Mad Dog

@brelic I agree w/ King Knut. I don't think it was a conspiracy theory at all. I really don't think it's because they felt Schenn was not going to be a good player. I think this was just a simple case of the LA been convinced they were just one - or two at worst - players away from winning it all. They had a superstar-type goalie, a quality defense, but they were lacking that one complete forward who would supplement Kopitar. Simmonds wasn't it and B Schenn was a green, unproven commodity. Richards was a great playoff performer, who could basically do it all. If you ask me, it was a low-risk/high-reward deal for them. Richards needed a change of scenery to be successful. He got it. And LA got the man they wanted and when they later added Carter, they were the best team and justifiably won. I think that was a good deal fro both teams. Outside Giroux, Simmonds was the most consistent Flyer both in the regular season and in the playoffs. He is physical, offensively gifted, plays hard every game and add much-needed team toughness. What's not to like? B Schenn is an enigma. He was a so-so this year. Not horrible, but not brilliant eitehr. He was an average player, which would be OK for someone like Matt Read, because Read does not have a pedegree of Schenn. The good news is, he is still young and is just entering his prime. So it's OK for the jury to still be out on him. But I will say the 2014-2015 will be a key year for him. No two ways about it. Even at 23, the time is not on his side. He HAS TO start making progress fast.

Actually, from what I recall, during his first full year with thew Flyers, he *was* doing just about all these things Polaris is talking about. Then it almost looked like somebody flipped the switch and we started seing a totally different player.

The rumors about Timonen are disappointing, but knowing the Flyers, not really that surprising. I guess I am less optimistic than you if they just "reload" and try it all over again. Does this defense give you much of optimism? THe decision about Schenn is a tough one. But honestly, I don't think they are going to do anything with him, which is fine. After the next year, we will know more or less what his value is and what it's going to be. He is still very young. I am actually more concerned about Couturier. I am concerned that the Flyers drafted an average 3-rd liner with poor skating skills and terrible speed. I am not going to bury the kid just yet. But I really think he is what he is at this point. I sure hope to be wrong.

@yave1964 Thanks for the nice analysis, Yave. For a non-Flyer fan who looks through a different prism, it's pretty good. One hting I will say, unlike the Flyers of the previous years, this team actually did NOT underachieve. They finished the year almost exactly where many of us thought they would finish: squeeze into the playoffs and probably lose in the first round. So as painful as it is to not be rooting for your team this early in the playoffs, there is at least no agony in being heartbroken, like we have been so many times in the past. So I am OK with how this season went. My concern is more with what the future holds, and I have to say, I don't really see this team improving too much the next year over this-year team. One definite positive is Mason is for real. Finally, it looks like the Flyers' search for the #1 legit goaltender is over. And that is the only real positive I see. The defense has been abysmal last year, and it still is. Neither Coburn or McDonald qualify as a #1 defensive pair. And that's just one problem. Looking through the rest of the defensive corps, this defense is just really not that good. They are lacking speed and agility. I think anything short of getting two quality defensemen will not solve the problem. I am also somewhat disppointed with our young guns. This was supposed to be a year for us to gauge how good they are. Couturier has still struggled. For someone who was picked that high, I think the Flyers fans have every right to exect more - MUCH more. And I am concerned that what we have seen may be his ceiling: a decent defensive forward with below-average skating skills and lack of speed. At best, I can see him possibly turning into Rob Brind'Amour, which woudl actually be very good. But I am afraid he won't come close to that level. We'll see. I really don't know what to expect out of B Schenn. He seems to have tools to be very good, but he didn't set the world on fire in the regualr season and was barely visible in the playoffs. I do like Reed. I think he is a very good two-way forward, but he needs playing time and a prominent role to succeed. I imagine Holmgren will make some big moves. I think it's given that Timonen will retire. So his money will allow to add some talent...I hope at least. BuI am very reserved about the future of this team. It's going to be an interesting off-season.

