OSR29

The Flyers need to look themselves in the mirror here and try over. Homer is mostly to blame. He spent all the time & resorces to try and landed players he in reality had no chance of getting; Weber, Parise and Suter. By tying everything up towards them, the hands were tied and we let Jagr and Carle slip away. Jagr would have helped Giroux and Couturier through disappointing seasons, been a big-brother for our young guns in difficult times. Carle is an unsung hero you don´t notice untill he´s not here. We miss his ability to move the puck out of the zone. Should have re-signed him. We are short of puck-movers and relying on old Timo is not working. We need to force Briere a deadline trade or buyout in summer. If we get a low 1st round pick in a deep draft, good for us. Same with Timo, not sure he can land a 1st rounder, but at least a 2nd rounder from a contender. He´s a durable playoff performer, like Briere. We need to draft a good defenseman or two and even explore the possibilities of acquiring young stars like Pietrangelo, Yandle, Ekman-Larsson etc. If we need to trade either Couturier or Laughton in a package to do so, we should. Our team is in dire need of a no. 1 defenseman who can quarterback the defensive corps and the power play. We also need to add another puck-carrying defenseman further down the depth chart, a role Carle had in the past. A new goalie? Bryzgalov has in 1,5 years showed he is not capable of stealing games. He lets a soft goal get past him more often than not. He has had no help this year from the defense and his play has deteriorated after a good start to the campaign. Maybe he has given up, like the rest of the team. Is he the answer in the future? It´s a problem there´s few quality goalies available. Would love to pry Bernier from LA, but we might not have much to trade if we trade for a no. 1 defenseman... Backstrom is a UFA, would like to try and sign him for 3 years. That gives us time to find a younger goalie for the future. We need to add some toughness. Was a mistake to waive Sestito, a guy who can skate and hit everything in sight in addition to dropping the gloves. No point in dressing Knuble, Fedotenko etc. for 5 mins on the 4th line. Either a guy like Knuble is good enough to play on the top 3 lines, or he´s out. If we have cap space and Corey Perry is up for auction this summer, we should look into it. But we need to address the glaring needs on defense first and foremost. So fellow Flyers-fan; who do you move, buy out and trade? What would you want Homer to do? I did not get into coaching, but it´s evident Laviolette has lost the room. The players are simply not responding to him. Lavy also shows little capability to adjust strategies during games. He is an intense coach...and coaches like that don´t last that long on one team. See Keenan, Hitchcock as examples on the Flyers.

Good to be back...and that hockey soon is back too I have a hard time to believe the Flyers will pick up Luongo. TWO huge goalie contracts? Unless they have already decided to buy out Bryzgalov this summer regardless. Vancouver won´t get much in return for Luongo´s contract, but I honestly believe the Flyers will give Bryzgalov his 2nd (and only) chance to prove himself. Unless he has a Vezina-type season, he will be bought out this summer. I think that if the Flyers make a deal for a goalie, it will be for a better backup. Leighton won´t cut it if Bryzgalov does falter again. Also, the Flyers can´t tie themselves up to another huge goalie contract untill they have sorted out their shortcomings on defense. As I understand, it´s still not clear if Mez is 100% good to go. If not, and say Timo and his banged up and aging body has a slow start, they will need to bolster their defense corps first.

Finally some good Flyers news. Simmer is probably my favorite Flyer, even though he had a rather anonymous post-season. I guess the Flyers are banking on continued progress becoming a steady power forward and by the last 3-4 years of the deal, it hopefully will be a bargain.

Classless quotes by Carcillo. Seems like he live by his actions, classless on the ice and classless off the ice. Even though I´m what you call a fight-fan in hockey, Carbomb truly sucked at that, and it was laughable when he was supposed to be our enforcer. All he did was taking braindead penalties an misconducts for yapping. Good riddance...

If we get Weber, he does need to "earn his stripes" in Philly. He´s the league´s beste defenseman and supposedly a leader in the lockerroom, but he needs to prove all that first. I fully expect him to come in and dominate and make it "his" team in a (positive) way. So within a year or latest two years, he will wear the C.

Of course, most of us would just give up the 4 1st round picks. Me included. However, IF a trade is the only way to get Weber, Homer should (and he will, believe me...) do his best to make a trade. I hope to God we don´t lose either Couturier or B. Schenn. If we can protect those two, but lose Voracek, Gus and/or MAB plus picks, I would do it. We have the chance to have an all star defenseman for the next decade ad beyond. And he´s just reaching his prime.

LOL. Lilja would give up #6 for Weber. I still don´t want to talk like Weber is a Flyer already...fear of jinxing everything!

