King Knut
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Posts posted by King Knut
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39 minutes ago, ruxpin said:
Others here have said it on occasion, but I'm still in favor of seeing what he looks like on the wing.
EDIT: "In favor of" is probably a stronger sentiment than I intended. "Wouldn't be opposed to..." is probably better.
I'd suggest that's worth a try if they don't trade him.
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39 minutes ago, ruxpin said:
Agreed. And it's not like it's the first time someone's missed the net. Even perfectly healthy, it's a little harder than it looks, even for a "star."
People love to hate on him, but he was the Flyer getting votes for the Hart and the Selke those years.
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28 minutes ago, Digityman said:
That year couldn't have lined up better for them leading up the finals.
How were the Bruins medium? Because of where they finished on the year?
They won the cup the next season and their roster wasn't that different. They key players are still there now and they're still superior.
The Habs were the other "surprise" team, but they had to beat the president's trophy winning caps and the defending champ penguins. They were on arguably just as hot a streak as the Flyers. The Flyers system and aggressive forecheck simply matched up much much better against them than any other team the Flyers faced that year.
About the only thing you can say about the path to the finals for the Flyers that year is that on paper, they were much better than the record that they snuck into the playoffs on.
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10 minutes ago, WordsOfWisdom said:
The Blackhawks were a vastly superior team that year, but I went back and looked at that season (long since forgotten for Leafs fans since we finished dead last in the East) but your playoff opponent got easier with each passing round until you ran into Chicago.
New Jersey (hard)
Boston (medium)
Montreal (easier)
Chicago (hard)
Chicago was better in everything that year. It would have been an upset if the Flyers had won that year.
I don't think anyone was saying this at the beginning of the season.
In hindsight it looks like that because of what the Hawks did, but they hadn't done it yet.
That Flyers team was EXTREMELY strong going into the season. They had a ton of trouble early (likely because Pronger didn't like Stevens) and gelled around Christmas. a few weeks after Lavvy came in.
Looking at the finals they were fairly evenly matched.
Yes, The Hawks top line was much more skilled, but the FLyers were deeper at forward (and it showed). They were also likely better on Defense but their top guys were also older and that showed by game 6 as well.
In the end, I think it's pretty clear that it came down to the goalies. None of them were good, but Niemi managed to save a few more of the easy ones than either Boosh or Leighton did... probably because Boosh and Leighton were both playing hurt (though no one knew Leighton was hurt at the time... he didn't admit it until it was over).
The blackhawks took off and only got better from there and the Flyers fell apart internally until their GM decided to lose his mind and ruined the team while simultaneously putting them in unescapable cap hell.
The Blackhawks did the same, but they won a bunch of cups for their efforts.
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1 hour ago, CoachX said:
If Carolina is offering a number 1, and its been decided that Ghost will be moved, I take that trade
I'd consider this, especially if the Blue Jackets continue to slide without Jones.
We'll see as we have a home and home against them next week that will pretty much decide their fate and possibly ours.
If the Flyers can't rebound and take 3 of the next 4 games, they may have to start considering selling what they can.
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48 minutes ago, OccamsRazor said:
If Emery didn't go down with an injury I think they would have won the Cup in 2010.
I agree with this, but I'd even go as far as to say that if any of our goalies hadn't gone down with injuries, we would have won the cup.
Remember, Boucher got hurt during the Boston series and Leighton got hurt (apparently) in game one of the finals. Laviolette was juggling injured goalies through the finals. and it showed.
People act like the Blackhawks were just far and away the superior team because of Kane and Toews and Keith, but in the end, Niemi, as mediocre as he was, was healthy and made the saves.
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5 hours ago, Digityman said:
Good god man, no. No more retreads.
Well strap in tight because apparently these Jeff Carter rumors won't go away.
Jay Bow's contract is up at the end of the season anyway, so St. Louis may just be happy to hold out and make due until Free Agency. I didn't bother looking, but Schenner's got a new contract from that that starts next year and goes to the end of time, so he's right out. Otherwise, I'd be happy to have him back considering we have no idea what the hell will happen with Patrick.
