Digityman

I for sure was in the backseat of your wagon on that one. I did not and still don't want, JVR on this team. I remember being shocked and pissed when I found out. I believe my post was something like "...something something retread......." He's currently 5th on the team in total points but it always feels those points are either tap ins where someone else does all the work, empty net goals or meaningless (like the 6th goal) ones. I have no data to back it up and don't have time to do it. Just stating what my eyes and brain have seen.

Mid-first round pick. I don't know. It would hurt to lose the 'potential' that ghost has for that. The current form of Ghost, yea it's reasonable I guess. But I'm not ready to give up on him.

See what happens when you scratch Frost in favor of Farabee......

Legit point. Hopefully having new a new coach, a new 2C, a legit and experience 1st pair and a influx of young but getting more experience dmen seems to be helping this season. I don't see why it wouldn't continue into the playoffs. Imagine getting back Patrick? Agree. Beating them in the regular season is one thing, as you say. However, proving they can not only play with but win against the teams above them in the standings will go along way for their confidence when the play them in the playoffs.

Very well put. I agree with this.

Honestly, I'd give Farabee another day (2) off. Let him be 100%. I think a healthy Frost >= 90% Farabee. I know I'm in the minority on Farabee but at 100% I don't think a he provides much more than Frost. You could slide Frost down and bump Bunnaman but I don't like Frost on the 4th line. Plus, they finally have a 4th line playing decent. Best to leave that line alone for now. If AV's reading this, my vote is for Farabee to sit and get 100%.

Yes I'm quoting myself. Deal with it. So they lose to the Devils, beat the Caps and the Panthers. They ended up 2-1. Now 7-2-1 in their last 10. My point is, just because they **** the bed in the Devils game, there no need to go gloom and doom. Maybe last year and the previous x years, yes but this year they are good at bouncing back. Now, those pesky slow starts.....

As should the Flyers. Feb, March and April are when you see what your team is made of. Last night was a **** effort. The coaches know it and the players know it. That being said, just like every other loss, what matters is what happens in the next couple games. They beat the Avs and lost to the Devils. I had it the other way around but the final result was still 1 and 1. Maybe they steal one on Saturday. If so, they come out of the last 3 games 2-1 instead of 1-2 which is really what should have happened. They are still 6-3-1 in their last 10. Isles are 4-3-3. Canes are 5-4-1 I know where you are coming from and I'm not going to lie, I feel it a bit too. Giroux can no longer put the team on his back and will them to win. You can see he's struggling to even be a productive player at the moment. So without him having a magical turnaround in the next couple weeks OR something emotional like Patrick coming back, this team is going to end up exactly where everyone predicted them to be. A bubble playoff team, most likely fighting for a wildcard spot. If the Islanders didn't have a great stretch there they might have been 3rd in the division. Even still, if they miss the playoffs..... they lost 2 of their top 6 (arguable - at minimum, top 9) for most/all the season. They have AHLers that really shouldn't even be on the ice right now. While it would suck to miss the playoffs yet again, if the team were healthy I'd suspect they'd have another 8-10 or so points putting them up above the Pens and near Tampa.

No sure. Just heard that he was on the ice during the 'skills' practice. No contact, but he was racing TK and joking around with others. Any sign is a good sign in this case. I really think he makes the team a lot better and much harder to lineup against.

He was on the ice yesterday. There's hope.

This is a really good point. Like you said, I get it, but it really sucks for for the families outside of the Bryants'. I think @jammer2 said it after you but trusting a single point of failure is where I struggle. I've been up in single engines planes when I was younger, but for some reason now I just can't bring myself to do it. For example, going site-seeing in Hawaii via helicopter..... I would be so preoccupied in being scared that I wouldn't enjoy the reason I went up in the first place. I do get the argument that flying in a plane or helicopter is statistically safer than driving in a car and as a analyst by trade, that should make sense to my brain. But it just won't trust the data. I tried.

I feel for his family and sad that his daughter and others were with him. This really solidified my feelings on helicopters. Nope. Never.

Unfortunately, with Patrick out that's a glaring hole. Put a healthy Patrick in there and that puts them up there with those other 3.

Holy crap. Thanks for doing that data dig. That's incredible and really tells a story.

I hope it's only in Philly, cause if it's not the world is more insufferable than I thought

Yup, so far. But for multiple reasons I see them on the upswing. Goalie, coach, youngins finally arriving. There's really a lot to look forward to. This team is on the upswing to being a contender...... Just two more years

I can't remember them ever being over .500 on this trip. In my mind it's a holiday break - check the scores, see they lose and get ready for the home stretch.

By reading this you'd think the flyers weren't in a wild card spot, exactly where everyone thought they'd be. Plus not having Patrick all year, **** ton of injuries.... Playing, what...6 rookies? A starting goalie who hasn't played a full year in the league? A backup who is actually playing better than we thought. Come on guys, turds will be laid. West coast over the holidays? I wasn't expecting much. Let's see what happens in January and then we can prepare the pitchforks.

The real question is if nobody stays up to watch them, does it really matter? I hope they can pull this one off.

Maybe it's taken him this long to gather all the tools and be ready mentally. Or maybe he's riding a streak of luck and will come back to down to earth soon. Either way, it was needed with all the injuries. This team is finding people to step up when needed. It's a great sign or things to come. Just 2 more years....

Hey Howie - I think Patrick is back in a Flyer's uniform next October at the latest, but I'm still holding out hope for January/Feb this year. There have been some examples of players having migraine problems and getting a handle on them. Unfortunately, I think Morin has seen his last days in the NHL for any team. I feel bad for the guy.

It's frustrating that coming into the season, it wasn't supposed to be like this. Raffl, Patrick, Laughton, Lindblom.... all out. Andreoff, Vorobyev, NAK....all in. That lineup - even while adding back in Raffl and Laughton - looks like a #6-9 finish in the conference and a first round exit. Not saying that's all bad, as it will get the kids some playoff experience, it's just hard to not look at the "what could have been." Because with a healthy Patrick at 3C, health Lindblom on the wing and Raffl and Laughton on the 4th line.....oh what could have been. 28 Claude Giroux - 14 Sean Couturier - 11 Travis Konecny25 James van Riemsdyk - 13 Kevin Hayes - 93 Jakub Voracek49 Joel Farabee - 19 Nolan Patrick - 48 Morgan Frost12 Michael Raffl - 21 Laughton - 18 Tyler Pitlick Now that is one that I could see going to the 2nd or even 3rd round depending on health and opponent. What.....could....have....been......

Don't knock till you've tried it

Ghost is the scoring winger in sheep's clothing we have been looking for. What better time than now to try it? Come on AV..... give him 5 games at wing and I bet we never look back.

Last night I was sitting in front of the TV trying to stay awake until 9:30. I successfully achieved it only to realize that they played today. Strange having that many nights between games.