albertaflyer

First problem is the Flyers D is soft. That's one thing Niskanen brought was he played guys tough in front of the net. Right now I wouldn't be scared to stand in front of the Flyers net. I think I would take more abuse in Rec hockey than from the Flyers D.  How many times this year have we watched a goal against the Flyers where the D was no where to be found. Ghost is a prime example. He gets boxed out every play. That's a strength issue to me. Another issue in the D zone is the wingers don't come down far enough on the boards. The D literally have no options to pass to sometimes.

I will never understand the Flyers defensive zone coverage. I have always preached to any team I've coached is take away time and space in the D zone. Make the other team uncomfortable.  It doesn't matter what age group I've coached. The Flyers do the opposite. They give time and space. I love how Washington was playing in their own zone. The Flyers had no time to think. That's what you want. You want the other team to make plays they don't want to make. 

6 minutes ago, Poconono said:

I'm happy to see folks finally waking up to reality.  As a Phantoms season ticket holder from Day One I continually saw nothing more than mediocrity on the farm team.  That's over seven years now.  The alleged great prospect pool never came off the way the local sports media hyped it up to be.  Here and there one would see a better than average young player but not once did I see someone dominate at the AHL level (Other than some of the over-the-hill veterans like TJ Brennan and Phil Varone).  Meanwhile the Phantoms' competition fielded players that went on to become solid NHL regulars.  How the hell does Pittsburgh trade away all their first rounders yet still find talent and remain competitive?

 

They have Crosby and Malkin that's how. Once those guys move on the Penguins are going to be in for a long rebuild. Why do you think Hexy was hired? They know it's coming and he's been through it before.

Like other back ups Elliot struggles with to much work.  There's a reason why he's a backup. Fixing the D zone coverage will do wonders for both goaltenders.

1 minute ago, mojo1917 said:

Going to pick at this one.

They are paying JvR to score, and thank the gods he is. 7 million a year he's earning his money and has been pretty good being protected by Couturier and Joel. 

Speaking of Farabee, he is a first round pick and is playing as projected earlier than expected. ( check out my soundcloud @mojorocks for more dope rhymes)

https://twitter.com/avappleyard/status/1369627426347757569?s=20

Giroux is the best two way player on the team, his has 18 points in 21 games. 

He is playing well. 

Hayesy is looking a  little off, and Koneckny must be aiming for the cage as often as he's hitting it.

Everyone has been over Patrick no argument there he's underwhelmed. 

AV's teams do improve as the season progresses. I still hope this group can get it together and make some noise.

 

 

 

 

JVR has always been a goal scorer. But he should never be leading your team in points. 

3 minutes ago, Howie58 said:

There may be a lot of frustration here because, as noted, we are getting sick of being a year away from being elite...and not getting there.

 

I don't want to run Hart out of town.  There are serious D lapses that would probably challenge any goalie, but may hurt a youngin more.  

 

As I have said before, we had two "visions" heading into the season.  The first is our 9-1 + entry playoff run.  The second was the so-so performance we saw against MTL and NYI.  Right now, we seem to be closer to the latter.  Our D seems to have serious lapses.  Our special teams are mediocre.  

 

Bottom line--we may be a marginal playoff squad in a tough division.   I can't see this team taking out the squads currently above us in the rankings.  

Believe me I'm as frustrated as everyone because I know how good this team can be. But it all comes back to losing that over 20 minute a night right shot vet D man. There's reason why those guys are so coveted.  When you look at the age of the Flyers D they are a very young D core. Fletcher didn't address that and its costing the team. One thing Niskanen was so good at was that first pass out of the zone. Even Provorov hasn't been good at that this year. I counted on on two consecutive shift last night Provorov having 3 unforced giveaways just by not making an outlet pass from the D zone.

Just now, OccamsRazor said:

See what happens in the shootout when you know shoot the damn puck!!!

 

Take your shot stop all this All star deking crap with the puck make the goalie move and then take your shot.

 

Hey it works!!!

See what happens when you come in carrying speed. Ask any goalie on a breakaway. It's hard to tell what a shooter is going to do when they come in fast. That means they have to back in faster.  Hence why Mcdavid is so good. Everything is at a speed that is hard to defend.

One of things when coaching my own team I find my self telling my players is move your feet.  I swear I could have yelled that 30 times at the Flyers last night. Hayes on the second goal just stopped skating. Could have cut the Sabre player from coming out from the corner. All he had to do was take two strides but didn't and cost him.

