vis

Yeah, I was excited for the season as well. Thought last year was an anomaly to be written off. Turns out, last year was the norm and the first year under AV/Fletcher was the anomaly. Hayes and Ellis being out hurts, but other teams don’t collapse without their best players. These Flyers haven’t had a spine in forever.

Stopped posting a while back, but still follow the team and watch games when I can. I have never been this frustrated and disgusted. This team and organization is completely inept and has been for years. I can’t remember when I last enjoyed a season of Flyer hockey. We have changed coaches, front office personnel and players. Nothing has helped and it only seems to get worse. This team hasn’t had any substance or identity in 10-15 years. Not wasting any more time or money on them.

Seems to be a great lockerroom guy, which has benefits off the ice. Thought he was one of the most consistent players at both ends of the rink. Agree about future years...especially with the cap remaining steady for the foreseeable future. LeClair was a Canadien...

I never would have guessed that stat. One of the cases where the eye test doesn't marry up with the stats. Well, there were parts of the season where he was playing pretty well. But I don't think of him as a player who drives play. I think we might be trading our boat anchors for another team's.

I don't know. I imagine several coaches now have tried to "coach him up" and the same mistakes still rear their ugly heads. Moreover, he seems to have forgotten how to be a dynamic, game changing player. When he came on the scene, he was a bit of a breath of fresh air. Now, guys like him are fairly common around the league - and they are younger and better at what he does. Still, there is a premium market for "puck-moving" d-men so maybe he does have more value than I give him credit for. He can score when applying himself, but he's a one dimensional player who lacks speed and tenacity and can be easily negated by opposing teams. He is simply not worth his contract. I think there are few teams around the league where he'd be a "good" fit. And, of those, I'm not sure any of them want to or can afford his contract.

Yep. He said he would be looking at the trade market primarily. But I don't think they'd get helpful players back via trade for the likes of JVR and Ghost. They would have to trade more than that to get a helpful player, I think. That said, could see them trading JVR and Ghost to free up cap to go after UFAs. Tough market to become a UFA given the flat cap. I would have experimented with sitting Thompson or Grant and maybe shuffling lines on top of it to get more scoring punch across the lineup. Myers was more physical than I thought he'd be in the POs. Think he's better overall than Sanheim, but Sanheim can make some plays. I would re-sign Elliot. Yeah, glad the younger guys got a taste. I would like to see Farabee take a bigger role next year. I think he's Couturier-lite in the making.

Agree. Cheaper in the aggregate and hungrier in the bottom 6. Top 6 needs another scorer. They need another solid dman because I’d let Braun walk.

I really, really hope he's not blaming the goaltender...

Adding to the post-mortem of a season I ended up following closely, but not posting much about. Overall, a very good first year for AV/Fletcher. It's nice to see what an excellent coaching staff can accomplish. That said, he had some down moments in the POs. He had no answer for Trotz, but I wonder if that was more of a player execution thing. I know he's not responsible directly for the PP, but it's poor PO performance reflects on AV. Also, no one should allow him to challenge a play. Hayes and Pitlick, two signings for which Fletcher received some criticism, were great additions to the team. But, I question the wisdom of acquiring Thompson and Grant. They contributed nothing, particularly in the POs. I generally agree with the notion that some of the younger guys like Frost may not have been NHL ready (or at least were better served playing quality minutes in the AHL) and so I think it was better that they served time in the AHL. But, Thompson and Grant can't play in the league (or at least on this team). The speed and compete level of the game have passed them by. Maybe they were the only options in the market. I don't know. It's a shame, but Giroux is not a top line player. His best years are in the past. He was never an exceptional skater and now the speed of the game and his age have caught up to him. I don't question his desire. I just don't think his body will do what his mind wants it to do. I don't know what to do with him. His recent years were wasted here with an ill-fated "retooling" and a coach who had no clue. Feel bad for Claude. Maybe he can do what Stevie Y did in his later years with the Wings and become more of a two-way or even a defensive player. Voracek is maddening. He looks great and then looks like ****. I love Konency. But, he needs to get his ass out of his head. But, he's a high risk/high reward player. You need guys like him. I think this is Couturier's team now. And, to a degree, Hayes' team. As mentioned, I think Pitlick and also NAK and Laughton had very good showings. Lindblom also blossomed. Love Provorov and his work ethic. Sanheim and Myers need to work on some things. Myers has surpassed Sanheim, imo. Niskanen had a good regular season, but looked gassed in the PO rounds. Same with Braun, though I thought Braun had some poor games in the regular season too. Hagg is decent for a 6th d-man. Really think Fletcher has work cut out for him. He needs to free up cap space to fix the bottom 6 and to add some scoring punch. Have to rid ourselves of JVR and Ghost. Fletcher talked about being active in the trade market. If so, he's probably going to have to part with picks and prospects as well to get anything back that isn't just someone else's disappointing player. At least he doesn't need a goaltender. Great season for Hart and he's probably the brightest spot on the ice. Would bring back Elliot as well.

