2011's playoffs. As to his Vezina, let's see if he can replicate his half-season performance over a whole season before lamenting that trade like over dramatic mourners.

FWIW, I wanted Lavi fired after this past season for his coaching from the 2011 playoffs onward. If he falters (that is, the team) this year, he & Homer should both go. Homer for not replacing him when there were eligible replacements that won't be there from October to April this season.

That said, I am looking forward to this group. I have a feeling akin to the 2007-08 team: I believe they will exceed expectations and make some noise in the playoffs. I would not be surprised with a deep run at all.

If I am wrong, fire Homer & Lavi and replace them with interims until next spring when more candidates become available.

Way ahead of you, man. These are actually my glasses:

http://www.zappos.com/ray-ban-rb3016-clubmaster-49-top-dark-havana-orange?ef_id=UJkpcQAAX9HH4GTN:20130820140347:s&zfcTest=fcl%3A0

Also have the orange and black shoes to go with them.

And the kitchen painted orange with black highlights and the retired numbers up on the wall.

Just earlier today, it was remarked in my office that "my color" is orange.

Love the team. Hate the management. :)/>

And I think I've been pretty clear that there are good decisions that have been made. It's just that the bad ones tend to overshadow those "successes" when "success" doesn't mean "winning a Cup."

LOL!

I wish I could add a smiley from my phone. Nice glasses.

As to your critique, I understand it but the team is trying -- as always -- to reach the same goal of winning a Cup as you, me, and the entire fan base. It's not as bad as many detractors make it out to be.

With little Philly P's on them as well?

I prefer not to tinkle on mine, but whatever floats your boat.

Over parts of 11 seasons in the NHL with the Toronto Maple Leafs (1987-88 through 1991-92 and 1998-99), Calgary Flames (1991-92 to 1993-94), Hartford Whalers (1993-94 to 1995-96), Lightning (1995-96) and New Jersey Devils (1996-97), Reese posted a 53-65-17 record with a 3.66 goals-against average and five shutouts in 174 contests. In 11 appearances in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, he has a 3-5 mark with a 4.08 GAA.

So? Relevance? He won a Stanley Cup as the Lightning goalie coach. That's the position he's in here; he's not suiting up for the Flyers net any time soon.

I love the cry of "Stepford."

1) My favorite team makes a decision.

2) I disagree with the team's decision.

3) Anyone agreeing with the team's decision is a Stepford.

*yawn*

It's just as bad as:

1) My favorite team makes a decision.

2) I agree with the team's decision.

3) Anyone disagreeing with the team's decision is silly because if they were that bright, they'd be on the team's payroll.

really would have made it more awkward when they then had to send him away in a salary cap problem...

really well managed organization.

If we're going to critique all the mistakes, we have to take into account the successes also. It's easy picking apart the team by its mistakes and declaring it a failure via sarcasm when the good moves are removed from the full picture.

Black colored glasses are just as disingenuous as orange colored ones. That's why, to be realistic, one needs both the orange and the black.

@murraycraven

It distracts from my dearth of hockey knowledge.

(It's hard to post pics via the iPhone here. I hope this worked.)

EDIT: D'oh!

Second EDIT: Woo-hoo!

Crosby is the youngest captain to win a Cup for a reason.

The Pens did everything they could to make sure there was a "veteran presence" (a la Bill Guerin) around him at all times. And he accepted that.

Richards, with Pronger, apparently did not.

There might also be a reason the Pens haven't won a Cup without Crosby having a "veteran presence" around him.

That reason just might be... Crosby.

"The truth hurts doesn't it, Hapsburg. Oh sure, maybe not as much as jumping on a bicycle with the seat missing, but it hurts."

MCA died a few years back, the Beastie boys could use you to make a comeback.

You be illin'. The song is by Run DMC.

/notasemanticspost

no, they are not the same thing. a quarter = 1/4 of a game and a period does not equal the same amount. Under that premise when is half-time at a hockey game? Or is the 4th inning of a hockey game considered overtime?

I get the jist of your argument and I actually agree with it to an extent. Although, if the owner is the only person to get the blame than why do we even need GMs? Why would any GM want to come to Philly (Hextall just came back as an Asst GM) if they have no say in the process?

I think Snider is at fault for Bryz but I have to believe that he also allows Homer to do his job. Snider is not a hockey guy and pays a small fortune to Homer and his crew to run the organization.

The bolded section, I especially agree. Snider opened his mouth with the "Never again" comment, effectively tying Homer's hands, dooming Bob, and shielding the blame away from Lavi's mishandling of Bob in the 2011 playoffs.

Aside from that, he's let Homer run the show.

Ok, so I get the 50/50 thing. I also get that you don't want to go back and forth after naming a #1. I really do. But when you have two guys who are not #1s - which is common for our team - how don't you rotate the hot hand? When you have two guys who aren't good enough to be a full time starter, don't you kind of have to play whoever is playing well?

It's up to the team to decide who is "good enough to be a full time starter." Emery has been a good full time starter before. He has to prove his hip can handle that sort of workload. Mason has to prove that his first season was not a flash in the pan. The Flyers could very well have two guys who are good enough. It's up to the two of them and the team's coaching and managerial staffs to figure out which is the best course to take. Based on Lavi's work in the past, he'll go with the hot hand -- and I have no qualms with that approach. Eventually, the cream rises to the top and the Flyers will know which goalie to lean on more.

I would answer your question with a "yes," but not for the exact same reasoning as yours.

While this topic is entirely fiction, Roo does need to learn how to keep his frustration better in check. It throws him off of his game.

Agreed. Otherwise, he could have been playing in Game 5 in 2012 against the Devils instead of sitting in the Riley Cote suite upstairs.

Isn't that what people do at the DMV?

(Surprised it took this long on this one! You guys are slacking.)

It was sarcasm.

http://blogs.phillymag.com/the_philly_post/2013/08/12/sidney-crosby-cuts-line-dmv/

It might be my fault, per my post from the "Giroux injures right hand" thread:

Commence "Giroux's club snapped when he tried to break it over his thigh" rumors...

It took a little longer than I expected, but good work, Mario99.

Welcome Flyskippy! I love the avatar. The 1st thing I would do is check your junk box as Adamflyers ended up missing a lunch with the Flyers executives because his invitation went to his junk box. He was getting the emails and then 1 day out of the blue he stopped getting them and was find out information from me. Recently he checked his junk box and he found a years worth of STH related emails. Hopefully next year you can go and add your perspective as each group gets to hear unique tidbits of information depending on what is asked. Welcome again and enjoy your time here!

Thanks, Poulin. Your screen name just so happens to be my favorite Flyer of all time. I wear my Poulin jersey to the occasional game still. I received it as a Christmas present about 5 years ago. It would've been nice having it when he actually played here, but it was a nice surprise present!

My avatar came about on Hockeybuzz when we were talking about the Comcast commercials that were on TV just after Briere was signed by the Flyers. It was proposed that Lancaster County should get their own cable and "Amish Cable" was discussed. Of course, Briere was selected as the spokesperson and voila! Amish Danny was created and then emailed to me for my new avatar. Prior to that was Roger Neilson sporting his HHOF ring.

I almost forgot: I will have my wife check her junk email folder. I hope that is the answer to our quandary. Of course, she is the STH. She worked with my mom, who knew she was a big Flyers fan. We met at a Flyers game in 2009. When our boys get a little older, we might increase the number seats from 2 to 3 or 4. That's provided we're not priced out by then. Thanks again!