5 hours ago, Digityman said:I think a lot of GM's realize this and will be looking over the Hab's roster trying to figure out if there is anything they want/need.
A lot of GMs will be looking at Ghost too.
34 minutes ago, mkscrewy said:Carter still would have missed the GW goal in game 6.
It still hurts me too... but the guy was playing on two broken feet. I'm not going to hang him for it. At least he told the trainers and the coach (unlike Leaky Leighton who just played with a slipped disc and didn't tell anyone)
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2 minutes ago, RonJeremy said:
I heard they might be willing to move him, and they are definitely looking for an offensive dman. With Ghosts diminished value we would probably have to offer Ghost and Rubstov or something like that,.maybe a little more.
Well they've certainly made dumber trades in the past
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3 hours ago, CoachX said:
I was just reading this on another site...
" word from sources around the league that the Carolina Hurricanes are openly offering a first-round pick in exchange for a top-four defenseman with term."
Ghost for a 1st round pick? I would do it
To the team most likely to overtake the 8th playoff spot from us?
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23 hours ago, CoachX said:
Shea Weber is hurt. Could be long term. Could we deal Ghost to them? For who?
Where are my forum GM's? I want some juicy gossip scenarios
So's Jay Bouwmeester in St. Louis. Might be his career. Do we want Schenner back?
Montreal is a team that has regularly dressed Nick Cousins, Jordan Weal and Dale Weise this season. Do we really think they're going to send us Domi or Gallagher for Ghost?
The BLues have a lot of centers on their roster. If Patrick is actually coming back, it may be moot, but I don't think we're likely to get a good idea on him until after the deadline anyway.
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6 minutes ago, radoran said:
Rantanen re-signed for $9.25 at the start of this season. It's one reason he had a slow start and then had a little injury bug at the beginning.
For some reason I thought that was a one year deal to get him to play. My bad!
I don't care for Hall and I don't want to overpay for the others past their usefullness (again). I like ironing out a trade for Kapanen or Johnson, or another similarly contracted player or RFA. Toronto will want Myers or Sanheim, but Toronto might not be in such a great bargaining position when they miss the playoffs and go into the off season with one D man under contract.
And I don't mean it has to be GHost... but it's probably Ghost plus or Hagg plus MORE.
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On 2/6/2020 at 12:14 PM, RonJeremy said:
Looking ahead, we could really use a consistent scorer, I guess time will tell if we will get one in a trade or FA next year. We have some vood young players but definitely a bunch of question marks wirh Patrick and Lindblom. On a good note , considering how young our defenseman are, they are playing solid defensively. Once Sanheim and Meyers gain confidence and experience they could both become dominant offensive forces, they have all the tools. Hart looks like the real deal, what we need most is a consistent scoring threat. G, JVR and Jake are very streaky. We need the younger guys to step up as these guys fade out. TK should become our top offensive guy and he always hustles.
UFA's this summer are big and they will be expensive:
Taylor Hall & Mikko Rantanen will both fetch $10million.
Mikko is likely worth it. Taylor not so much. For the Flyers that means unloading JVR and Ghost.
Next tier includes Ryan Hugent Hopkins and Mike Hoffman. They're both likely in the 8 million range at least.
I wouldn't mind a guy like Chris Kreider and we've already talked about Toffoli and Pageau, but they're all in that range we know so well where they're going to make too much money too far past their peek years with their next contracts... but they are kinda what the team needs most I think.
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On 2/6/2020 at 12:14 PM, RonJeremy said:
I agree, once we lost Prongs that was it, and Timmo was getting old, the defense was pathetic, goaltending was a joke. I think Homer knew we are in a decline. In the long run we were better off trading those guys. Richards became a pill addict when he got shoulder surgery and we were lucky to unload him when we did. He was washed up at 27. We got back some good players , drafted Coots and turned Schenn into a couple of great picks.
