yave1964 Posted August 31, 2013 Share Posted August 31, 2013 my take on the 2013-14 Philadelphia Flyers Wow what a wretched season these guys just had. A locked out shortened season still could not have ended quick enough as the Flyers stumbled and bumbled through a wretched season. Bryz was inept, actually inept people are offended at the inference of being the same as category. Couturier had a bad sophomore season, Hartnell looked old and Briere was out of sync as well. Enough. I could go through the entire roster with three or four exceptions and point fingers at where it all went wrong. But Flyers fans should be able to remove the fingers from their eyes and look ahead to the 201314 season. Forgetting salary, strictly looking at roster additions and subtractions you have Gone Bryzgalov which is addition by subtraction Gone A bunch of 30 somethings (Huskins, Foster, Knuble, Boucher, Shelley and Lilja) who were taking up space Gone Briere He had his day but the day was done. Enter Lecavalier Still plenty in the tank as a top six forward Ray Emery along with Steve Mason will be an upgrade in net Mark Streit A power play specialist who can play big minutes on the blue line So deadwood cleared out, goaltending (The biggest weakness) rebuilt and quality talent infused. Overall, a solid offseason. Forwards are led by Giroux and Voracek who of course developed into the player predicted five minutes after the Jackets let him go. Lecavalier, Simmonds, Couturier, Read, Brayden Schenn, Hartnell and likely Max Talbot form a solid talented top three lines. Very skilled bunch. The fourth line is bad, make no mistake the hope is a few kids (Akeson? McGinn?) step up with fan favorite Rinaldo but more than likely it will be Jay Rosehill and Adam Hall who have been found wanting in a half dozen organizations or more before the stop in Philly. Defense, Streit and Tomonen would make an interesting top pair, Timonen can push the puck and Steit can flat out shoot, but they ill likely be split up and paied with stay at home d-men so they split the offense up. Luke Schenn continues to develop nicely and Grossman and Coburn are serviceable, the club hopes Mesjaros can come back this year. A few medium tier prospects like Manning and Bourdon are hanging around, the hopes are Bruno Gervais goes away and never has to appear in another game in a Flyer uniform. In net Mason hopes his first season away from Columbus gives him a chance to get his head on straight, and Ray Emery late of the Stanley Cup champion Hawks combines to form a solid one two punch, pushing each other as he did with Crawford. As mentioned, it is an upgrade. Then again, in many ways so is an empty net. I see the Flyers as a solid playoff team, with the Rangers competing for second place within their division. I do not believe the team is quite in the short list of teams that deserve mentioning as a cup favorite, but anything can happen in the post season so you never know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyercanuck Posted August 31, 2013 Share Posted August 31, 2013 @yave1964 Scott Laughton could force his way onto this team as well. He sure looked NHL ready all last season and was the Shwas best player in postseason. The D just needs to remain healthy and they'll be better. Good riddance Bruno G https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENMOwXwRTZU 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idahophilly Posted August 31, 2013 Share Posted August 31, 2013 I hope we are flying high again. Last year was debacle ! I'm not looking this up for lack of time but didn't they have 5 out of 6 guys playing who where AHL/Rookies at one point. I know I was telling a casual fan "yep, Flyers lost another one today"... Then we had the Universe ending Bryz-aster and sophomore slumps from just about everyone, even when it wasnt a sophomore year for some of them. Throw in short season in which it is nearly impossible to recover and we got we got.... But, ...............This season looks better... Really, it does in every way as mentioned above. No sarcasm.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doom88 Posted August 31, 2013 Share Posted August 31, 2013 Lavy will actually have a training camp to install the system changes that were taught on the fly last season. That alone should help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pilldoc Posted August 31, 2013 Share Posted August 31, 2013 Enough of the summer! Bring on training camp! I too am cautiously optimistic. Though I like the changes that have been made, I still shudder what we have on the blue line. Kimmo is going to be one step slower and Mez is as fragile as a china doll. Coburn needs to recover from last year. I agree Striet can shoot but he is 35+. The addition of Vinny has me extremely curious to see what type of chemistry he can generate with someone. I am looking forward to seeing him and Roo on some PP time. As far as Mason and Emery. Anything his better than the disaster we had in net last year. Overall I am looking forward to the new season. I am looking back into the groove of talking hockey with everyone and see everyone in game chat. I see so many new faces here. Can't wait to see all you guys in game chat and getting to know the knew guys. Gonna be a fun year. BRING ON TRAINING CAMP!!!!!!