Bakanekimiwa

Madison Square Garden to be swallowed by a large sinkhole shortly after the drop of the puck?

oh you pens fans... always looking for the easy way out.

Keep in mind that Lundqvist did get 20 more minutes of rest than Mason since last night's game started...

Mason's younger and had a few more weeks rest right before the playoffs... I'm not worried about it. He's in a groove, he's probably chompin at the bit to get back out there. I was ready for gm7 to start immediately after gm6. lol.

The entire hockey world wants a Flyers/Pitt matchup. Except the Penguins. 

Well, if we can just strike the 1st period out of our memory (the period in which the Flyers must have set the record in turnovers), this was as dominating two periods of hockey played by the Flyers as I could remember.  What a difference it makes when you actually SKATE, eh?

 

And this is where it hit me as I was watching the game.  As much as we talked about this being a bad matchup for the Flyers and how good of a job the Rangers did by taking the space away and cluttering the neutral zone, when… WHEN the Flyers skate, they can actually beat that trap (or whatever the hell it can be called).  Problem is, it is hard to sustain that kind of pressure.

 

The play of Mason was absolutely sick.  But I wonder if he can come up with two consecutive performances like that.

 

But I just have mixed feeling about tonight.  I think the Rangers will come out storming at MSG.  I am just concerned with the Flyers’ slow and turnover-prone defense, we may not be able to withstand the pressure.  The Rangers can really win this game as early as the first period.  If the Flyers can make it less lopsided and at least make an effort to skate the way they skated in the last two period of Game 6, anything can happen.

period 2 and 3 were the Flyer's A game. I've been saying it all along, we haven't seen much of their A game this series. That also might have been the Rangers first time showing their C game this series. Good combo for us!

Tonight.. it's hard to know what to expect. I mean, I want to think we have all the momentum, but yah... I think we'd all feel a lot better if this was a home game. I'm sure the Rangers are really gonna bring it 1st period, so we'll have to weather that storm. 

Last night was just wild, though. It almost looked as if the Flyer's finally figured something out about the Ranger's 'system'. I'm pretty optimistic for tonight. 

Yeah, this is what growing pains look like. It ain't fun... and these are not even bad compared to so many other teams. They get pains without the growth, lol! Imagine if you paid good money to attend Oilers games on a regular basis! What a joke that organization has become.

 

 

 

 

That's not necessarily true. What if you could move a veteran, a young player, and/or a pick for a top pairing defenseman? I know what you're saying, and I think that options for improvement on defense are limited mostly to getting rid of some of the dead weight we have now through retirement and trades (Kimmo and Nicklas, anyone?), and start putting faith in our young guys like Lauridsen for 5/6 defenseman, see what Ghost can do. Alt might be ready for a 2nd/3rd pairing role. 

 

At the end of the day, though, it will probably get worse before it gets better on defense. And that's where I'm not sure the Flyers will show patience.

 

Streit/Coburn

MacD/Schenn

Lauridsen/Alt

 

Can you imagine that as a top 6? That would be all kinds of nasty and definitely worse than this year. But it might be a necessary step.

Couldn't agree more... I'm preparing myself for a step back as early as next season. But, I'll be ok with it to see some of young blood come up on D. 

Another thing I am seeing out of the Rangers, they are really all over Giroux. Its almost like they are willing to let the rest of the team do their thing, but not him. And its working. Voracek is having a good series, but I don't see any other response (unless you want to count the miriad of stupid penalites).

 

Az Aziz was saying, the power play is way to predictable. It has been for some time. I think they got a false sense of security and put all thier eggs in one basket. Why not replace Timonen with Streit? At least he can hit the net

This is what i'm having trouble with... If they are gonna key in on G and shut him down... well, we're supposed to have some depth that can give them problems with that strategy. It has not played out that way. I'm not totally sure why either. I guess it's either that the Rags are that good defensive team... OR... we're just not executing. I suppose we should leave open the possibly that it's just both of those things. Still... Flyers should be playing better hockey than they are. I expect them to come out fighting tonight... it's pretty simple now, DO or Die. If they can't bring it tonight, well they don't deserve it anyway then. 

