Mad Dog

@aziz I think to me, the "impact defenseman" is someone who is just a solid, consistent two-way contributor. It doesn't have to be someone as good as Duncan Keith or Shea Weber because those guys come once in a lifetime. But someone like what Timonen *used* to be is to me a true definition of an "impact defenseman". Our current defensive corps - whether you look at it individually or in its totality - is not really instilling fear in anybody.

Sure. But if their offensive skills/production offset them being a defensive liability, that alone is often enough for a team to justify not only keeping those players but paying their hefty salary. Kovalchuk is a prime example. The guy was doing absolutely ZERO defensively, but was one of the most offensively gifted players in the league. And there are tons of other examples to support this.

Absolutely. I like the trade too. It was a financial dump, but on every surface it makes sense. As much as I did not want to see Hartnell go, it frees up much needed cash. I would be interested to see what he does with that cash. And the Schenn deal is solid. And there is nothing wrong with getting excited. I just hope that the Flyers finally got the GM who will do it the right way and is not just another Snider's pawn. We will find out soon enough, I guess.

It's too eraly to draw a conclusion about Hextall at this point - *any* conclusion, be it a positive or a negative. I want to remind everyone that most of us felt infatuated with Homer when he embarked into his sweeping changes as he took over from the Clarkie's mess. Let's just wait and see...

Simmer is certainly a 1st line material, and even more so, I have no doubt he will thrive on the 1st line playing with G and Voracek. The problem I see with this is this will make our second line basically a non-factor. I would think the Flyers are looking for a 1st line winger, but I gave up trying to figure out this team's logic.

In the past years (meaning Clarke's era), I would say that was where the Flyers graviated, yes. But I am not sure how you can make this case now with both Schenns, Couturier, Jake, Mason, Raffle, Akeson. Simmonds and Giroux are your two best players on the team, and they are 25 and 26, respectively. That's old? They did stick with Coburn, who they picked up from Atlanta when he was green, did they not? Of the regular-roster players, the team currently has only 4 players who are over 35: Streit and Timonen. Even VLC is not really *that* old by the NHL standards... Hartnell is 32. That's not old... So with all due respect, I am really not sure, where you see the "fixation on seniors". The winning formula of building a successful team is a healthy mix. You draft well, you hire coaching personnel who know how to develop, you trade well, and you pick up some free agents. Paul Holmgren can be accused of a myriad of things. I didn't shy away from being possibly his biggest critics here, and I still maintain he was just not the right man for the GM job. But building exclusively through veterans and neglecting youth development is not something that the Flyers shoudl be accused of during Holmgren's tenure.

While I agree with the general notion, you can't win with a team fpacked with youngsters. You need a nice mix of veterans and children. Besides, someone needs to lead the kids and show them how to win. The VLC experiment failed, but that doesn't mean the Flyers should limit themselves to just "developing"? Back to the topic, I will take Moulson with open arms - he is a good player. But from everything I am hearing, his heart is at Buffalo.

It's purely individual. For me, it comes down to two things: 1) lack of time and 2) just not having much of an emotional investment if it's not the Flyers. For me watching non-Flyer hockey is like watching a movie: you are enterntained, you want to see the end, yet you don't really care what happens. There is just so many other things to do beside watching the Kings-Rangers series. But again, it varies from peson to person and there is absolutely nothing wrong with either side.

Yeah, that's likely what happened. I have a hunch right after the playoff exit, Mario made up his mind to fire Bylsma, but wanted a new GM to be formally carrying out the execution, so to speak. Not sure why this would make a difference who exactly fires the coach: the ownership otr a newly appointed GM, but here we have it.

If he has skills, determination, work ethic, and class of his father, why not...

A good choice by Mario. Rutherford is a savvy hockey man. He has his work cut out for him this summer.

Damn it. Well, this is Pens' loss.

The best part is... it is not.

Ironically, we *may* be having that issue when the next season rolls in. Given VLC's failed experiment and the fact that B Schenn is not showing me that he is a good center, as of this moment, the Flyers don't really have a legit #2 center, unfortunately.

LOL. Yeah... something along those lines.

Ma voiture est supérieur.

I really think Carter got some bad rep in Philadelphia, and till this day, I am not quite sure why. He scored at least 30 goals in 3 years he was here, and scored 29 in 1 year. I am not sure what more people really wanted from him. Yes, he was at times undisciplined. Yes, he partied. But on the ice - he plays the same game in LA he played here... EXACTLY the same - no better, no worse. That been said, I am happy we have Jake.

And that's the biggest question that many have, I guess: what is his ceiling in terms of a "finished product"? I am concerned that what we have seen so far is his ceiling. He may become a late bloomer, but I doubt it. I would agree that Berube did mishandle him, but logic suggests, if Berube saw something that would clearly set Gus apart from the rest of his peers, he would be a regular in the lineup. He certainly has some nice attributes, don’t get me wrong. But I just don’t see him cracking a top two pairings on any team. A 6th defenseman is the most realistic expectation people should have for him - at least for now.

Homer of course... now that he is available. That will help the Flyers to make sure they finish ahead of the Pens in 2015.

It just doesn't make much sense to keep Danny Boy. Perhaps teh thinking here is Shero didn't get him the players he needed so let's get the new GM and then see what Danny Boy can do? Not sure I woudl agree with that rationale, but at least that would be the only reasonable explanation to me...

That's your new coach! Bet on it.

I don't think they are *much* better thant either the Flyers or the Pens. My point was the way the play makes them tough to beat. And sometimes that's what it takes ot go far in the playoffs.

@B21 The only thing I would disagree is your assertion regarding Crosby. I did watch most of all 7 games, and it was just bad fortune. He was the one who constantly showed up to play in every game. Sure, he doesn't have much to show for it production-wise, but I thought he did everything in his power to lead the team. It feels weird for me to even speak in Crosby's defense, as I absolutely despise the guy (no hard feelings), but I am not sure how much more he could've done. He got zero support from the rest of your team. I actually feel bad for the guy; you could see dejection in his eyes after it was officially over. But he tried. I said it before and I'll say it again: the Rangers are just a very tough matchup for many teams. Alain Vigneault implemnted an absolutely perfect (as close as it gets to perfect) system, which makes them a formidable opponent. They very much remind me of the old-time NJ Devils. And the scary part is, they didn't even need Nash to win. Did the guy even score any goals this post-season? But no two ways about it - Bylsma's gotta go. I really feel the players just tuned him out. His time in Pittsburgh is over.

My sympathy to our Pens fans. And I do mean it - no sarcasm, no mockery. This is no fun. We have all been there... I do feel bad for Crosby. He played really hard. But there was hardly any support. Goes to show this is a team sport; one man cannot do it all, no matter HOW good he really is. I can't see Bylsma returning. When you blow a 3-1 lead, a coach *must* take responsibility.

I wholeheartedly disagree, Polaris. If there is ever the case to be made for when the score does not reflect what happened on the ice, this series was it. If it wasn't for Emery and Mason, the Flyers would've been swept. I am convinced in that. This is how lopsided this entire series was. There was hardly *anything* the Flyers did right in the entire series. From the Flyers’ fans perspective, this series was painful to watch. And believe me, Talbot was not going to swing the scales in the series where the Flyers were outplayed in every single area of the game.