Looking ahead, we could really use a consistent scorer, I guess time will tell if we will get one in a trade or FA next year. We have some vood young players but definitely a bunch of question marks wirh Patrick and Lindblom. On a good note , considering how young our defenseman are, they are playing solid defensively. Once Sanheim and Meyers gain confidence and experience they could both become dominant offensive forces, they have all the tools. Hart looks like the real deal, what we need most is a consistent scoring threat. G, JVR and Jake are very streaky. We need the younger guys to step up as these guys fade out. TK should become our top offensive guy and he always hustles.
We have to hope that our top offensive prospects, Farabee ,Frost and Allison can be contributing on a higher level next year. If Lindblom and Patrick come back, we have the potential to score some goals. I still think the most pressing need for this team is a hard nosed leader with grit and scoring ability who can keep the Tom Wilsons of the league from hammering our guys. Allison fits that mold, hopefully he can become that player for us. We still have Ghost as a trading chip to improve the team,if the right deal comes along.
I don't believe Homer had any idea what he was doing. I reallly don't. My most generous guess is that snider really was pulling strings without Homer knowing. Either that or Homer really did have a stroke in 2012.
Richards was likely a burgeoning pill addict before he left and he likely became one by doing things like going through the playoffs with two shoulder tears and stuff like that. I couldn't believe when Lombardi tried to get out of his contract without any kind of a payoff because it literally opened the Kings and the Flyers up to a very dangerous, public and ugly legal battle. This is likely why the whole thing was quietly handled out of the headlines. Both teams were likely guilty (and probably still are) of over prescribing and making way too available the likes of the kind of Oxy that Richards get stopped with. My guess is that if had never been traded and was still the team captain in Philly, there would likely have been closer tabs being kept on him and his treatment. As it was in LA, he was important to their success, but not their star.
All that aside, I would gladly take a washed up, Pill addicted Richards at 27 if it meant winning two Stanley Cups in between. Wouldn't you? He wasn't even making 6 million. Besides, they could have bought him out instead of Bryz and Briere if he wasn't paying dividends. That's not hindsight either, it was pretty well known there would be complicity buyouts offered well before that CBA was inked.
Anyway, I'm not here to re-litigate those trades, I just think trading them was a move toward rebuilding and signing Bryz was not.
What Hextall did with Simmer was amazing and almost criminal and what he did with Schenn was fantastic for both teams in the end... but again... the Flyers "win" a trade where the other team wins a cup. Kinda sick of trying to sell myself that scenario.
The Flyers definitively destroyed in the Richards trade though. Jake and Coots for Carter is an utterly fantastic return. No matter what anyone says about his time in Philly, if you watched the Kings win those cups, you know full well that Carter was also huge in those cup teams for the Kings and is still one of their key players, but if you guys hate Jake as much as you do, imagine if you were still watching Jeff Carter. You'd all be dead of hate fueled heart attacks by now.
Most teams in this league could use a consistent scorer. The Flyers aren't likely to get a decent scorer in FA. There simply isn't the cap room. They can't trade Hayes for a few years (have to protect him in the Seattle draft too). The best option would be to try to trade JVR before UFA season opens.
That's not as crazy as it sounds actually. The fact of the matter is there's an expansion draft coming that JVR can be exposed for and if they don't lockout, there are likely complicity buyouts coming with the new CBA. So a team trading for JVR could consider him essentially having 1-2 years remaining on his contract instead of 3. Of course JVR is on pace for 24 goals again this year, so you have to make sure you get someone who will do better than that and any team that can afford to pay JVR 7million could also likely take a crack at the same player.
Which brings us back to Ghost. I really think I like the Johnson / Kapanen idea.
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12 hours ago, FD19372 said:
Trade Hayes! His value will never be higher!
Too bad he has a 3 year NMC and limited NTC after that.
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19 hours ago, RonJeremy said:
We have to keep in mind during the Lindros era and most of the Giroux era we had a carousel of horrible goaltending and we lacked depth on defense. We ran Desjardins into the ground and later Timmonen. We always relied way too much on one defenseman. Today we have the most potential on the blueline we have ever had and also in goal. " I look around this room and I see alot of potential.... you have potential and you have potential...."
