King Knut

They're not scoring, but they're all actually playing fairly well right now. I know he's not scoring and that's "why he's here" and all that, but JVR is actually crushing it in play driving and overall momentum right now. He's only been on the ice for I think 5 Even Strength Goals against and there haven't been any in like 4 games. Hayes's play driving numbers are a little worse than the other two because he plays the PK, but all in all this isn't a bad line. I know they're not scoring and that's a problem. But sticking them together should keep the puck in the other team's end for good swaths of time. Plus they're the biggest line by far and they'll be hard to defend against so even if they're not scoring, they'll be drawing decent assignments and wearing those lines out, thus things easier for the other lines to do so. If you're going to put your heavy hitters and big guys out to bruise Giroux, Coots and the kids, then you're leaving your softer lines out against the JayVeeHazies, not generally a good idea as they're gonna score eventually if you give them room. Initially my gut wanted to stick a Frost, Farabee, Lindblom or TK with them, but on further review, maybe that will come in time... but Jake and JVR should really be scoring more on the PP than even strength anyway. I feel like even if they were firing on all cylinders and scoring a bunch of goals, I feel like as an even strength line, their role would predominantly be in a play driving capacity anyway. Not that they wouldn't be trying to score, but just that we wouldn't necessarily be expecting a boat load of even strength goals coming from them. More to be sure. But I dont' feel like sticking them together should probably hurt anything. Hopefully all of them figure it out soon and maybe together, but even if they don't, it's not a nightmare line just because they're not scoring.

I know we're all just having fun here, but is there a reason I've missed as to why Calgary would ever consider trading Gudreau?

Saw this. The 3rd will just be the straight up Snake-Bitten/Stone Hands line. I feel like this must be the best option considering everything though. Certainly a good situation to introduce Frost to the NHL with. This is the thing I've been on the Flyers for since the years of Willy and Rusty. They did it with G too. Talented young winger... hey, let's put them with checkers and tell them not to try to score! What could go wrong? AV is giving Frosty and the Bee a chance to succeed, not setting them up for failure and I dig that. If Frost sticks, I'd likely keep these lines when Laughts is ready, putting him back at 4C. I leave it up to AV as to whether he drops Andy or Pits. Neither is performing too poorly right now. Laughton should be much better than either.

If he needs more time, he needs more time, and I hope he stays safe out there too. But the offense is down two centers and needs help mostly in energy and creativity and he's just sitting there to try out.

I just hope he can avoid getting his noggin bumped.

Well from an outsider's position, while the leafs are indeed chock full of talent, I'm not sure it's balanced enough to be a dominating power. The defense is a big question mark without many answers yet. I'm really not sure what they're going to do next year when they have only 1 D man under contract and will be entering the summer with zero cap dollars. In hindsight, I'm really not sure signing Tavares was the right move at all for them, though I suppose Marner hadn't really shown his stuff at that point yet. Either way, giving in to Nylander and not just sitting him or trading him was an enormous miscalculation. I'm really not sure they're going to be able to move him without retaining significant salary. They're going to have to move someone though. They may be getting 11million off the books with Horton and Clarkson, but those guys already don't count against the cap. It's nowhere near the disaster pit that Paul Holmgren dug for the Flyers as at least they're overspending on functionally good players. But winning in the playoffs is going to be challenging with so many question marks on defense.

He's been called up. guess this is where the blades meet the ice. My guess is that they got some discouraging news on Patrick and the lack of offense from 3 lines proved too much to bear. Hopefully he takes care of himself out there and adds what it seems like he should.

Is it me or does Babcock's expression always look like he's in the midst of an extremely difficult BM?

Yeah presumably, things start to fall into place for those two before long. Historically it should. Hopefully it pans out that way. In the meantime, at least the PK is clicking!

Sorry, the source I looked at when I wrote it said 17% I think trying to keep it above 20% is a fair expectation, though with the firepower they have and the history that firepower has, i'd expect it to be higher, wouldnt't you? It's not like G, Jake, JVR, and Ghost don't all have a history of being good on the PP.

