BearOnIce

I have to tickets to go watch this crap in Raleigh in 2 weeks. I wish that they would just play all the youngsters so we can see what kind of future they have with this team.

Let's make a slight correction. The D is crap.

@radoran - are you suggesting that philly talk radio is not a reliable source of news? Because I would be shocked, shocked, if this were true.

Al Morganti says it is true. He and Coatsy are the face of the Flyers cable media. Just ask them.

Apparently falling asleep at team meetings is frowned upon.....Well, don't tell my employer that....

http://sports.yahoo....53628--nhl.html

How about Captain Terriffic Giroux step up and address the media on this? Just one more mistake they made this year.

Yeah, I think there is a pretty good chance we have our goalie tandem for next year. I dont think Bryz will get bought out for a few reasons....

- Bryz hasnt been great, but the team has been pretty terrible around him. With a better team in front of him (primarily the D) I think his numbers would be markedly better.

- Bryz does have talent and has potential to be a very solid goalie. I think if he realizes his potential he could be a top 10 goalie in the league, and I dont think management is ready to give up on him yet after only one and a half seasons.

- Snider and Comcast have tons of money but even they dont want to eat the rest of that contract (35 mil left to be paid or something like that??!!). That's a lot of crow to eat. I think management would still like to see if they can get there money's worth out of this guy.

Well said. Flyer fans obviously look at it differently than Flyer ownership/management. Bottom Line: That is a lot of money and crow to eat. They will re-tool the D, give Bryz a break from playing every game by using Mason, and have next year to evaluate. They still have next year to pull the trigger on Bryz amnesty. And next year is another year they don't have to pay amnesty. And they get to look at Mason and see if he could step in. Or at worst, begin to see if they need to go after a true #1. Chance favors the prepared mind. The Fylers have the bases covered. When all is said and done, this is a simple financial decision.

Briere will be bought out via amnesty as they need his salary. He will be thanked for his service as a loyal Flyer.

I believe that might have sealed is fate. Not caring if you are going to be bought out or not means he doesn't care if he plays or not.

He has all the money he needs in the bank for the rest of his life (if played right). He just doesn't seem interested in playing, let alone winning.

Bye Bryz.

He is in dark water.

Simmonds goes up to 3.975 and cap hit != salary. Briere is still 6.5. Might need to buyout Bryz and Briere just to be safe. Meszaros enters the last season of his deal at a reasonable 4m. I'd try to keep him, and possibly resign cheaper if possible the following season.

Unless a Mesz trade can bring in Bernier...

Giroux's value has gone down this year, captain or no captain.

Not really sure how much will be freed up so to speak when you consider the cap is going down next season...they have 19 palyers signed including Bryz and no back up yet...10 forwards and 8 Dmen....and only 2.25 mill in cap space...but that may be their only option...somebody has to go and they would be my first options...i keep the core of young guys they have...

Is Snider going to be will to pay a little over $2M a year to Bryz for 14 years (no cap hit) for amnesty 3/4 buyout? I know the fans end up paying for this, but still..

@BearOnIce On Ice, Ollie looks good, for a big guy he can skate, he has been pretty sound. He could blossom into a good defensive player and hopefully lay out some big hits, if we bring him along slow and dont ruin him with overuse,when hes not ready for it. Unfortunately for us, he is excatly the same as most of our other defenseman....completely lacking in , puck rushing and shooting skills. We have plenty 0f 4,5 and 6 guys but no 1 and 2 guys. Other than Timmo, Coburn is our only other skating defenseman, and if he is used the right way, hes real good, he shouldnt be getting all the ice time and situational play, but since we have no legit 1-2 guys, Coburn is cracking from the pressure. Timmo is no longer 1-2 GUY and should not be playing the amount he does.

I dont see how you can replace Coburn, we should start losing games and forget this playoff pipe dream, so we can draft a stud defenseman, then on top of that, a young forward and something else will buy us another defenseman, but it has to be a young cornerstone defenseman, not another washed up 35 year old Pronger. We need a legit 1 and 2 defenseman, we can only trade for one, the other must be drafted, if we fall out of the top 5 in the draft, the chances get slimmer.