The Giroux era was screwed from the beginning. I think we assume it starts with the Richards and Carter trades and that's when Homer essentially ruined the team for the next 6 years.
There was a snowball's chance at the borders of hell with Pronger, but when he went down, everything between then and now was inevitable.
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14 hours ago, OccamsRazor said:
I sure hope Bob doesn't come back to haunt the Flyers like he always has.
His number as of right now are 3.25 gaa 898% that is as pedestrian as any Flyer fan could hope for to have to face.
They faced him earlier this year and Hart got chased after giving up 4 goals on 18 shots and Bob posted a 946% and gave up 2 goals on 37 shots.
They have to find away to solve this guy and stop letting him be a thorn in their sides.
Not trying to look a head because they need to beat the Devils and Caps as well but i am tired of seeing that guy cost them points/games.
They play them twice more this year and i would love to win both. They need both of those games to stay ahead of the Canes and Isles.
Keep winning and the 3rd spot in the Metro is there for the taking because they get to play the Blue Jackets too twice the following week.
It's all in front of them and they can control their destiny. Just win baby!
I mean can you blame him? All he did was kick butt, promise to get even better and we traded him and his RFA contract to Columbus.
COLUMBUS.
These next 8 games will pretty much decide the season. The good news is that this time last year, the Flyers needed to win 3/4 of the games and everyone else needed to essentially lose at least a majority of their games. This year if the Flyers keep winning at the pace they're at, they should be in good shape.
These teams are all going to start playing each other more now too. It would help if they stopped going to OT as much, but that seems to be the way of the NHL and the Metro these days. This is going to be a huge challenge and we can't get too down on them if they lose one or two, but if they pull out 2/3-3/4 of them, they'll be doing what they need to.
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29 minutes ago, Podein25 said:
Sure goals are nice, but what about sheep?
They're 7-2-1 in their last ten.
They keep winning, and I will baaah all the way to the playoffs while y'all keep whining about ghost captains and goals and needing help on offense.
Their only goal is to win games. They are executing a very specific plan of how to do that.
It's working. They're playing AV's game and it's working.
I think it's great and intelligent and totally legit to be concerned about them being able to break out and score big goals when the team really needs it. Right now, they're working on their system... the idea behind which is very simply to not need that big goal.
Let's see if they can execute against the Devils.
Then comes the biggest 7 games stretch of the season. Likely the stretch of games that will decide if they make it to the playoffs or not.
Rubber meets the road then, but I genuinely look at the last few games and see a team working on the fundamental of its system gearing up for that stretch.
If you look at the last three games, even the Penguins game, they've controlled large swaths of play in the game. Most of the goals against them have been either kind of flukey or due to someone specific blowing coverage or missing a clear. That's their goal. Not to out score in a free for all. Their goal is to control these games. They look like they're getting good at it. Next week stuff gets real.
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7 minutes ago, radoran said:
If they miss the playoffs and/or bow out in the first round again with him not being a presence on the scoresheet, it's only going to get worse for him.
This is no doubt true, but I can almost guarantee you, what we're seeing right now is Claude prioritizing exactly what AV is asking him to prioritize.
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2 minutes ago, CoachX said:
This team is full of ghosts
GHOST the defenseman
GHOST powperplay
GHOST captain....
And now, the always popular and always present
GHOST injury
I think you missed my point. They're winning. They're currently on pace for 100 points.
Usually my measure of a captain (especially of a somewhat talented team) is whether they're winning.
They're winning.
He's doing his job.
I want goals, you want goals, I'm sure he wants goals. I want wins more and I think he's doing what the coach wants him to.
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9 minutes ago, radoran said:
I don't think he is "saving himself" - I think he's playing the wrong position, which is asking him to do other things. It's not an excuse, as much as an observation. As a center his production was on a persistent downward slide. As a wing, he exploded.