I was okay with the VLC signing thinking he would be a good player for 3 of the 5 years of that contract, i had no idea he was as washed up as he's shown us this season.  I don't see where his presence is helpful to the team either the short or long term.

 

damn.

sucks to be that wrong.

 

Chief could protect that line, start them in the offensive zone, Simmonds plays 200 feet with good speed, so can Schenn, plus he'd be back to being a pivot, and they ****** maul people. 

for tonight i'd like to see a reunion of sorts. 

Raffl  G, Jake,  ;

Simmonds Schenn, Harts,; 

Read, Couturier Akeson ;

Hall , VLC, Rinaldo

I'm not sure it's time to give up on VLC already. It was not a good signing, I agree, but only in the sense that he never did really fit into our plans. It was just totally incongruent to bring him in and plan to play him on the wing when he's like... never done that. 

you like hockey ? well that was my guess .

 

I will watch so I can flip the bird to dan ****** turtle bitch boyle and that asshat benoit pouliot.

 

plus google ny rangers roster and see the photos at the top, it is a miracle that henrick lundquist has the energy to play hockey , being rich , looking like that living in NYC, he probably pulls more tail than anyone not named Derrick Jeter.

Lol... I have done that. Actually, just today as well. It's hysterical. 

we don't have enough dynamic offensive players. after voracek and giroux, who do we have?

 

as i posted elsewhere, we have 2/3 of a top line - and that simply won't cut it.

 

i think that the flyers roster needs a dramatic influx of talent - and not just on the backline.

 

unfortunately, Gomer is still in charge, so he will probably trade for the sedin twins. it's not like he has an actual plan: see the VLC signing, which

still gnaws at me! why sign that bum when we were in dire need of help on the back end and our roster was already filled with centermen.

 

sorry, i am venting...

it is hard to see the forest for the trees right now, but Rad makes a good point. These guys are mostly still very young. I think our core is pretty good and *should* get better with more experience. It's frustratingly slow... for us, but if the Flyers *really* wanna do something different.... they'll let them develop together. 

But, we're basically then saying that no one gets moved for upgrades on D. So we circle back again to our biggest problem right now.... the D. We're still haunted by the loss of Pronger and there's really no way to fix this fast. 

Me too. 5-2 Flyers.

 

If you don't believe they will win, why bother watching at all?

The one intangible thing that this team has has been it's resiliency when their backs are against the wall. They're gonna need to rely on that tonight if they're gonna keep this going. Honestly, I don't believe they can win this series. Why am I gonna bother watching? Well, I also don't believe they can possibly win the cup this year... but, that's never stopped me watching the games before!

Actually it's working just fine for the Bruins, Blackhawks and... Rangers...

Everything works fine when you're winning. However, the Rangers did dress J.T. Miller. 

sorry Bak but it's long past "send a message" time.

 

I'm not wild about Hartnell on the top line - and if Berube subs rookies for him and Vinny that's fine. I just figure go with the guys that got you to the dance...see if they have it in them to keep you alive for another twirl in G7.

 

[edit: honestly if I was going to bench anyone it would be Lecavalier. Maybe over the summer..."well Philly doesn't want me and I hate playing there too...where's Paul's phone number?"

It could be long past time, but my point is... nothing else seems to be working. They are laying down and dying a slow death right now. They say the effort was there in the 3rd period. Well, if that's true, then everyone should be much more concerned cause I certainly didn't see it. Well, not until the goalie was pulled anyway. Waay too late at that point. 

I'm looking at this as a 7 game series. Whatever we 'think' we're giving up of value with sitting Hartnell or Vinny, it's my contention that we're not losing anything by trying out a rookie. In Hartnell's case, I really do think it's addition by subtraction with him right now. I'm just saying... from peewee on up, from time to time(even in the playoffs), the most effective way to 'motivate' a team is sometimes to sit someone who's been **** ting the bed. Players realize that they have to pull more weight than just their own. 

As an ex. Teemu Selanne's benching. Check out what he did on his return. 

