Game 22: Philadelphia Flyers at New York Islanders; 11/26/22 at 7:30 PM, NBCSP

[flyer4ever]

Maybe we can convince Elon Musk to buy the Flyers  from Comcast and then BITFU like he did to twitter. It is currently the only conceivable way this gets fixed in the next 5 years. Right now the hockey ops has very little value. I can't believe Torts took this on. I thought he was smarter than this. The chucktard has done a number on the Flyers and nobody seems to GAF.

[ruxpin]

22 hours ago, mkscrewy said:

Here’s what Chuck has done to this team: last Black Friday and Saturday I sold over 2 dozen shirts on Etsy. This year: zero. Thanks, Chuck. 

 

Maybe sell this one.

 

 

[OccamsRazor]

3 hours ago, FD19372 said:

the two year old franchise, known as the Seattle Kraken, are a better, more talented hockey team,

 

Yep there is the Flyers waaaaay at the bottom.

 

[GrittyForever]

6 hours ago, flyercanuck said:

 

They're going to suck next year anyway. And the year after. It's going to take 5 years AFTER Fletcher and co. are gone to dig the team out of this steaming pile of shite they've put us in.

5 years would seem to imply further ineptitude. 

Even Ristolainen is off the books before 5 years is up. Farabee and Sanheim could be the only current players on the 5 year from now roster. If a post Fletcher regime does things differently we will be a very different team then. 

I don't expect things to change instantly, but incrementally it's possible if the culture is firmly established. It will take time, but it could be less than 5 years. 

[radoran]

10 minutes ago, GrittyForever said:

It will take time, but it could be less than 5 years. 

 

If I had time, I could probably dig up quotes from contemporary posters saying the same thing when Hextall was brought in.

 

And Fletcher for that matter.

 

There's nobody on this roster outside of Hart that anyone should be overly concerned with still being on the roster next year to say nothing of five years from now.

 

This roster is so full of role players it resembles a general call for actors in Los Angeles.

 

And most of them wouldn't get the part.

[GratefulFlyers]

Whether it’s 5 years or 2 or 3 the clock starts when they replace the GM. The sooner the better. Until then we’re stuck with this AHL / Reject squad posing as an NHL team that Fletcher put together. 

 

Meanwhile I’ll keep watching, waiting for the surprises, when the few players who are talented make some plays. Or to see Zack MacEwen take it 200 feet and force Jarry to make his best save of the night. That one play made the beatdown almost worth watching. 

[Howie58]

6 hours ago, OccamsRazor said:

 

Yep there is the Flyers waaaaay at the bottom.

Yep, and they are coached by our much-maligned Dave Hakstol....

6 hours ago, OccamsRazor said:

 

 

[GrittyForever]

2 hours ago, radoran said:

 

If I had time, I could probably dig up quotes from contemporary posters saying the same thing when Hextall was brought in.

 

And Fletcher for that matter.

 

There's nobody on this roster outside of Hart that anyone should be overly concerned with still being on the roster next year to say nothing of five years from now.

 

This roster is so full of role players it resembles a general call for actors in Los Angeles.

 

And most of them wouldn't get the part.

You know, I thought Hextall was doing a pretty good job until he signed JVR. That move left me head scratching and it all fell apart shortly thereafter. He seems to be doing okay in Pittsburgh. maybe firing him was a big mistake? 

 

 

[flyercanuck]

9 hours ago, GrittyForever said:

You know, I thought Hextall was doing a pretty good job until he signed JVR. That move left me head scratching and it all fell apart shortly thereafter. He seems to be doing okay in Pittsburgh. maybe firing him was a big mistake? 

 

 

 

JVR was sooooooo UnHextall type that I'll guess Homer put him up to that signing. You know...ex-Flyer...gotta have him!

[radoran]

12 hours ago, GratefulFlyers said:

Or to see Zack MacEwen take it 200 feet and force Jarry to make his best save of the night. That one play made the beatdown almost worth watching. 

 

See, I can get what you are saying.

 

What I'm saying is that there are more talented players, making better plays, on better teams, in better games.

 

A 26-year-old journeyman waiver wire pickup making a play and almost scoring being the most exciting thing that happens in a Flyers game is just... sad.

 

I'm not at all telling you not to watch or criticizing you for doing so. I'm just expressing why I'm not. I've checked in to games, but what used to be appointment television isn't any more.

[GratefulFlyers]

5 hours ago, radoran said:

A 26-year-old journeyman waiver wire pickup making a play and almost scoring being the most exciting thing that happens in a Flyers game is just... sad.

Yes it was truly sad. That scoring drive, even w/out the goal, stood out not only bc it was MacEwen* but bc it was a glaring (and embarrassing) contrast to every other shift taken by Flyers’ skaters that night. To their credit the team played with good energy the next game in NY. 

*One of the few feel-good stories about the Flyers this year is the emergence of MacEwen as a legit top 9 fwd. He’s no longer the one-dimensional agitator/tough guy he once was. 
 

Thank god nobody is scouting the Flyers this year otherwise Fletcher would trade him (plus a 2R if there’s any left) for the first overpaid, washed-up drek that he’s offered. And then I’d really have no good reason to watch the Flyers this year.

[GratefulFlyers]

6 hours ago, radoran said:

What I'm saying is that there are more talented players, making better plays, on better teams, in better games.