I think this is a pretty big thing.
The other thing to keep in mind is that the PP has been awful and he's still (mostly) playing absolutely out of position there too.
I still contend that if they fixed the PP, we wouldn't be so worried about Ghost, G or JVR as much as we are. AV and Fletcher have some explaining to do when it comes to why Therrien hasn't gone to what has worked in the past.
9 minutes ago, radoran said:It absolutely starts with him. And I would rather that he be producing more than he has been.
But, as has been noted, they've won the past three games and taken 7 of 8 points without him scoring.
There's definitely something a little more tentative and less aggressive with him right now. Part of that is the position most likely, maybe he's fighting a nagging injury, I'm not sure and I'm not sure it matters. If he does anything aggressive it's trying to spring TK and hope JVR comes up with rebound or something, but here's the thing I noticed in the last two games at least: He's not necessarily trying to score goals or points. He's trying to win. And I'm not sure he's trying to just win games, but I think he's thinking about the whole season.
If they're up by a goal or two, Giroux's going to do exactly nothing to risk that lead. He's playing extremely conservatively. Part of that may have to do with being sick or banged up or frankly as a Dad myself I can say sometimes spending 9 days at home with a tiny baby is more exhausting than I could have ever imagined.
No matter what it is, there may be something a little off with him, but I think that's just pushing him to put his focus on the fundamentals of executing AV's system exactingly.
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4 hours ago, mojo1917 said:
I follow a couple of dudes like Alexander Appleyard and Charlie O'Connor so I see all kinds of stupid stuff pertaining to the Flyers on twitter.
For example just the other day a guy was saying that Phil Myers was caught up in a numbers game here, and should be targeted by Dubas because Myers could be "had" for "not much" - paraphrasing.
As if the bunch a rubes running the team don't know what they have with the kid.
Flyers twitter is stupid.
You are far too kind with your description.
I don't disagree, but that particular example sounds like Toronto Twitter being stupid.
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On 1/31/2020 at 2:46 PM, radoran said:
Our of curiosity, who are the "shortsighted" journalists to which you referred?
Some of them play up the ignorant angle on stuff seemingly to appeal to the ire of their readers.
On 1/31/2020 at 2:46 PM, radoran said:My point, for the record, was that the team as constructed should be good enough to make the playoffs. As they sit two points out of the playoffs in the East rightnow, that's not that far fetched a concept. They need to go do it.
I agree if we mean the team as constructed on opening day. As of the last game, they're only icing 3 rookies / minor leaguers. But they have needed as many as 5 or 6 some nights. Farabee might keep breaking out if he plays with Coots the rest of the year, but knowing AV, he's going to swap him with someone else who needs help.
Kube and Bunny are trying their best and doing better. Ruby was okay his last stint, but the others haven't been great.
I know the top 6/7 should be good good enough to make the playoffs, but in today's NHL, if you have a decent system and Decent D, having a decent bottom 6 can in fact make up for having a mediocre top 6.
The good news is, I thought the bottom 6 played a hell of a game against the Penguins in Pittsburgh and that night, indeed your assessment held out. The Top guys were shut down pretty well (Jake's PPG aside) but Pitt's system and D and the Bottom 6 showed up big time to make a game of it. If this kind of thing can keep happening, I'll feel real good about the team's chances.
On 1/31/2020 at 2:46 PM, radoran said:Further, once they do get into the playoffs, they're going to need more than the 4 points each in the past 12 playoff games that Giroux and Voracek have managed and they're going to need Couturier to be the guy that had nine points in five games the last time he was in the playoffs. And, again, they can do it, but they need to actually do it.
More than likely, you're right, but if they give up 4+ goals a game, it won't really matter what Giroux and Jake do. The other half of the argument is that the last two playoff appearances, the bottom 6 (actually the bottom 9 really) were pretty bad which made the Flyers essentially a one line team and thus a relatively easy to shut down.