10 hours ago, Howie58 said:

I watched the presser on the Center Ice feed.  AV spoke about Hart's play and noted that all players go through bad stretches, and that fortitude gets them back on track.  I can't argue that. He also said there are many games ahead in a short period.  Ditto.

 

But....how many starts will he give Hart if he continues to play small (two reporters asked about that) and gives up goals early?  I think the O and B can't give him more than five games to get in a groove before thinking about a Lyon spot start or other.  Moose can't play another 30+ games this season without problems.  I don't think we have a goalie controversy, but it may turn into that unless Hart picks it up.  I like the guy, but as the announcers and AV said, we need points.  At what point does the team lose confidence in him?

 

 

This is the problem in Philadelphia. People will run this kid out of town. I will say it again. I'm not that concerned about 22 year old goalie struggling. The reason why I say that is I learned my lesson with Bobrosky.  I was way to quick to give up on that kid.  Hart will figure it out. He always has.  Now if you had 10 million per season tied up in him like Montreal has tied up in Price (check out his numbers this season) then I would be concerned.  What I have learned in the past two weeks is that the Flyers aren't good enough this season.  When JVR and Farabee are your leading scorers that's a huge red flag. Guys that should be scoring aren't. Hayes, Konecny, Vorachek, Giroux, Patrick. I could go on are not performing.  But I will say if your D keeps giving up 10 bell chances in the slot 5-10 feet from the net NHL players are going to score more often than not.  What is nice though is in my own head I have realized their not that good so watching a game now is so much easier because I'm not as emotionally invested. 

50 minutes ago, mojo1917 said:

Couturier feels your pain @CoachX

He stated repeatedly about the PP can win games and the PK can lose them in his presser last night.

 

They had ample opportunities to score more goals in the first and third periods and couldn't get anything else behind Samsonov. 

That was a frustrating game to watch, good first period bad second which seemed like they were going to survive, they were making a push back at the end of the 2nd, the ******** icing call and subsequent missed assignment with :15 seconds left was another deflating moment. Hart was on time getting across the net, yet the puck went through him, a lot of the breaks the boys were seeing in the beginning of the year are evening out now. 

 

One has to hope this is the "adversity" the team will face this season. I hope they work through it, quickly.

 

I don't see things changing. To many passengers this year. Hayes looks like half the player he was last year.  Vorachek can't make a pass or catch a pass. Patrick should be in the AHL.  This team looks slow and confused most nights. When you lose a right handed D man that plays over 20 minutes a night and don't try to replace him it's not going to work out.  That means those minutes are going to a player that is probably not ready to take on those minutes yet. Also Provorov has not looked good lately. He's trying to do to much and it's taking him out of position most shifts.

3 hours ago, CoachX said:

How has this not been addressed?

 

Do they even practice it. On the PP, all you have to do is rush the puck carrier. He'll panic and throw the puck away. Or he'll wrap it around, just to watch it get cut off on the far side of the net

 

They are way to predictable

Don't forget the come across the blue line along the boards and try do a drop pass to the D man. Other team reads it every time. The defender just drops in behind the forward. Patrick does this once or twice a game.

21 minutes ago, Howie58 said:

Perhaps.  From my vantage, we have "1-A" Centers....they are not gamebreakers. Coots is a superb 2-way. Hayes is similar.  I don't think we have a Clarke or Espo or Barzal.  Farabee may be a developing game-changer.  My gut says we need a "team effort" centered on forecheck, D, and G.  We might overpower some teams but that isn't going to happen every day.  

Problem right now is Hayes is a none factor. He's either hot or cold. Right now he is doing nothing.

33 minutes ago, Howie58 said:

I do not see AV as the problem.  He is an activist and sincerely committed to holding people accountable.  

 

This is a strange season and COVID may be presenting operational "noise" that gets in the way of player development. That said, it impacts all teams.  

 

Last year's performance against MTL + NYI coupled with our Bruins experience this year--and PIT last night, tells me we have a tough time against top-tier forward talent.  These quick scores that leave our goalies exposed to high chance shots are troublesome.  

 

I am also a bit worried about Hart.  He may be playing different caliber opposition.  That said, the numbers difference with Moose raises some tough questions. 

 

We hoped for a porch-clearer with Morin. That isn't happening.  Friedman didn't have enough snarl.  Sanheim, Myers...TBD.  Braun may be good at stretches.  It is hard for me to figure this out. 

