14 minutes ago, OccamsRazor said:

 

I am aware of all this it is why i prefer them over Staal who is over 7 or 8 years older which i don't want.

 

I hate to trade Ghost as well but i think that is where they are at....you have to give to get. You'll get over it.

 

Hell he has already requested a trade why not help him out while helping out the Flyers.

Why do I care if Staal is 7 or 8 years older when he's playing better and his contract ends much sooner (than Zucker's at least) and he costs half as much?  

What am I missing?  Why do you want a worse player who costs more and is under contract for much longer?

I've said all along I'm good with trading Ghost.  I just think it looks bad for the organization and if they trade him for Brandon friggin' Saad.  As an aside, they'll also have to trade Laughton or Raffl to make that deal work unless the Hawks retain $1.5-2 million of Saad's contract.  How's this helping anything?  

Trade Ghost!  Great.  Looks terrible to prospective UFA and RFA D-men coming through the system, but you can weather that by overspending on them like Fletcher did with Hayes.  

In the mean time, let's at least trade him for something that improves the situation and doesn't make it worse.  

8 minutes ago, OccamsRazor said:

 

I think Ghost might need a change of scenery...his 65 point season was 2017-18. Maybe that was just an anomaly.

 

A trade may show us....sure he could go somewhere and flourish but right now he just isn't coming around it seems.

 

But he will be 27 this April....maybe Ghost is what we are seeing right now....so why not trade him while his value is solid??

 

And Saad is 27 so you're getting good value back to add some grit toughness and size to the lineup.

Honestly, I don't disagree on the change of scenery.  And I don't mind trading him for something of value.  I just don't think either Saad or Zucker are that value... at least not in any way that doesn't make the cap situation even worse.  

I don't think two years ago was an anomaly, I think when you watch him now, you see a stark difference.  He doesn't skate as much and he doesn't take the same shots from the same places.  

He's changed his game ostensibly for the sake of the team playing better.  

I've long been a proponent of trading him for value (long since past peak at this point because Hextall and then Fletcher delayed it) rather than trying to squeeze Ghost into a skillset that doesn't jibe with what he does best.  

It's a waste to neither use Ghost for what he does best nor to trade him for maximum value while he's doing it (if you think your staff can't handle making his skill set work with their system).  

I genuinely think Ghost has been trying his darndest to do what A) Hakstol said, then B) What Gordon said and now C) What AV says and none of the above include doing what he's actually good at.   

If Therrien's changes had totally revamped and fixed the PP, I wouldn't even have a twinge of criticism in the above.  I mostly just think you have to maximize your value for your assets as they will benefit your team (aka if you can't use, him, trade him).

As it is, I think all that AND am a little grumpy because Therrien hasn't really fixed much of anything and the PP from two years ago and before when Ghost was dancing and shooting like mad from the point and G was playing down low on the left side and Jake was on the right is still better than anything we've iced since.  

57 minutes ago, OccamsRazor said:

I think Ghost will be the sacrificial lamb offered up to find them a forward...and Chuckles may reach for the stars and make it part up a package not just some bottom 6 forward....my gut feeling....they are 5-2 without Ghost so if they need it help it seems like the most logical choice.

 

So it feels like if he does pull the trigger it will be a team out west can't see teams the Flyers are in a race for helping the Flyers out.

 

My two biggest gut feelings Brandon Saad or Jason Zucker.

 

If i am choosing i take Saad. My two cents....Ghost and a pick/prospect can get it done.

Brandon Saad

RW, LW

27

CHI

$6,000,000

$6,000,000

 = 16:22 / night and 21 points. 

Jason Zucker

LW, RW

28

MIN

$5,500,000

$5,500,000

$5,500,000

$5,500,000

 = 16 mins/ night and 28 points.

all of which is right at or below JVR and Hayes (who coincidentally cost more). 

Eric Staal maybe? One more year (he'll likely retire) at just over $3million and producing far better than Saad or Zucker.