I have to admit that the 2018 series against the Penguins made little to zero sense. It was yet another situation where they simply didn't have a healthy NHL goalie and that didn't help anything, but for the most part, that series had no rhyme or reason to it. The lop sidedness of the wins, regardless of which team was winning was just odd. It was an odd series on the whole.
If we look back to 2016 and the caps however, I'll point out that the Flyers were 2-2 in that series when they held the caps to 2 goals or under. G and Jake were essentially shut down, but also at that time there really wasn't anyone else to score.
At least in 2010, you had an emerging G, Briere, Richards, Carter, Hartnell, JVR and Gagne. But God love them (or hate them) some of what really made the difference that year was the likes of Ville Leino , Lappy and Dan Carcillo showing up.
That team also had a mostly healthy Timmo, Coburn and what was that other guy's name? Oh yeah, Pronger... they almost helped make up for the backup and the minor leaguer in net.
If you go back two years earlier to 2008, they had even fewer "stars" and it showed because they didn't score much at all, but what they did was not give up much at all in the series they won.
On 1/31/2020 at 2:46 PM, radoran said:Finally, when looking ahead, the Flyers have nine forwards signed and the possibility of Frost and Ratcliffe coming up, and even Patrick coming back. That alone gives them more depth than they have now without the need to make a deal.
I like the idea of Frost coming up for the playoffs and I hope they get him some more NHL time before then. I think he could end up being a nice wild card in the third line that teams might not know how to deal with. Ratcliffe's still got a ways to go.
I don't know what to make about Patty. Fletch keeps saying he expects to see him this year... but nothing I'm seeing or hearing suggests that's even close to happening. I wish it were, but at this point in the season, what kind of player are they going to get?
On 1/31/2020 at 2:46 PM, radoran said:As always, if a good deal is there, then go make it.
I don't want them to take a bad deal.
Throughout this thread I think my posts (even the Toffoli or Getzlaf suggestions which didn't see it happening unless JVR was involved which I admitted didn't make sense for the Kings or Ducks) were metered.
I'm not gung ho for anything in exchange for Ghost. Though Johnsson could make me think twice and Kappanen would probably get me to pull the trigger.
There's no way to make it work cap wise because the Leafs aren't taking JVR back to be sure, but I'd jump at the chance to make Nylander work as well. That would get Giroux back onto wing and could make Hazy the full time 3C... though admittedly, it would be all but giving up on Patrick. Maybe Fletcher has enough information to do that. Who knows?
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1 hour ago, radoran said:
Word of advice: ignore Twitter
I follow Journalists on Twitter.
1 hour ago, radoran said:Again, I'm happy if they "fix the bottom six problem." Thrilled. It just seems like there's always a "problem" that this team that has underachieved for seven years needs to fix and then they'll be great. They needed a second line center. They needed more vets on the back end. They needed a new coaching staff.
This sounds familiar and tired. YES. there is always a problem with EVERY TEAM IN THE LEAGUE THAT DID NOT WIN THE CUP. And usually even with the team that just did.
Just to be clear on this team's "problems" IMHO, the biggest problem is that their 2C/3C ended up having a weird non-hockey related Migraine condition and their 2LW/3LW got cancer. I'd be pretty comfortable with this team this year and I'd wager had neither of those things happened, we'd be having very different conversations on this board.
7 years ago the problem was Homer lost his damned mind and traded the core for a handful of magic beans at exactly the moment Pronger got speared in the eye and lost his career, Homer then traded JVR for Luke Schenn, Signed Bryzgalov, dumped Bobrovsky, didn't re-up Jagr and signed VLC.
Everything between then and the start of last season was an inevitable waiting game. Last year I contended and still do (and this is more or less born out by Gordon's tenure) was the coaching staff.
1 hour ago, radoran said:They need better and more consistent play from the guys who are paid to be the impact players. Giroux is on pace for 57 points. Voracek is on pace for 62. Couturier is on pace to lead the team with 70. There are already four guys in the league with 70+ points, and 12 with more than 57. Couturier is 40th in the league in points. Voracek is 66th. Giroux is 91st.
