Mad Dog

Way, way too early to tell, not to mention compare him with Daigle. But he may be the type of player who can only excel at lower levels like AHL and just not have enough to be relevant in the NHL. But again, it's still way too early.

Not sure what this will accomplish. Homer will need to find a way to trade for a d-man without giving up a d-man of his own. Plus, as I said earlier, I really, really don't want to trade Bob. Ellis is what he is, but Bob's ceiling is quite untapped, I think. But the Flyers may have no choice as Bob right now is only one of a few appealing trade chips that other teams will want (aside from the untouchables, of course, like Couturier, Giroux, etc.). Also, frankly, I am not very high on Fowler. He is a decent skater and puck handler but quite crapy in his own end. Look at his +/- numbers - they are horrible. True, it's a refelction of the crappy team he plays on, but I am just not impressed overall with his defensive play at all.

True. And I have no doubt he will come into his own at some point. The only question is: WHEN.

And if I would guess, that's likely what prevented Homer from putting him on wavers...

Yep. But here is what I wonder though. Would any team actually show interst in a stiff like Shelley, knowing what his salary is? For better or worse, Nodl at least can fetch you a cap relief, and I think if Homer would care, he could've actually even gotten a roster player in return. Granted, he was not looking for a player in this particular case, but still. Shelley is a total waste. I don't know who in his right mind would pick him off the waver wire.

So far he's been totally irrelevent.

Well, to be fair, I wouldn't call it an experiment. He was a fringe player essentially since day 1. I am not going to shed tears over Andreas Nodl. But I want ot echo what Rad siad... year after year this management corners itslef into a position to dump players to cover for their own inaptitude in handling salary cap. That's what I find the most disconcerting of all.

Well, not the first time this happened, and my wild guess is, won't be the last......

Wow! What an idiotic way to put it, Homer. If you want to "gauge trade interest", why not just pick up the phone and call teams? When you put someone on the waiver - not that Nodl woudl be a huge loss - you *have* to expect him being picked up. This was clearly a move towards cap releif. Nodl was the most expendable. Anyway.... so he went unclaimed, right? My guess something is brewing. Homer is clearly trying to make a move. With both Pronger and Lilja on LTIR, and Nodl gone, the Flyers would have room to sign players. But again, the problem now is not so much the cap space, but the fact they would have to trade someone decent from the roster. A good d-man won't be acquired for Shelley. Something significant would have to be given up.

Problem is, if..... IF....... the Flyers make a commitment to adddress the need at the D position, they would have to pay through the nose regardless, unless it's for someone who isn't worth a damn. Knowing Homer, he would likely try to go after someone like Tomas Kabelre (don't jump people, I am merely using this as an example), and as you said, get robbed. No matter how you decide to look at it, the Flyers are ****ed at least for a short span of time. And I tend to agree with Brelic - 1 month may be the over-optimistic forecast, which is not really based on anything.... My gut is telling me he will be out much longer.

That's the decision for him to make. I'd say let's see what we look like for a week or so. If we really show signs of freefalling, Homer needs to make a move... The good news is, he is only going to be missing for a month. If the Flyers somehow manage ot stay at least at 500, that would be friggin' terrific. But I don't know if they can. Our D is a weak link, even *with* Pronger. But I agree with you that maybe Homer doesn't need to be making a move immediately and just see how this team responds.

What a ****ed up situation! I would like to think at least for the duraiton he is on IR, the Flyers would be looking to fill the void by someone who is not an AHLer. I believe they can do it, contractually, right? The question is, who can they possibly give up to get a player who is capable of contributing at a high level? The teams will likely be asking for Schenn and Couturier. They need to bring a quality d-man and fast or this team is toast. Maaaaan, what a nightmare overall. This will hunt the Flyers for a long time, unless Pronger decides to retire by the end of this season.

At this point, does it actually matter who this call-up will be? Christ, our defense was manhandled whne we had everybody healthy, in other words, we had 6 NHL d-men. Now though, we will have 1/2 of our defense filled with AHLers. Can Paul Coffey still skate? He can't be any worse than this.

Would love to have Lucic on the Flyers. Gritty, skilled... what's not to like?

Than get yourself a goddamned cursive script!!!!!!!! lol

Duely noted.

Dropping like flies. But I figure, if the injury bug is supposed to hit, let it hit now instead of April, or worse yet, the playoffs.

Not really sure what exactly you expected out of Simmonds... He is a 35-40 point player. And in his young career, he is making steps towards improving his game, but I am not sure how fast and how soon this improvement will be noticeable. If you expected him to average 1 point per game, you set your expectations unrealistically and unjustifiably high. He is an energy guy who likes to play on the edge and bang bodies, which, I thought, he has done in most of the games he played. I don't think he slacked off in many games... Hartnell had a rough start to the season, but once put on the Giroux line with Jagr, I thought he was quite effective and efficient. Briere - agreed. I want to see more consistency. Bryz - no argument from me whatsoever. So far, he hasn't played even close to the expected level. One can only hope that changes. If it doesn't, this team is ****ed. Plain and simple.

This team cannot - and *will* not - survive without him being in the lineup, even at 80%. It's absolutely amazing how much he changes the dynamics of the game in both ends of the ice. But if his health really prevents him from being on the ice and contributing, they might just roll the dice and see what happens if they sit him. But I agree, I am not buying the virus thing either. It's either a recurrance of his vision issues or somehting else...

Glad he is back. If one can separate Crosby The Child from Crosby The Player, the guy is a pure joy to watch play. The NHL needs more players with his skillset. I really don't see what can possibly be gained by him not able to play, aside from the fact, of course, that the Atlantic would be weakened in our favor.

I think we can all agree that the defense is this teams’ Achilles Hill - even *with* Pronger, who is visibly getting old and banged up. And without Pronger, we are toast. I am not sure what Homer can do. He really hamstrung himself with Bryz’ contract. There is not much room to add anybody who will add much value. What I find really disappointing is that individually, our d-men are quite effective, and all of them (every single one of them: Meszaros, Coburn, Carle Pronger and Timonen) are good, solid d-men. They skate well, carry the puck well, and are responsible defensively. Why this unit has underperformed in both ends of the ice is a real mystery to me. I am holding Laviolette responsible in not being capable of getting the most out of this defensive corps. There is no way the defensive group so potent should be playing so poorly.

Not to pick on you, Rod, but this is one of the biggest generalized, stereotyped and distorted viewpoints that have been passed around. I know quite a few Russian-born in Siberia and what I've heard is that other than a bitterly cold weather (and even that's just during winter time), there are some real neat places (Irkutsk, Habarovsk, Omsk, Krasnoyarks) over there with plenty of entertainment, sightseeing, and a generally fun way of life that a city offers. I also heard landscapes, mountains and lakes are quite breathtaking. I think if given a choice to pick where he would want to play, Bryzgalov might actually choose some of those cities over Winnipeg.

This happens so rarely and you can imagine how he felt. One gotta feel bad for the guy. I hope his coach and teammates consoled him... Worse things could've happened.

Drape 'em with a sheet and show home movies.

Just don't let McCrossin treat him, and Jagr will be as good as new.