FD19372

That's called cover my a*s damage control. Why should he fix it when he's still putting as*es in the seats?  Next year he won't be as lucky with season ticket sales, except to the idiots who don't know a puck from a baseball. He'd rather be Mr. Loyalty and hand out favors for the rest of his life to ex-players who didn't win a damned thing. Of course, he's baffled. He can't figure out how to fix things HIS way, aka wrongly.

Off the post,

Of the three you mentioned, definitely Richards for Simmonds and Schenn.  Had no problem with them getting rid of Jeff "high and wide", Carter but they miss Mike Richards leadership and grit badly. Just because he and Carter hung out in Sea Isle and Margate, New Jersey too much, and acted like typical guys their age.   Simmonds and Schenn have regressed since they've been here, and with apologies to Ian Lapperierre who I liked as a player, I don't see these guys getting any better ever with the coaching staff they have in place.

The bottom line is he is trying to do too much, and looks frustrated and lost. He is also coming off an injury. He was anointed to be a great player and leader of this franchise before he was ready by the "  braintrust" of the disorganization. Their fault because they traded away leadership and stunted Claude's growth as a player in the process.  They should have resigned Jagr, who still looks good although he's 41.  The problem is TEAM WIDE, they can't pass the puck tape to tape much less pass the puck while skating, and the whole team (Giroux included) passes up shots at least 20 times a game that should be taken.  I like this quote so I'll use it here, "100% of the shots you don't take, don't go in the net". - Wayne Gretzky.  Pretty much sums up the whole Flyers team offensively, doesn't it?  Hesitant and Passive, passive, passive team.

Habsfan 26,

Can we take Laughton out of the deal and give you Hartnell for Subban? (My guess is no, but I have to ask).

except that is a lie itself.  especially in the first month of the season.  end of the season?  different story.

 

toronto and colorado are terrible teams, but their record claims they are among the best in the league.  lies.

I disagree as far as Colorado. Not a terrible team, just a very young one with a lot of talent that is probably playing over its head. Toronto I'll give you. Now that Bolland is out for awhile they'll come back down to Earth

who do we have left that speaks french?

Bernie Parent and the guy at level 300 of the Wells Fargo Center who is the head chef at Au Bon Pain.

TimKerr12,

Tim Kerr was and is my all-time favorite Flyer.  We would have beaten the Oilers in 1987 if we had him. He played through nine shoulder surgeries, and was the type of player in terms of attitude, toughness,skill and leadership this team could use.  On a slighty different subject, P.K. (supposed attitude problems and all) would be exactly what the Flyers would need on their blue line. I said they should not trade Couturier and whoever else for him.  Looking back in hindsight, however, that would have been a great deal for Philly and the Habs would have a good, potentially great young defensive center for years. Couturier is not advancing as a player here the way he should be.

In reply to "anyone else think they're not this bad?"

There is a saying that your record does not lie. I have watched every game and went to Flyers-Penguins about 3 weeks ago or so. Yes, they are definitely this bad, and if this overvalued by management, underachieving bunch does not get a fairly sizeable makeover, they will get worse. Much worse, I fear.

Sorry, but the last thing this team needs right now is an all out youth movement. This team's core (forwards and goaltending at least) is mostly younger players right now and the team is tanking. The same thing happened in 06-07 when they made youth the focal point of the team. I'm not against youth at all, but you can't throw out a roster of kids and expect them to simply start winning. I would focus on youth, but I think it's very important to have several guys on the team in their late 20s and early 30s to serve as a veteran presence.

 

I agree with you about some of the guys you want to move, but if you trade them all for a bunch of 20 year olds, given the youth's already fragile state on this team, that isn't going to help.

 

I'm with you on Couturier. I'm not in a rush to get rid of him, but for the right deal, I absolutely move him. No hesitation.

