Mad Dog

This is not what I suggested at all. I will never in my lifetime EVER quit on any of my sports teams. NOT EVER. But we should stop accepting just good seasons and the fact that the team has some "potential" as a token of success. Not winning a single championship in 37 years is unacceptable. I am tired of excuses and watching this New Jersey team winning Cups at the ridiculous frequency while we can't win a single one in THIRTY SEVEN EFFIN YEARS.

Interestingly enough, I don't have much hate for the Devils......not even sure why. The Pens with that dickhead Malkin are much easier to hate. But thinking of the Devils possibly winning another Cup is just...... well unthinkable. How on Earth does this team keep doing it is beyond imagination. And it's not even like they have a great team. They came out of nowehere, had a very unspectacular regular season, hardly beat Florida in the first round, and now they are on a brink of winning the Cup. Just maddening and infuriating. This is why it really bothers me so much when the Flyers' fans continue getting satisfied with just having a good season and knowing that "teh future looks bright", while the team across the Turnpike are on a brink of winning a 4th Cup in 16 years. It's basically one Cup every 4 years. THINK ABOUT IT! How can any passionate Flyers fan not feel sick and rather be content with what *seems* like yet another good season? How?

If only it didn't all end on such a sad note...

@mojo1917 Yeah, I would be curious to hear who will need surgeries. My hunch - many. I mean you guys are right, we took some serious beating. Malkin, particularly, was hitting people hard. I didn't even expect that from him... That series was very reminiscent of when we played Toronto in 2004. Toronto, led by Tucker, lost but did not go quietly. They physically destroyed the Flyers, and they had very little left when they had to face Tampa in the ECF. Still, the Flyers were so utterly outmatched, outplayed and outcoached by the Devils (we could've easily gotten swept), that I suspect there is more than just injuries/tiredness.

Point well taken, but I watched some of the Panthers-Devils games, and one can argue that the Devils took some punishment as well. We can relate better to the punishment the Flyers took because we watched every minute of every Pittburgh-Flyers game, but make no mistake, the Devils did not have it easy. Salvador, Elias, Parise, Zajac took some beating. Kovy was banged up. Sykora wasn't 100%... And they had what... 2 days to rest before they faced the Flyers. You tough it out in the playoffs. That's what you do or you won't play much longer. Sorry, but I am not accepting that as a valid excuse.

Carcillo was generally liked by his teammates and coaches. Subban is a ******. He is also a headache to deal with off the ice. Many say a change of scenery could help him, but I am not buying it for even a second. People don't change. End of story. And we finally seemed to have a locker room cleaned up of malcontents. No thanks to Subban. edit: serioulsy, admin, this sensorship is becoming an annoyance.... philly.com all over again.

You had to rub it in..... you guy you....

All that makes sense... But still, with one full week, I would think they should've gotten the batteries recharged. I really think it's more what Baka said - Lavy's system just wears players down more than their own mileage.

Thinking of it, this is an impressive group they assembled on the back end over there. None of them are flashy (well, maybe with the excpetion of Del Zotto), but that group gets the job done to a "t". All 4: Girardi, Del Zotto, McDonough, and Staal - steady and stable group. Add Lundqvist to that group and there is no wonder that team is so good defensively.

I know - highly, HIGHLY unlikely. But I also couldn't dream of Forsberg in the Flyers uniform in a million years. Didn;t quite worked out the way everybody hoped, but still...

I can't see Lou letting Parise walk. But if he does, this is one forward I would target. He would fit right in on the first line with Giroux.

A story of Mike Smith is as mystifying as I've ever seen. If it was just a function of him getting an opportunity, which he didn't have before, I would totally undertsand. But this is his 6th season in the NHL. It's not like he is an unknown commodity. He is 29 years old - not 20. He had plenty of opportunities to show his worth, and frankly, all this time till this season he flat out sucked. I can attribute this to playing in Dave Tippett's system, I suppose, but was it really meant to produce a night-and-day difference? Is Smith a late bloomer? I don't know if there is anything else there to think based on his history.

