FD19372

I like the idea of buying out all these contracts. Good luck buying Bryz out at his price/length of deal. That's a lot of money to waste on a guy, when they haven't had a good goalie for years. Is he Lundqvist? No, but he's sure as hell better than what they have had in the franchise's recent past. In back of that sucky d, Garon won't be any better than he is. The crap is the d they are now stuck with, with guys that are long in tooth (Timonen, Briere) and overpaid (Coburn). I would be happy if they could clear out some cap space. They NEED to sign Weber this summer and go from there. I would like to see them in the playoffs, but I don't see us being the Kings of last year with our roster. The Kings have a TON of talent and our roster. doesn't. On a different subject, I hope to God they don't trade any of their young talent (Read, Couturier, Schenn) for a quick fix, because if they trade ANY of these guys for a player like Clowe it would be MONUMENTALLY stupid.

I agree. Anybody who thinks Bryzgaolv is a reason why they have struggled this year is kidding themselves. Their defense is not nearly good enough, nor is their offense. Bryz is good enough to win a Cup with.

"Ways I don't look like a horse" by Sidney Crosby.

"How to Have a Plan B in free agency" by Paul Holmgren.

"How to win the Norris Trophy" by Braydon Coburn, forward by Janne Niinimaa.

"Former underqualified Flyers who I haven't given jobs to" by Ed Snider

Snider has been the puppet master in many of these deals. All of the sudden he goes on TV, basically saying the goaltending wasn't acceptable and they get Bryz. Once Snider gets interviewed by one of the local networks, and says our D isn't acceptable, Homer will run to fix it. The problem is Snider probably thinks his defense is capable of being better than what it is. It isn't. The problem is their talent evaluation. They don't know how to fix it. Any of us could try and tell them what they need to do, but you know, we fans don't know anything about hockey .

Briere's been a "scratch" since the season started.

I think they need to unload all the dead weight on this team. They have a lot of it. Then fire Homer and bring in an OBJECTIVE, intelligent, hockey guy with a plan. Oh yeah, Mr. Snider, when you do, LISTEN to him and let him work. You don't know nearly as much about hockey as you think you do.

For once, at least, we can't blame this mess on the goaltending. Without Bryz, these guys are the worst team in the league. I remember a couple of years ago when Mr. Snider was very vocal about his team's performance, particularly the goaltending. I have a lot of respect for Mr. Snider, who is typically one of the most passionate owners in sports. However, how can he stand there and watch this team be non-competitive most nights and do nothing? I feel like, for one of the first times I can ever remember, he is content to not hold these players accountable. I don't blame the coach for this either. Mr. Snider needs to stop this UNDYING LOYALTY to these former and current players, and say "Maybe I need to get a truly insightful "hockey guy", as GM, with a different opinion on things than what I have, and let him try to fix it?" That is, unless he is purposely tanking the season. I almost feel like Mr. Snider said "Oh my God, I can't believe there's going to be a season,. what do we do now?" If he did, then he should also have done an honest thing for the 15,000 season ticket holders, and lowered ticket prices. How can he be content to do nothing but sit back and watch this crap product? The first thing I would do is can Paul Holmgren and bring in a knowledgable hockey guy. Stop the "Former Flyer Yacht Club". The second thing they NEED to do is get a dman with some mobility. By doing that, you improve that anemic offense. Forget Timonen and Meszaros. Timonen's best days are behind him, and Meszaros isn't a real 'difference maker'. Mr. Snider has to stop this loyalty, and oh yeah, the "I know hockey more than anyone else." (Jerry Jones/ Al Davis) crap, and if he truly wants to win like I think he does, bring in and listen to the people who have a good chance at getting the job done. I hope a couple of these overpaid stiffs (Coburn, Briere at this point) get unloaded at the trade deadline, too. SELL, MORTIMER, SELLLLL!!! I am beyond frustrated with the make up of this team, as Mr Snider should be.

Schenn will get one game for wearing an Orange and Black jersey, and three for the hit itself. The kneeing penalty by Carter definitely should've been called. It wouldn't surprise me if got a game anyway for that, but then again he hit a Flyer so the league office will probably give him a bonus check.

]Then, as soon as that happens, of course Chara will break his leg and be gone for the year.

Lavy is the BEST coach this team has had since Mike Keenan. You can bring in Scotty Bowman, Mike Keenan or ANY other coach you want and he won't win with this bunch. Their d is not NEARLY good enough. You want to make a good, (maybe you can argue it's a bold) move and that is fire the GM that got us into this mess and NEVER CAME CLOSE to addressing the problems on d. Lavy did a great job in getting that lousy goaltending trio to a SC final, and he's done a pretty good job with this team's subpar d. Their d isn't talented enough. They can all be coached to death, and it won't matter. They are who they are, and until they upgrade there, this team is DONE. To quote Jim Mora when he was with the Saints ( I think) "Playoffs!!?? Are you kidding me? You're talking about playoffs?" This team ain't making them.

