AlaskaFlyerFan Posted March 28, 2015 Share Posted March 28, 2015 Strong work, AJgoal!! Great write-up!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JagerMeister Posted March 28, 2015 Share Posted March 28, 2015 Hey folks. First thing, big thanks to @Poulin20 for generously giving me one of his tickets to attend the event tonight. I will be providing my report in sections to make sure I can cover everything. In each case I'm summarizing rather than repeating verbatim what was said. I was in group C. Our first speaker was Berube. He started off by thanking everyone and acknowledging that it had been a tough year, and that the fans wanted to win as much as the team did. What was the difference between this year and last year? Berube pointed to the road record as one of the biggest reasons as to why the team is out of the playoffs. He said that the home record was one of the best in the league, but you have to have a good road record to get into the playoffs and the Flyers struggled there. Our PK has been one of the best in the league over the past few years, but was down this year. How did that happen and how do you fix it? Berube ackowledged that the PK had been poor this season, but pointed to improvements recently, saying though that once you dig that hole in the beginning of the year it's hard to dig out of from a percentage standpoint. He said that it was hard to put a finger on one thing, from not making saves to players not necessarily killing the right way, and too that they had some different PK personnel. He said that Timonen and Hall were good for the PK last year. He said that it was one big reason for their poor road record, you need to be able to kill penalties on the road. He said it was fixable and that since December it'd improved. How do you reconcile the Flyers' records against good and bad teams? He said that the team knows when they're playing a good hockey team, and what kind of hockey they have to play. Sometimes you don't get up against some other teams the same way. He also cited getting shut out by a good game by a goalie, it's hard to point to one thing. He cited the Toronto game where they put up 50 shots and were shutout. That Toronto game was a rarity, often seems like the team is making one too many passes. How do you combat that? He said they preach putting shots on net, and the team's shot totals are up this year. The difference is that last year they were finding ways to win, and they can't lose to sub-.500 teams and have a poor road record. What's the biggest difference between being an assistant and being the head coach? He said that you're responsible for everything. Players, coaches, and everything that needs to be looked after. You have to keep the players happy, and you also have to keep them playing their best. As an assistant you're usually just responsible for one or two things. Steve Mason was having a pretty good season, and all of a sudden, there's no goalie coach. How did that happen? Berube said this was an internal matter, and wouldn't discuss it. He said that Mason has had a good season and been consistant all season, but that things happen behind closed doors and that's where they stay. The league seems to be moving towards rolling four lines. But we extended Rinaldo. What's our organizational philosophy regarding four lines? Why don't we roll four scoring lines? Berube said it's tough with the salary cap. He also said that he doesn't know that he'd want to do that. He said you need some physical guys to do the dirty work, like Simmonds, Vandevelde, Bellemare. He agreed that it came down to personnel more than philosophy. He said that the fourth line was typically Vandevelde and Bellemare this year, and they had produced. Game in and game out, who's been your best player? Jake Voracek. There were some situations where Mason said he wasn't 100% or not ready to go in, but he went in anyway. How do you balance the short term success of the team with the long term health and well being of the player? Berube said that Mason was 100% anytime he went into a game. We have two first round picks. From your point of view, what will be addressed? Berube said he's not a scout, he anticipates that management will take the two best players they think are available with their picks. We've had a few slow starts to seasons, looking ahead, how do you think you can get off to a good start next season? Berube said he didn't really know, and to let him know if we had suggestions, which drew a laugh. He said it was a mental thing for the guys who have been here for the slow starts. He said the media brings it up before the season starts. He said the Flyers deserved to win the Bruins game, and once they lost, it was already a question. He said that it needs to be fixed, because you need to get a good start to the season in the NHL to be successful, and they're looking at it. How do you fix the puckhandling and passing issues the team seems to have? He agreed that they need to be better, but stated that it was a skill issue. He said that they've gotten better at puck possession and they'll continue to work on it in practice. He said that turnovers are a big thing in the NHL and they've been bad at that in the past. He said when they play well dumping the puck, getting under the defense like they did vs. Chicago, they do pretty well. He said that puck possession isn't the be all, LA dumps the puck in probably the most out of any team in the league, so you can win that way, but you have to execute. How can you explain the varying levels of compete against good vs. bad teams? He said that they have played down to the competition from time to time, but there are also some very good games thatt hey're played against teams around them or lower than them in the standings, but they've still lost. He said that they remind the guys that it doesn't matter who they play, if they don't play they can lose. What are we going to do about the shootout? He said the shootout is a skill thing. He pointed out that Giroux is typically very good at shootouts, but he had a rough time this year. He said that Mason steadily improved at shootouts as the year went along. He said they need to get a few more skill guys in order to improve some more. Where would you rank the team from a skill perspective against the rest of the teams in the league? Berube said he really couldn't answer that. How do you game plan? He said you have to focus on how to play the team to beat them. They target certain things that each team does, but it doesn't necessarily change the system they employ game in and game out. Is the inconsistancy a function of leadership? Berube said it can be at times, and at times it can be an issue of motivation. He said the leadership has gotten better. He pointed to the loss of Hartnell and Timonen as