It's also difficult for me to look at trading Ghost when the team clearly needs a PP specialist to light a fire there and they're sitting on a guy who used to be just that and hasn't been so for two years for reasons no one seems to be able to explain.  

44 minutes ago, OccamsRazor said:

I think Ghost will be the sacrificial lamb offered up to find them a forward...and Chuckles may reach for the stars and make it part up a package not just some bottom 6 forward....my gut feeling....they are 5-2 without Ghost so if they need it help it seems like the most logical choice.

 

So it feels like if he does pull the trigger it will be a team out west can't see teams the Flyers are in a race for helping the Flyers out.

 

My two biggest gut feelings Brandon Saad or Jason Zucker.

 

If i am choosing i take Saad. My two cents....Ghost and a pick/prospect can get it done.

Those are both $6million dollar bottom 6 wingers.  At least Saad is on a shorter contract.

You have to lose $2million more if you trade Ghost for them.

They're likely both improvements that can help in the short term.  

But IMHO, it'll be one of this team's more tragic legacies if it can't figure out what the hell is going on with Ghost and fix it rather than trading him for an overpaid 3RW. 

45 minutes ago, ruxpin said:

 

I don't know, actually.  Good question.

 

If I had to offer suggestions, they'd be based on personal and playing style rather than era.

Gretzky and Lemieux both got away with cheap shots along the lines of Clarke and Crosby (sorry to put them in the same sentence). Stick work, elbow-type sneaky cheap shots.   Nothing happened because they had players riding shotgun.

Lindros may have taken abuse because he dished it out.  I mean, he could HIT.   And did.  And he'd park himself in front.  Crosby takes some of the "in front" abuse.   But Crosby has never hit the way Lindros did.  So, he may have drawn the attention of bigger guys either doing tit-for-tat or just leaving calling cards of "don't eff with my guys."

 

The other thing early on may have been about his sitting out on Quebec and then having the population and GDP of a small country traded for him.

 

Probably more the first guess than the second, but it could have been mixture of both.

 

And then the fact he didn't have someone riding shotgun to take care of things for him was huge and probably the biggest factor. If Lindros gets hit, maybe he kicks the crap out of you but you've managed to get him off the ice for 5 or more minutes.   You hit Gretzky or Mario and someone else is sitting.   Bonus if you injure Lindros in the process.

Just so much doesn't add up.  

I understand that Lindros was not well liked and that he hit hard (it was a little difficult or him not to given his size, speed and skill) and I understand that the Flyers in general never did a damn thing to protect him (or their investment in him) which was utterly idiotic and for which the organization (not to mention the league) is still dealing with residual consequences IMHO.

But I'm not sure how that gets us today where it's relatively acceptable to come up high and late with your elbow on a skilled player who happens to be making a play. 

2 minutes ago, ruxpin said:

 

It was apparently at his gym, too.

 

Yeah, the helicopter to a game struck me, too, but I guess if you have the means...it was apparently Orange County to LA, so probably saving them a 3-hour drive (and not because it's geographically that far).  

 

This struck me because they showed the people at the gym/arena at the game on either ESPN or NBC Sports Philly (don't recall which)>

I just cannot imagine being among the parents of teammates, or the teammates themselves or anyone else involved there, actually, as the news broke.  Simply cannot imagine.

 

One of the other families was husband, wife, and teammate all killed.      Worth repeating:  I cannot imagine.

I've witnessed a chopper crash (thankfully no one was killed) and I've been on a couple of precarious rides myself.  It's too tragic to second guess, but it's also important to learn lessons, respect dangers and use caution when needed.  

On 1/22/2020 at 4:41 PM, CoachX said:

Per FOX NEWS story,

Philadelphia Flyers mascot Gritty accused of punching teen at season ticket holders' event

 

weird story. dont know what to make of it, but regardless of outcome, Santa Claus is off the hook

Really plays like someone trying to make a buck from a quick settlement.  