I am not sure it really matters or is *going* to matter, quite frankly... I agree with Fanatic 100% - as long as The Old Man is in the picture, all big moves will run through him, no matter who the GM is. Sure, the deals like picking up Hal Gill or extending McDonald will probably not need Snider's concurrence, but the "big deal" trades will run through him. He will continue dictating what he wants and as long as that happens, does it really matter who the Flyers' GM is?

Yep. Pretty much. People should look no further than The Old Man. It probably starts sounding like a broken record (I know it is), but really... as long as he is calling the shots (no pun intended), the Flyers will never approach to winning the Cup. His arrogance and complete disconnect with the reality will always prevent this team from reaching its goal. It is sad.

Well, you got your wish. And frankly, I think your team should have a relatively easy time with the Rangers. Good luck!

Too many causes... Inexperience is surely one of them. Coaching was substandard. The defense was simply abysmal. Coburn, Timonen and McDonald were horrendous from start to finish. The team needs at least 2 quality defensemen, which is probably impracticable.

Exactly. Which is why I said in some of the previous threads that up to Game 6, Alain Vigneault was the Rangers' MVP, while Berube seemed utterly outcoached. What the Game 6 showed me is that the Rangers are not the Devils of the 2000's. I don't know how the Devils did it, but that team didn't deviate from the system AT ALL. Every single game and every single series they stayed true to that system. The Rangers showed me they finally cracked. Was the game 6 an anomaly or did The Chief finally figure out the key to success? We’ll find out tonight for sure.

Well, if we can just strike the 1st period out of our memory (the period in which the Flyers must have set the record in turnovers), this was as dominating two periods of hockey played by the Flyers as I could remember. What a difference it makes when you actually SKATE, eh? And this is where it hit me as I was watching the game. As much as we talked about this being a bad matchup for the Flyers and how good of a job the Rangers did by taking the space away and cluttering the neutral zone, when… WHEN the Flyers skate, they can actually beat that trap (or whatever the hell it can be called). Problem is, it is hard to sustain that kind of pressure. The play of Mason was absolutely sick. But I wonder if he can come up with two consecutive performances like that. But I just have mixed feeling about tonight. I think the Rangers will come out storming at MSG. I am just concerned with the Flyers’ slow and turnover-prone defense, we may not be able to withstand the pressure. The Rangers can really win this game as early as the first period. If the Flyers can make it less lopsided and at least make an effort to skate the way they skated in the last two period of Game 6, anything can happen.

Absolutely. But the problem was created when Holmgren went out and signed him the past off-season. VLC did not create this problem; the Flyers did. Even an amateur, entry-level hockey person, who may have at least some rudimentary understanding of how to construct rosters, should have been able to envision that when you have a glut of players playing at the same position, it could mean nothing but headaches and that someone... SOMEONE would be asked to play out of his natural position. And when that person who you are bringing in is more than just a redundant player, but an expensive, over-the-hill player, all one can do is scratch his head in disbelief.

Congrats Pens fans! This was far from pretty, but win is a win. Your team was the better team...plain and simple.

Well, the line juggling I kind of understand. VLC is not performing up to the expectations, so the coach is trying different things. It kills any continuity and brings havoc into the lineup, but at least I understand that part. The coach's job is to find combinations that breed the best results. The problem I have with the whole VLC situation is the very fact that he is even here in the first place. There was zero rationale or justification to buy out one over-the-hill, washed up, high-price center only to bring in the other, who may be just a tiny bit more skilled, while failing to address the most glaring issue - the defense. I don’t blame Vinny – he is what he is. Someone suggested in earlier threads that he is sabotaging the performance. I find this totally ludicrous. Why would he do that? What is there for him to gain by dogging it? He simply doesn’t have much left or perhaps doesn’t fit into how Berube wants his team to play. Whatever the case may be, it’s not working… and the depressing reality is, he is here for the next 4 years. The management of this team has to answer for these gross miscalculations and mismanagement of gigantic proportions. If anybody is sabotaging the team it's this General Manager.