big losses in the locker room, but he also said that Giroux, Voracek, and Simmonds have come a long way this year as leaders. Five on five scoring isn't a strength, how do we make it better? Berube said it's improved some this year, but it's still not where it needs to be. He thought they'd get more 5-on-5 scoring out of Schenn, Couturier, and Read, and that just didn't happen this year. What are your thoughts on the extra point in OT, and do you think that some teams play more conservatively for that point? Also, what do you think of the proposed 3 on 3 OT change? Berube said he doesn't think teams try to save that OT point. He does think going to a 4 on 4 and then 3 on 3 would eliminate a lot of shootouts. Getting three highly skilled guys on the ice is going to lead to a lot of scoring chances each way. We lost Simmonds and MacDonald last night. What's the immediate fix? Manning was recalled and will play, and VLC will play. One of the maddening things is how the team is inconsistant from one period to the next. How do you deal with that? He said that all teams go through that, but he thinks the team has gotten better, pointing to last night, saying that there are highs and lows in each game. He said it's about handling the pressure when another team puts the pressure on. He said that it all ties together with the leadership keeping the team in it, and with not playing down to opponents. Vinny Lecavalier has struggled to stay in the lineup. What is the issue there? Older players' skills diminish. Vinny needs to start to play a different brand of hockey. It's tough for a guy who's scored 400 goals, he wants to score, and when he's had opportunities they haven't gone in. Vinny needs to shoot the puck, but he also needs to understand that he's probably not going to score 30-40 goals anymore. What advanced stats do you look at as most predictive of success? Berube said that if you went based solely on stats, the team would have a pretty good record. Stats are a tool. He said that puck possession and shot attempts are very useful to look at. They can pull up shot locations to look at why guys may not be scoring. He said he's learned a lot by looking at zone denials, and said that playing aggressive hockey that forces turnovers at the red and blue lines has a positive effect on the team performance. Do you think Claude Giroux will be our captain and our superstar? Berube said he is, and will be. He said Giroux has gotten better and better. He said last year he wouldn't have put Giroux against Toews for a whole game, but last night he did and he felt he outplayed Toews. That was the end of the session with Berube. I'll update the below posts with the other sessions.See? what did i tell you, Berube is a great coach. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Claude Monet Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canoli Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 great work AFF -thanks! Do you remember Berube's actual reply concerning Mason's health? Did he really say he was "100%" every time he played?? How did the audience react to that claim? I see he sidestepped the question about Reese leaving...too bad nobody pressed him on whether the media reports were true, i.e. Reese left because he was unhappy at Mason's treatment, specifically rushing him back from injury. Of all the sour notes the Flyers hit this year losing Reese was the worst. Maybe it'll turn out fine, maybe I'm making too much of it but it's just like the Flyers to finally land a good goalie and then screw him up through mismanagement. anyway, great write up, thanks again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJgoal Posted March 30, 2015 Author Share Posted March 30, 2015 Berube's quote was something close to "Mason was 100% whenever he played." There was some muttering, but nobody really pressed the issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samifan Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 Berube's quote was something close to "Mason was 100% whenever he played." There was some muttering, but nobody really pressed the issue.Muttering is all Berube does besides chew gum like a horse while staring up at the scoreboard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Podein25 Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 Muttering is all Berube does besides chew gum like a horse while staring up at the scoreboard. No kidding. He makes Clarkie look like a five-time elocution champion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJgoal Posted March 30, 2015 Author Share Posted March 30, 2015 No kidding. He makes Clarkie look like a five-time elocution champion. Are you suggesting the chair? Seems a bit drastic, no? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJgoal Posted March 30, 2015 Author Share Posted March 30, 2015 Funny, I didn't see Frank at my session: http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/flyers/20150329_Flyers_exec_says_team_working_on_outdoor_game_with_Penguins.html ETA: I guess I shouldn't accuse Frank of poaching from this post. Some of what he says didn't come out of my session, and he could have gotten the exact quotes from official video or transcripts provided by the team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pilldoc Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 Funny, I didn't see Frank at my session: http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/flyers/20150329_Flyers_exec_says_team_working_on_outdoor_game_with_Penguins.html ETA: I guess I shouldn't accuse Frank of poaching from this post. Some of what he says didn't come out of my session, and he could have gotten the exact quotes from official video or transcripts provided by the team. come on AJ...we all know he is poaching! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad Dog Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 That's the right word. He's way over his head, you can just tell. I don't think the players respect him. They might respect the player he once was (tough), but that clearly wore off quickly. He doesn't inspire confidence. He doesn't inspire anything.He is just a filler of space behind the bench. I am 100% in agreement that he's way in over his head. The players have zero respect for him, and he knows it. The minute that moron Homer picked him as a coach, I went 'God help us all now'. I just knew it was going to be a disasater. I put it this way: if is still the head coach when the training camp begins, that will signal to me that Hexy *is* another yes-man to Snider. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brelic Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 @AJgoal Awesome work! Thanks for this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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