Of course and I enjoy watching them too. But my favorite team is the Flyers so I watch them the most. Just because the team sucks this year doesn’t mean I quit watching. I can (mostly) understand dropping them until they get better. Nobody  wants to watch NHL Suckage. But it isn’t all suckage all the time. That was last year. 

[radoran]

2 hours ago, GratefulFlyers said:

Just because the team sucks this year doesn’t mean I quit watching.

 

Oh, it ain't just this year

 

It's not something I'm particularly happy about. It's just crystal clear that they have no idea how to compete in the capped league that they insisted had to be and sacrificed a year and a half of hockey to get.

 

It'd be comical if it weren't so tragic.

 

We take you now to a Flyers executive suite strategy and planning session.

 

[ruxpin]

5 hours ago, GratefulFlyers said:

Just because the team sucks this [decade]

Fixed it. It's literally been 10 years.

 

 

[radoran]

23 minutes ago, ruxpin said:

Fixed it. It's literally been 10 years.

 

Still waiting for the "won the trades" banner raising.

 

Oh, no, wait they did put Homer in the Hall of Fame.

 

Not Simpson and the TV Hall, no. The worst coach, middling player, and failed GM.

 

At least he was after the guy who is an icon for a different team.

[GrittyForever]

13 hours ago, flyercanuck said:

 

JVR was sooooooo UnHextall type that I'll guess Homer put him up to that signing. You know...ex-Flyer...gotta have him!

That was my feeling too. I think they were getting impatient and Hextall and them were butting heads over the timeline (playing Hart as well). It was a really dumb move. 

[radoran]

8 hours ago, GrittyForever said:

That was my feeling too. I think they were getting impatient and Hextall and them were butting heads over the timeline (playing Hart as well). It was a really dumb move. 

 

The impatience is the problem. They want to declare that they are "definitely a playoff team" and then act accordingly.

 

The #2 overall UFA available that year was JVR. For a "definitely a playoff" team, you add a scoring winger to bolster your "definitely a playoff team" roster and get you closer to over the hump.

 

The problem is that the Flyers were not "definitely a playoff team" and were not a top UFA away from competition.

 

Their inability - refusal - to see this has crippled the franchise over the past decade.

 

They were a Pronger away. Then a JVR away. Then Niskanen. Then Hayes, Ellis, Ristolainen, Atkinson...

 

The franchise under the current leadership is rock solid convinced that they are thisclose to competing for the Stanley Cup every year. It's now 13 years since the last Finals appearance, with three total playoff round wins over that time. The "definitely a playoff team" has missed the playoffs more times than they've won a playoff round.

 

And they talk about "aggressively retooling" a roster that was 25-46-11 and is on its... fifth? 10-game losing streak in the past few years, $14M sitting on IR with another ~$6M mysteriously missing.

 

Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

 

I'm sure the next guy will fix it.

[GratefulFlyers]

4 minutes ago, radoran said:

I'm sure the next guy will fix it.

 

Do I detect the familiar ring of "until Clarke, Holmgren etc. are gone..." or is this just frustration?

 

The next guy will be better than this guy, which is not saying much of course. Fletcher has been so bad - and unlucky - that any change will be an improvement.

 

But I hope long-time fans like yourself will keep a glimmer of hope that a new GM can right the ship, regardless what happens (or doesn't happen) in the VP lounge.

[mojo1917]

(3) 10-game losing streaks under the current general manager.

Since the beginning of last season 29% of the time the Flyers have been in the midst of historic losing.

"You're doing a great job Brownie".

holy ****, I'm making my belly hurt with this.

 

 

Edited November 29, 2022 by mojo1917

[SCFlyguy]

2 hours ago, GratefulFlyers said:

any change will be an improvement

No.

[GrittyForever]

8 hours ago, radoran said:

 

The impatience is the problem. They want to declare that they are "definitely a playoff team" and then act accordingly.

 

The #2 overall UFA available that year was JVR. For a "definitely a playoff" team, you add a scoring winger to bolster your "definitely a playoff team" roster and get you closer to over the hump.

 

The problem is that the Flyers were not "definitely a playoff team" and were not a top UFA away from competition.

 

Their inability - refusal - to see this has crippled the franchise over the past decade.

 

They were a Pronger away. Then a JVR away. Then Niskanen. Then Hayes, Ellis, Ristolainen, Atkinson...

 

The franchise under the current leadership is rock solid convinced that they are thisclose to competing for the Stanley Cup every year. It's now 13 years since the last Finals appearance, with three total playoff round wins over that time. The "definitely a playoff team" has missed the playoffs more times than they've won a playoff round.

 

And they talk about "aggressively retooling" a roster that was 25-46-11 and is on its... fifth? 10-game losing streak in the past few years, $14M sitting on IR with another ~$6M mysteriously missing.

 

Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

 

I'm sure the next guy will fix it.

Yes, when Hextall came in it seemed like a shift to a build through the draft mentality. Cap got cleaned up until he went the JVR route and they reversed it again, with that impatience. Poor drafting is a whole other problem, but you can't keep switching plans or pretty soon there is no plan, as we see how we got here. 

 

There is only one plan:

1. Create a hard working culture and a solid team identity (possibly a work in progress)

2. Draft and draft well. Build piece by piece inserting these people into that culture

3. Maybe when you're actually a playoff team again add a few free agents, mostly key role players (look at Tampa for example) and then you're there. 

 

Anything else is unlikely to succeed and you'd have to get extremely lucky.