It ain’t pretty, but it’s a win. I know it’s been said, but finding a way to score on the PP would go a long way toward a win in game 7. And someone please stop AV from challenging goals. I saw a quote that said he didn’t see the second angle until after he challenged. WTF? Is that our replay guy’s fault? Can’t wait for Saturday night.

I feel like Nate Thompson gets more ice time than any of our other forwards.

Think they are both PO-type players. This team needed some grit on the lower lines. I feel like Bunnaman/Frost etc. would not be able to handle PO hockey.

Probably not a major issue for the regular season, but would prefer Thompson to Bunnaman in the POs. Sounds like he should be back by then. Didn't see the game, but by most accounts it seems Rask was the difference maker. Really interested to see how they respond against TB. Also, just as this team is generating more fan interest than it has had in the recent past and the building is starting to come alive, fans are being told by the Philly government to avoid going to games due to COVID-19. I know there are much more serious concerns about the virus, but it's a shame for the Flyers and fanbase. Full disclosure: I have tickets for the 29th against the Pens and was planning on taking my son to his first of the season (had conflicts for each of our two previous games). Looks like this will be the third game we miss this year. Might be the first time in my life that I haven't attended a regular season game in Philly (we did see them in NJ this year).

Agree. Myers, and the defense as configured with Myers in (and with Ghost out of) the lineup, seems to have been playing very well. Nothing against Ghost, but I don't think he's been missed much -- defensively, at least. It's also a tough spot for Ghost to be thrown into a game. AV will have his work cut out for him to limit Ghost's exposure to the Bergeron line and to limit his d-zone starts.

Yeah, wish I was around more to post, especially this last half. Hoping to be around more, especially for the POs.

Been a while since last posting. Work and life have been very busy for a while. Watching games (or parts of) when I can. All in all, really have enjoyed this season and am looking forward to tonight's game and the TB game. I won't be able to watch live tonight (work), but expect this to have a PO-like atmosphere especially with a shot at first place on the line. Plus, I think the Flyers actually match-up pretty well against Boston. Really like the confidence and resilience this team has at the moment.

They kind of do, but no one is among the top 40. I think Konecny is barely in the top 50 and Giroux is barely in the top 100 in terms of points. Couturier and Voracek are a little higher than Giroux. I am concerned that Giroux and Voracek don’t seem to be producing as they have in years past. Honestly, I feel like Giroux has been a bit MIA this year. He seems to have regressed. Same with Voracek. The hope was that those guys would remain at or above the same level in recent years past and for the younger guys and Hayes to rise up. Instead, Konecny and Lindblom rose, but the vets have slid in terms of production. Bit unfortunate.

Giroux playing?

Been very busy with work for the past few months and haven't been posting much. But from the games I've seen, particularly recently, this team has been a lot of fun to watch. It's nice to root for the team rather than sitting there shaking my head with a sense of dread that things are about to fall apart. Also, very nice to see them reel off four wins in a row after three losses. They don't seem to get mired in the losses. They've played fairly consistent hockey. They haven't lost more than 3 games in a row and have had a 5 game win streak and two 4 game win streaks. Coaching and goaltending go a long way. Have to say, all of Fletcher's moves this offseason have paid off. Even Elliott.

Lol. Sounds like it's up Neuvirth's alley as well.

Really sucks for Morin. Kid should move on to another role in hockey. I bet the Flyers will find something for him.

Kind of noticed that as well, at least in the last couple. Part of it may have to do with his linemates and/or role. Still think Hayes is contributing in other ways. have zero problem with him to daye. Less concerned about Voracek than Ghost. Ghost hasn't responded to anything the past couple of years. And Voracek has largely been the same player over that time as well. We will see. Not so sure about that either. A few teams have demonstrated recently (Carolina, NYI) that success can be achieved by executing a system well and playing as a team. When a player freelances or breaks the system, stuff starts to fall apart. Besides, you'd think one place he'd excel "by being Ghost" is on the PP. But yet he's not been good there either. I wouldn't change my system or gameplan drastically to support Ghost.

Might work for some! The coach/player relationship has changed dramatically. Players have so much power nowadays and are told how great they are that they can probably demand naps and pudding cups and get them.

This is my concern as well. Or maybe they lose confidence when coaches criticize or try to change their games. Or maybe they just don't want to listen.

Next game I watch, I'm going to try to track it. It was very noticeable in the Devils game. Felt guys from both teams were getting tossed regularly, but Hayes was the most frequent offender.