On 1/24/2020 at 11:43 AM, CoachX said:

todays game has been softened to protect monetary investments. players in the 70s/80s played with injuries because they loved the sport, competed hard and didnt want to sit out. In an era of over caution and fear of liability, injuries are assessed as more serious. Therefore, there are more of them.

So why do you think it was Gretzky and Lemieux never got targeted for head shots the way Lindros did?

I mean that as a genuine question. No opinion or agenda.

It's not in exactly the same way now, but guys do specifically target quality players.  When that sort of thing happened to my memory in the 70's and 80's there was hell to pay, the benches cleared and everyone dropped the gloves and got bloody.  Now you get suspended for defending your targeted team mate. 

Clarke might break your ankle and Schultz would break your nose if you dropped them with him, but they didn't head hunt.  

I personally feel as though that just makes the game more dangerous and succeeds in softening nothing, but it does result in more injuries to popular and quality players.

4 hours ago, ruxpin said:

The other high school I went to (Central High, Philly) claimed Bill Cosby. I actually got to meet Cosby when he visited the school (he actually left Central and transferred to Germantown after 10th grade), but yeah, I lead with Bryant. 

 

Neither Lower Merion nor Central are my alma mater.  Lower Merion, though, is the school district I grew up in and call home.    I moved around a little through high school.

It's killing me that his daughter, her classmate and another parent were with him.  Setting aside the fact that they were flying in a helicopter to a traveling team game for his kid, it's just beyond heartbreaking that he died being a dedicated parent.  

On 1/22/2020 at 3:26 PM, mojo1917 said:

That sucks...I'm guessing because it ended their title drought ?  It was a nothing shot played poorly by a career AHLer... oh well. At least they didn't make Brian Campbell's stick save on Jeff Carter the save of the century or some ****. 

 

Kane has scored about 100 goals prettier than that one.  

It was an OT Stanley cup winner that’s why. 

At at least Joe Carter actually hit the ball hard and fair and out of the park.  Kane barely flipped a shot at an AHL goalie who’d herniated a disc in his back in game 1 and didn’t tell anyone because he thought he could be a hero.  

On 1/21/2020 at 9:33 PM, radoran said:

 

Look, they just lost at home to a team playing the back end of a ROAD back to back.

 

It's the schedule.

 

It's injury.

 

It's this that and the other thing.

 

After 7 years it maybe just could be that this team isn't that good.

 

We'll find out over the next five weeks.

 

I believe they CAN do something here regardless of the various reasons they haven't yet.

 

But until they DO they're just the same team that hasn't yet.

If they were in the PAC, they’d be in first place.  

Yes, they lost at home (with a minor league goalie in net because AV isn’t insane with goalies like the past 3 coaches have been)  after taking the champs (who were still on fire) in St. Louis the night before.  They beat the Caps, gotnoutlast d by the on fire Bolts in a hard, tight one, then after the Habs loss, they handily took the Kings (as they should) and they took the Penguins (who couldn’t seem to lose). 

Giroux, Jake, JVR, TK and Coots are all putting up points fairly regularly. 

Moose has performed admirably and been steady with then inconvenient injury to Hart.  

They had a bad road trip which goes back to my major issue with the team and the bottom 6. 

Other than that, I just can’t see complaining about this team right now.  

I think we’ll see where things really are as the conference starts to play itself more regularly down the stretch offer the bye week. 

Raffl and Hart and Ghost get the extra time to heal up.  AV gets his pontoon boat and Martinis and maybe that’ll help him sort out dealing with not having last change.  

But at the All star Break they don’t need a miracle.  They need to work on a few things that they might be able to fix and might not, but overall, to not be pleased with the improvement is to have one’s vision clouded by spite and unrealistic expectations from where I sit.  

18 minutes ago, Podein25 said:

 

I've forgotten him. What was he, a 5th round pick out of China's Elite League or something? 

apparently it's my fingers' own personal Tourette's <HONG!>  symptom.  