P.S. have you ever seen a team take more season ending injuries to their defense than the Flyers over the years? Rathje, Hatcher,Pronger, Mez, etc..... we have been trading for defense for 30 years... Dailey, Howe, Desjardins, Haller, Svoboda, Gauthier, , Pronger, Timmo, Mez, Coburn, Timmo,, so many more, its a joke that all our best defenseman have been traded for.... the only good dmen we ever drafted were Bladon, Watson and Behn Wilson. Its high time we drafted a cornerstone defenseman, especially after we blew it by passing up Doug Hamilton. We also do not want to draft any soft goofy euro puss, like Pitkanen, we want a tough Canadien or American kid, that can adjust quickly

@BearOnIce On Ice, Ollie looks good, for a big guy he can skate, he has been pretty sound. He could blossom into a good defensive player and hopefully lay out some big hits, if we bring him along slow and dont ruin him with overuse,when hes not ready for it. Unfortunately for us, he is excatly the same as most of our other defenseman....completely lacking in , puck rushing and shooting skills. We have plenty 0f 4,5 and 6 guys but no 1 and 2 guys. Other than Timmo, Coburn is our only other skating defenseman, and if he is used the right way, hes real good, he shouldnt be getting all the ice time and situational play, but since we have no legit 1-2 guys, Coburn is cracking from the pressure. Timmo is no longer 1-2 GUY and should not be playing the amount he does.

I dont see how you can replace Coburn, we should start losing games and forget this playoff pipe dream, so we can draft a stud defenseman, then on top of that, a young forward and something else will buy us another defenseman, but it has to be a young cornerstone defenseman, not another washed up 35 year old Pronger. We need a legit 1 and 2 defenseman, we can only trade for one, the other must be drafted, if we fall out of the top 5 in the draft, the chances get slimmer.

P.S. have you ever seen a team take more season ending injuries to their defense than the Flyers over the years? Rathje, Hatcher,Pronger, Mez, etc..... we have been trading for defense for 30 years... Dailey, Howe, Desjardins, Haller, Svoboda, Gauthier, , Pronger, Timmo, Mez, Coburn, Timmo,, so many more, its a joke that all our best defenseman have been traded for.... the only good dmen we ever drafted were Bladon, Watson and Behn Wilson. Its high time we drafted a cornerstone defenseman, especially after we blew it by passing up Doug Hamilton. We also do not want to draft any soft goofy euro puss, like Pitkanen, we want a tough Canadien or American kid, that can adjust quickly

Great post RJ. Good perspective. Obviously you get more injuries when you play your best defensemen 20+ minutes a game every game because you have to because you have such a talent drop-off after them year after year. You don't internally develop defensemen you get this. I'm not high on Colburn. Underachiever, inconsistent, seldom steps up as 1-2 should when the chips are down. Bad under pressure. I am in the minority but not expecting trade movement you suggest in offseason. Flyers organization is delusional right now thinking defense will straighten itself out when defense is healthy again next season and Bryz will be better. They believe Schenn and Gervais are puck-moving defensemen solution. Oli L. is classic stay-at-home 5-6 or 7 pairing. Flyers counting on Pronger getting involved with defensemen next summer, carry-through.

one of the flyers' weakness as an organization is lack of accountability.

tortorella has no fear of benching ANYONE, whereas here in philly certain guys can do no wrong: carter, richards, briere, giroux, read (another invisible game by him. why is he on the top line again?), couturier...

the only guy to lose ice time because of his play is hartnell.

The Great Tortilla is one of the best coaches in the league but unfortunately has a short shelf life because all these under 35 players today need their Momma. Bench Giroux period. CP20 will be coaching next year. There will be no additions to the defense but there will be a differnt "attitude". Probably a forward pick, that's it. A lot of the scrubbs you see playing the last 5 games will play in next years 82 game schedule.

I can't help but think with all the talk about all the injuries and how we've rallied that maybe some of that is that these players stepping up have been capable but not given a chance. There is definitely a difference between stepping in for a game or two and performing over a long haul as the guy but at the same time at what point do you ask if this player filling in is capable of performing at a better level.

A lot of these guys like Gus can play. Like you suggest, they just need more playing time. Do not be surprised if this team does little this summer with D men. I general consensus around WFC is that they just need some people to get healthy. They will draft a high forward.

I got tired of defending Gags in the game chat last night. Obviously he is not the guy he was a few years ago, but he is nowhere near as bad as most would make out. He has had a couple concussions, but who in the league hasn't? The big problem he had was a huge freaking mass in his neck which was removed in LA. He is a defensive minded forward with some scoring touch left. If he were to accept a reasonable deal (say 3 years / 2.5 to 3 mil per) how do you not try to extend him? Anyway, to the naysayers who don't think he could ever put up 40 points in a season....

Flyers top 13 forwards this year: points per 60 minutes

#93 - .060

#17 - .047

#28 - .046

#10 - .039

#24 - .034

#12 - .031

#48 - .030

#9 - .027

#26 - .026

#14 - .022

#19 - .020

#25 - .019

#36 - .019

His production is only behind Voracek, Simmonds, Giroux, Schenn, and Read. He is not much ahead of Danny, but he ummmm.... plays defense and is not a center.

Any thoughts?

Yea, $2.5-3.0M a year for three is a deal. Defensive wing. Playmaker. Sees the ice. Great passer. Rusty The Snail is bringing him down.