No, that wasn't my point (sorry if I confused you). I am saying I agree the team has overcome tons of obstacles and finished the season very respectably despite all the odds. I am acknowledging they pulled together and showed tremendous growth and determination. I am just not sure how much of this credit belongs to Bryz. I would feel very excited if only this wasn't the story for just about every other year since '75. But to your point, I don't know if this team is actually positioned better to win than ever before. We heard this "the Flyers are set to compete for many years" many times before, did we not? I thought the team that Hitch took to the ECF that lost to Tampa was positioned pretty darn well, and probably *would* end up winning the Cup if not for the ridiculous amount of injuries that plagued the team. That team, to me, was as ready as I've ever seen. And Esche was playing several levels better than Bryz, which in and of itslef, just makes me want to scream. At the very least, I didn't have to close my eyes every time the opposing team fired the puck on our net. But look... I hear you. Bryz is here for a long haul. We are stuck with him. No sense getting our hopes up that something will magically change. But at teh same time, I am curbing my expectatins, because I have been betrayed by this team...... oh....... like forever.

Yeah, but this is more of a testimony of the players' character and strength of will, which requires a thread of its own. I don't see how Bryz fits into all this, to be candid.

Not to switch the topic of this thread, but this whole out of gas thing is a mistery to me. They had an entire week off, while the Devils just finished off the grueling, 7-game beat-down with Florida. I agree they *looked* out of gas, but I really don't understand why. Injured - maybe. But tired?

I share your frustration. I almost gave up as well. With the way things have gone, it sure feels like something will always stand in our way to win the Cup. It really does feel that way. But many Flyers fans don't seem to mind that as long as we have a good season and compete hard and have something decent to look forward to........

It *is* the hardest championship to win. I don't disagree with that. And one can look at it that way. But I refuse to use a consolation that there are other teams (Washington, Toronto, Ottawa, etc.) who share a similar frustartion or fitility. I don't care about those teams' futility. I really don't. One should always strive for perfection; that's a winner's attitude. When looking at other losing situations and trying to comfort yourself that there are others who are at least *as* bad, that's a recepe for failure and shame... at least the way I was brought up. Where I do agree with you is that I just don't see how can people call this year pathetic. It was not. But see, the problem is, every year there is something else that stands in the Flyers' way of winning the Cup: injuries, a perceived biased officiating, bad coaching, Lindros, terrible goaltending, lack of epxerience.... there is always SOMETHING. ALWAYS. It's getting nauseatingly old and depressing. We felt there was a lot to look forward to 4-5 years ago when Carter, Richards, Umberger, Coburn, Upshall looked like a core of young and promising players along with several seasoned veterans to build the team around. Look where we are now: taking comfort in the fact that the "future looks bright". And I am not saying that there is nothing to look forward to - there is. But I am fed up with this "future looks bright" crap. It's time to deliver. After 37 years of "trying", it's time to actually win. Anything less at this point is a failure in my book.

I would think if the re-alignment is the only issue that remains to be a point of contention, they could work something out to avoid the lockout. But who really knows....

Nothing pesonal, Idaho, but I am getting sick to my stomach every time I hear this statement. What does this mean when looking at the Flyers' history? It really souns like a broken record and a build-in excuse for every year this team fails to reach the goal. Yes, only one team wins. But in 37 years, can the Flyers win at least once? Why can't the Flyers be that one team?

Jokes aside, though, I wonder what happened to him. I have to say, I had some hopes for Nodl. Granted, I didn't think he will break out, but I would agree with you - he had some promise. I am really not sure why he sank so deep.

Like........Andreas Nodl will outscore Jagr. Sorry bud, you left it wide open.

@canoli I agree. While I would love to see Rick Nash or Parise wearing O&B, these are not where our needs are. We need a stud d-man and one mid-caliber winger to replace Jagr. And we need Bryzgalov to play better, which I am not sure he can.

And there is nothing wrong with that. I will support him as well, like I would support any Flyer. But it's a legit question, Grump... After watching him in Phoenix, after having watched him play here, what makes you think his play will change for the better? His instincts, his glove, his post-to-post movement, his puck handling will most likely stay the way they are. Yes, it's one season *here*, but he is 32 and he has been in league for 5 years (counting full seasons). What makes you hope he can improve on those fundemental deficiencies he has shown?

There are many quotes in his interview that just make you shake your head. This is one of them, "What I lived through this season I wouldn't wish to an enemy". I mean...... what the f u c k? One can read this and think he had some excruciating agony to go through this season. One can think poor Ilya had to live in barracks, eat porridge, or sleep 2 hours a night. I mean my God, what was so intolerable he had to "live through this season"? All he was asked to do was to justify his $10 mil with his play. That's all. What was so insufferable?

Very differently, I am sure. The Flyers had no answer to the Devil's cycling and pressuring. But I have a hunch we would still end up losing that series. It may've taken 7 games instead of 5, but at the end, the Flyers just looked like a team in a different league.