Who knew Akeson could contribute the way he has and look so solid after playing only a couple regular season games?

For what Rinaldo has contributed so far this series, you lose nothing giving Laughton a shot.

^THIS... exactly. 

You had me till that line...dude is garbage man how many chances do we have to watch him spoil before he is put on the 4th or 3rd or whatever...he is killing G and Jake there is no way i can justify doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results...just can't...time is wasting.

 

Getting him off the first in one step in the right direction...the next is putting him out the door...yeah i know that ain't easy to do...but get himoff G's wing man please for the love of God...if i see G pass him pass the damn puck one more time to him only to have him receive it and just fall down i'm gonna need to be committed!!!!!!!!!!!

I agree... right now Hartnell IS garbage. He's not playing 'his' game. He's not really doing anything... well, except going offsides on line rushes and falling down while the puck goes the other way. At this point... addition by subtraction would be my plan. SIT Hartnell for gm6. 

Honestly, I'd like to sit Vinny too, but it's probably too much to sit 2 vets for a big game, in favor of rooks. But, pick one... sit them... send the msg. Guys need to step up and guys need to be held responsible. Sit a leader and guys will get the msg. Hartnell has been so bad that I think he's a safe candidate. 

So you're saying the Flyers would have to give up a 2nd to get rid of Vinny for a bag of pucks?

 

 

 

 

I'm gonna go right out on a limb and say none of these guys are playing for the Flyers next season.

 

Jagr would be a mistake of monumental proportions and an acknowledgement of the previous mistake in not signing him which simultaneously makes it more and less likely to happen.

 

Ah, the life of a Flyer fan!

I agree... none of these guys is realistic. Especially Stasny. Stasny will get paid big bucks somewhere, if not the tight pocket Avs, he'll be testing the market and well paid for sure. IF that were to happen with the Flyers, I can only imagine the terms and the $$$, but I need NO imagination of the amount of b*tching that will be happening on this board. 

murraycraven, on 28 Apr 2014 - 1:00 PM, said:

In the end I do not think the Rangers are head and shoulders above the Rangers. 

I wonder how they would stack up against the Rangers? Hmmm.

I think the Rangers would expose the Rangers weakness and the Rangers would def come out of this in 7 games. But, they'd be beaten and bruised. 

I see that we've already started a post-mortem thread here... but, I'll play along. 

I think we have a very solid core of good, talented, players. Their development seems slower than we'd like it... but, yah.. our kids are not the Avs kids. We had hoped they'd really step it up here this year, but that is most def NOT the case in this series thus far. Yet, I'm still reluctant to give up on any of them yet. They're still young enough that there's promise. 

So, it seems bleak, but a lot can change next year and I think our main focus, as always, should be to figure out something...anything... for our D. Again... no STILL, our D is the biggest problem with have. There's no easy answer to that either, unfortunately. D men are highly coveted. We could make a big trade, but that will possibly hurt our core Fwd group. We could bring up our prospects and hope for the best, but there really doesn't seem to be a clear cut answer here. 

Timo is pretty much done... GrossmanN is hitting the injury bug hard and we still don't really know what we have with Schenn. That's not even addressing the other 3, whom are NOT perfect. So we have hot probs on D and we're gonna need some luck... or *something*. Anyone?

It's message sending time. Sit a veteren leader. Oh, I dunno but hartnell comes to mind. Sit him, play another rookie. I don't even care who. Teeny selannes was a healthy scratch the other gm. That's how you send a msg.

I'd rather see Gill over Gus. The size and experience is the discriminator for me.

 I would have felt that way too.... earlier in the season. Gus was really making a lot of obvious mistakes out there toward the end of the season. I'm just talking about the eye test, I'm not looking at any numbers. But, He seemed to be a liability. He hasn't looked great since coming back from that sprained knee... at least from what I've seen. 

Yeah it sucks alright - not because I think they're bad announcers - but I want to hear the Flyers' guys, especially for PO games. Sometimes I pause the t.v. to get the radio in-sync and then I listen to the Flyers' radio guys. Bundy is pretty good imo and the PbP guy is too.