See what I <HONG!> mean?

17 hours ago, ruxpin said:

I prefer "exploitable" the way you're framing it, myself. 

 

Exposed works too but slightly different. 

 

Anyway, very fair argument regarding the bottom six. Frankly, it's what you're going to get given the experience level and injuries.  

 

It's just going to be uneven and inconsistent with this many kids compounded by the injuries.   Anyone expecting much more than fighting for lower end playoff seed coming into the season was deluding themselves. 

 

It's a better team than we've been and will only get better as injuries heal (hopefully) and people continue to grow. 

 

The constant "sky is falling" hysterics is really becoming tiring (that's MY problem. People are welcome to their opinions). 

I'm with you on most of this, though I don't think most of us knew what was going on with Patrick until camp and they didn't announce what it actually was until the season started.  Then the whole Oskar thing is just a major wrench in the works (obviously more importantly for him and for his whole damn life than the team) but nonetheless, the point is, if the team enters the season and maintains having both those guys (remember Oskar was leading the team in goals), the bottom 6 has a completely different look.  Suddenly you're not relying on Raffl and Laughton for 15 minutes a night and secondary scoring.  

I think they're easily 2nd in the division with comfortable playoff hopes if Oskar and Patty were playing all year.  

As it is, top players can only safely play 20 minutes or so a night (and that's not really even that safe), so we have to roll 4 lines and right now the 3rd and 4th are a bit more scketchy... at least when AV can't control who they're out there against.  

On the hysterics... Amen... no, I mean AMEN!  

Overall, they're significantly better than they were last year and they don't need a miracle to make the playoffs, they just need to lose a bit less on the road.  That's it.  That really SHOULD be manageable.  

The main thing I feel like getting hysterical about this year is the damn schedule, which just seems absolutely insane with these back to backs.  I have no idea what the league is thinking, but frankly, I'm a little surprised, we're ONLY missing 7 players to injury right now (granted 3 of them can't be blamed on the schedule).  

19 hours ago, Podein25 said:

 

Lol, it is indeed. I should know. 

Of course it's also a sign of dementia, so... I make no guarantees.

15 hours ago, RonJeremy said:

I don’t see how you can say offense isn’t a problem. I agree that our bottom 6 leave us vulnerable, but we also have players in our top 6 who wait until January to start playing, we have other guys who are horribly inconsistent, they go 18 games without scoring , then they have 3 point nights, G , JVR and Jake are very hot and cold. We have lost more games  due to a lack of scoring than due to the defense. I can’t see how we wouldn’t be much higher in the standings if we could just score some more goals. We do not have a consistent offensive threat on this team.

I can say it because I straight up don’t agree with the idea that they’ve lost more games due to lack of scoring than to lack of defense.  If you have to score 5, 6 or even 7 goals to win, the defense is your problem. 

In those games it doesnt doesn’t matter if you lose 5-1 and G and Jake disappeared or if you lose 5-3 but heck at least Jake and JVR and G all got goals and are consistent.  That’s not a thing that works. 

Hot ot and cold is pretty much how the game goes and a lot of it has to do with the fact that other teams play strong defense too.  They can shut down good players some nights.  

That gets back to the matchup problem. 

Its an easy, old and worn worn out gripe to blame G and Jake and JVR for not caring or having heart or for taking games off. 

The other thing Hong I really REALLY hope everyone can keep in mind this year is that Oskar is a popular player in the room and a strong one on the ice and the fact of the matter is, they all basically know he’s off for a game of Russian roulette that could take months or the rest of his life.  

They’re professionals, but they’re also human.  They’re going to have to process this and frankly, I think the fact that they learned about it on the road is psychologically having a huge impact on their road mentality.  

1 hour ago, Podein25 said:

 

 

 

I'm sensing a theme.
 

And not to get too nitpicky, but I think the term you are really looking for is "exposed" (although I can see how both words kinda fit).

