brelic

For a nearly 28 year old 40-45 point forward??????? There's no way Toffoli is worth nearly that much.

I'm a lifelong Flyers fan for a lot of the same reasons. Started watching when I was about 6-7, and ever since. I grew up with the mid-80s squads. Eklund, Poulin, Propp, Sinisalo, Hextall, Tocchet, Kerr, Howe. Mostly, I miss the days of a relevant Flyers squad. The Carter/Richards days. The Lindros days. Those 80s teams. The past decade has been discouraging to be kind. Yeah, I can see that. I have no opinion either way since I haven't watched any in a few decades. I just figured it was because it wasn't targeted at me - hence my disinterest.

Funny enough, I am not a hockey fan. I'm a Flyers fan. Basically the only hockey I'm willing to sacrifice some time for.

I used to enjoy the ASG when I was a kid. I think that is the target audience. I haven't watched any of the all-star weekend in about 30 years. If the all-star weekend doesn't resonate with you, it's probably just that you're not the intended audience.

I'd add the other disrespectful Tkachuk to the list too. Seriously, they are class A douchebags.

Back to hating players for a second... There are two right now that I want to punch in their ugly mugs. Brady Tkachuk. Borowiecki. Carry on.

I mean, he could say the opposite - "for the sake of Patrick's health and well-being, we have all agreed that the best course of action as advised by the doctors and specialists is for him to spend the next 6 months focusing on finding a solution, and that would include no physical contact sports during this period. So we will re-evaluate over the summer and hopefully he is cleared for the fall." But he didn't. And he has a lot more information than we do. If nothing else, Fletch has been rather forthcoming in his responses since being here. Seems like a genuine guy. Also, these are not post-concussion symptoms, if the doctors and specialists are to be believed - and he did see one of the leading concussion specialists. So, I'm hopeful that he will come back this season until told otherwise.

We deserve some good news dammit!

Not much new information. Basically said he expects Patrick to play this year. The tempo of his practices has increased. He's skating, shooting, and puck handling well. He can't speculate on when Patrick will be cleared for contact. My guess is that the moment he's cleared for contact, he's probably 3-4 weeks away from an NHL game. Probably a week of full practices with the team, then an AHL stint to have real games, but at a slower tempo, then back with the bigs to get ready for an NHL game.

The major difference is that Boston has enjoyed and is still enjoying lots of playoff appearances and success... including a Stanley Cup. Imagine if you had blown it up after that historic meltdown against the Flyers. I bet it would look much more like a choke job followed by blowing it up instead of a building block to the Cup. Boston likely has a lot more goodwill built up with the fans than the Flyers do at this point. 44 years and counting without a Cup, and a decade with just two playoff series wins is a hard sell for any fanbase! So, in your case, a 'soft' blowup or sell-off - if it happens - is probably a lot more tolerable in the afterglow of a successful decade. But, the Bruins are at the top of the league, so there's still lots of life in that team.

The key will be getting Patrick and Lindblom back. G (32) and Jake (30) are getting older, but so are Bergeron (34), Marchand (31) and Krejci (33). They are #2,3,4 in scoring on the team. Surrounded with the right support cast, plus one or two young guys who crank it up a notch (TK for sure... Lindblom was on his way, Patrick is ripe for a breakout if he gets the migraines under control, Frost?, Farabee?), I actually think our vets are necessary as part of a well-balanced roster. Sandwiched between G/Jake and TK/Lindblom/Provy/etc are Hayes (27) and Coots (27). They can certainly maintain their level of play for another 3-4 years. To the poster who said blow it up... really? What does that look like, exactly? It's too late this year (we wouldn't be bad enough for a top 5 pick). So, if you sell off G, Jake, Ghost... are you really ready for 4-5 years of terrible hockey? That's another hard reset. I can't imagine the organization and the fans having any kind of appetite for that.