 

But I like the Rangers' announcers. Sam Rosen, Joe Micheleti do a great job I think.

 

The rest of the crew is pretty bad though. Have you ever tried to watch their intermission? Holycrap it's bad. Al Trautwig? Zzzzzzzz. Ron Duguay??? How the hell that guy got a job on the air is beyond me. The Rangers intermission is even worse than the Devils intermission, trying to decipher Ken Daneyko...lol..at least the Devils have Deb Placey (something like that) who's pretty good-looking.

John Gianetti(sp) is the worst. Thankfully they've limited his air time. 

wow.. didn't realize their numbers were that bad. I still find it hard to really pinpoint any one or pair at this point. I mean, it's a fair argument to make, but i'm just disappointed in the team play overall. Collectively, they are playing their B, and at times, C game. We have only seen their A game for maybe like the 3rd period of gm2. That's all I can recall right now. It seems, to me, that the Rangers are playing their B game, but very consistently. 

Good news is that the Flyers have another gear they haven't really reached much in this series. Let's just hope they can shift to it before it's all over. For me, it's over if they lose tonight. THIS is THE game... they need it. 

guess it's like they say "it's all in the eyes of the beholder" because honesty I don't see that at all. I don't know the guy, never met him so I have no interest in defending him so to speak. I'm just telling you the way I read his posts.

 

 

 

 

Except it's not as simple as that when a recent injury is part of the picture...and if the guy has missed any significant time it complicates things further. The playoffs are about matchups and a goalie who's faced a team twice in 5 days is better prepared than a guy who hasn't seen them since...i don't remember when.

 

You don't believe that I know. Or are you saying Mason is so much better than Emery that Emery's experience doesn't count? I can respect that, it's an opinion I don't agree with but it's a valid opinion, the way you evaluate the 2 guys. Like I say I don't agree with it but of course that's only my opinion.

 

OTOH...totally dismissing Emery's experience in G1 and 2, as if it couldn't possibly matter in the least...well frankly you guys sounded silly doing that.

 

Emery wasn't good enough in G3, period. So there's no debate about tonight: Mason automatically gets the start if he's healthy and ready to play. He says he is so...let's hope he's right.

I don't totally dismiss Emery's experience in G1 and G2, but I do think it's been overstated by a few. I probably understated it more than I actually believe... for argument sake.

As an aside... How much does it suck that we have to deal with the Rangers local broadcast for the entire series!? I really dislike that group... it's amazing how much just the play call can distort your perception of the game itself. 

We don't need "coaches and players tell it exactly..." because we see who Berube started in G3. His actions tell the story behind his thinking. And it supported what Aziz (and I) was saying.

 

Unfortunately Emery was not good (to be nice about it). In his defense it's hard to win games 1-0. Emery wasn't "the reason" they lost but no question about it he hurt the Flyers' chances to win.

 

So - feel free to gloat or brag or whatever - I ain't mad atcha!

It's all B.S. I think Mason is still not 100%, but he's reached 'close enough'. I'm guessing that's why he was backing up. I don't blame Emery for any of this really. Do I think Mason would play better? yes i do. Do I think the series result would be the same.... most likely. 

Going forward, though, I'll go back to what should be considered fact... Mason is the better goalie and, Ipso facto, gives us a better chance to win. Anyone who says anything different is entering a grey area of logic that I like to call... 'wrong'. 

Aziz is easy to agitate and he starts leaving his comfort zone when he can't back up his ludicrous statements with numbers. He can't do that here because Mason's are obviously better. So, he resorts to basically making **** up. That's all well and good, it's a fan forum FCOL, so have at it. However, for a guy who likes to 'attack'(my opinion) posters with stats, numbers and other 'scientific' reasoning... well... to me turnabout is fair play. 

We need a spark on offense.  I say throw the kid in there & let's see what he can do!

I agree... I mean, he threw Akeson out there, I wouldn't have a problem seeing what the kid can do. He obviously thrives under pressure... I doubt they could ruin him with throwing him in at this stage. 

Let's just switch him over to wing or something... what could possibly go wrong with playing out of his natural position?