I just don't agree with this. Edmonton has two of these 70 point guys. The top two actually. How's that working out for them? The Stanley Cup Champions last year had point leaders of 70, 68, 54 and 46. How'd that work out for them?
What about the Penguins? They exactly one player with more points than any Flyer (Malkin) who has 50 (compared to Coots' 43). Yet they're in 2nd place.
The league leading Capitals have 2.
The Oilers, Maple Leafs, Sabres, Blackhawks, Rangers, Jets, Golden Knights, all have players with more points than any Flyer and they're all worse than the Flyers.
The Flyers problem isn't that they don't score enough goals or that their top guys don't score enough goals, it's that they give up too many goals (usually in the first two periods) on the road. That's really what's put them off the pace.
If you REQUIRE multiple hundred point scorers on your team to be competitive in today's NHL, you will not be competitive in today's NHL. The game is about controlling play, not scoring tons of goals.
1 hour ago, radoran said:I readily acknowledge that the bottom six is "an issue" but I'm not convinced it is the issue and that adding a 2LW or a 3RW is "the difference" between "making the playoffs" and "getting to the second round." This team - as currently constructed - should be good enough to make the playoffs. The top six simply hasn't been getting it done.
So here's the difference I guess:
I'm saying the top 6 are playing well and doing what it takes to win games when AV cannot control who is on the ice against whom.
What you're saying is that the top 6 are not playing better enough to make up for the bottom 6 when AV cannot control who is on the ice against whom.
In some ways, it's a matter of perspective I guess, but the question I'm left with at the end of the day is what's going to be more realistic for a team that spent up to the cap: Fixing it's top 6 or fixing it's bottom 6?
You can want more out of Giroux, Jake, JVR and Hayes I guess but your options there are trying to replace them and just hoping they do better neither one seems very actionable.
I'm trying to see the problems on the team that can actually be fixed in the next three years.
1 hour ago, radoran said:I readily acknowledge that the bottom six is "an issue" but I'm not convinced it is the issue and that adding a 2LW or a 3RW is "the difference" between "making the playoffs" and "getting to the second round." This team - as currently constructed - should be good enough to make the playoffs. The top six simply hasn't been getting it done.
So, basically, I'd like to see the guys that are supposed to be the impact players on this team actually be impact players. And if they do make the playoffs to "get to the second round" they're going to need much more then the 17 combined points Giroux, Voracek, and Couturier have in their past thirty combined playoff games (Couturier with nine of those in six games) regardless of what happens with the bottom six.
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13 minutes ago, radoran said:
I want to see what they do against Florida (twice), the Islanders, and Columbus (twice) in the next three weeks. Those are all four point games in the standings against teams ahead of them and those are not at all insurmountable challenges with what they have now. And, of course, TCOB against Detroit and New Jersey.
Getting points against Pittsburgh, Washington, and/or Tampa on the road would be a bonus.
As always, if they can get a good deal to make the team better now and long term - take it.
Problem is 3 of those 5 games are away. If they can't solve their last change bottom 6 problems with coaching or line juggling they could end up at the deadline in need of another miracle run instead of being in a pretty good position. Having to play Lyon at home against Columbus (at least) isn't going to help anything.
It may be worth it to break up the top 6 to even out all the lines, but that could backfire too and just get every damn line scored on.
Then I'll just have to listen to everyone whine about how "this team just doesn't have it" or "doesn't care" or "we need a new captain" or whatever instead of the very real assessment that we lost two key middle 6 players and never were able to replace them because the veteran leadership on this team is actually doing it's job.
I can cope with it, I'm a big boy. But it'd help if everyone here and on twitter and what not could promise not to be short sighted complainers.
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Ghost to Montreal?
in Philadelphia Flyers
Posted
I think it was because it looked effortless. People thought he was lazy.
They didn’t watch him play defense. they didn’t understand his value.
you're absolutely right about the finals and the scoring.
neither Team had a good goalie. The blackhawks has a healthy one. That ended up being the difference.