NO MORE AFTERNOON GAMES!!!

[Jam1986]

This team and past team for some reason can not show up! for afternoon games. Like to see the records for this and past teams? Hextall has a big job in front of him, Go for the full GUT!!!!! G and JAKE Suck is it the girlfriends? Remember Tiger went from the man to suck when he got a Hottie? Kind of joking on that one.  

[PuckMeister]

I share your consternation, but this team lacks talent to compete with the top tier teams.  I am probably in the minority but I think it's time to trade some of our better players for picks or young up and comers.  As a team, we seem to never be bad enough to obtain top draft picks and, if we ever do, there will be no consensus true game changer.  See the Pens when they were really bad but received top picks to acquire Crosby etc.  Other teams seem better able to manage the cap better allowing them to pick missing pieces.  We have a long way to go. 

[Adamflyers]

I know it's still early, but I was really hoping to see the start of the rise of this team.  So far, they are stuck in neutral.  I'm just not seeing the production I was hoping to out of some of our vets that for a big part of our core.  Simmonds is the one exception in this area.  I'm seeing improvement from Proverov, which is very encouraging and TK has me very excited.  We are missing the offensive production we had from Ghost last year.  And of course our goalies are coming up small.  Fortunately, the team is keeping it's head above water and not completely falling out of the race.  I'm really hoping this is a simple case of growing pains during a transition period, but it seems to me that we are weak/average in all departments right now.  Any chance we will get to see Morin or Sanheim get a call up during this year?  Just out of curiosity, I'm interested to see what either of them could bring to this team.  Just feeling disappointed in what I'm seeing so far, but hoping to be encouraged at some point this year! 

[mojo1917]

18 hours ago, PuckMeister said:

I share your consternation, but this team lacks talent to compete with the top tier teams.  I am probably in the minority but I think it's time to trade some of our better players for picks or young up and comers.  As a team, we seem to never be bad enough to obtain top draft picks and, if we ever do, there will be no consensus true game changer.  See the Pens when they were really bad but received top picks to acquire Crosby etc.  Other teams seem better able to manage the cap better allowing them to pick missing pieces.  We have a long way to go. 

 

Please don't use the Penguins as the model for how to build your franchise.  Lemieux and Crosby were/are generational talents, those guys aren't at the top of the draft every year.  The Pens got lucky, twice.  

Notice how ****** terrible the Edmonton Oilers are and have been for 15 years and they have had the first pick every other year.  Their luck may change with McDavid, but no one in that organizations knows how to win anymore because 1996 was the last time they were decent, so even though they have all this top of the draft talent, the still SUCK.  Losing is never the answer to anything. 

[flyercanuck]

12 minutes ago, mojo1917 said:

Please don't use the Penguins as the model for how to build your franchise.  Lemieux and Crosby were/are generational talents, those guys aren't at the top of the draft every year.  The Pens got lucky, twice.  

Notice how ****** terrible the Edmonton Oilers are and have been for 15 years and they have had the first pick every other year.  Their luck may change with McDavid, but no one in that organizations knows how to win anymore because 1996 was the last time they were decent, so even though they have all this top of the draft talent, the still SUCK.  Losing is never the answer to anything. 

 

Don't look now but the Oilers are sitting 10th overall in the NHL, 2 points out of 5th.

Yes, McDavid is a gamechanger.

[mojo1917]

2 minutes ago, flyercanuck said:

 

Don't look now but the Oilers are sitting 10th overall in the NHL, 2 points out of 5th.

Yes, McDavid is a gamechanger.

 

I believe I even allowed for that in my post, yes ?

 

Have an entertaining hockey team to watch for 15 years > sucking and maybe getting an all time great player for 15 years.  IMO all day everyday.

 

 

[flyercanuck]

14 minutes ago, mojo1917 said:

I believe I even allowed for that in my post, yes ?

 

Have an entertaining hockey team to watch for 15 years > sucking and maybe getting an all time great player for 15 years.  IMO all day everyday.

 

 

 

Well if you're calling Philly "entertaining" and the Oilers "sucking" when the latter is ahead of the former....

 

The Oil has sucked for a long time. Again, they usually won the lottery when the top pick was hardly what you'd call an "elite" talent. Kind of like us getting JVR 2nd overall. Think I would have preferred Doughty, or Malkin, As they would have preferred Crosby, Ovechkin and Stamkos to RNH, Hall and Yakupov. Think they'd be better? Their management was terrible but luck of the draw also factors in here. They got it with Mcdavid.