JHC this is beyond ridiculous - so now Kimmo is day-to-day, like Grossmann's been DTD for 2 weeks? Fk me.

I'm glad this year is b.s. anyway...unfortunately all these guys dropping like flies has kickstarted everyone else into playing as if they forgot this year is b.s. and our high 1R draft picks slips further down into our usual "nothing-to-see-here-folks" 1R pick.

flyers.com says Kimmo will be a GTD tomorrow afternoon.

If it is only as bad as a broken leg or a little less, I'd play... if I were these defensemen. Too much going on to let the scrubbs make inroads.

He was. The WFC is clearly built on an Indian burial ground.

Poltergeist expected mid-way through 3rd period. That is what you get when you don't take care of the tribe and build an Indian casino on the same land as the WFC.

I am very very pleased...but then again, I'm biased since I'm a Dane and so thrilled that a Dane, 6'6 d-man no less, is playing for the Flyers.

I know he's not going to become the second coming of Pronger or anything like that. But I'm very pleased. Could easily see him bcome a very solid 3rd pairing D-man in the NHL. But then again, he could just fizzle out like so many before him.

What are you huys' impression so far? 4 games played for Lauridsen, 4 wins

His skating is good. His reach is like a condor. He plays responsibly in the corners. Nothing glaringly wrong. Good mechanics. But, Oli needs to get some of those CP20 mean streak large jagged square pills stuck up his ass before every game and then we will have a D speciment on our hands. He's a keeper and a good 3-4 at this point. Be interestin' to see who the Flyers replace Colburn with this summer. Free up that cap space boys.

Unfortunately, no, they have no chance in the playoffs with the decimated defense. They might make the playoffs but can you really see them beating the Pens in the first round with this roster?

Yes I can becuase they will outscore them and the goaltending is a wash.

Well this is how the D may shape up...or how "i" envision it:

Kimmo/Schenn

Coburn/GrossmanN

Ollie(RFA)/Gus(RFA)

Huskins(UFA...+100k raise)7th Gervais 8th Bourdon 9th

trade Mezz for 4-5throunder free up 4 million cap space...

Except for Colburn.

Not really sure how much will be freed up so to speak when you consider the cap is going down next season...they have 19 palyers signed including Bryz and no back up yet...10 forwards and 8 Dmen....and only 2.25 mill in cap space...but that may be their only option...somebody has to go and they would be my first options...i keep the core of young guys they have...

Good question. As far as the cap, I am sure that we a number of talented capologists among us that can give us the numbers but as you suggest may be a bit pro-active by Holmgren considering future contracts. I suggest the following players may be on the outside looking in: Coby, Mez, Gervais, Foster, Shelly, Red, Knuble. I believe based on this past week with Mason that Bryz and Briere will be amnesty buyouts. Gagne resigned for another year as well as Talbot.

Mes and Coby are both out for the season. You may see Coby if we make the playoffs.

Now that's moot as I know you're talking about next season... but at this point, do you really think the team is going to put any eggs in the Mezaros basket? The guy can't stay healthy for any amount of time. Which is a head scratcher because he used to be a work horse before he came here.

Either way, I can't see him playing here next year and if he does, we won't be able to count on him which leaves an aged Timmonen and Coburn

That's not good and Jones will probably go #1... not something we're likely to get either way.

I would not be surprised with Mason on board now to see the Bryz amnesty (as well as Briere) because the Flyers have some work to do with the D and that creates a lot of available money. I would have no problem moving Colburn and Mezaros. If Kimmo could get his minutes down he could go 2 more years. Luke Schenn is coming along. Oli is still some time away but a nice surprise. Gus is solid. Holmgren may be able to get a better than average return for Colburn and Mez.

Thank you Paul Holmgren, resident comedian - the jokes keep coming.

Are we to believe that the Flyers are going to amnesty Bryz's contract for Mason. Really???????? For all of Bryz's warts, he has been one of the few bright spots; and, I daresay, if he wasn't forced to play EVERY game, his stats and play would have been even better (but, when the resident comedian doesnt have a legitimate backup on the team...)

Has anyone in the Flyers personnel department (and I use that term loosely) seen how badly Mason has played the last 4 years? Since his roookie season, his save percentage of .899 ranks 39 out of 39 for goalies who have played at least 100 games. Terrible! And, this is the guy that Reese "believes in" and this is the guy who is going to replace Bryz. Hysterical. Then again, why was I dumb enough to think that our resident comedian could judge goaltending talent: he traded Bob and cut Ericksson,

Seriously, the laughs keep coming. As long as this idiot is making personnel decisions, we will be without the Cup.

FIRE HOLMGREN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I think this realy tells the story.

