FD19372

Homer built this team (with the blessing of Ed Snider, of course).  He was the one who did not bring in a top tier goalie (sorry, Bryz) or d-man in his prime. He consistently brings in players past their prime. I'm praying that Lecavalier does not turn into Forsberg and get hurt every other game.  He should be the first one fired because he refused to get a somewhat fast, young d-man in a deal. He has a slow aging d core that is begging to have its first injury excuses coming in by mid-November (Timonen), and an overpaid stiff (Coburn) as its first d unit. He brought in Coburn and kept Timonen. Bringing in Luke Schenn was a good move but they need more than just him. Enough said.

It's the same old types of goalies with the same organizational excuses.  I said it when they just traded him and I'll say it now. They should have kept Bobrovsky.  The organization thinks hockey is a "show" and a goalie does not matter. They're wrong.

There are two certainties to start every Flyers season. The goaltending is sub-par and the coach should be fired.  If the team goes 2-8 in its first ten games, then I would seriously start considering it. I think Lavy has earned a little time, though. Besides last year, the team has a good record under him.  Personally, I would axe Holmgren before Laviolette. We know it will be tough for Snider to do that, because Homer is his 'boy'. Homer was the one who added another aging, although talented, veteran to the blueline instead of a young guy with speed who can rush the puck and react quickly. He was the one who brought in Mason and Emery, who will get tested often. I like the move to get Lecavalier, though.  

Good one, lol Samifan. Whew! I thought you were going to tell us Holmgren signed Shelley to a 10 year, $70 million deal with an NTC.

I don't understand all the hate for this signing, either. Unlike some of the overpaid, way past their prime stiffs they've signed in the past in free agency just to put asses in the seats, this guy clearly can still play at a high level. He had 32 points in 40 games last year and in his last full season where he played 64 games in 2012, he had 22 goals and 49 points. I know he played with St. Louis who got him the puck a lot of the time, but that's pretty good for a player his age. He's not a guy like Dale Hawerchuk or Adam Oates, who couldn't really play anymore by the time they got here. Now they need to sign Tim Thomas and get an offensively-skilled d-man and this would be the best off-season since trading Jeff Carter.

So you've yet to address my question....how do Mason have such great numbers behind these same keystone cops of which you speak????? How did he do it...David Copperfield helped?????

NO!

I'll tel ya how....

HE PLAYED BETTER DID WHAT HE WAS SUPPOSE TO DO WHICH WAS STOP THE GODDAMN PUCK!!!!

Mason looked great, no argument here, but so did Roman Chechmanek and Robert Esche the first year they were here. In the games I saw, I think the D played harder with Mason in net than Bryz. I need to see more from Mason before I'm sold on him as the starter. If they don't get a good puck rushing d man in the off-season, any goalie you put in there IS GOING TO LOOK LIKE CRAP. I'll say what I've been saying. Teams just pinned their freakin ears back and forechecked and they trapped in their own zone. Hence, my solution. What goalie is going to consistently save your a*s when your d can't skate the da*n puck out of the zone like the other team is on a 40 minute power play?? The d doesn't deserve a free pass, which is what you seem to be giving it. It is weak by NHL standards. Does that address your question? It's always the goalie. Well, it isn't just the goalie in this case.

Or Mason, or Elliot, or Halak, or Price, or Bernier, or Schneider, or .....

I'll blame the goalie for what he can control. You seem to give him a complete pass and that is just simply idiotic in epic proportions. And I completely and whole-heartedly disagree with every single word you've said on the subject. So does reality.

I have an old toothbrush I used to clean the grout out of the stall beneath my cat's litter box that has more operational brain cells than toughfighter. And with repeated posts like these you're challenging him.

Embrace it. We can get you a name tag if you'd like.

Obviously, some of you misunderstand me. I am NOT saying Bryzgalov is a great goalie, but compared to the absolute CRAP goalies the Organ-Eye-zation has brought here, Bryz is pretty damned good. Anybody want Chechmanek, Esche, or Emery back? Emery is playing behind a better D, and I don't he's a good as Bryz. He let in some soft goals, for sure, but his defense did their Keystone Cops routine, running around in their own zone WAY too often all season. Their offense didn't do a damned thing all year, except for Voracek. Put a respectable team in front of him and then see what he does. My hope is they keep Bryz one more year, trade stiffs like Coburn and Meszaros, and even Timonen if he doesn't retire and go from there. Plus, NOBODY is going to take on that dumba*s contract that Holmgren signed him to. Maybe they will buy him out, but I don't care who you put in goal, the team is NOT NEARLY good enough as is. Plain and simple.

Feel free to try and kill me again. Bring it on.

I'll nominate this for the Village Idiot Award. That is the dumbest, most reality-defying damn thing I have ever seen on any message board on any subject anywhere. And it beats second place by a country mile.

That just made toughfighter look like a Mensa member.

Without Bryzgalov, Ruxpin, Philly would've been a worse team than Florida, unless the goalie's name was Lundqvist, Anderson or Quick. Stop blaming the goalie. The TEAM sucked, especially that swiss cheese defense. Toughfighter must be a freakin genius, btw .

Sincerely yours,

The Village Idiot

I think the only guy who you could say overacheived this year is Jake Voracek. In fact, he was the MVP on the team. I'll probably get killed for saying this, but I think honorable mention for Flyer MVP is Ilya Bryzgalov. I'll say it again, goaltending is NOT the main reason this team sucked this season. Hint: it was the defense with offense having dishonorable mention.

I don't know how anybody can bet against the Blackhawks right now. If they stay healthy, they'll win the Cup. They are really strong and deep in every position. Something tells me that the Caps are playing as well as anyone and I think they just might get to the Final, even though they most likely will have to beat the Pens or Bruins to get there.