I was talking more about the success they've had in the past, AV in particular. He's got a pretty solid track record of success. Can't really judge his Flyers gig yet. I'm looking more down the road. York, Zamula, possibly Friedman and Ginning. We've got some great potential in the pipeline and in the NHL. Provo is a top pairing defenseman. He's 23. Sanheim leads 5v5 scoring among our D. I find his game to be pretty vanilla and timid, but he's still effective. He's 23. Myers is very uneven. He was not good last night. But he has 12 points in 25 games playing on bottom/middle pairing with no PP time. He flat out-hustled that Canes punk on the breakaway and poked the puck away from him. He can hit and has a mean streak. He's also 23. Ghost is actually playing well - he just isn't scoring. His metrics are decent or better than most of the blueline while being on the 3rd pairing with mostly Hagg, Braun, or sometimes Myers. Of all our defensemen, I feel he is the most mentally fragile, but at the same time, I think the RHD/LHD configuration under AV is not doing him any favours either. He'll be stuck on the 3rd pairing until something changes. He's 26. Niskanen (33) is here for another year and I thought he's looked great. But after next season, I doubt he would be retained. Braun (32) is likely gone after the season. Hagg is not good by any metric, really. He's a perfect 7th moving forward unless you can find someone better and cheaper who is also willing to ride the pine for most of the season. He's 24. All that to say that as Provy, Sanheim, and Myers mature (and hopefully Ghost, if he doesn't get traded) and enter their prime - which is still a few years away - they'll be in a great position to complement and mentor guys like York, Zamula, Friedman. I think D will be a team strength for a decade. It's not there yet. Goaltending is different. Hart is having a very up and down season, and it could be that way for several years. Took Price until 23 to have a break out year, then after a few down years, at 26 he stabilized his game. Though it only lasted 4 years. The more I look at it, the more we should hope Hart's career is more like Lundqvist than Price in terms of consistency. So, Hart is just not good enough so far this year, and Elliott isn't either. After this season, do you resign Elliott? If not, who's the backup? Sandstrom is pitching a 3.76, .876 in the ECHL. Ustimenko is at 2.75, .906 in the ECHL. Those two are the closest prospects we have to being ready - they're already in North America and playing in the organization. Honestly, it might be fair to give Lyon another look. At 27 and now a fourth year pro, who knows? The truth is, since losing Lindblom, having no news or hope on Patrick returning, sending Frost back to LHV, I've kind of lost interest in watching. The bottom six is a mess, goaltending is costing us games, the defense looks confused half the time ( there were THREE Flyers chasing down Svechnikov last night, leaving the front of the net completely open for the Canes player - I think it was on the play where Elliott got his noggin hit). They don't look cohesive, and blew an opportunity against three terrible West coast teams to secure their place in the standings. Over the past 5 years, the Flyers are 3-17-4 on the post-Christmas Western swing. So, in conclusion, it's Disney On Ice's fault.

The beauty is that none of those teams won the Cup last year. STL is killing it this year without Tarasenko. But, to your point, I agree that those are the primary SC contenders in the league. I'd add Vegas and STL to the list. Yup, agreed. We are simply not able to match other teams on individual-level elite talent. Nashville, Isles and Vegas have great coaching. I'd include STL in there, but, you know, Berube. Is he a great coach? Or was he the right coach at the right time (which might even be true of most teams)? I think the Flyers' coaching is on even ground with those teams. Centers? Nsh - Forsberg (28pts), Duchene (28pts), Johansen (26pts), Turris/Bonino/Jarnkrok. StL - ROR (38pts), Schwartz (36pts), Schenn (34pts), Bozak (19pts) VGK - Karlsson (33pts), Marchesseault (31pts), Stastny (19pts), Glass/Nosen/Stephenson/Eakin Phi - Coots (34pts), Hayes (23pts), Raffl (9pts), Vorobyev (3pts). So clearly, our center depth is severely compromised right now. Defense? I don't have time to go through the list, but from what I can remember off the top of my head, Nashville has an elite defense corps, STL has a few top level defensemen, Vegas has Theodore as their top defenseman, but is pretty thin on offense from the blueline after that. I'd say ours is better than Vegas for sure, and has the potential to be among the top 10 league-wide at some point, but they still feel under-developed at this point as a whole. Goaltending? StL has elite goaltending. Vegas has mediocre goaltending. Nashville has atrocious goaltending. Right now, ours is just not good enough either. So... weak depth at C and poor goaltending seem to be our weakest points? Oops - totally forgot the Isles.

