SoCalFlyfan

Notice how Timonen mentioned that the Rangers play their "system" better than we do. The only thing is we don't really have a system except to try and outscore the other team.

...needs to come up with a new gameplan or something because the defense is killing us. Cant we play a trap or left wing lock of some sort because giving up 4/5 goals a night is not good. We have been blaming Bryz, the defense, Bob, etc, but when is lavi going to face the heat from the Flyer faithful for devising up this crap system we play . The Rangers on paper are not better us (except for Lundkvist). But they are better coached.

@terp- Here's an analogy for why we don't need Weber: A month ago I bought a Macbook Pro. It looked great, was built like a tank, and did what I needed it to do. The problem was, in the end it was overpriced for what it actually did. It went back to the store and it was replaced by a Lenovo with a better processor, more ram, better graphics and keyboard for less than half the price. With the money saved I'll then get an ipad3 for my Mac fix and still would have paid less for both. The moral of the story is for 8 million a year we can get a decent physical d-man, a better replacement for Carle and some spare change to address other needs and still end up in the same place. Do we really want 16 million wrapped up in 2 guys ...with one of them negating the strength of the other ?

I've read a lot of hockey related posts on forums over the years..but, this has to be the most eloquent and honest description of Bryzgalov. EVER.

@RonJeremy The Rangers blueprint is not so much personnel, but coaching. Tortorella has these guys being accountable all over the ice and their defensemen rarely pinch like ours do every shift. I cant recall how many times a game I see Timonen,Carle, and Mezaros pinching in the offensive zone and Matt Read or Giroux trying to cover on defense. it just looks sloppy. Add to that a goalie who can't be relied upon to stop a floater from the blueline and it's a recipe for having to win games with a score of 6-5 every night.

@canoli If the weak link is goalie then why not adjust our style to support him? Is Lavi just hoping we'll win every game 7-6 ?

@treveluk What we need more than anything is for Laviolette to implement a better system because the one we have right now is not working defensively. Unfortunately defensive 'systems' are not Lavi's forte so it looks like we're stuck with giving up 5 or 6 goals a game.

That's a 'dead on' perfect assesment of what they are doing right and what we are doing wrong. I like Lavi, but his X's and O's approach is not the best fit for this team right now with the personnel we have.

@Howie58 As much as Bryz sucks lately I really believe that Lavi has these guys playing the wrong way. I prefer a 'Hitchcockian' style that puts emphasis on positioning and neutral zone play as to this balls to wall, pond hockey, scheme that Lavi has drawn up. That's fine if Lundkvist or Brodeur (in his prime) is our goalie, but that's not the case here. We just cant rely on Bryz to bail our D-men out from the occasional pinch or mishap -which completely defeats the purpose of signing the guy forever. I would much rather have signed Boucher and gave the starting job to BOB and devise a smart system that focused on defense first. Then we could use our speed to capitalize on transitional offense that stems from strong neutral zone play. Instead we have the complete opposite.

But that's not happening for the next 8 years. To add insult to injury people want to sign Weber for 10 mil. Weber will not make Bryz any better and then we have 17mil wrapped up in two guys who will not necessarily determine the outcome of a game.

This has to be the funniest thing I've read on here lately.

I think we need to face the facts just the Flyers are just a mediocre team.

Well, it could be that in the back of his mind he's worrying about the next hit, it could be what you just mentioned above, or it could be he's just (as hockey cliches go) "on the schnied" -whatever that means. But sometimes what makes great players great is this magic that cannot be measured that certain players possess. Well what if he lost that magic when Simmonds knee hit his head and now he just has his skill and work ethic to rely on ? ( as stupid as that sounds ).

Did you even notice the fact that I'm talking about concussions ?

@ doom88 -I meant similar as in not being the same player since his concussion.

What happens if he turns into the next 'Lindros' ?

...since his concussion. Does anyone think maybe he'll ever be the same player he was before the concussion ?

@hf101 The only thing Matt Ford and Matt Read have in common is the same first name, and a 4 letter last name that end in 'D'. I'm sure there are other similarities, but they have nothing to do with hockey.

@OzFlyer Why do we have to 'replace' Pronger ? He sucked this year anyway when he played. Maybe you mean 'replace' his salary, which the Flyers (being the Flyers) will most likely do unfortunately. Kinda' like how most people ( living paycheck to paycheck ) get tax refunds and then buy a big screen TV or an Ipad.

@FlyersMKD - It's funny, as soon as this question arose I knew what the predictable response would be.... ie "none of the above" "neither" "no way, I'd rather die a slow painful death" ...etc etc. I appreciate those non objective posters for proving me right and being predictable. Just like on the old forum someone would post a gameday thread asking what the score would be and, as predicted, the sheep (sorry podes) chimed in with a 50 replies all saying the Flyers will win. @flyercanuck - to answer your question ... I'd rather sleep with my sister. Any other questions ?

Yeah, but the question which team would you want to see win if you HAD to pick one....not the cliche' Flyers fan response of "none of the above"

I still hate the Rangers, but not as much as i used to. I actually like their players and their announcer and respect Lundkvist. But...if they won the cup there's no way I'd watch it. it would be too much. 1.Rangers 2.Boston . . . 12. Pittsburgh

@JackStraw The only difference is that Clarke was surrounded by tough as nails gritty players and Giroux is surrounded by creampuffs.

@orange_crush I'm not sure if our defensemen are the problem as much as the whole 'wide open' system we play is. Lavi's system (or lack of it) is what makes our defensemen's job harder trying to get back into position after pinching. You could swap our personnel on defense with say the Rangers defense or St. Louis and we'd still be giving up tons of goals. It's just the way Lavi wants this team to play.

@Dynamo 47 -Letting the fans vote for allstars is like letting regular people vote for the Oscars instead of the 'Academy'....in which case whatever dumb Adam Sandler/Jennifer Aniston movie that came out that year would win 'Best Picture".