Mad Dog

Well, Smith is playing some really strong hockey so far. If he keeps it up, they may as well just roll the dice with him...

LOVE Yandle... He is by far Phoenix's MVP.... which is why the Yotes are not trading him.

But then he would have to bench the enire defensive corps, and will have no bodies left to play D.

Not specifically responding to your point, but brain (or put more specifically, the entire Central Nervous System) is the least studied and understood part of a human body. One person can get pounded to the head and be perfectly fine with showing no recurring symptoms, while the other can be hit once and have serious post-hit issues. The other aspect - aside from re-occurrence - is an immediate response to a hit. As far as I know, Crosby has only had one concussion and see how long it takes him to recover. Scott Stevens has only been concussed once and it caused him to retire. Paul Karya, on the other hand, has been hit on the head multiple times, and, if I am not mistaken, he didn't stop playing specifically because of long-term effects of concussion. But what’s interesting though, most of neurologists will probably agree that having been concussed once increases your chances of being concussed again, when hit on the head. My point is, it’s hard to make any conclusive statements or being predictive one way or the other. We can’t possibly predict how Gagne will react if/when hit hard again.

Really don't want to lose Bob, unless it's for someone *very* good. I don't put Hedman in that catergory, yet. There are games when he plays tentative and really out of position.

I wouldn't worry about that one bit. Digity will bozo their sorry asses very quickly.

Kuato and OrangeJulius are the only active members remaining over there... Sad...

And at this point, I would sit Lilja rather than Gus. Lilja is really doing more harm than good. He is turning into Chris Therien... While Gus doesn't help much, he doesn't do much of a damage either.

And that, right there, is a bigger and gloomier picture. I would say, however, that Mezsaros and Timonen are good d-men, despite Timonen’s aging in front of our eye. But I know what you are saying… which makes upgrading defense a daunting task. What has been absolutely maddening to me, as I am sure to everybody, is the fact that all of our d-men, individually, are good. But as a unit, they looked like a total drek. People egg on Carle, but how quickly people forget that last season he had 40 points and was +30. Think about that: +30. This is not to be taken lightly. Clearly, when he was on the ice, good things were happening. The year before that, he had 35 points and was +19. And those years, he played some really good, solid hockey. Do you mean to tell me that at 26 he suddenly regressed so badly?? Sorry, not buying it. Coburn – the other player who’s taken plenty of heat – has also showed in the past what he can do. He brings a good combination of size, quickness, excellent shot from the point, and nice passing. You don't find a lot of that in the NHL. I find the very fact that this defense has been so bad absolutely inexplicable. You have to put some blame on coaching. There is just no way that the defense that’s so experienced and so accomplished should look in complete disarray. But as far as upgrading… I am sure it can be done. But who do you trade? The Flyers no longer have that forward depth where Homer could simply plug one guy away from the roster to address the other needs. It would probably have to be done at a very steep price (Schenn or Bob, I am thinking). I would say give it till at least mid-season. I want to see how this core plays with Pronger in the lineup. As bad as this D has looked, it’s still too early to hit the panic button.

If looked at it this way, I guess I can see some validity to it... And I sure hope coaching staff is working with him on his skating. It's not something that cannot be improved.

Compared to the rest of the package, his skating is only average with the first few steps needing some extra work. I honestly don’t see it this way. I am not sure who the author of this analysis is, but I don’t know if I can agree that his skating is average. I would say it’s above average at worst. And considering he is a rookie, I would actually rank his skating as very good. Maybe with regard to forechecking, when you have to do a combination of north-south with west-east skating. But when looking in the context of just joining the rush or just carrying the puck down the ice, I really don’t think his skating is that bad.

First off, I think the comparison to Clarke is not the most appropriate one. These are two completely different players. Secondly, it's way too early. Yes, the kid is making many heads turn, but we were that path before. We can't know what the future holds for him. Yes, so far... SO FAR... he's been great. He uses the space very smartly and he's been opportunistic. And what I like about him the most is that he doesn't shy away from contact. For a rookie player, who is expected to mainly provide scoring, I like an element of toughness. And he knows how to protect himself in tight spots so he doesn't get buried or injured. And that, to me, shows that he is more mature than most of his peers. Scoring comes and goes, but instincts and using your body is something that you either have or you don't. Like someone said, looks like he's been coached well in the juniors. Finally, there is one thing to consider here. Thanks to the Flyers' depth at forward, Couturier is not relied on like Patrick Kane or Tavares were, to lead the way. I think if he was looked at like a next Messiah, he would compare very well with those guys. And who knows, maybe one day he *will* be put in a position where he would play an extremely prominent role on this team. Based on what I’ve seen so far, he seems to have what it takes to become an absolute star in this league, but so does JVR… Know what I mean?