"Anton Thun, Mason's agent, said he expected the 6-foot-4, 217-pound goalie to sign a one-year deal, perhaps as soon as next week. He can become a restricted free agent if he waits until after the season, and if he did, he would not receive less than his current $3.2 million salary, which carries a $2.9 salary-cap hit. Thun said Mason would sign for less. Mason was named rookie of the year with Columbus in 2008-09, but has struggled the last four seasons. He admitted he lost his confidence in Columbus and called the trade a "fresh start." "You don't find many guys that size that can move like him . . . [and] handle the puck," Flyers goalie coach Jeff Reese said. "And he's only 24 year old now, not even close to his prime."

Sounds like the fix is in. Mason clearly wants a fresh start and a shot at the #1 G spot in Philly. Reese seems to support the idea. Perhaps Holmgren and Snider likewise? Perhaps discussions and commitments have already occured? The savings in money could go a long way for the Flyers defense and a forward. Give the historically low priority the Flyers organization places on goaltenders, I suspect Bryz and Briere are both amnesty bound and we will be seeing more of Steve Mason. I wonder the first game he gets a start in?

Strangely, an article by Ken Campbell about the Flyers that isn't overwhelmingly negative...

http://www.thehockey...right-time.html

"When you’re missing that kind of talent, it’s a given your team is going to work its tail off. The key for the Flyers will be sustaining that level of enthusiasm and work ethic for an extended period of time. Guys who come up from the minors are often good for a spark over a short period of time, but they have trouble keeping it up, which pretty much explains why they’re minor leaguers in the first place."

So, the obvious would say that the Flyers can only go so far with their fill-in players. Maybe yes. Maybe no. Next, given both the number and extent of injuries with this team at present, and respective of games upcoming, if the Flyers were to sneak in or even power in to the playoffs what players are going to be even able to come back from present injuries? I assume Mez, Talbot, and Briere are done for this year? Who do we have a chance of getting back and how soon? Does anyone believe this team can go anywhere in the playoffs without a return of some of the nucleus? I see the forwards in good shape actually for the most part. The defencemen have been a very interesting story to see unfold with the likes of Gervais, Luke Schenn, and Oli?

I mentioned this in one of the threads, but I really think this team is going to get hot at the right time and get into the playoffs. And with all things clicking, plus a few people returning from injury, they will make a run much like 2010. I think they end up playing Montreal in the 1st round instead of the Pens, so they won't be as worn down from a physically and mentally draining first round like last year. But I see good things ahead, and certainly have no interest in stinking up the joint so we have a chance (which isn't a sure thing thanks to the draft lottery) at getting Jones. I will be back home right as the playoffs start, and I plan on watching the Flyers in the playoffs, hopefully live.

The next few weeks can really be a lot of fun. This team never had an issue with talent; it was all about playing with heart. They are showing that now. A team that plays with heart never thinks they're out of the game, no matter how many goals they are down. This is a vital mentality to have come the playoffs. It was vital in 2010 against the Bruins. I think some of that magical run will rub off on this year's Flyers before it's all said and done.

I think that we all appreciate your enthusiasm but winning streak notwithstanding, this team is battered and is in no shape to do much in the playoffs. Just getting to the playoffs would be a miracle. The D corps is decimated and may receive only slight help from injury returns. The goaltending remains suspect. This is time to see what is in the cupboard, maybe a few nice surprises, and make plans for the summer leading into next year. Your enthusiasm and your own heart is great to see though. Go Flyers!

Ok, I was a bit bored over lunch... and this is what happens!

Can you do something relative to "Bryz The Turtle" ducking his head on the 3rd Montreal goal last night to avoid putting a blemish on his special little goalie mask? I'm sure you could come up with something really good...

He ducked... ducked his fn melon for heavens sake. Isn't that grounds for a buyout? My lord...

Buyout on!!!!

Didn't we say the same thing about Lemelin?

I believe you are correct! -_-

Thank you Paul Holmgren, resident comedian - the jokes keep coming.

Are we to believe that the Flyers are going to amnesty Bryz's contract for Mason. Really???????? For all of Bryz's warts, he has been one of the few bright spots; and, I daresay, if he wasn't forced to play EVERY game, his stats and play would have been even better (but, when the resident comedian doesnt have a legitimate backup on the team...)

Has anyone in the Flyers personnel department (and I use that term loosely) seen how badly Mason has played the last 4 years? Since his roookie season, his save percentage of .899 ranks 39 out of 39 for goalies who have played at least 100 games. Terrible! And, this is the guy that Reese "believes in" and this is the guy who is going to replace Bryz. Hysterical. Then again, why was I dumb enough to think that our resident comedian could judge goaltending talent: he traded Bob and cut Ericksson,

Seriously, the laughs keep coming. As long as this idiot is making personnel decisions, we will be without the Cup.

FIRE HOLMGREN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Reese is The Issue.