The easiest (and I think best) answer is to give every player incentive based contracts (for ex. if a player who is a big time goal scorer gets 40 goals he gets a 3 or 4 million dollar bonus in his contract, if his base salary is 2 million). Too many of these guys (see Briere and Bryzgalov, Carter when he was here and half the league for that matter) have all of their money locked into GUARANTEES. If the dumb ownerships of the teams (particularly Philly) get together and say "No more guaranteed contracts." "We don't care how great you are, or think you are.", then maybe the players will bust their a*ses for 100 games a season when they get here. It's called earning your pay. What an original and new concept,lol! If they want to improve as an organization, stop Club Med, at least to the extent of where it appears to be now.

Good grief. Another Bryz debate thread.

The other 150 threads weren't good enough to post in that we start yet another? It's getting really tiring seeing and typing the same damn stuff over and over again.

I also would like to suggest that in order to sign up for this site that the applicant should have to first take an IQ test. We don't have to set the bar high, but at least maybe 20 ought to do.

Well, I figured my IQ of 25 was qualified enough I thought this was better than another fire Holmer thread(which they should do, but won't,btw).

I agree with you there, though I think getting rid of Coburn back healthy and getting Grossmann back healthy will make a huge difference. But I like your point earlier about needing somebody who can rush the puck. Me and precious few others around here all said last summer "we're gonna miss Matt Carle" and we got laughed at. Well. We miss him.

There you go. I fixed your statement for you. BTW, you mean Matt Carle the turnover machine? I don't miss him one bit.

"but still" what?

6 years ago Bryzgalov started 4 games in R1 against the Wild and went 3-1 with a .922 Save%. He played very well in those 4 games. Does that about cover it?

Yes, it does. He was Giguere's back up right? They probably don't beat Minny without him. Let's put it this way, they've got bigger problems than Bryz. If they get rid of Bryz and don't upgrade their painfully slow d, they'll suck next year also, I don't care who is in net. I won't cry that he leaves if they find someone better, but that position isn't priority 1.

It's always the goalie's fault If everybody thought (after the Flyers were so desperate in giving his super fat contract), that Bryz was going to be the second coming of Patrick Roy and Bernie Parent combined, they were naive. They wanted a number 1 goalie they could rely on. They got him, and he's been your best player this year by far. (Which is why they didn't make the playoffs. The other players still have to show up, and didn't.) Why doesn't everybody realize that the #1 reason (and it's not close) is because we didn't have puck rushing dman worth a d*mn? Bryz and not even Henrik Lunqvist or Jonathan Quick could be good enough with this below average, immobile d (and I'm being polite) to win you a Cup. It would kick start the offense as well. They need to do whatever it takes to get a legit #1 offensive defenseman next year, and if that's all they do, that's a hell of an off-season and should be enough for this team to make the playoffs and possibly even contend for a top 2 seed in the East. Bryz can win a Cup or does everyone not remember Anaheim (not that he did it by himself,but still). Give Bryz and Mason another year and get Yandle or (insert name of skilled offensive d man) here.

Yandle? Why does this name keep getting tossed around? He will not be traded to Philly for a bag of peanuts. Yandle is a top flight Defenseman that will require probably a 1st, B. Schenn and a defensive prospect (and that is pure speculation). That is not cheap. Phoenix has no, repeat, NO INTENTIONS of trading their #1 defenseman just for $hits and giggles. If they did it would be like a trade that the Flyers instantly regretted.

It is almost like going to the 'Yotes message board to read that they will trade for Giroux for a lower tier prospect and a pick.

Oh and Yandle makes 5.25mm per year.

I think it is time for the Flyers brass and scouting department to start drafting and developing prospects on the D front.

Strap in boys and girls this is going to be a long ride.....

That's fine, Bertmega. They have to give up something to get something. This fills a serious need. I like Schenn a lot, but I'd rather give him for Yandle (like that will happen )up than Couturier. That being said, you are absolutely right in that the farm system stinks and needs to be built up an that includes getting another talented goalie like Bobrovsky through the draft. The thing that scares me about that is I'm not sure that managment knows what a very good goalie looks like.

Sidney Crosby out for the year, according to Howard Eskin, due to concussion and post concussion symptoms. I think Crosby's a punk and a skirt, but I wanted the Flyers to beat the Pens again with him in the lineup. Oh well. Pens aren't winning the Cup this year (not that I thought they were anyway.)

I, at this point, would trade anyobdy on the roster outside of Giroux for Yandle. He is a puck carrying defenseman that we desperately need. If they can get him for Couturier, then it should be done. For as good as Couts is, he can be replaced, particularly over the summer.The Flyers mangement always tends to overvalue their young players. I really liked how he played against Malkin for sure in last year's playoffs, but this is about filling a need. Maybe now they can get better defensively, with a guy can skate the puck out of his own end, and can take a little pressure off the backchecking forwards. I don't think its a case of should they make this trade, they NEED to make this trade.

I'm not guaranteeing a Cup win, I just like our chances.

So, do the Blackhawks, as long as they don't have to rely too much on Emery.

maybe. would help, anyway.

I just don't get the motivation to hold on to bryzgalov. if nothing else, there is cap flexibility to be gained, why keep the guy taking up 3 times more cap space than he is worth? given no other options, drop him, sign garon, get the same quality of play for a fraction of the price. and then start looking for a real goalie. crap is crap, it's just a matter of how much the flyers want to pay for it.

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 think he's been one of the only bright spots your team has this season. Voracek and Bryzgalov are the only reasons you've won. I'm not seeing every game, but not many soft goals and a lot of good saves through a porous defense. Even Fedotenko gave a shout out to him on his NHL Tonight interview after the game last night.

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