I actually like Hitch, but I can't figure out why any team would hire him these days. The guy simply cannot coach anymore in the new NHL.

Heard that Richards created a coalition in the locker room to surround himself with allies. You can guess who those guys were... He had a total disregard for authority, including older players. The collapse at the end of the season and against the Bruins - when we were all trying to figure out what exactly happened - was attributable exactly to that division. Richards and Carter were asked to stop partying and drinking, and flat out refused. Richards went as far as telling Laviolette to go screw himself. He also protected Carter all along while that was happening trying to shield him from any criticism. Finally, he refused to be involved in any charities, and Snider absolutely despises that in players. All in all, when trying to paint a picture of Richards - and to a lesser degree Carter - it ain't pretty. It really sounds like he is a first-class jerk who only cares about himself... Again, this is just what’s been discussed on the radio by someone who is supposedly very close to the Flyers.

I agree they mishandled and mismanaged him. They should've given the C to Timonen (or Briere) and let Richards just focus on just playing hockey. Richards proved to be a lousy captain, but that's hardly his fault... He just didn't appear to be ready. With that been said, things I heard on the radio about him really took me aback... We, fans, had no clue what was going on behind the scenes. Apparently, Richards, on many occasions, was an absolute asshole to some of his teammates and coaching staff. I heard Snider could not stand Mike and was directly involved in shipping him and Carter. Both players - again, based on what I heard - represented everything Snider hates about a player and a person. He vowed last summer that Richards and Carter played their last game wearing O&B this spring. If what I heard is even remotely true, Mike is just not a good guy and he really dog himself a hole here.

You have to factor in Briere's absense for a few games, which brough the overall faceoff winning % down. But let's face it: we knew before the season even started that we were getting weak at center position and faceoffs are no exception. That's why I was sort of hoping for Jason Arnott. Not sure for how much he signed with the Blues. The guy can still play. It never ceases to amaze me how Homer can fixate on one thing that needs an obvious improvement but do it at the expense of 100 other things...

What FG said - not without goaltending, which was crap at the time (sorry Hextall's fans).

MKD - welcome. Also........ I don't want to take this nice thread in a different direction, but just quickly want to mention that I am probably in the minority of those who not only don't *hate* Forsberg, but I actually respect the guy. I could never understand the hate. Up until he got his foot issues, it is hard to dimiss an impact he had on this team and the game in general. He did for Knuble is what Lindros did for LeClair. Gagne also thrived when playing with Forsberg. And Forsberg, himself, did play quite well. I will never forget that infamous playoffs against Buffalo (of all the teams), in which Forsberg was the only player who showed up to play and actually won Game 3 by himself. But I can also see why people would get pissed at him. But hate? Really?

I don't even begin to understand why Jagr was not selected for the shootout. Or Briere for that matter....

Yes, it is. Stop by during games too. The shoutbox is working great for chatting.

Good to see you here Canoli. I truly hope that moribund board is on its last leg and at the end of the day it's Vader and Rick talking to each other.

FG!!!!!!!!! How are you man? I still think Voaracek will come around eventually. He is not quite in Zherdev's category. I seem him working semi-hard; he's just not been too opportunistic.

And so far he doesn't even resemble a player who can fill those shoes, which, I am sure, is what makes Laviolette upset..... or at least a part of a reason. JVR didn't look anything like a player who was the only one who actually showed up to play against Boston last year.

And you know what? He deserved to be called out and benched. This maddening inconsistency has been his mark since he came to the league. If I haven't seen what his capabilities are in the last playoffs, I wouldn't even be so upset. But the guy can flat out dominate the game, when he pouts his mind to it. Somebody needs to push his ass and drill it into his head that the half-ass effort will not be tolerated in this league. Imagine if this guy plays with a heart of Lappy every night! He would be deadly.

And even *he* was chewed up by Roy all night long. I can see our inability to win faceoffs as being a major problem down the road...