 

 

I'm not sure why people are so concerned about Hart. He's 22 years old. Typically goalies take a few years to figure the NHL out. Most guys don't get sniff of the NHL till there 23-24. I'm not sure in last nights game which goal he was suppose to stop. Maybe the first goal but he made a good move. It's not just Hart. They had a crazy stat on sports talk radio the other day of the top 15 goalies in the NHL this season how many weren't the starters for their teams.  I did take a look at NHL.com and its quite interesting. 

1 hour ago, mojo1917 said:

I noticed that too, that rink wasn't an easy environment to follow the puck on TV. I couldn't imagine being a goalie and needing to track the puck there. It was beautiful though. 

You're coaching kids, do you still try to teach shooting for a rebound? 

Are all the kids enamored of the lacrosse skills and "sick" handles?

It seems like a lost art almost. 

Has the butterfly and it's hybrids made that tactic/skill ineffective?

For the Bantams I was coaching this year. It was just about hitting the net. If you ever watch a youth hockey game. Watch in warm up how many of the shots miss the net. If the kids got a goal for every time they hit the glass in warm up they would all be Connor Mcdavid. It drives me insane.  The last few years what we have been teaching the kids is puck possession. We had a few rules on our teams. Never shoot the puck away, never ice the puck. There is always a play to be made. We try to get them to use there brains on the ice and just don't go for the easy play. If you don't have a play up ice reset back to the d men. Everything happens from the D forward.  We just don't dump it in. That's a change in possession.  One of the things we have worked with the kids is getting the puck to the shooting zone or the kill zone is what I like to call it. That space from the hash marks to the net.  I try to show them Austin Mathews highlights. He is so quick at getting the puck off his stick. There no stick handle. It's get it and shoot before the goalie has time to move. As far as trick shots for my own kids that's outdoor rink stuff. I don't do a whole lot of coaching out on the outdoor rink. That's their time to play around. My youngest does have the Lacrosse goal down pat. I'm waiting for him to try it in a game.

I've never seen a team pass up so many shots from what I call the shooting zone(from the hash marks to the net) than the Flyers. 90% or more goals will be scored from that zone and they will try pass it. I don't know how many times I've yelled shoot the F'ing puck this year.  Even on Sunday you could tell it was a tough background for the goalies. But after the first period they stopped shooting. Rask even looked lost on a couple shots.

They should ban all drop passes. They rarely work. We had to do it my kids team I coached two years ago. Anyone that did a drop pass there was a nice spot on the end of the bench. They learned in a hurry.  90% if the time it ended up in an odd man rush the other way or at least a change of possession.  

5 minutes ago, OccamsRazor said:

 

Not with 5-10 Freidman playing his wing spot.

 

Can't say for sure maybe AV seen something he didn't like.

 

 

Don't get me wrong i am glad he is back playing but not much else to report on the kid. I would trade this guy the first chance i get a decent offer...it's just me and the feeling i get with this kid.

 

Can't explain it. I know i will catch some flack for that.....but it is how i feel. 

 

 

 

Your not getting anything for Nolan Patrick. Injury history and under whelming play equals no trade value. I'll give the kid some slack. I figured he would come out good at the start then hit a wall. You cant miss that much time and not have that happen to you. It's going to take him some time to get back to where he needs to be. I think the coaching staff understands that. Thing with him is he needs to figure out what type of player he wants to be. Look at Laughten how long it took him to figure out the style of play that he needed play to stick in the NHL. Some guys never figure it out. Which is why they end up career AHL players.

On 2/13/2021 at 7:56 PM, WordsOfWisdom said:

 

No. It's the opinion of a hockey loving population that has been in a nationwide lockdown since December. We haven't been going out to bars or restaurants, or attending sports games in person, or doing anything. We've all been shut in for months and months. The fact that we get to watch hockey games right now is a reward for all the hard work we've done to contain this virus. 

 

And we'd be doing even better if our vaccine shipments weren't being held back. Canada is ranked ~50th in vaccinations because all the supplies are going to other countries but not us. America is vaccinating 1 million people per day now. We've vaccinated about 1 million people total. 

 

So despite us always being at the back of the line for everything, we have 1/10th the infection rate for covid per million people because of strict measures being implemented from day one a year ago. 

What are you talking about nationwide lockdown? Each Province handles their own lockdowns individually.  We hardly had any restrictions last summer. Our restaurants are open. My kids are back playing hockey.   My youngest hasn't missed hardly any school this year. I know BC hasn't shut down restaurants.  I mean it's not like before Covid but its not a nationwide lockdown.

