Howie58

Holiday Wishes to the Board!

I am not willing to give up on the guy but his numbers are very unimpressive. I am sure Homer is sending signals through others that he expects a return on investment.

Bob started the season well last year but faltered later on. Let's hope that a) he grows; and B) Bryz performs as expected. If not, Homer has a lot to ponder.

Howie

@Howie58 Hope you are well and finding a few good cheap Aussie Reds.

What is the history with the rats? I could just Google it but would rather hear it from you if you know the rats background.

Oz:

Greetings and best wishes; I love the Shiraz and others. I generally keep them on my rack...very "cost-effective." Along with keeping your AAA rating, you folks make some damn good wine.

OK, the rat thing started during the Panthers' improbable 1996 playoff run in their old venue, the Miami Arena, now demolished. I believe one of the players literally killed a rat in the locker room using a hockey stick. That started the rubber rat throwing gig. The league cracked down on it so now it is done only occasionally...not just for hat tricks but big wins, etc.

Best for the holidays!

Howie

Van:

Work is fairly stressed but I am OK. This time of the year leaves me stretched but such is life.

The Bryz signing seemed bizarre. Chicago signed Khabibulan (sp.) after the Cup in Tampa and they got burned. He is better as a 39 year old in Edmonton. Who am I to say what's right? We will leave that to Pinaccio.

Peace and have a great holiday season,

Howie

Van:

Good to hear from you.

What's sad about this goaltending mess is that Bobo may be traded out of need to relieve cap space. Bryz needs to show some consistency.

Happy holidays!

Howie

@Howie58

Hope you're enjoying the Holiday Season.

I liked the way Bob played last night even though he seemed a bit rusty. His puck handling was poor and he tended to shrink down before the shots. He got more comfortable as the game went on though and came up with a couple of big saves, especially on the Dvorak breakaway. Bill Meltzer, who has a big thing for "momentum" saves, gave him props this morning and it was deserved.

I think the lesson learned here for Lavy is that the kid needs a bit more work to stay sharp. I say give it to him and don't worry about what that does to Bryzgalov's feeble mind. Bob is the better goaltender right now, even after a long layoff.

Terp: Good to hear from you and hope you are getting into the holiday spirit...or whatever. Well, Bob's numbers are better. But I suspect we are going to see Bryz. It's the dollars, right? I suspect Bryz is in tomorrow night.

Best,

Howie

@Howie58 - agreed. Howe's Howie doing? South Florida and the Merlots being kind to you?

Podein: Good to hear from you. Hope the holiday madness is damping down so that you can actually enjoy them.

I do my red stuff. I was up in Vineland, NJ over Thanksgiving. It depressed me to come back to South Florida...my relatives are all there and Philly is a lot more interesting than Miami. But such is life and there are good people everywhere.

The Flyers are an interesting bunch to watch and they seem to enjoy playing with each other. That said I still worry about our D and goaltending, the exact opposite of what we expected going into the season. As for the Panthers..well, we will see if the castoffs are for real.

Peace,

Howie

Greetings:

I thought Bobo played a pretty solid game last night. Yes, he may have over-committed and didn't look very graceful but he came up with some timely saves and covered some serious defensive lapses. Bachmann kept the Stars respectably in the game...his 4 goals masked a terrific performance. Dallas may have a more cost-effective duo between the pipes than us.

Best,

Howie

Hey Howie,

Seeing how it was Snider behind signing Bryzagolv and if the trend continues, we as Flyers fans can only hope that the new CBA will include a one time buyout of any contract on the team and it doesn't count against the cap going forward. Right now my choice would be correcting the mistake of signing this guy to a nine year deal based on the way he's played so far.

Well, maybe we should submit our resumes and be Asst. GM's ....I hope Bryz starts to play per expectations. Otherwise we are going to have a huge slice of our cap shot for some time...unless we get our buyout.

Peace,

Howie

Greetings:

I thought Bryz was extremely passive in the SO. He didn't challenge one shooter. I don't know if that is cockiness or stupidity.

Best,

Howie

Greetings:

Just remember, Honer told us he wasn't sure if we'd be better or worse, just different.

So, we have team that shows good effort and moves the puck well. It scores well. And on occasion it plays sound D.

But we have a higher GAA than last year. Our two goalies have sub .900 save percentage. Homer tells us his top four are good. OK, but the facts and his perception don't square.

Pronger is probably history. Timmo comes next. Meznaros is probably a keeper but Coburn and Carle, especially the former...who knows?

I think one of our defenders and JVR go by season's end. But I wonder if it will be for a D man. Do we need a defensive forward?

Overall, I would say this team is in better shape than I or most folks predicted. The experts pegged us as a marginal playoff team. Maybe we end there but right now that isn't the case. But our goaltending performance...that is a bit scary.

Best,

Howie

Boston was apparently the better team. I have to wonder if the emotions of Pronger/Schenn/Read being disabled took their toll.

Howie

Greetings from S. Florida:

I agree this is a quasi-playoff game between two the best teams in the league. The Boston club is balanced with great goaltending.

The Pronger "mess" adds a lot of roster uncertainty. Meanwhile some young people show promise. That is the plus of injury in the line-up.

It's good to see some old faces here. The crap on the Philly.com website has kept me away and the insanity of some posters..yikes.

Best,

Howie

P.S. Canoli--staying warm with some fermented stuff?

Hello:

I agree that we are dealing with a "Primeau" like situation. Sadly, Pronger may have permanent symptoms. That is sad. This mess is similar to Primeau's (and Forsberg's) in another way--roster uncertainty. Is he back? Yes...No? If so..when? And for how long? And this is a guy with a big cap hit. My gut says that quietly, Homer knows that he can't wait until next June-July to make decisions. And if he does, it means "rental" versus long-term...and how can he do long-term until they know for sure about the health status.

Best,

Howie

I'll side with the wait-till-next year gang. I think Pronger's career is over. If anything goes down it might be fore a guy like Grossman who won't cost that much. The kids on D will grow. This team is rising to the occasion for both Pronger and Giroux. Homer has to be happy.

Best,

Howie

Agreed with all; this is a good move. I think he will step it up.

Peace,

Howie

Howdy:

I wonder if we are seeing the end of Pronger's career, shut-down for rest of season or not. From the standpoint of team building/planning, I would rather see that than the Forsberg-style ongoing drama.

Schenn--hard to figure, but we have time to see what transpires. Simmonds may never be more than a journeyman+ but he has great attitude and work ethic.

Best,

Howie

Hello:

It looks like you will get your wish. I suspect the Pronger announcement will give MAB and whomever a lot more playing time. And that is fine with me. We do not need Kaberle-type signings.

Best,

Howie

Greetings:

I guess we are seeing why the experts may not be so expert. We were told the D would be stellar this year while the O suffered. Ha.

Our D is giving up the crease for unnecessary junk goals and the the goalies aren't giving the clutch saves we'd expect. Bryz has looked downright soft. And that is scary.

Frankly, I think we may be at the end of Pronger's career. I am not optimistic about what we've seen over the last two seasons. I hope we see one of our youngins step up.

Best,

Howie

Howdy:

Homer has made a calculated gamble that nobody wants to pay for a banged-up dude who might be respectable with playing time but might not be a bag of pucks either. This is the price we pay for being relieved of Simon Gagne.

Best,

Howie

Greetings:

We are seeing that this trade is not panning out. And Homer staying close to the Cap doesn't allow room for error.

I smell a retirement. I really wonder if he can get back to playing consistently.

All the best...glad to see some good folks here.

Howie