Game 37: Philadelphia Flyers at Los Angeles Kings; 12/31/22 @ 4 PM, NBCSP

[Howie58]

Greetings:

 

Well, we end the calendar year in Los Angeles, an "Original Expansion" matchup.  The Kings are favored (-225), which seems overdone:

https://www.docsports.com/free-picks/nhl-hockey/2022/philadelphia-flyers-vs-los-angeles-kings-prediction-12-31-2022-nhl-picks-best-bets-odds.html

 

It looks like Quick versus Hart between the pipes.  Quick's 3.41 GAA versus Copley's 2.58 tells me Jonathan's best days may be gone.  Meanwhile, faceoffs and goal scoring are the big LA pluses head-to-head:

https://www.nhl.com/gamecenter/phi-vs-lak/2022/12/31/2022020581

 

Happy New Year to the gang.  As for 2023, I think of what John Lennon sang years ago..."Let's hope it's a good one...without any fear."

 

 

 

 

Edited December 30, 2022 by Howie58

[flyercanuck]

47 minutes ago, Howie58 said:

  As for 2023, I think of what John Lennon sang years ago..."Let's hope it's a good one...without any fear."

 

 

Happy New Year Howie. 

 

And I'm no McCartney fan, but he did write...

 

When I get to the bottom

I go back to the top of the slide, 

Where I stop and turn

And go for a ride

Till i get to the bottom and I see you again

Yeah, yeah, yeah

Do you, dont you want Connor Bedard?

 

 

[Howie58]

12 minutes ago, flyercanuck said:

 

Happy New Year Howie. 

 

And I'm no McCartney fan, but he did write...

 

When I get to the bottom

I go back to the top of the slide, 

Where I stop and turn

And go for a ride

Till i get to the bottom and I see you again

Yeah, yeah, yeah

Do you, dont you want Connor Bedard?

 

 

Dear FC:  We will make you Poet Laureate for the board!  Have a wonderful New Year!

[fan4ever]

Happy New Year Everyone!!!!

 

Here's hoping 2023 is better for all of us!!!

 

Cheers!!!

 

[GratefulFlyers]

In San Jose the Flyers skated as if they’d skipped the holiday and practiced instead. Seriously. I know they’re not allowed to do that but they looked good and not just “for the Flyers.“ Ersson had a great night. Konecny too. Hopefully Hart is feeling fine and plays well. 

…from the SJ game thread bc nobody watched the game except for me and @Howie58. I know no one gets tired of hearing what a great pickup Hayes was…

a word about our $7.1mil man…

No surprise to see how slow he is but wow it is so much more noticeable when the rest of the skaters are all going good. Whenever he’s on the ice the pace takes a big hit and ultimately breaks down. Any other player I’d call it rust from the layoff but with Hayes it’s his usual. Most nights he’s at least in the offensive mix but not last night last night he was a monkey wrench. 
 

Maybe today he’s not such a f—ing drag on the team.

[flyercanuck]

2 minutes ago, GratefulFlyers said:

Maybe today he’s not such a f—ing drag on the team.

 

It's funny how his TWO previous employers felt exactly this about Hayes...And Fletcher thinks this is the guy to build the team around!

[GratefulFlyers]

I swear sometimes I think Fletcher (and Co.) purposely sabotaged the Flyers. Hayes, Ristolainen, the Gostisbehere debacle…
 

So maybe if your heart is set on having Hayes or Ristolainen you take a 1-year gamble and if the player balks at that you move on. But no, Fletcher commits the Flyers to these clowns…and then gives away multiple assets just to get rid of a player…it’s beyond words how stupid those moves were. 

[Samifan]

1 hour ago, GratefulFlyers said:

Hopefully Hart is feeling fine and plays well.

IMO, they shouldn’t be rushing Hart back. It’s only been 8 days since he got his clocked cleaned (thanks Risto). No need for him to play during this road trip.

 

How many times have we seen the Flyers rush a player back from injury too soon, only to watch them go back out for a longer period of time? No need to kill the franchise goalie. Give Ersson more starts and knock the rust of Sandstrom.

 

[flyercanuck]

8 minutes ago, Samifan said:

IMO, they shouldn’t be rushing Hart back. It’s only been 8 days since he got his clocked cleaned (thanks Risto). No need for him to play during this road trip.

 

How many times have we seen the Flyers rush a player back from injury too soon, only to watch them go back out for a longer period of time? No need to kill the franchise goalie. Give Ersson more starts and knock the rust of Sandstrom.

 

 

[Howie58]

3 hours ago, Samifan said:

IMO, they shouldn’t be rushing Hart back. It’s only been 8 days since he got his clocked cleaned (thanks Risto). No need for him to play during this road trip.

 

How many times have we seen the Flyers rush a player back from injury too soon, only to watch them go back out for a longer period of time? No need to kill the franchise goalie. Give Ersson more starts and knock the rust of Sandstrom.

 

Well, they listened. Ersson has played well but they are down 2-1 after 1. The team is skating well. Puck movement of late is the best I've seen in years. Even the PP is showing life. Agreed, it may hurt us in draft.

 

 

[Howie58]

We are becoming shorthanded experts. Noah on it this time. 

 

We may have a mini-goalie controversy: Errson versus Sandstrom. 

[GratefulFlyers]

It's Ersson for my money. He had the better camp for sure and he just looks solid, ahead of the play.

 

What a goal by Cates. ... from the point! Great time for a SH goal and the GWer. Cates hadn't scored in 20 games before tonight.

 

First 2-game win streak since early November I believe. 2 games in a row! This is the year we celebrate small wins...

[Samifan]

Wow, 2 wins in a row. Ersson looked good in the third after giving up two goals he probably should have had.

 

This team works for the entire 60 minutes regardless of the result. 