LOL, I know. My bad. I meant including one of the Schenns, Luke. It´s just that we are THAT close to getting arguably the best defenseman in the league, just when he´s hitting his prime. I just pray Weber is a Flyer next week, and that it didn´t cost an arm and a leg. But if Nashville intend to match, they should try and make a trade instead.

The Preds have to match or make a trade for roster players, prospects and picks combined. They can´t lose him for just 4 low 1st rounders. If Weber comes to Philly (God, I hope so), we have to brace ourself for losing two of our younger forwards. Voracek, Read, B. Schenn and Couturier. Maybe young defensemen like L. Schenn, Gus and even Bourdon could be part of a package. The Preds have to try to make a trade for getting the richest return possible. Do they want to shell out all that cash for a player that obviously wants to come to Philly and wants out of Nashville? And being on the hook for all the $$ the 1st year of the contract, regardless if hockey is played or not...not sure, kind of doubt it. I think the Flyers are trying to force Nashville into a trade

I´m feeling Voracek, both Schenns and a 1st round pick might do the trick. Would you do it? Well, we keep Couts, Read...but we trade away lots of our future. I think it´s not a chance in hell Nashville let him walk for just 4 ist rounders. They have to get a return consisting of young, talented NHL-players. The Flyers will be forced to give up a few of them. It will hurt, but you have to give up something good to get something even better. This is it, Weber is the all-star defenseman we have ben craving for since we all knew Pronger was basically done.

A defenseman like Weber doesn´t come along often, I can understand the Flyers. But what if Weber has told Poile he wants out of Nashville. If he´s told them he wants out, that can be of significance too. Why throw all that cash at a player that wants to leave. I think Weber is disgruntled by the fact the Preds lost Suter for nothing. He wants to win. If this IS the case, it´s better for all parties to work out a trade and move on. Wishfull thinking on my part, I know. But there were reports that Weber was devastated by the news Suter left, and he might have told both the Flyers and Preds he wants to play elsewhere.

Well, exciting to be a Flyers-fan. At least some action, LOL! It might be out of desperation since missing out on all the UFA´s, including their own (Carle). Or he has some belief a trade could be done by forcing Poile´s hand. Poler and Homer have made lots of trades involving pretty big names. No way Poile lets Weber walk for just fours 1st round picks. If they can´t match die to finances, they will at least try to make a trade where they get much more value than just those fours 1st rounders in return. Voracek, Simmonds, Gus, Boudon, Mez will gladly be traded by Homer as part of the package if he can keep both Schenn and Couturier. I am 99.9% sure the Pred won´t let him walk for 4 picks. They will match or make a trade with a much better return. I think Homer will gladly make a trade with virtually anybody except G, Schenn and Couts

I would extend Hartnell. I have learned to appreciate him more over time. In the past, I used to hate and focus too much on all his bad penalties. With JVR and Jagr gone, we´re a lot smaller up front and we need a scoring winger with size and grit. I think he enjoys it in Philly and would probably take a hometown discount. Homer shouldn´t gamle on waiting, like he did on Carle, but work on an extension as soon as the new CBA is in place. Hopefully he would be signed during the season, so no hurry and racing up the price before free agency. Harts has his flaws and takes bad penalties, but he´s a consistent scorer, power forward and we desperately need a guy like that on the top 2 lines. I agree he can´t fight even though he tries. He has horrible balance and usually bails as soon as his opponents starts throwing punches.

Well, regardless of which team, Doan would be wise to jump on such an offer to secure his financial future. There will be different types of contracts next year. Yes, would love to see him on the Flyers. Would have been the guy to wake up his sleeping teammates during the Devils-series had he played for the Flyers this year. A 3 year deal at $5 million a year would tops, but $7,5 mill a year for that long? Unreal!

I fear Homer is involved in a bidding war... Oh God I hope not. We should take a deep breath, wait for the new CBA, go for next year´s richer UFA class and go for it uder the new rules. I am not sure how the new CBA will affect the upcoming UFA´s for 2013. With Giroux, Hartnell, Simmonds needing new contracts qithin the next year or two, we should really, really not go insane in the summer of 2012...

The Flyers might take a step back, at least on paper. But remember that their young guns are one year older. I expect a terrific year from Voracek, and he might be good enough to play on the 1st line permanently. If Schenn is healthy, he could become what many thought he would be last year. Couts will only be better... Scoring could be good enough, Rusty is kind of a utility forward, not sure how much he will contribute. But he´s all heart and a guy who steps it up come crunch time. Gervais is a depth guy as a 5th or 6th defenseman and our defense looks alarmingly suspect now. Timo better play a full year, but he´s older, slower and more injury prone. Schenn better rebound his play from last year. Our defense is worse than last year, and we can´t get far with this group. I know we´re all dreaming about Weber next year, but we need upgrade this year too on defense.