@radoran @canoli @murreycraven I get that our players may not be your prototypical proven, top-echelon 30- 40-goal scorers. Well, Giroux belongs in that category, and VLC once did, but other than that, the Flyers are not stacked with perennial offensive thread. But in the playoffs, you don't always need to have a top offensive talent to win. I asked before: how many of these top-offensive horses did the Devils of the 2000's have? They had Elias...maybe Petr Sykora. And you know you are reaching when you have to resort to Petr Sykora as your top offensive weapon. What else? They won with superb goaltending and impeccable, relentless team defense. The Flyers of the past years, by contrast, had the likes of Lindros, LeClair, Primeau, Recchi, Roenick, Gagne, Amonte, and the list goes on and on and on.... How far did it get them? They could not beat the Florida Panthers whose top scorers were Johan Garpenlov, Dave Lowry and Stu Barnes for crying out loud... MC, your list includes the top scorers on the Cup winning teams. OK, I am not talking Cup winning as nobody in his right mind would argue the Flyers are Cup contenders. I am looking at a much closer object: getting past the first round. And my contention is while the Flyers may not have what Rad refers to (consistent, proven expereinced scorers), they still have enough scoring to be able to get past the first round. Call it the lack of expereince or chalk it up to the way teh Rangers figured out how to beat them. But that des not change the fact that if looking at this from a pure cause-result angle, the Flyers are not grossly inferior to the Rangers. Defense - yes, I will give it to you. The Flyers' defense is just not that great. But the goaltending and offense... sorry, I am just not buying it.

I am not sure what you are trying to say, to be honest. The point is this team has enough scoring depth. They have enough players who can pass and who can score. I don't care whether these players score every 4 games, every 3 games, or every 1.5 games. Scoring is scoring. Giroux, Voracek, Hartnell, Simmods, B Schenn, Reid, and yes, even VLC know how to score. And Couturier and Raffle also know how to score. Sure, they are not sharp shooters, but how many pure snipers did the Devils of the 2000's have in their lineup? How many snipers did the Florida have when they went to the Finals in late 1990's? Look who is scoring for the Rangers. Dominic Moore. Benoit Pouliot. Are you going to tell me these are better natural scoreres than anybody the Flyers have on their roster? And Lundqvist is not even being a difference maker in this series. This team is not grossly inferior to the Rangers when it comes to offensive talent. That's the point. The Flyers are not trailing in this series and are looking like they are light years behind the Rangers because they don't have players who can score. It's rather because they could not figure out how to beat the puck cycling and how to control the puck better against this team. If people point to the lack of experience, OK, fine, I guess I can buy that as well...

@canoli I really think it's a combination of several things. First off, I disagree that the talent level of the Rangers is so superior to that of the Flyers'. Defense - sure. The Rangers' defense is very sound. But in net and especialy offensively, there is just no way I can agree the Flyers are lacking talent. They have more 20-goal scorers than any otehr team. You don't get that by accident. I also don't think the Flyers are lacking effort. Maybe in Game 1 a little, but I think their energy level is just fine. So with that in mind - and assuming this is true - this series should have been evenly played. Instead, we are seing the Flyers looking like they are not even in the same league with the Rangers. If this wasn't for Emery and Mason, this is supposed to be a sweep. My explanation to this is that the Rangers are much better coached than the Flyers. I really do believe that. If think their coach Alain Vigneault is this team's MVP. And our "brilliant man" doesn't look so brilliant. People were mentining the FLyers' poor puck control... I agree - it is poor. But I think it's because of how the Rangers force them out of their comfort zone... constantly.... on just about every possession, how they bottle things up, how they cycle teh puck and don't give the Flyers much room to create quality chances. And did I already say Lecavalier is useless? OK, in case I didn't - he is useless

@canoli Well, why not? Did the Flyers ever cease to amaze? This team was absolutely terrible on the defensive side of the puck in 2013, so they went out and signed an aging, injury-prone, over-the-hill center to $4.5 mill/year, adding a NTC to his contract... so that he could play on the 4th line averaging 8 minutes a game. This is what happens when you have a senile and arrogant I-know-it-all prick running the team. Disgusting.