Don't you think that part of the chronic injury problems this team faces, and has faced for years, is that it tries to play a style suited for younger players and then goes out and signs ones in their mid to upper thirties? Their organizational philsophy needs to adjust.  I say accumulate enough talent (and maybe suck it up and stink  for two years) and let the talent grow and gel together.  They got better after 06-07 in part because they let some of their young talent grow (sorry Joni Pitkanen, not you), then added veteran pieces.  Why have a minor league team at all? They have NOTHING to lose by letting the young kids gain experience (if the team indeed trusts its own talent evaluation). 

I say it is. Hartnell, Coburn, Meszaros, and Luke Schenn, just to name a few, are simply taking up space. I'm not ready to give up Couturier yet, but for the right player I would be willing to even deal him.The veterans who have been here for over 4 or 5 years need to be traded for future talent, and we need to let the young kids like Laughton play, including giving kids from the AHL time to develop their game.  Who cares about the team's record? Anyone who has watched 5 minutes of this team knows they are going nowhere. The last 6 minutes of the Carolina game was pretty much an encapsulation of their entire season. I know their salaries are a problem, but there has to be a team out there in need of veterans, that will give us something. Maybe they will fit in better somewhere else, and we could have a very good team in a few years. It's better to have a sucky team with a solid plan and purpose rather than what seems to be now, which is having none at all.  Thought this would be another fire Holmgren thread, eh? (I still think he should be).

Jim McCrossin must use a Ouija board to determine the length of injuries!

DTD, no weeks, no DTD, damn it Ouija make up your mind already.

Yeah, I heard he broke his Magic 8-Ball last year.

I feel horrible as a long time fan having to say that. I started watching this team going back to the late 70s, but they are going nowhere except 'circling the drain'.  SIGNIFICANT changes have to start happening, sooner than later.  They need to bring an entirely new ideology in here, from outside this toxic organization. I can't believe I'd EVER say I'd rather watch the Sixers. Ever.

A bunch of loser idiots, starting at the top of the disfunctorganization.  This is what happens when the owner puts in luxury boxes and prices out the average fan.  He now truly does not give a rat's a*s about the typical, longtime caring Flyers fan that many of you and myself are.  The team can't draft, lacks in talent evaluation, has ridiculous notions like hates Russian players and has to play Broad Street Bully hockey by taking 12 penalties a game.  He is more interested in corporate BS to sell to corporate clients that just want 'a night out'. He has turned into, if not is a 'snake oil' salesman phony, by getting players who are aged and names onlyand has no clue or care to have a clue.  He should have fired Holmgren after the second period of last night's game, and did nothing. Going into the locker room and yelling isn't enough.  Holding your employees accountable is. Instead, he was making plans on buying another leather jacket with his rich buddies while his franchise is basically the (new, maybe) joke of the NHL.  Does Snider own the Sixers at all anymore? What we can hope, if he doesn't, is that they get really good quickly, and no one goes to see the Flyers anymore. 

If Ed Snider truly lets Hextall run the team the way that Ron wants, then I'd give him a shot. He seems to have done a great job in LA.  I would rather see if they could throw money at Ken Holland or Stan Bowman, or someone with experience to come here with the promise from Ed that he'll butt out from meddling in personnel decisions, but we all know none of that will happen. Ed's way or the highway=same old stuff, different day.  He needs to accept the fact that he does not know half of what he think he knows about the game and the way it is played successfully today.

Rick,

I was a big fan of the Homer played. That being said, he and the man at the top continue to do things the same stupid way. They keep offering favors to ex-players to come back and coach or be GM when they ARE NOT QUALIFIED to do so.  If Mr. Snider wants to win so badly, why can't he swallow his pride and ego and hire winners, or at least another view from outside of the organization?  His statement of 'We don't need a fresh perspective." told me all I needed to know.  He doesn't live in the reality of the situation. This is the same arrogance he displayed in not, for the longest time, in not drafting highly skilled Russian players. Maybe he cares but he needs to care enough to change.  He overvalues his favorites, and probably dismisses any perspective that might differ from his. The Broad Street Bullies would have to adapt their style to win today. It is NOT the same game it was, and sorry to say, he needs to get a clue. 

from this sad sack bunch, starting from ownership and management right down to the players.  What's next, a goon to play defense or a 55 year old defenseman?  I hear Paul Coffey is making a comeback.