It's BS hockey. I hate it. I don't mind agitating. I don't mind chirping at your opponent and I don't mind annoying them with hard hits or subtle hooks every once in a while. I don't mind trying to get them off their game or take a bad penalty. I effing hate massaging the refs and whining like a little brat trying to coax out calls against your opponent for crap you're actually guilty of. That part of old time hockey can stay in the past as far as I'm concerned. I don't actually even hate guys like Wislon for it (though I wish someone would pop them) I hate the refs for being thick skulled enough to fall for it. The Flyers CAN'T have that guy anymore because it straight up bites us in the rear. They've tried over the years (Carcillo and that lunatic Steve Downie come to mind) but it never works because they just end up causting more penalty kills because the refs DO NOT put up with that BS from the Flyers anymore. And it isn't really Old Time Hockey. In old time Hockey that guy would have his teeth bashed in and think twice about opening his mouth or sneaking in a slash the next time.

sorry, hit submit too soon. I'm not so worried about the size aspect of physical. I don't really think that was a problem for anyone other than Farabee for long. I noticed the defense was extremely good at using their sticks and shutting down lanes. The thing that worries me more about a 7 game series with a team like that is the Flyers 4th line and the PP. The Caps got about 2 more minutes and a goal from their 4th line than the Flyers did. Our top 6 outplayed their top six. That was the difference in a very very tight game. Over the course of a 7 games series, those extra shifts are going to really start to wear down your top 9. If a couple of games go to OT... it's gonna happen faster. The PP has to get better. They're wasting opportunity after opportunity. I don't know what's wrong and I don't care anymore. They're better than this. Figure it out. if their power play was a mere 20%, a half these games never would have gone to OT. To fix the 4th line, they really don't have anyone in the system. we know this because they keep trying. Andreoff has potential and actually did pretty well last night (though in less than 6 minutes of work). So to add they can a) trade for 4th liners from outside. b) add top 9 guys and drop better players who belong there (like Raffl and Laughton) to the 4th. I'm not ready to trade yet. The 4th line is Raffl, Laughton & Pitlick / Andreoff. I think if you can roll those guys as your 4th line, then you're going to be able to play them 9+ minutes a night which means keeping your top 9 more fresh and competitive throughout the evening and that will matter over a playoff series. I think these things get sorted out as the season goes. It's very possible Washington is just going to be a monster all year, or it's possible they're just peeking now.

I'm not sure they need to be more physical.

The 4th line didn't really play in this game. And I think that had more to do with their size and defense than lack of scoring ability. The third line isn't going to score much in it's current form. Jake and Hayes are too similar and they each need a more skilled line mate than each other or twarynski. Putting a Giroux or a TK or a Farabee with them might help them out, but then what's that going to do to the line you take that guy away from. Its games like this that have Fletcher not wanting Frost up yet and I get that. But I still think he's the best hope of evening out the finesse and skill level on all three lines. Farabee Hayes Gee . (The Heebee Gee Bees) Lindy . Coots . Teeks JVR . Frosty . Jake . Raffl Laughton . Andy / Pitlick If you run into a game like last night and you have to shorten the bench, you know Laughton can come up to 3C and Raffl can come up to 1W.

Holtby was extremely good last night. If the Capitals didn't have Holtby, I'd have no problems believing the Flyers could win a 7 game series with the caps. Still, I'll be curious to see how the next game between these two teams goes. The Flyers really seemed to crack to code in the 2nd and Holtby was the only thing keeping the Caps in the game by mid-third. That said, the Flyers did seem to tire out (probably due to their short bench for most of the game) in the waning minutes. Those huge saves Carter had to make were due to the FLyers looking decidedly more tired than the Caps. With a healthy Laughton and a Farabee experienced enough to be trusted a little more out there against a team like this, that level of fatigue should become less of an issue... I'd hope. I hope the coaches have a nice encouraging session with them that includes trying to explain to Hayes that he's not a fancy skating stick handling finesse wonder. Defense and play driving. Setting up the guys who can do that. That's your job Kev, Thanks!

Wilson's a throwback to the worst kind of hockey player. He's cheap and chippy and chirps to the refs about stuff you're doing to him that's 1/10 the degree of what he's doing to you. He acts. He flops. He hits to injure. And he can occasionally make a play to tick you off even worse. He's a very easy player to hate.

gross... but fair! As long as baby poo stays firm and upright, you have a good point. No, I couldn't think of anything better.

I said Typical. I remember Ghost throwing some heavy hits in the outdoor game last year. He really knocked some guys around. Probably not something he can maintain regularly with his size without risking losing games.

