brelic Posted January 10, 2012 Share Posted January 10, 2012 I agree with his grades, but I think the goaltending grade should be lower than the defense grade.http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/flyers/20120110_Flyers__midterm_grades_are_in.htmlRALEIGH, N.C. - When the final horn sounded on the Capitals and Kings last night in Los Angeles, it officially marked the end of the first half of play in the NHL's arduous, 1,230-game season.With that, it's time to break out the red Sharpie and pass out grades to the Flyers at the midterm, putting them into perspective with our Nov. 21 report card:OFFENSEThrough the first 40 games, the Flyers rank second in goals per game (3.43) and third in total goals (137). They trail only Boston in goals per game and the Bruins and Vancouver in total goals. Those are two teams that met in last year's Stanley Cup finals.With Scott Hartnell, on pace to shatter a career high in points, Art Ross Trophy finalist Claude Giroux and renaissance man Jaromir Jagr, the Flyers may have the top line in the East. They may, in fact, have their first trio of point-per-game players since 1995-96 if Hartnell and Jagr squeeze out just a few more tallies in the second half.Matt Read is tied for the rookie lead in goals. It's amazing to think that James van Riemsdyk and Sean Couturier have been so quiet, yet the offense is still this productive. Jakub Voracek and Wayne Simmonds are both on pace for career highs in points.Midterm: AQuarter: ADEFENSETurnovers are the name of the game - and the defense has been committing too many of them recently. Take, for example, the win over Chicago last Thursday. Matt Carle, Braydon Coburn and Andreas Lilja all forced brutal passes up the middle and one of them resulted in an early Blackhawks lead. Kimmo Timonen's solid offensive season (third among "D" in assists) has masked his age and lack of speed. Andrej Meszaros has been half the player he was last season. Marc-Andre Bourdon has filled in nicely for Chris Pronger, but with Lilja, the Flyers are vulnerable in depth defense, just as they were last season. Another injury among the top four could be catastrophic.Midterm: C+Quarter: B-GOALTENDINGWhat happens when you average a failing grade with an A? That's what you get when trying to measure $51 million man Ilya Bryzgalov with partner Sergei Bobrovsky. Yes, Bryzgalov has put together streaks of 6-0-0 and 5-0-1. The problem is that he's just 5-9-2 in the other games. And he's ranked 66th in the NHL in save percentage (.891), just slightly better in goals against-average (3.07). Bobrovsky, 23, has his warts, but he's given up just 12 goals in his last seven starts. It's hard to imagine what we'd be witnessing if Bobrovsky delivered the Flyers a 2-1 win in the Winter Classic instead of a 3-2 loss.Midterm: CQuarter: BCOACHINGHanding out Peter Laviolette's coaching grade is perhaps the toughest job for this teacher, since we don't normally get to see the coach and how he proceeds behind closed doors with his players. Still, from the up-close glimpse we got on HBO's "24/7" reality series, there isn't much that Laviolette leaves to be desired in a bench boss. No coach in the NHL has a better points percentage (71-35-16, .713) over the last season and a half.Midterm: AQuarter: B+INTANGIBLESIt would be easy to look at the Flyers' blown third-period leads in three of the last four games and chalk that up to a breakdown or a team flaw. It would also be wrong. After all, the Flyers are still 19-2-1 when leading after two periods. This team overcame too much adversity (10 out of 13 games on the road in December, losing Chris Pronger, the Winter Classic hype) to be considered anything but strong.Midterm: B+Quarter: A Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flyguys03 Posted January 10, 2012 Share Posted January 10, 2012 Sean Couturier has been quite??? He has been playing with 4th line scrubs you dumb f**k. Do you expect him to have 20 goals by now? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orange_crush Posted January 10, 2012 Share Posted January 10, 2012 Mezo and Coby need to step and play at a better level is the bottom line Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radoran Posted January 10, 2012 Share Posted January 10, 2012 Sean Couturier has been quiet??? He has been playing with 4th line scrubs you dumb f**k. Do you expect him to have 20 goals by now? There was a significant question as to whether he would even play in the NHL this season. How this turns into him "being quiet" I have no idea.If Seravalli thought the Flyers were relying on Couturier for anything this season, he should be taken off the beat.You know who's also on pace for a career high in points?James van Riemsdyk... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyerrod Posted January 10, 2012 Share Posted January 10, 2012 There was a significant question as to whether he would even play in the NHL this season. How this turns into him "being quiet" I have no idea.If Seravalli thought the Flyers were relying on Couturier for anything this season, he should be taken off the beat.You know who's also on pace for a career high in points?James van Riemsdyk...And I would still move him for a top 4 d-man........I guess he should get a break if he has been playing injured but his intensity swings from game to game absolutely baffles me..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radoran Posted January 10, 2012 Share Posted January 10, 2012 And I would still move him for a top 4 d-man........I guess he should get a break if he has been playing injured but his intensity swings from game to game absolutely baffles me.....I'd move him for the right deal in a heartbeat.But for Seravalli to say that he's been "quiet" and then in the NEXT SENTENCE talk about Simmonds and Voracek on pace for career highs in points while IGNORING the same thing about JVR says volumes to me about his "analysis." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyerrod Posted January 10, 2012 Share Posted January 10, 2012 I'd move him for the right deal in a heartbeat.But for Seravalli to say that he's been "quiet" and then in the NEXT SENTENCE talk about Simmonds and Voracek on pace for career highs in points while IGNORING the same thing about JVR says volumes to me about his "analysis."JVR is reminding me of Carter, great skills, but he just doesn't seem to use them all the time, only when the mood seems to strike him. He really need to be struck by that type of mood more often......I think that is the way Seravalli is seeing it too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JackStraw Posted January 10, 2012 Share Posted January 10, 2012 JVR is reminding me of Carter, great skills, but he just doesn't seem to use them all the time, only when the mood seems to strike him. He really need to be struck by that type of mood more often......I think that is the way Seravalli is seeing it too.JVR is on pace for 51 pts this year, at 22 years of age. At age 22, Claude Giroux put up 47 pts in 82 games (2009-2010). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radoran Posted January 10, 2012 Share Posted January 10, 2012 JVR is reminding me of Carter, great skills, but he just doesn't seem to use them all the time, only when the mood seems to strike him. He really need to be struck by that type of mood more often......I think that is the way Seravalli is seeing it too.Nobody's arguing the overall JVR point. We'd all like to see him do more and be more consistent while doing so.But Simmonds, who is actually making MORE than JVR this season (by about $100K) has three FEWER points than JVR in five MORE games.Both players are on pace for career highs in points.And, for Seravalli, JVR is "quiet" while Simmonds is "on pace for a career high".Interesting "analysis" is my only point here... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howie58 Posted January 10, 2012 Share Posted January 10, 2012 Greetings:I'll harp on my usual point. This is a different team than what we grew up with. On the upside--this is not a dump-and-chase group that has had a tough time getting out of its zone. This team has good puck movement. Seravalli should have noted that...under Stevens, we looked lethargic half the time. On the other hand--our GAA (and let's throw out the save percentage for the time being) is "non-Flyer" I have a tough time figuring out if that is some actors playing beneath their potential or the aging of others. Defense is also a responsibility of non-D personnel. Is Lavy making that clear?Best,Howie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leach27 Posted January 10, 2012 Share Posted January 10, 2012 (edited) why is our D so afraid to block a shot?? Edited January 10, 2012 by Leach27 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aziz Posted January 10, 2012 Share Posted January 10, 2012 JVR is reminding me of Carter, great skills, but he just doesn't seem to use them all the time, only when the mood seems to strike him.imo, JVR's problem is he doesn't think once he gets the puck. where players like voracek adjust to developing plays, JVR decides what he is going to do before he has posession and tries to put that plan into action regardless of what is in front of him. if he's decided to come down the left boards and shoot, he'll come down the left boards and shoot even if a defender is playing him tight and giving him no time or space to get the shot off. if he's decided to do his power move to the net thing, he'll do his power move to the net thing even if the defense is playing him loose and he has options for a higher percentage play than that jam at the net bit. he ignores passing options if he didn't decide beforehand to pass, and will try to force the pass through heavy traffic if he decided beforehand to pass. there's a ton of skill and power to his game, but zero awareness. will he learn that? i don't know. it definitely places a hard cap on his overall effectiveness at this point, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoVaFlyerFan Posted January 10, 2012 Share Posted January 10, 2012 "Marc-Andre Bourdon has filled in nicely for Chris Pronger"Really? He has been better than expected, but those expectations were pretty low. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Quigster Posted January 10, 2012 Share Posted January 10, 2012 Any player on the same line as Jagr will improve drastically,unfortunately their is only one Jagr. If you want to see JVR's stats go up,put him back with G&J. The other teams have the top line's number.The most offensive players on the Flyers are few,the rest are worker ants! Lavi needs some new tricks for these guys,what he is doing isn't working. Remember if you can't beat the Sens,think of Boston and the Rangers. Is there any reason more Phantoms can't come up? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyercanuck Posted January 10, 2012 Share Posted January 10, 2012 Sean Couturier has been quite??? He has been playing with 4th line scrubs you dumb f**k. Do you expect him to have 20 goals by now? Thank you for saying what popped into my head when I read that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyercanuck Posted January 10, 2012 Share Posted January 10, 2012 (edited) Nobody's arguing the overall JVR point. We'd all like to see him do more and be more consistent while doing so.But Simmonds, who is actually making MORE than JVR this season (by about $100K) has three FEWER points than JVR in five MORE games.Both players are on pace for career highs in points.And, for Seravalli, JVR is "quiet" while Simmonds is "on pace for a career high".Interesting "analysis" is my only point here... As they say, JVR could go into the corner with a dozen eggs and come out with a dozen. Simmonds goes in and scrambles the lot. Two totally different games. If JVR isn't putting up points, he's doing absolutely nothing. Simmonds can have a positive effect with zero points. Probably cause Simmonds played junior. Edited January 10, 2012 by flyercanuck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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