Amazing that this topic could be recycled so appropriately twice in 3 days.

We just need Flyer retreads to start a bigger line to the penalty box because the team hasn't been shorthanded enough. I wasn't against trading Talbot in the right deal, but it was for a puck moving d-man, not another goon. I really am considering making myself a "free agent" fan.  This team won't win a damned thing until Ed Snider kicks the bucket. I would like to see the team prove me wrong,  but I have better shot at climbing Mount Everest, winning the lottery twice and getting struck by lightning three times than they do of winning the Cup.  Maybe there is another shoe to drop, but if not, this was purely assinine. What an bass ackward organization. 

Ok, if you see a "team that struggles when the pressure goes up," and they are not winning games, what do you call that?

I don't know about the others, but when I say the Flyers are "bad", I don't mean any particular player individually. Sure, there are some of those. But mainly, I mean the Flyers, as a team. And to me, that means all the things you mention - struggle when faced with pressure, fold when losing a lead, can't find that extra gear.

For whatever reason, something with this "team" isn't working.

Of course, that could all change - the same as the Avalanche could start tumbling down (hehe).

But in the meantime, the Flyers, to me, are not a good team.

Could it be that they just don't have that extra gear?  I think some of their personnel, especially on the back end, has been VASTLY overrated by the organ-eye-zation.

I agree with your post, and I agree with this.

 

But short of moving multiple people AND picks, I don't know that we have the assets to get this done.

Ruxpin,

Eventually, for the better of the team as a whole, you have to be willing to part with some of these young guys like Read and Couturier to fill  serious need.  If they have to move multiple players and picks to get it done, outside of Giroux, I don't care who they have to move. Their young players aren't developing here. Couturier should already be a star at this point.  The season may not be a waste, but management has to get over themselves, and growing their own talent.  They have to be willing to get players at their peak, not ones they have to develop or ones they have to pray still have it (see Lecavalier, who still does, and over the hill Streit). They have a need for an offensive d-man, and they need to fill it.  The franchise won't succeed until they fill that need.

I did not have the opportunity to watch or listen to the game in the third period but I could take a wild guess at what happened. Their forwards stopped skating and Anaheim picked up their aggression and forecheck.  When Anaheim starts becoming aggressive, and throws their weight around, they're very good. They pinned their ears back, started skating and hitting and the Flyers had no counterattack.When the Flyers forwards sit back AT ALL, their defense is not mobile or good enough to create any consistent offense.  The team needs a quarterback on d (redundant from me). The Ducks, on the other hand, have a thing called balance. They don't panic when their forwards aren't getting it done, because their defense is good and mobile enough to provide them consistent support.  It's not always the answer, but the organEYEzation needs to consider trading one of its young 'soon to be stars' for a legit, fairly young offensive defenseman. The forwards deserve some of the blame for their poor play but maybe Streit wasn't the answer, and they should trade for an offensive d-man in his prime.

Good times with the New York media by John Tortorella.

How to shoot the puck on goal by Jeff Carter   and  common sense no trade clauses and contracts Paul Holmgren with a foreword by Ed Snider.  I was thinking of throwing Bob Clarke in there as a GM but I had too much respect for him as a player.

getting rid of Coburn is addition by subtraction but in any deal the Flyers make they need (broken record from me) an offensive minded defenseman with some wheels that can stop teams from trapping us in our own zone for  half of the game.  Their breakout skating and passing out of their zone needs to be addressed, very badly. Neither one of the players mentioned seem to fill that need.

getting rid of Coburn is addition by subtraction but in any deal the Flyers make they need (broken record from me) an offensive minded defenseman with some wheels that can stop teams from trapping us in our own zone for  half of the game.  Their breakout skating and passing out of their zone needs to be addressed, very badly. Neither one of the players mentioned seem to fill that need.