 

Anyway, carry on. Imma gonna go listen to The Exploited

Repetition is a rhetorical technique.  

I would still prefer exploited to exposed.   I believe they’ve been exposed, which is what enables teams (mostly on the road) to exploit the weakness. 

On 1/13/2020 at 7:51 PM, RonJeremy said:

We gotta find some scoring somehow, we have some skilled young guys in our system that should eventually become good scorers , but in the meantime  we have to face the facts the JVR, G and Jakes offense output will continue to diminish. Our defense is pretty good even without Ghost but our offense is pathetic. 

 

So is there a scorer on the trading block that we can get for Ghost?  I like Max Domi for Ghost, Domi adds offense and toughness two things we severely lack.

Is there a skilled goal scorer available in the draft where we can trade up, maybe hold on to Ghost  and use him in a package to move up.

Is there an UFA goal scorer we can sign, who wont turn into JVR and Jake when he hits 30?

There is no way we can go into next season with the same underachieving veterans. In tough games you expect the kids to get shutdown,  but our vets are not clutch at all except for Hayes.

 

 

If any NHL team has to regularly score 5 goals to win games, they’re just not going to win many games.  

When the Flyers give up a bunch of goals, and they don’t score a bunch more, the problem isn’t the bunch more they couldn’t get.  

So I’m sorry, but offense just isn’t the problem.  The injuries and illnesses to Nolan and Oskar have really screwed with the bottom six.  When the bottom six get exploited, the Flyers lose.  

What was was meant to be our 4th line or our 13th man is regularly filling in on the third.  Now with Raffl out again, they’re going to be even more exploitable once again. 

I really have trouble with how Misha and Ruby haven’t progressed.  Bunny, Andreoff, NAK are trying but they’re exploitable.  They’re just not solid bottom Sixers. 

Myers and Sanheim are also both still working out their own end kinks and are exploitable at times too.  

They didnt score against Tampa, but they only gave up 1 goal themselves and it was a very tight game against a great and hot team.  Other than that, their recent losses have been in games where they gave up 4,5 or 6 goals each time.  

Doesn't matter what your offense looks like. If you need to outscore that, you’re not winning a ton of games.  

They need to figure out how to make the bottom six a safer option for the stretches of the game where they need them.  

18 hours ago, Mad Dog said:

 

If this was just the numbers, I would've gladly looked the other way.  But something about the way he is playing this year is just off.  I can't put my finger on it, but he is just not himself this year.  In the previous years when he was not scoring, he was always hustling (he was one guy I didn't have to worry about playing hard), creating and making plays... And his passing has always been accurate.  This year, I don't see much of that at all.  And what bothers me the most, he seems to be taking shifts off and avoiding contact.  Not always.  Not even in every game.  But enough to make me wonder that there may be something going on with him that we don't know.

What's going on with him is that he has a new coach who has him playing differently.  

He's beginning plays and often controlling zone entries while the other guys get into position.  Then two or three passes later there's an opportunity.  

He's playing more of a point guard role and I don't see it as being a problem.  

He's had a quiet stretch, but before that he had 8 points in 10 games (half of which the team got beat soundly so you know he was trying when it was 'really' needed).

Now, Yes.  In Situations like the Tampa game... it would be nice if he figures out how to shake it off and make a goal happen.

That's kinda what you need to see happen from your stars/captains. But the fact that didn't happen in January annoys me mildly, but I don't see it as a grand scheme of things problem.  Coots couldn't do it either, and lately Coots is the guy who can step up and just make poop happen out of thin air.  it was a tight game against the hottest team over a recent stretch and one would hope in a playoff situation, that "get 'er done" mentality comes through a bit more.  But right now, I think it's usually more important to figure out what can be done on a more systematic level to compete more consistently.  

This team has a much larger fundamental problem in that it's bottom six really can't be trusted.  A lot of that has to do with Patrick and Lindblom being out, but the long and short of it really seems to be that when AV can control who the Bottom six are out there against (i.e. put them out against other bottom 6ers), it doesn't result in that many terrible goals against.  