That is interesting. Could be he's playing through something like Coots that doesn't enable him to shoot normally. Might be part of why he was taken off PP1. Something temporary, but that still makes him a better alternative than Hagg.

Sorry, I forgot about Hayes. As far as Hayes goes, I supported signing him, but thought and still think the contract he got is absurd. i think he's a likely buyout candidate if compliance buyouts are offered with the new CBA... if they ever come to terms on one. Wouldn't it just be the way of things for the league to have a lockout the minute the Flyers get their ducks in a row? Long and short is whether he's a 45 point guy or not, he was signed as a 55+ point guy. A tier 2 Coots. If he's going to make 62% more than Coots, he's going to have to find the back of the net and there's no way I'm going to let anyone here rag on Voracek without including Hayes until he starts to do so. They're both treading water extremely well right now in terms of not losing them games and holding things steady if the top six can get some goals. The time will come when they'll be needed to get those goals and I will blame both of them if they don't show up. P.S. Tonight would be a real good time to do so.

My issue with Braun is that he keeps being the guy who can't clear the puck or move a guy in front of the goalie... or shoving a guy and the puck into the goalie... etc. Ghost is not playing strong positional or possession hockey (the only two ways he's going to consistently defend well as he's typically not physical) but it's not leading necessarily to chances that a stronger presence wouldn't be able to help with. if you give Braun a different D-man, it'll help. But then you're essentially choosing Braun over Ghost and neglecting all the upside Ghost could be giving you. Right now there's no solution either way. you're not going to get a better D man than either one of them at the moment. All I'm saying is that I'm not ready to give up on Ghost's upside because he hasn't been able to figure it out while paired with the worst D man on the team. Overall Ghost is still playing a decent possession game despite a recent soft streak. But Braun's on the ice for a poop load of goals against. Despite his 6 points, Ghost is still at a minus 5 (5 of his points are on the PP). Even so, his defensive "partner" is at -12. That's more than twice as bad as the next worse player on the team. Despite this, their corsi's are still both above 50% which suggests that when they give up chances, they're particularly good chances. They're both playing like crap, and neither one is helping the other. All in all, Ghost is still more likely to contribute much more with a better partner.

I actually just had to go amend an earlier post. I'm afraid they were doing okay despite not scoring but they're kinda losing battles now. I was surprised that their possession numbers were holding up despite was it looked like, and in fact i was looking at the wrong games. They got owned this past weekend, especially in Boston (though Twarynski less so) I definitely think something's not clicking. If it were just Jake, I wouldn't be jumping on any trade him bandwagons (it's unrealistic) or anything, but I'd be second guessing him a bit more. The fact that it's Hayes too says to me that something more is going on here. Not sure what. Clearly Twark and his speed were intended to help but it hasn't quite worked yet.

I can go with that. Frankly I forgot about him.

The only "contenders" that even come close to having the cap space are the Habs... and I'm not sure I see them as contenders come deadline time. Evens so... the only way I see them making this trade is if the Flyers take Weber in return. So Jake and Ghost for Weber. Interested? Not me. I'm with you. I just don't see trading him as making any sense. I'm also with you in that I'm not a particular fan of his or anything (kicking the puck at AV at the end of OT was a bit interesting I'll grant, but still...) I just don't see moving him as making any sense. There's no one he's blocking and he's not doing a poor job. He's just not scoring as much. I'm not sure how to get Hayes going either, but right now they're both kind of holding steady with low production, but decent possession numbers. They're doing what they need to. I think Turns out Twarynski isn't enough to get them over the hump and scoring more. Who'd'a thought? I've said it before and I'll say it again regarding Ghost. I'm not at all interested in trading him until I see him play with someone better than Braun. With how bad things seemed with Hagg and Morin now out of the picture, I'm not sure where that leaves us. Ultimately though, if you trade Ghost, you're not going to get equal value in defense back for him. That said, I'm not sure how to get him a better partner either.

You know what... I have to amend this response. I was looking at the wrong games. Jake and Hayes got demolished in the possession game in both contests this weekend. I was flat out wrong. I was looking at last week somehow. There's something increasingly off there. Hopefully they can sort it out soon. Games are a little more up and down coming up, but there's very little rest. They're on pretty much every other night (w/one two night break) until December.