orange_crush

Hey Leafs fans ..Burke couldn't find a decent center desperate enough to play there so he's going to convert JVR, a 3rd line overweight winger into your #1 center....oh yeah and he's locked up 6 years..enjoy..

I am not sure about "diamond", but he certainly found someone that was both young and very athletic and could play goal decently for his experience- and did so in an unconventional way.

Snider most definitely eff'd things up. When the boss says something, you have to listen. But if you are worth your salt, you also have to be pretty adamnant in opposing a move that you feel is wholeheartedly wrong. Whether that happened or not with Bryz, we will never know.

There are two things that really stick in my craw regarding Bobs:

1) The initial contract they signed him too. It essentially was a NHL contract or nothing contract (if they sent him down last year to the AHL- his salary would have been 75K). He needed playing time to gain more experience- not be a backup.

2) They traded him (still a mercy trade) and what did they do with the 2nd rounder they got for him- drafted a goalie that will not sniff the light of day in an NHL rink let alone an AHL rink!!!! WTF???

your exactly right on both points..

I hear ya. Tried and true. It's almost time to hit the pub. I shall have one in your honor, wishing harm upon Mr Carle.

thanks Pods..I'll have a few for you also..almost that time to get drunk again..

I don't see Bob as a "project". That trade was a mercy trade. The problem was that the owner could not keep his hands out of the cookie jar and forced management to make a move they should have never made. Is Bobs a #1- possibly and certainly can develop into one easily. But his ticket was punched the day the Flyers signed Breezy. I am happy the Flyers gave him a chance elsewhere as he is a quality kid and works extremely hard.

sad part is Homer finds himself a diamond in the rough with Bob and then has to dump him because Snider has no patience...then when Bob finally develops Columbus will look like geniuses for trading for him..

crickets...crickets..

Attaboy

Hair of the Dog man..

I know you won't be reading this 'cause you're no doubt out celebrating, but you're gonna have a nasty hangover tomorrow! I hope you enjoy it.

I love hangovers!! CARLE IS GONE! CARLE IS GONE!!!!!!!!!

Ha! We'll have given up on him long before that!

honestly guys were being setup for a disaster...Bryz has a meltdown and no backup options...then we'll have to overpay for a Luongo..

I mentioned this in the Kenopka , Fedotenko thread, but i feel like it could stand to be its own discussion.

Is Philadelphia a desirable destination for hockey players any more ?

does Bryzgalov hamper our attractiveness ?

does the demanding and passionate fan base scare people off ?

are they afraid of signing a lengthy contract and then being shipped to columbus ?

does the chairman stand too close when he's glad handling with the players ?

or are suter and J bow and hamuis a bunch of mama's boys that want to play closer to home and be with their boyfriends ( not that there's anythign wrong with that) ?

it is interesting to me that many of this bunch of FAs have expressed an interest in NOT playing in Philadelphia... wtf?

This is a great question and it looks like NO.... Parise and Suter were offered monster contracts by Homer and passed... Jagr had enough and left...Hamhuis told us to get bent...

I think with the whole Richards/Carter shakeup and the fact we haven't won a cup in almost 40 years...leaves this team undesirable to play for..

Now that anybody thats good has been signed, Whats left for us ???????

Cmon man we signed Leighton...bringing the cup to Broad Street baby..

Gents,

I have to be honest here and think we have been bamboozled this offseason. I am usually a positive person but I see only one positive takeaway from this offseason - we did not overspend for players that are commanding way too much.

With that being said how the hell does Homer go into (barring any moves) the season with this defense in front of Bryz? I think it is critical that Bryz gets off to a quick start this season. The guy needs some help around him if this is going to have a chance to work out. the d core now is not better than it was... tough predicament b/c I think having Carle on this defense makes the team better.

I like Rusty and think he can still provide some offense but I dont think you are gauranteed anything over 25 to 30 points. I am glad Parise and Suter took the other offer but I just do not see how we are better than last years lineup:

IMO the defense is worse and the offense is a push. Our defense killed us last year so I have little faith that they will play well in front of our Cosmonaut... Gus is not ready to be FT and Bourdon has some very serious injury questions.

I hope I am dead wrong but I just do not see how we improved our Team. 2nd year players and Hartnell better have a simlar or better season as they did last year b/c I fear that we are going to be giving up a ton of goals...

Tell me I am wrong b/c I am little down on this squad as it stand today.