Typical Flyers. When they even were worst in the league and with the greatest chance of winning thelottery for the 1st overall pick, they of course had to lose the lottery to Chicago, who got Patrick Kane. BTW, who was chief scout in the 80`s when they wasted 1st round pick after 1st round pick on useless bums like Glen Seabrooke, Darren Rumble, Kerry Huffman, Claude Boivin etc. Those years of horrible drafting eventually caught up to them when they went 5 years missing the playoffs (90-94).

I agree. When he signed here last year, lots of fans (including me), feared he would be a selfish guy, cancer to the lockerroom etc. Nothing was further from the truth. He was a class act all the way. The drawback was his injury problems and that seemed to fade a little in the playoffs. But as a teammate and mentor he was awesome, just as his former teammates.

Read on Twitter we´re close on signing defenseman Bruno Gervais. It´s rumored Carle might get over $6 million a year...if it´s true, I would pass!

With so few quality free agents out there, and with teams desperate for upgrades (Detroit NEED defensemen), it will be interesting to see how loyal Carle will be. He is now plan B for several teams and given supply & demand, the offers will be juicy. The Flyers should only sign him if he takes a home town discount. But will he if say Detroit offers $6 million+ a year. If Wideman can get more than $5 mill. a year...well, you get the picture. I wish the Flyers will resist breaking the bank on Carle. We NEED to get a bonafide no. 1 defenseman like Weber, and remember Giroux is up for a new contract soon enough. They will certainly let Timo walk next summer, but what about Hartnell? They need his combination of size & grit, especially if they fail to land Ryan or Nash. Ryan is $2,7 mill less a cap hit a year, and if he can be had without trading Schenn or Couturier, I would do it. But what about the defense. Try and find some cheaper depth to survive untill next year. Maybe Poile will be desperate come trade deadline to trade Weber instead of riks losing him for nothing next summer. They can´t possibly lose BOTH Suter and Weber to unrestricted free agency without any compensation. But my gut feeling is that Homer will overpay to keep Carle and worry about the consequences later....that is kind of his track record.

Thanks for the welcome! The way hockey is treated in Norway is an utter embarrassement. People here only care about soccer, cross country skiing. Unlike Sweden and Finland, were kids get the opportunity to play hockey where & when they want, only a few hockey rinks are located in South East. It´s embarassing...hockey has NO resources in Norway and is a fringe sport. The interest is rising ever so slowly as the national team does remarkably well in the Worlds etc. North American friends have asked me the same questions for years and everybody´s surprised by the fact hockey is treated like a fringe sport in Norway. Shouldn´t be like that... Ok, needed to vent...thanks for listening! It´s good to be here and discuss my beloved Flyers with others who bleed orange & black!

Thanks for the welcome, I appreciate it. I am actually from Norway of all places. Been a die hard Flyers-fan since 1985, when I got to watch my first ever NHL game (with the Flyers) on a sattelite dish. Since then I have bled orange & black...and still do. I watch every single Flyers game on Gamecenter Live and the Flyers are a big part of my life. I pray I will be able to watch the Flyers hoist the Cup soon! I also agree that Jagr very well might come to a contender as rental at the deadline, depending on how the Stars are placed in the standings. However, with the earlier trade deadlines these days and how most teams are in the playoff race at that time, they might be buyers, not sellers

I wish they try a trade for a not too overly expensive defenseman (trade value-wise) and go hard for Weber next year, when Timo is off the salary books. I would rather cool off till next year´s outstanding UFA class rather than overpay on this year´s class and overpay in a trade for Ryan or Nash.

It´s about $$ and playing on a team´s top line, I think. It´s probably his last contract and in Dallas he will be a main guy and a marketable guy with a household name. In Philly he was not guaranteed top line spot, I guess he will get that in Dallas. One year and getting some ink in local media and rile up the fan base a bit, it´s not that crazy. The Stars hope he can give them a spark on the ice and ticket sales. It remains to be seen if it pans out like that. I wonder how much gas he has left in the tank. He did look slow and worn-out in the playoffs. If they are to land Parise, the cap hit will be huge and they need the cap space. They will need a defenseman too. And if Parise comes to Philly, they can´t afford Suter, and Carle will be $5,5 million...so what do we do? At least Timo comes off the cap next year...we need him off the books if we are to go after Weber next year. My wish is to get Parise now, pass on Suter and try everything to get Weber next year. I want Parise over Nash and Ryan because he comes as an UFA, while acquiring either of the other two, will command a hefty price (prospects and draft picks)