But when the other team gets the chance to put out who they want against the bottom 6, it can get ugly fast.  

What's worse, the other teams know it now.  

And I'm not sure how it gets better because they've tried everyone even remotely possible for these roles and Fletcher spent right up against the cap, so they can't afford to bring anyone in to help.

I think it would help win a few games here and there if Therrien pulled his head out of the sand, put G on the LW side board and get the PP going, but I think the larger fundamental problem is that the bottom six can't hold their own against other teams top 6.

9 minutes ago, ruxpin said:

 

This is a good take, and one that I, myself, need to remember.

 

The truth is he has among the best corsi and fenwick on the team.  And he has less offensive zone starts and more defensive zone starts than Hayes, who is supposed to be two-way as well.

 

If he were to get his shooting percentage closer to his normal, there wouldn't be the discussion.   He's--very quietly--doing everything else.

Also... He's got 18 goals and 31 points and a plus 7.   It's not like he's producing horrible numbers!  

Yzerman scored less when the Redwings finally started winning cups.  

And you're definitely right about the "puck luck"  I think when it's this prolonged, it's more than luck, but it's not like he's slacking off out there.  

1 minute ago, ruxpin said:

 

Seriously, think about the other dynasties from that era:   Montreal and Islanders.   Other than the Habs in 93, what has either franchise done since those dynasties?   Similar happened to both.  It's actually kind of bizarre when you put them in that context and realize, but all three plummeted and have rarely bobbed back up.

The Redwings cups were a bit more spread out and could be attributed more to an approach to the entire game from management, to coaching to players than to a specific talent pool.  The Devils cups  in a historical context (forgive me) come down to Clutch and Grab and Brodeur.  The Blackhawks appear to mostly have been the right group at the right time (which has passed) and the same for the Kings teams.  

I will not even mention the other team that has won multiple cups in recent decades.  I don't want to get into a whole thing... and that will definitely get me into a whole thing.  

1 minute ago, ruxpin said:

 One in which they won a Cup. 

 

They've been almost consistently horrible since, with the exception of 2006.   But is that the direct result of the Gretsky trade, or is that just horrific ownership and management?  Is it just that the 80s Oilers were better players than executives?

This is the thing.  They won a cup right away without him (beat the Bruins and Andy Moog and our old Pal Reggie Lemelin I think) but in the years after, there was a cascade of players exiting (Messier, Coffey, Tikkanen, Kurri, Graves) and other guys started aging out (Huddy, Lowe, Fuhr) of their effectiveness and the organization got little in return for any of it.  They were an epic Dynasty and it's extremely difficult to have the lengthy run they did (based almost 100% on skill)  and be able to refuel yourself with talent so a few years of tanking was inevitable.  

Their managemenet has done little in 30 years though to take advantage. 

27 minutes ago, mojo1917 said:

Gretzky was traded. So it's not like ZOMG can't trade G...the scenario where the team is actually better in the short to medium term is hard for me to imagine. Also, after that trade EDM wasn't a juggernaut any longer. they had two more decent years and then they've been in the wilderness since.

So there would need to be better luck with whatever high draft pick(s) the team gets and the pu-pu platter of players would be a bunch of "those guys" that would ultimately become footnotes.

The team would be different for certain.

I think it would need a lot of shrewd drafting and other deal making to make a trade with Giroux successful. 

 

 

Didn't the Oilers win the cup the next year?  

Anyway, Trading Giroux is no path to making this team better.  He's not putting up huge numbers, but I think too many people are watching the stat sheets and seeing the problem and not noticing how much he does in the games.  

He's often the guy who starts the play that three other guys get the points on.  His shooting % is oddly terrible this year, but  he's dominant in generating opportunities and driving the play.