Oh believe be Van, you don't have to convince me. I was vocal about this acquisition from the get-go, as I believe many posters were. I thought this was the year Laughton should've been given an opportunity. This was one of the most unnecessary and stupid acquisitions Homer has made over his tenure, and God knows, he did make plenty of those. There was aboslutely no reason to sign VLC... And people wonder why we haven't won in almost 40 years.

I wouldn't go that far. I don't believe it's deliberate. I just think what we see is the product of injuries and mileage. But no problem; we have him for 4 more years.

This is a good question, and, of course, I can only offer an opinion. Based exclusively on my observations made from the couch, I think on paper (at least), the Flyers *could* have played with this team. For Lord's sake, they have more 20-goal scorers than any other NHL team. But what I am seeing on the ice in these 4 games so far, is that the Rangers are doing an unbelievably good job by thwarting the attack and quickly creating a counter rush. Their game plan seems to be quite simple, yet effective, and they have right personnel for executing this plan. Watch how the Flyers start the rush - it's not any different from what they have been doing all season long and what made the Flyers successful post mid-season. The Flyers had no major difficulty with puck possession in the regular season, even against the elite teams. What I am seeing here is a night and day difference. But in this series - maybe with the exception of some fragments of Game 2 - Vigneault makes his team bottle up the neutral zone like crazy. You mentioned Hartnell and VLC get the puck in the offensive zone and the attack dies. Well, I don't think that's because Hartnell or VLC (or any other Flyer for that matter) just doesn't want to try hard. I think it's because the Rangers just committed to not giving the Flyers any room to operate. I don't know if it can be called a left wing lock, or trap, or whatever else... but the way the Rangers have been playing team D is something that I haven’t seen in a long time. Couple that with how well the Rangers control the puck in all three zones, and how slow and bulky the Flyers defense generally is, and you have a recipe for a disaster. Like I said, the only thing that I find shocking is that this series is somehow tied at this point. So to summarize, I think the Flyers *are* executing poorly, but I think the Rangers have everything to do with that. I just can’t rationalize it in any other way.

I think the Rangers have been a solid team even the last year, but Alain Vigneault got them to play a disciplined, system-first type hockey, which makes them a difficult matchup against many teams. They way they control the puck is a thing of beauty. Honestly, I was disappointed with how the Flyers played. I expected to see a lot more desperation at home, a lot more territorial advantage, more puck possesion, more time spent in the Rangers' zone, and, frankly, more determination. It is hard to argue that without Mason, this is a blow-out. Everything I have seen so far leads me to think that the Flyers are simply no match for the Rangers. The mere fact that this series is tied is nothing short of a miracle. This could've easily been a sweep... this is how much fundementally better the Rangers are.

There is a multitude of problems; not just the defense and not just the goaltending. The Flyers are NOT having a good playoff series so far, no matter how you look at it. But to this topic. Tiimo is looking bad. He looks old, slow and not physical. I htink it's just time to admit the guy is done. I didn't think they fared well against the Rangers before the series even started, but I haved to say I am shocked at how grossly the Rangers outperformed the Flyers so far. It's just not a pretty series to watch from the Flyers' fans perspective. I say if they lose tonight, it's pretty much over.

This was the reason Homer went out and brought Emery in - not to risk NOT having a second NHL goalie available in case something happens to Mase in the playoffs. So far it's been paying off. I have a feeling this is going to be all Emery this series.

Ugly game from the Flyers' perspective. Not much else to say...

That would put the Flyers in a decent position. They cannot come back to Philly trailing by two games. Everyhting is possible, of course, and we saw this very team come back from a 3-nothing against the Bruins, but they just about *must* get one game in the MSG.