[GratefulFlyers]

25 minutes ago, Howie58 said:

Puck movement of late is the best I've seen in years.

 

Excellent observation - it's been stagnant esp on the PP for years. Tonight they had great puck management too. A few turnovers like most teams have per game - but not the half-dozen huge gaffs we were seeing every night.

 

Tippett is looking like a true goal scorer and his defense is good too. I liked him right away because he wasn't afraid to shoot, and lately, the past few weeks he's shooting with confidence in a big way.

 

and I suppose I should give credit where credit's due - the Big Blockhead had a few really strong shot-blocks tonight; he came up big more than once when the Kings had the Flyers hemmed in.

 

 

 

Edited December 31, 2022 by GratefulFlyers

[GrittyForever]

Well there ya go, a nice solid road win. I enjoyed it. 

[flyercanuck]

10 hours ago, GrittyForever said:

Well there ya go, a nice solid road win. I enjoyed it. 

 

I'd enjoy watching this guy in orange and black a hell of a lot more.

[Howie58]

This game will make people wonder about the tradeoffs between a full-on tanking model versus improvement on the fly. That's particularly true for a squad in cap hell due to CF. I get it. 

 

If nothing else, Torts is auditioning and we mold the saving remnant. As a viewer, I am happy the 8-2 blowouts may be a thing of the past. 

 

[Samifan]

1 hour ago, Howie58 said:

If nothing else, Torts is auditioning and we mold the saving remnant. As a viewer, I am happy the 8-2 blowouts may be a thing of the past. 

Agreed. Despite the lack of talent the are competing for 60 minutes most nights. Grinding out these type of wins will do wonders for those who remain standing come next season. 
 

I do not have faith that Fletcher will be removed from his position at any point, regardless of their record. 
 

The Flyers could go 0-82 and they still won’t get the first pick. Bettman hates the franchise. He always has and always will so you know he will be in the room when the ping pong balls are drawn.

[OccamsRazor]

17 hours ago, Howie58 said:

We may have a mini-goalie controversy: Errson versus Sandstrom. 

 

Well this is the reason the Flyers were apprehensive on even signed Sandstrom because many of the scouts already thought Errson was the better goalie and many viewed Sandstrom as nothing more than a backup goalie.

 

So you could see Felix moved later in some deal by the new GM. But all of that too depends on what ever becomes of their other goalie prospects.

 

Namely Ivan Fedotov at one point it was considered to be a log jam at that position but Fedotov is missing in action and Ustimenko (back in KHL)they seem to given up on and he could never stay healthy.

 

Matej Tomek is only 25 and is in the Czech but playing well.

 

Then you have Alexei Kolosov is starting for Belarus in the World Juniors he is 2-0 with 928% and maybe a few years away.

 

So yeah Errson might just push Felix out the door by next season. 

[Samifan]

12 minutes ago, OccamsRazor said:

So yeah Errson might just push Felix out the door by next season. 

I read that Sandstrom would have to clear waivers to go to the A, while Ersson does not. Once Hart is healthy, Ersson will be the one getting waived unless the Flyers brass doesn’t care about potentially losing Sandstrom to the waiver process.

 

Can someone remind me what Ersson’s injury was last season? Does he have that “injury prone” label?  Thanks

Edited January 1, 2023 by Samifan

[OccamsRazor]

6 minutes ago, Samifan said:

I read that Sandstrom would have to clear waivers to go to the A, while Ersson does not.

 

Yeah that is why i mentioned after the season he is only signed for this season but Flyers could just sign and trade him or even just include his rights in a trade or just walk away as a whole but wouldn't make since to waive him now in fact he may help them get closer to Bedard than Ersson would because Errson would win more games.

[flyer4ever]

23 hours ago, flyercanuck said:

 

This was maybe the best concert I was ever privileged to see. What a great night. I think a few special strains were involved !

The Flyers are officially a trap game for their opponents. Every one of these wins pushes back the date of being a genuine real compete for a cup NHL team.

[flyercanuck]

18 minutes ago, flyer4ever said:

This was maybe the best concert I was ever privileged to see. What a great night. I think a few special strains were involved !

The Flyers are officially a trap game for their opponents. Every one of these wins pushes back the date of being a genuine real compete for a cup NHL team.

 

Saw it at Kingswood...you too?

[GrittyForever]

8 hours ago, flyercanuck said:

 

I'd enjoy watching this guy in orange and black a hell of a lot more.

As we all would. As every bad team would. But it's pretty unlikely. 

 

If it's rigged, he will definitely end up in Chicago because the league would like that. Probably where he ends up even if it's not rigged. 

 

I think rebuilding a culture (which we are supposedly doing) is better  than tanking for one guy. It did not work well for Buffalo at all and Edmonton is decent but not great despite having McDavid. It's difficult to manage a cap team with super superstars that eventually need massive contracts. Leaves you nothing to build the rest of the team. Just look at how Toronto can never find a way to get over the hump with all that Marner and Matthews money going out. And then there are the (possible) busts. Rangers go 2, count 'em 2!  lottery wins and neither seem like they're going to be dominant players. That's obviously not Bedard, he's about as sure fire as it gets, and it would be great to get him, but there are other ways to become a dominant team. 

[Howie58]

I was reflecting on the goalie situation this AM.  We seem to have tackled the goalie situation doing it the right way.  Starting with Hextall, we've been accumulating draft picks, grooming them, and yes...maybe lucked out.  Maybe we are seeing this to some degree with D and forwards, but the results are still in the offing, and if you believe the mavens, our farm system isn't well-stocked.   Maybe that changes over time, particularly if we have a GM who doesn't trade away the coin-of-the-realm to obtain mediocrity, as Grateful notes a few posts ago.

Edited January 1, 2023 by Howie58