Later guys,

MC

I can deal with the mediocre signings but we really need a better backup goalie for christs sakes... we all know Bryz is going to struggle and putting Leighton it you might as well pull the goalie...I wish he was more aggressive going after a goalie..there were alot of decent options available..

Who predicted it right? Of course OC is always right!!

how many mediocre dmen are we going to stockpile? Don't get me wrong I liked OD when he was here but we have too many 5/6 dmen already..

We traded Bob for a prayer, and got nothing to immeditaley help the team, Bob would have been best utilized in a package deal, or we shoud have kept him one more year, is the 500,000 we save on his contract really gonna make a difference. Instead we are stuck with two slow moving turltles in the net. Leighton was an inconsistent goalie, and still will be. To me our goaltending is definitely weaker.

We lost Jagr and JVR... so we definitley lost size and scoring, sure JVR was hurt, but at worst he would have scored 20-25. Jagr was not worth what he was asking ,but unless we get Doan, everyone else is a an old washed up stiff or euro puss like Semin. Now theres talk of Bobby Ryan ,how will that help? You will be giving up 2 players at least, so that will furhter erode our depth and goal scoring.

Things looked good when we got Schenn, but only if we had kept Carle or added Suter. So all we really did was swap Carle for Schenn. We gain in hits, and defensive skill, but we lose in puck rushing, and passing ability. So we still have Mez and Timo , off back surgery and Bruno Gervais is no help at all, if we lose Timmo at all we are finished.

So, for all intents and purposes, we area weaker all around team than we were last year

Agreed our goaltending is weaker...Bob is better than Leighton

Defence is weaker...lost Carle..replaced with Syrvet and a host of rejects..

Offence is weaker...lost Jagr and JVR..replaced with noone

Parise and Suter both turn down monster contracts to play in Philly

What the hell is going on? The season look bleak..

This guy always seemed to be a decent "D" man,shoots right,big guy,(6'5") 228 lbs.,not afraid to mix it up,his stats aren't too hot and after the Canes he moved around a lot. Anybody have any thoughts on him ? Apparently his contract with Tampa expired. Anybody?

Can he play goalie?

I did know that. Pasta too I believe. Marco Polo brought it to Italy I think.

you know to much..that ruined my joke..

Tell us something we don't know.

I bet you didn't know pizza was actually invented in China..

Suter has played 70 more games than Suter, but beats Suter in virtually every statistical category for their careers.

I'm confused..

You are aksing the wrong person. I didn't say *I* have confidence in Bryzgalov. I said the *Flyers* seem to have trust in him.

I am with you as I don't think he radiates confidence at all. I desliked that signing from the beginning and I sure as hell desliked it last season. All I can hope as a Flyer fan is he plays much better than last season and starts justifying the financial commitment the Flyers made. And I think he will play better now that he got one season here under his belt. I am chalking part of his struggles to the fact he tried to live up to th eexpectations and maybe he put too much pressure on himself.

What else can we do if not hope for the better? We are stuck with him...... for better or worse.

we are stuck with Bryz..but if you signed an adequate backup like a Montoya or Ellis then atleast you have a backup plan...Leighton doesn't even belong in the NHL..

people who keep bringing up Leightons past don't remember he had serious back surgery after that playoffs and was never the same again..he' s finished

@orange_crush

You act like the Flyers are as bad a franchise as Columbus.

Never said that..going into the season you can't be confident with Bryz/Leighton as your goalie tandem if you really expect to compete for a cup..

You're right. Lets just blow the team up and become the BlueJackets.

The Blue Jackets goaltending is probably better than ours now..

They still have all the trust in Bryzgalov and view them as an unquestioned #1 starting goalie

Why? what did he prove to bring that trust?

Why bother with what exactly? I don't understand what you are saying...

why bother signing Parise or Suter to a monster contract when Bryz and Leighton are your goalies...we all know the end result already...

OK, WIP just confirmed that the Flyers indeed offered both Parise *and* Suter signing contracts. For those out of town, WIP is a local sports radio show.

So this is not coming from Eklund or some other BS source. This is official. They will not report somehting that has not been confirmed.

Wow....... Is all I can say....... Seat tight folks. Something might happen very soon they say.

Why bother when Bryz and Leighton are your goalies...

@orange_crush

Didn't we almost win a cup with Leighton and a broken Boucher?

Just saying.....

this isn't even the same team as 2010..Pronger, Richards, Carter, Gagne,ect..