I'll tell you what - when Lindblom comes back, *that's* the game you and I are flying down for! Also, the upcoming Flyers SCF games

You never know with something like cancer. Some players have returned very quickly - Kessel comes to mind. And I know there was another player who came back pretty quickly too. So many factors outside of anyone's control, though. I feel you may be right on Patrick. I'm sure he will at the very least attempt to play at some point. It just wouldn't make sense to give up without giving it a full and thorough attempt which would include competitive games. I'm sad for Patrick (and Oskar and Sam) the person, and also disheartened as a Flyer fan that guys like Patrick, Lindblom, and Morin might just never play hockey again. Those are big blows to the Flyers.

By "this group," do you include or exclude Patrick and Lindblom. Without them, I agree. Lindblom was having a breakout season, and I can see how his absence has impacted possession. He was a very important player. Patrick is still in development, and it's hard to project what he could become - but his career is currently in limbo. With those guys, I think we can contend. Best case is that Lindblom is cancer-free and in remission by the beginning of next season. A more conservative projection would probably say he'd be back for the 2021-2022 season. With Patrick, it would be fantastic for him as a young man and hockey player if they could get this under control soon and he can participate in at least a handful of games this year. Meanwhile, the Pens just keep on ticking. If I could obliterate one team from the face of the Earth, the Pens would be it. If I could obliterate two, I'd double-tap the Pens, just because.

I'd add the Isles, Yotes, and Stars to that list. Possibly the Canes too, but it's hard to argue that their top 4 (Svechnikov, Tervainen, Hamilton, Aho) aren't top level talent. To your other point on the coaching experience of this new triumvirate, I think (hope?) the dividends will be more apparent come playoff time. Of course, we have to make the playoffs first...

This morning, the Flyers are officially outside of the playoff picture. That seems to sum up the first half quite succinctly, I would say. They are a team with two faces. A successful home team - among the best in the NHL. And an awful road team - near the bottom of the NHL. The complete absence of Patrick, the cruel misfortune of Lindblom, multiple injuries to key players, suspensions, and - probably most significantly - poor goaltending, has been the story of the season so far. An .899 for Elliott and .905 for Hart just isn't good enough. A big part of that is defensive play, which has been a problem this year. This new 'trend' of goals-against avalanche in a short span is partly on the players but also on the goalies. Consider that last year, with 8 goalies, a coaching change, and a GM change, the team save percentage was .900. This year, it's .902. Still, if you had told me we'd be on pace for 98 points at the halfway mark, I would have deemed that a successful start to the AV / Fletch era. Any way you slice it, even though they are seemingly more successful than in years past, I find myself frustrated and feeling like they are still 2-3 years away.

I think it's par for the modern course. Times are changing in every aspect. Hitting is down, abusive coaches are being called out, fighting is on its way out (the stats on the decline are stark), players openly talk about their mental health. I'm not a big media consumer. I basically read the New York Times, and my local CBC. Anything outside of that, for me, is just noise. So I can't comment on the "overhype" aspect because I haven't noticed it. All in all, more awareness and action is a good thing. Long gone are the days where a woozy Lindros, who tells the assistant coach that he is feeling dizzy and his vision is yellow, is told to suck it up and just go out and play. He almost died a few hours later in a tub with a collapsed lung.

Flyers are 8th in the entire league in points %,. Yet we're 5th in the Metro. Crazy, right? PS - Why won't Pittsburgh die? Is it too much to ask?

Myers in, Pitlick in. Hagg out, Stewart out. Hart in goal.

Good win. They needed that. Really impressed with NAK’s game tonight. If he keeps playing like this, he has my vote to stay. Brought some sandpaper. Hart was great. The big boys stepped up. Nice to see. Go Phantoms!

1. Targets the head as primary point of contact - CHECK. 2. Leaves his feet to make the hit - CHECK. 3. Wears orange and black - NO CHECK. No suspension, no fine, no review. Nothing to see here.

Here's a hit that I think is even closer to the Farabee hit. Here's some context for you. The hit came 0.65 seconds after the puck was gone - meeting the league's threshold for a late hit (0.6 seconds). The Flames were leading 8-5 with 22 seconds left in the game. The game was a pissing match between the two teams, and there is a predatory nature to it. It is shoulder to chest. No penalty. No fine. No suspension. How is this materially different from the Farabee hit?

This is complete ********. It’s not the suspension, it’s the inconsistency that drives me bonkers. Farabee is a first time offender. 3 games. Borosh!thead is a multiple offender with multiple suspensions AND HE OPENLY SAID HE WOULD NOT CHANGE after his latest suspension. What a ****** week to be a Flyers fan.