7 hours ago, OccamsRazor said:

 

Well the good news is they will get some rest and some much needed practice in especially on the power play that has been unwatchable.

I don't think they can even practice if they are shut down because of Covid.  I think the Devils are just able to practice this week.

5 hours ago, flyercanuck said:

That may have been the ugliest, least deserved win I've ever seen the Flyers get. Everyone sucked except Hart and Prosser. I don't think I've seen worse passing at any level. 

 

 It's a win...we'll take it. They can't play worse than that...can they?

I'll take it. Remember when the Devils used to do this to the Flyers. Flyers would outplay them badly for two periods but they had Brodeur.  Then the Devils would score a couple in the third.  Hart looked like himself last night.  I'm not to worried about this team. I've always said you don't know what you have until at least 15 - 20 games in. But you can tell they miss Niskanen. A guy that eats up over 20 minutes a night is hard to replace.  If I was Fletcher I would be on the phone every day to Niskanen. One thing I know about pro hockey players. It's hard for them to just stop playing.   Or if the Penguins start to suck I would be on the phone about Letang. Makes a lot but he's the exact type of D man their missing.

4 minutes ago, Podein25 said:

Was Friedman that bad that he sits? Didn't really watch the last two games very closely...

Yes. Especially defensively last game. 

27 minutes ago, RonJeremy said:

Grant looks like a tremendous pickup , him and Pitlick both UFA next year and NAK is RFA.Unless we dump JVR , I don’t think we can re-sign these guys and the better they play , the more it’s gonna cost. Raffl and Laughton are also playing great .

Cap could be 88 mill next year. Those guys won’t cost to much.

4 hours ago, mojo1917 said:

I wonder how Barzal who was unstoppable every time he touched the puck in the 1st period and was then contained for 36 minutes was defended in those 36 minutes.

Did AV put Myers and Sanhiem out to keep the puck away from him ? Is that why they were out with 86 seconds left ? it would be interesting to see the matchup chart.  

It was as if MB was eating a hot dog and drinkin' beer in the 2nd and 3rd until the last minute of the game. 

 

Elliott's stats were not good, but he had some terrible puck luck on the first goal and no real chance on the 2 on 1... The Pulock shot though even though it was a howitzer shot didn't appear to be screened unless JvR waving goodbye to it interfered with 37's vision.

That shot was perfectly placed and a ****** bomb.  I would like to think maybe JvR lays out to block that shot after the whole team sold out to tie that game...it would have taken a fair amount of courage for sure and I have no idea if I would have slid into the shooter there, but damn, Pulock had a lot of time to tee that thing up. 

 

 

That's been Barzal's issue. He can dominate when he wants and then disappears for stretches. That one of the reason's he got called out by his coach a couple weeks ago.

3 hours ago, vis said:

@LegionOfDoom

 

Generally agree about Team Comcast and their “bias for action.”   I think, to some degree, they backed the team into a corner, at least as it relates to the Hayes signing.  But, I am not sure that explains Fletcher’s apparent penchant for leaving a little something on the table with each move he makes.  I just think that may be his style.  It also doesn’t explain the Schlemko move.  Has anyone figured out a rationale for that move?

 

Overall, the team has improved on paper.  That cannot be disputed.  Hayes is a legit 2C and fits well with Vigneult.  Niskanen and Braun bring some much needed leadership and stability to the defense, which should yield benefits to the young dmen as well.  I’d prefer to add a veteran at 3RW (Justin Williams), but won’t cry if they don’t.  Plus, he added a legit NHL coaching staff, though I am not enamored with Therrien in the least.  Pretty solid job. Now, I just want to see what he does with Provorov and TK.  Provorov’s market will be set by Werenski and McAvoy, so Fletch may not have a lot of room to work there.  I’m real curious to see what happens with TK.  I still think that’s going to be the most difficult negotiation.  

I don't mind what the Flyers did. I think the biggest X factors this year compared to last is Vigneault and Carter Hart. I also think people will be quite surprised with Braun. I got to see him play a ton here in Edmonton. Very good D man. Doesn't get the credit when you play with the rest of the stars the Sharks had. Just having Hart for a full season compared to the first 40 games last season will make a difference. We will see a whole different system under Vigneault. Expect a ton of shot blocking and long stretch passes. I think that's one of the reason's Gudas isn't here any longer. He was not good at getting out of the D zone. I remember when he coached the Canucks it was really frustrating to watch because shots hardly ever got through. That's one of the things the Sedins had trouble with is Vigneault expected everyone to block shots.