The line with him and Hayes and TK got a goal, but gave up (I think) three last night, so maybe that doesn't need to continue, but as far as I'm concerned, very little good can come out of trading Giroux.  

On 1/13/2020 at 10:15 AM, RonJeremy said:

What are the buyout rules for the Flyers? Do we buyout one of our overpaid stiffs and free up cap space to go after an UFA? I know we need to keep one stiff to expose for the expansion draft. So do we buyout JVR and keep Jake for the expansion draft. Theres no point in paying guys 8 million to never score, we can call up some young cheaper guys to do the same thing.

Can't Buyout anyone until Summer.

JVR's buyout would be weird and would take 6 years. 

You could do it, but it jumps oddly after the first two years of a just under $3million cap hit and the third year his cap it is almost 5 million. Then it drops below 2 for the last 3 years.  

Doing the above could make resigning Hart, Sanheim and Myers a bit easier, but it's not a key to doing so AND bringing in a new guy.

As far as we know, with Fletcher, it might already be part of the plan.  

27 minutes ago, radoran said:

 

There's no doubt that last change is a significant part of the situation.

 

I'd offer another about the "dominant" home team - they haven't played a lot of "good" teams at home so far.

 

Teams with fewer points rightnow: CLS (W), CGY (L), MON (W), ARI (L), OTT (W), ANH (W), BUF (W), NYR (W), VAN (W), DET (W)

 

Teams with more/same points rightnow: DAL (L), VGK (W), TOR (L), CAR (W), WAS (L), NYI (L), TOR (W),

 

That's a lot of Ws against teams with fewer points than them and a losing record against teams with the same or more points (this is going off Yahoo's Schedule which doesn't immediately show whether it's an OTL).

 

Couple that with the problems with matchups you identify on the road  and that they just went 1-2 against the bottom three teams in the West. If those sorts of teams can exploit matchups this doesn't bode well for getting out of the first round without home ice advantage (presuming they hold on to the 8 seed and/or improve).

 

Things are definitely "better" but there is a lot more to improve upon.

 

I mean 2 home losses at this point in the season is a bit more than just playing bad teams.  

But you’ve got a good point and both our points are likely contributors.  

Losing to bad  west coast teams this badly though... that’s got to stop.  They’ve got to have the tools for that. 

3 minutes ago, mojo1917 said:

These are decent points.

I'm having trouble believing you didn't throw up in your mouth typing them especially writing anything complimentary to JvR.

 

Like I said I hadn't heard about the situation you're referencing, and was basing my  point on past sacrifices and moves.

Maybe Giroux's over it, **** it, it was a good run

 

 

30 minutes ago, OccamsRazor said:

 

Sure if i'm the Captain you must sacrifice for the sake of the team.

 

Team goals ahead of personal ones especially to help get a friend going??

 

Yes most Captain would.

 

 

We''ll never know Giroux didn't acquiesce.

 

 

Well he is a 30 goal scorer and when a team is struggling to score goals getting him going should be key.

 

Giroux is not a goal scorer right one goal in the last 6 games is not a goal scorer. So as i said getting my 30 goal scorer going should help ease the burden on the whole team especially when this was Lindblom and TK were out the lineup.

The other point I'd like to make is that (sorry Occam, no pun intended) I don't think we're seeing the simpler solution.  

They are a dominant home team despite the fact that we keep hearing about how there are so many empty seats.

They are a pretty bad road team.

To me the simplest solution is that not having that control of the matchups is taking a toll on them.  Maybe they don't like hotels, maybe they drink too much on the plane, maybe G misses his bride and baby and maybe, they're jet lagged... or maybe teams are just getting the matchups they want instead of AV getting the matchups he wants.  

The fact that they've been playing through so many injuries and don't have the depth that they had when they were really hitting their strike bears this out to me.   

I think teams are simply able to exploit the Flyers weaknesses the way they want to.  

The Kings game doesn't bear this out simply because so many of the goals were on special teams. But the Sharks game certainly does.