Mad Dog

What a total wreck this team is.  My God... This is the worst Flyers team I have *ever* seen in my lifetime.  Thanks Fletch!  Nice job assembling this Titanic on skates. Thanks a lot! You own this!

Provorov's laziness in the neutral zone leads to Brock Nelson's goal... This one play underlines the Flyers' issues this season. You can't do this in the NHL... 

1 minute ago, TropicalFruitGirl26 said:

Way to handle those overrated Avalanche!
 

 Sadly, I don't think they are overrated. They have a really well-balanced team.  And I think their defense is one of the best in the league, with two very good goalies.  But they are definitely beatable. 

4 hours ago, flyer4ever said:

I would love to see Sanheim and Provorov go postal on someone for several reasons.

 Provorov yes.  There is every reason to expect him to do well and chalk this season up to him just being on a bad team and during a bad season.  Sanheim... I don't know. Honestly, I haven't seen anything from him yet that makes me think he is  anything special.

Why am I not looking forward to this game.....

Just watching Kaprizov, his ice vision, puck handling, reading the game... Man.... what a stud!  He is worth every dollar he was recently negotiating.  Why can't we have someone like that on the Flyers? 

4 hours ago, GratefulFlyers said:

 

I have to say...yes and no on this. I saw what you describe too but I also saw a helluva competitive 2nd and 3rd (forget the 1st the Flyers were statues). But I was surprised to see the Flyers go toe-to-toe with the Bruins and not give an inch. They didn't fall apart the way they normally do. Forgive the old-school idea but I believe 100% it all changed after MacEwen whipped Lewington.

 

Still...there's your final sentence and it's hard to ignore. There's *some* talent for sure but the drop-off is steep after a small handful of players. The 3rd and 4th-year players stagnating  - snakebitten whatever - makes matters that much worse. But I would not give up on TK or even Sanheim. Just get some damn coaches in there who know how to develop younger players. Fk it isn't rocket science.

Yes, I can agree with that, in general.  The 2nd and 3rd were better.  At least the Flyers tried. But I don't know if that was the Flyers, or Boston being tired and just hanging on to their lead.

What's funny about this game is that judging by the score, one might think this was a close game.  This was Boston's second back-to-back game, while the Flyers were resting for days.  Boston didn't even seem too motivated to play, and they still were better in many aspects of the game.  The lack of talent on this Flyers' team is just staggering.  

For all the talk about not drafting Makar, I doubt it would even matter.  Long-term - maybe. But with the Flyers being so far off this season, one or even two players would hardly make a difference.  You need to change the mindset and culture of this organization.  That's a priority. That's where you start and everything else will follow. 

26 minutes ago, mojo1917 said:

He's a decent person and not completely incompetent.

 

I don't think anybody is passing judgement about him as a person.  I am sure he is a decent human being, like you said.  And I, for one, am not saying that he is completely incompetent. But it's also hard to disregard his blunders. His work as a Flyers GM so far is substandard at best.  

6 hours ago, flyercanuck said:

I think it's disingenuous to pretend Fletcher's anything but a totally inept GM. Wild fans rejoiced when he was gone. I will too. 

The only good thing he did for the Wild organization was draft Kaprizov, and even *that* was far from a stroke of a genius.  Kaprizov just fell into his lap in the 5th round with all other GMs passing on him, as well. Why he was ranked so low - I have no idea... Fletch just got lucky.

12 minutes ago, radoran said:

Dude's a -41 for his career. Had two seasons of -20+ while playing for the Flyers.

 You choose to zoom on the negatives, which is your prerogative, of course.  But I want to point out that in 2017-2018, he had 65 points with +10.  Gotta be a fluke... He is not a panacea; at least I didn't think he was.  But I do believe the Flyers gave up on him too early. I think when put in the right (read winning) situation, he could provide some value.

18 minutes ago, radoran said:

The idea he might be better with a better pairing partner is true of just about every defenceman who has ever laced up skates.

 Not true at all.  Karl Dykhuis (remember him?) waves his hand.  

23 minutes ago, radoran said:

Gotstobethere is sitting with 23 points in 33 games, yes, and he's also a -10.