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jammer2 Posted August 31, 2013 Share Posted August 31, 2013 @idahophilly I love the new avatar, but I don't even know which league it's from? Where did you find that little gem, very cool! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jammer2 Posted August 31, 2013 Share Posted August 31, 2013 @pilldoc I miss the game chat!! This off season, with no playoffs etc has been longer than any previous one in recent memory! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Knut Posted September 1, 2013 Share Posted September 1, 2013 (edited) The two biggest factors that screwed up last year IMHO were: -Homer putting all his eegs in a three baskets he couldn't hope to get and losing Carle in the process, - followed by Mezo being so damn injured all the time. Suddenly we had coburn trying to make crisp clean first passes and Timmo trying to take the body all the time. Unsurprisingly that didn't work. The result was more and more injuries and a defense that was usually out of position and relatively incapable of launching a clean attack from inside their own end. Adter a very rocky start, The team ended up ok on special teams for most of the year, it was 5 on 5 that they couldn't seem to compete.The youth movement at the end of the season on defense was a positive sign, suggesting that if people play to their strengths, they might be okay. Streit should help as well leaving Coby and Timmo to pair up again and let each do his own thing that those two do best together. Edited September 1, 2013 by King Knut Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radoran Posted September 1, 2013 Share Posted September 1, 2013 The two biggest factors that screwed up last year IMHO were: -Homer putting all his eegs in a three baskets he couldn't hope to get and losing Carle in the process, - followed by Mezo being so damn injured all the time. Homer's the kind of high-risk, high-reward gambler that keeps Vegas in business. His GM "hockey name" should be "whale." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idahophilly Posted September 1, 2013 Share Posted September 1, 2013 @idahophilly I love the new avatar, but I don't even know which league it's from? Where did you find that little gem, very cool!It's not from a league. It's just from my collection of travel/transportation memorobilia and needed some item that was Pennsylvania related. I can get you a pretty high res jpeg if you want one.... Good to here from you Jammer. Been a long road back... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sekkes85 Posted September 1, 2013 Share Posted September 1, 2013 The fourth line is bad, make no mistake the hope is a few kids (Akeson? McGinn?) step up with fan favorite Rinaldo but more than likely it will be Jay Rosehill and Adam Hall who have been found wanting in a half dozen organizations or more before the stop in Philly. The fourth line is bad? Having a guy like Rinaldo on the 4th line (I wouldn't be surprised to see him get some PK and 3rd line minutes), Adam Hall (solid FO% at 59%) and McGinn or whoever they place there can throw their body around and provide solid energy. Akeson won't be on the 4th line. He's a pure goal scorer that would be wasted on the 4th line, not to mention he has a lack of defensive responsibility which is something you don't want well anywhere. I'm honestly more concerned with the "goal scorers" not producing than I am the 4th line. I think that is actually a strong line and could potentially be one of the finer energy lines in the league. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murraycraven Posted September 1, 2013 Share Posted September 1, 2013 I look at this in a very simplistic manner... If the defense is not healthy we go nowhere again. Grossman , Kimmo and Coburn need to be on the ice for this team to have a shot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radoran Posted September 1, 2013 Share Posted September 1, 2013 I look at this in a very simplistic manner... If the defense is not healthy we go nowhere again. Grossman , Kimmo and Coburn need to be on the ice for this team to have a shot. This team should make the playoffs easily. Of course, they should have made the playoffs last year, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jammer2 Posted September 1, 2013 Share Posted September 1, 2013 @idahophilly Good to see you around bro!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murraycraven Posted September 1, 2013 Share Posted September 1, 2013 Agree rad... But the injuries on defense are a major concern. I know this goes for every team but this group just concerns me... If Mezz is healthy I think this team can do some damage honestly. Playoffs are a near sure thing to me but if the defense can remain healthy and Mezz plays I think this group can make a run. Cant wait for camp! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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