There are no easy answers. Not with this club. You have an owner who wants to win, but also wants to run a Club Med and old boy network. The one thing I would NOT do is fire the coach. I would definitelyconsider, however, bringing in a GM who has a bit of a different philosophy. You can't continually destroy your farm system for fringe or decent players. You also have to STOP with the NTCs. If that was solely Holmgren's idea, then maybe he isn't the right guy for the job, because they are killing the team. I think that he overpaid for guys like Briere (speaking of NTC's) Timonen, and probably Bryz, (but I can understand why he did that with the EMBARRASSING goaltending they had had). I think that the easiest answer is for Ed Snider to stop with the rotating door of old Flyers, who, while they were good players and are people you are familiar with, bring in people with a little better hockey sense for evaluating talent. That is, if your goal is to win (if not win the Cup) every year, as I think Ed Snider's goal truly is. The problem is he wants to make sure every one of the good players he's had over the years has a job within the organization, be a "Flyer for life". Maybe not making the playoffs is the answer as a "wake-up call" for Mr, Snider to cut back on the loyalty a little, especially with Homer. Its not so much with me the fact that Homer isn't trying, it's just that after the whole 'Weber chase' in the offseason, he had no Plan B and that is NOT acceptable. They still need a legit #1 dman pairing and NONE of those guys are capable of being legitimately one of those guys,(maybe Schenn but that's it) . 38 years and counting without a Cup, da*nit. Something's got a change, a mindset, ...something. So much for my diatribe/analysis, lol.

Nothing to think about here. No way in HELL would I trade our captain and best player for a POTENTIALLY GREAT player in five years, Seth Jones or whoever. If Homer did that, he should immediately be taken to a mental ward.

Howie, I'd rather put a fridge on wheels in front of the net, it be less of a stiff than Leighton (and it would cover more net). Nice to know how much this team still values goaltending. Leighton must have damning evidence against Homer, and threatened to use it against him if he didn't get playing time. I just don't understand the mindset of the organ-eye-zation. I'd like to be a fly on the wall when they're discussing personnel decisions.

Yes, indeed Ron! Especially, uh, since we score 6 goals a game.

Hexy27, I would hire someone with a fresh perspective, who has previous experience as a GM, with a somewhat different philosophy on personnel. The team needs a little bit of a fresh perspective on how to do things outside of the Clarkes and Holmgrens of the world. As much as I liked them as players, it doesn't necessarily translate to being a great GM. I wouldn't want Brian Burke in here, though. He's no better IMO. The problem is Mr. Snider would be more likely to bring in a Ron Hextall from his old-boy network, than take a chance of really shaking things up considerably. Maybe Hexy would be a good hire, but they need somebody who would have the brass ones to stand up to him and say "I'll run it my way, look at my track record, trust me." It might not be received well though. Just like Jeffrey Lurie wants things run a certain way for the Eagles (i.e. Luries is a west coast offense guy). Maybe they can talk Stan Bowman out of Chicago or Ray Shero out of Pittsburgh, lol. Who knows?

I'd rather buy out or try and trade Coburn, if possible. The guy is on the ice for almost every goal the Flyers give up, and takes dumb penalties. Leave Bryz alone, the defense in front of him is inconsitent at best, although getting slightly better (though with Grossman hurt maybe not so much), but Coburn is either turning the puck over or losing a man in front of the net for a big goal against. I hope getting back Meszaros will help, but he probably won't very much right away. Anyway, Bryz is the best goalie the Flyers have had since Hextall's 1st tour here. I didn't like the LONG term deal Homer gave Bryz, but he's not the biggest problem with the team. Not even close.

If the guy he Harry Z hit was indeed injured, he should get 4 games. If not, then 2 at the most. The problem is two-fold for me, (1) he left his feet to hit the man at full speed (2) he was just let off the hook for a questionable hit last game.This one looked worse, even though the Sens player didn't have his head up, and left himself vulnerable to a potentially serious injury. If he's going to be a feared but good player (and I like that element to Harry's game) he has to be able to be more aware of time and situation for doing something like that. That major power play could have cost the Flyers in a close game today in a season where EVERY game means something.

Nah, I'd rather move him for a d-man who can skate. We're too slow back there.

I'm sensing a little sarcasm from you, ruxpin . I will admit Avs/Blues was a great game last night, though. I needed a half a pack of cigarettes, 4 shots of whiskey and about 5 tylenol after Flyers/Pens last night. I picked up NHL Center Ice, so I wouldn't miss games like Hawks-Canucks and, of course, Flyers-Pens. You know, just in case these networks have the occasional brain fart and not have the game on. I've basically hated ESPN the day they decided to put the NBA on, and stop covering NHL games. Talk about a crap product.

Sorry Tanner, uh, I can think off of the top of my head two dirtier players for sure. Raffi Torres and Matt Cooke, one of whom is a teammate of his, and one who was. I have no idea what the hell he's talking about.

I think it was the most exciting regular season game in the last couple years.