[canoli]

1 hour ago, Adamflyers said:

I'm really hoping this is a simple case of growing pains during a transition period, but it seems to me that we are weak/average in all departments right now.

 

I think this is what "growing pains during a transition period" looks like. Hextall has done a brilliant job dropping dead weight but the job's not done. Who knows maybe the Vegas draft ends up helping the Flyers by shaking things up a bit.

 

Hakstol is growing painfully too I guess. He's forced to play a 19-year old rookie 20+ mins on the top pair because nobody else qualifies for the job (while the other half of the pair makes as many bad plays as good ones (almost)). He's also stuck with a top line that can't find the twine and every night his goalies let in at least 1 they "want back." 

 

Voracek 1 goal in the last 11 games

Giroux 1 in the last 9

Schenn - 3 goals in 19 games

 

It's hard to see improvement when your top line doesn't score and your goalies sort of suck. But I believe they'll return to form, all of them - Giroux, Voracek and Mason - eventually and when they do the transition will show a lot more progress.

 

 

 

 

[brelic]

Agree with your post @canoli

 

It's not a 'within year' transition. It's a multi-year transition. Probably 4-5 years until we see what the farm is capable of producing. Giroux and Voracek will be second-tier players by the time we're truly competitive, and that's ok. You need those kinds of vets that have continuity with the team.

 

Imagine next year having a line of Lindblom/Rubtsov/Konecny. It's quite possible that both Lindblom and Rubtsov skip the AHL altogether because they've already played at a higher level. Ruby might need more AHL seasoning than Lindblom.

 

Anyway, the point is that reinforcements are coming and it's a loooong process to get there. 

 

Not sure about Hakstol, though. I have faith in him long term as he learns the nuances of the NHL, but his line juggling and roster shuffling is a bit much.

 

I'd go with Stolarz tonight. Give him a shot.

 

[RJ8812]

yes, Stolarz is starting tonight. It was announced yesterday 

 

Mason has played much better recently, but I'm excited to see Stolarz get the start. It's unfortunate that he has to play with a team that has the worse defensive game in the league 

[Adamflyers]

@canoli Yes, Hexy has done a great job and I still believe this team is moving in the right direction.  After Ghost made such a difference last year, I was hoping to see a similar bump from Prov and TK, as well as hoping to see Ghost continue his offensive production.  So far it hasn't happened, but its still a little early to think that things won't pick up.  I agree that G and Jake's lack of production is really hurting this team.  

[flyercanuck]

15 hours ago, Adamflyers said:

@canoli Yes, Hexy has done a great job and I still believe this team is moving in the right direction.  After Ghost made such a difference last year, I was hoping to see a similar bump from Prov and TK, as well as hoping to see Ghost continue his offensive production.  So far it hasn't happened, but its still a little early to think that things won't pick up.  I agree that G and Jake's lack of production is really hurting this team.  

 

Well in their defence, Konecny is ahead of Ghost in scoring, Provorov is 2 points behind him while playing much better without the puck. Both are 19.

 

Ghost was 3 years away from playing in the NHL at that age. Think of where those 2 will be 3 years from now. Then compare. They may never have the wow factor Ghost did last year (heck he may never again...who knows) but I'm pretty confident both end up being very good players.

[Adamflyers]

8 hours ago, flyercanuck said:

 

Well in their defence, Konecny is ahead of Ghost in scoring, Provorov is 2 points behind him while playing much better without the puck. Both are 19.

 

Ghost was 3 years away from playing in the NHL at that age. Think of where those 2 will be 3 years from now. Then compare. They may never have the wow factor Ghost did last year (heck he may never again...who knows) but I'm pretty confident both end up being very good players.

Hey FC...my post was not really meant as a knock on TK and Prov, but was more an indictment of the team as a whole.  When Ghost came in, his play energized the team as a whole and I was hoping the excitement of these guys might have a similar effect this year.  So far, it has not happened, but I think some of that is the fact that guys like G and Jake are not playing up the level we need.  Right now, we are lacking in areas that seemed to be on the rise last year (Ghost, goaltending, etc)  I'm just chalking it up to their team still finding their footing and identity.  The changes will likely continue to come, so I guess I just have to be patient and let this team evolve.  I worked myself up after last year and was hopeful that we might see them turn another corner, but again, it is pretty early to say we won't see that at some point this season.