 And you don't think playing on an atrocious Arizona team has something to with that?  What do you think his +/- would be if he has been paired with someone like Justin Faulk in St. Louis or, say, Jaccob Slavin in Carolina?

14 minutes ago, radoran said:

 

If Giroux had ever lead anyone, anywhere I might be more on board with this than I am. And I'm not.

 What are you basing this on?  His demeanor? He is not the most vocal; I do agree.  But you don't necessarily need that to lead. There are quiet leaders. Joe Sakic was one of them.  I am hearing interviews of the players, and it leads me to believe that Giroux is very similar.

11 minutes ago, GrittyForever said:

idk, Buffalo's been trying the "young hockey minds" instead of "old boys" for over a decade now and how's that worked out for them?

Which is why  despite a notion that this is blueprint for rebuild, this is a blueprint to stupidity, actually. Nobody does that, except Buffalo.  You do need your veterans to teach, mentor, lead by example, and provide direction. And that's why having Giroux on the team is invaluable.  

Oh boy... The falling team playing against one of the premier NHL teams.  

Need to start first with sorting out the status of our core.

I don't know what can be gained by trading Giroux.  You would have to get creative to trade him in such a way that you gain much, let alone not lose. He is a fan favorite and still a good damned player.  So if you trade him for a bunch of bodies, you better make sure those are good prospects and high draft picks. So if the Flyers decide to move away from him at this point, at the very least they need to make sure they are getting quality, not quantity back.  And I won't mind if that quality is a project and doesn't materialize in the next 2 years. Unfortunately, taking into consideration Flyers' history and mindset, I have no confidence that that's what they will do. 

Secondly, they need to really dive into what's been plaguing Couturier.  I think we will all agree that what we are seeing this season is a completely transformed player, in the worst possible way.  It was suggested by some here that it's a product of him getting that nice contract.  I sure hope that's not it, because if that's what it was, then "Houston, we have a problem".  He's been put on the IR recently with a mysterious upper body injury.  While it's bad, that would actually explain his beyond abhorrent play this season. But then the question is why the hell they have been waiting so long?  You have your MVP playing injured for most of the season, risking a long-term injury... Why?

The rest to me are just moving parts.  Atkinson knows how to score.  Only 2 years ago, the guy scored 69 points in a full season. Konecny and JVR are OK players.  Not horrible, but not particularly valuable, either. You can move them, but realistically speaking, they won't fetch you much of a return. On the teams like St. Louis, Carolina, Dallas, or Florida, they would be playing on the 3rd line, and frankly, that's where they both belong.  But again, the question is what are the Flyers trying to accomplish?  What is their near-term goal?  

My biggest concern is I have no faith in the team's management.  Even if they map out a plan of attack, I don't know if they can actually carry it out.  

Congrats, Minnesota fans!  Nice win against a very good Washington team.  And with enough rest till the next game, the hope is most of your wounded soldiers would be back...

1 minute ago, J0e Th0rnton said:

I didn't even realize the Sharks won. I turned it off when it was 2-0 Flyers and started watching the Toronto vs Colorado game lol

 I don't even care at this point what the score is.  The Flyers' game has no system, no meaning, no structure to it.  They are a sad looking team right now.

3 minutes ago, J0e Th0rnton said:

Mine? or yours?

 Sadly, the Flyers, of course.  Just so frustrating

.

The team looks like a bunch of chicken with their heads chopped off.  Absolutely no structure.  

The guy is a ticking bomb. A decent hockey player, but what a dick, really... I don't know if this is the end of it for him or he will be given another shot by some desperate GM trying to save his job.

Washington got spanked in St. Louis yesterday, so they will be prepared.  But they are a very beatable team and their goaltending is shaky.

On a side note, it looks like your team may've dodged the bullet with Kaprizov. I am hearing it's just a very deep bruise with no structural damage, although there is nothing official yet. I have him on my fantasy team, so I am rooting for him to come back soon, as well.

Is it time for Marco Rossi to shine?  Probably won't have a better opportunity to show what he can do with a big club.

When I first read it, I thought it said "Where is Maker"?  lol

But yeah... an absolutely sick goal. The guy has some unreal skills.