brelic Posted July 15, 2019 Share Posted July 15, 2019 2 minutes ago, OccamsRazor said: Exactly. Yeah the team sucked on the ice but hey they have a top farm system. I like you would just stop watching. Just check the boxscore and stats and move on. Very very hard to watch. So boring and bland. I hope to be able to watch this year. The exception to that for me was Ghost's rookie year (Holmgren draft pick lol) - during that amazing stretch, that was fun to watch. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyercanuck Posted July 15, 2019 Share Posted July 15, 2019 1 hour ago, OccamsRazor said: Exactly. Yeah the team sucked on the ice but hey they have a top farm system. I like you would just stop watching. Just check the boxscore and stats and move on. Very very hard to watch. So boring and bland. I hope to be able to watch this year. I agree the hockey hasn't been exciting. But that's what happens eventually when the previous gm keeps trading away draft picks/youth for win now...it's going to catch up. It did, and Hextall was left to clean up the mess. Fletcher walks into an almost perfect dream...Goalie? Check (heck...GOALIES!) Defence? Check. Forwards? Check. Farm system? Filled beyond capacity. Draft picks? All there. Capspace? Yes sir. The guy only has to tweak a couple things. We'll never know what Hextall could have done if he'd walked into that scenario...but I doubt he misses the playoffs as often if he isn't trying to rebuild a depleted farm system and trying to get rid of practically immoveable cap killing contracts. Maybe I'd be more excited about merely making the playoffs if I hadn't been a fan for so long. But playing a round or two just doesn't do it for me anymore. I want a cup. And I think Hextalls way of building up a full farm system to replace the big contract guys on a yearly basis is the way to go. We'll see over the next few years. But he's the first GM in decades who got us real goaltending AND defence who are on their way up instead of on the decline. Maybe the on-ice product hasn't been great...but I'm more excited about the next decade of Flyer hockey with all those picks Hextall made than I've been able to look forward to for a long time. They won't all pan out of course...that's the nature of the draft. And the beauty of having so many picks. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radoran Posted July 15, 2019 Share Posted July 15, 2019 1 hour ago, brelic said: Under Hextall, I found myself tuning out of games, stretches, almost entire seasons for the first time in my life. The team was simply not entertaining to watch so I found other things to do. I absolutely tuned it out - and that's likely what was concerning to Scott and Comcast. That said, I do think the team needed to bottom out after Holmgren. Far too many problems. Hextall didn't help with moves like Umburglar and Weise but probably did with building for the future. I do think this was the point at which Hextall expected things to start moving in a steady upward direction - with the caveat that he did think they should have been making the playoffs. But if this team starts to be really successful in the next few years, it will likely feature about half the roster of Hextall draft picks on top of other home grown talent like Giroux, Couturier, Gotstobehere. I'm not sure of the last time the Flyers had a roster stocked with this much home grown talent. Just now, flyercanuck said: Maybe I'd be more excited about merely making the playoffs if I hadn't been a fan for so long. But playing a round or two just doesn't do it for me anymore. Amen to that. You do have to start somewhere, though. There aren't many examples of teams flipping a switch and winning a Cup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoachX Posted July 15, 2019 Share Posted July 15, 2019 Im excited again to watch Flyer hockey. I want to see these young players and what they can do. I feel like the whole message is "just wait". The waiting never seems to translate to exciting hockey, and we ened arguing what could have been 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OccamsRazor Posted July 15, 2019 Share Posted July 15, 2019 15 minutes ago, flyercanuck said: Fletcher walks into an almost perfect dream...Goalie? Check (heck...GOALIES!) Defence? Check. Forwards? Check. Farm system? Filled beyond capacity. Draft picks? All there. Capspace? Yes sir. The guy only has to tweak a couple things. Sure. No doubt. 16 minutes ago, flyercanuck said: We'll never know what Hextall could have done if he'd walked into that scenario...but I doubt he misses the playoffs as often if he isn't trying to rebuild a depleted farm system and trying to get rid of practically immoveable cap killing contracts. Would he? We'll have to guess. Would Berube have been more successful? Therefor not needing the mistake of hiring Hakstol? Maybe. Maybe not. 18 minutes ago, flyercanuck said: Maybe the on-ice product hasn't been great...but I'm more excited about the next decade of Flyer hockey with all those picks Hextall made than I've been able to look forward to for a long time. They won't all pan out of course...that's the nature of the draft. And the beauty of having so many picks. Maybe I'm in the minority here but I think Chuckles has enhanced what was already here with a few tweaks. I think they get back into the playoffs. How far they go is anyone's guess. Having Hart and a nice lineup of centers to go with a young but skilled defense makes me think they not only get in but make it out the first round this coming year. No matter what we'll know more by December. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyercanuck Posted July 15, 2019 Share Posted July 15, 2019 16 minutes ago, radoran said: . Amen to that. You do have to start somewhere, though. There aren't many examples of teams flipping a switch and winning a Cup. Sure...I know they aren't just going to win a cup on their first run. What I want is a team built to win a cup. Not just built to make the playoffs. I'm pretty sure Hextall could have traded Provorov/Ghost/Sanheim/Farabee/Myers/Hart and draft picks for some 30 something players who'd have given us an exciting couple of rounds of playoff hockey. And then Fletcher could be left with no farm and a bunch of bad contracts to get rid of. Groundhog day. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoachX Posted July 15, 2019 Share Posted July 15, 2019 1 minute ago, OccamsRazor said: Maybe I'm in the minority here but I think Chuckles has enhanced what was already here with a few tweaks I volunteer to be in the minority with you 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyercanuck Posted July 15, 2019 Share Posted July 15, 2019 2 minutes ago, OccamsRazor said: Would he? We'll have to guess. Would Berube have been more successful? Well his tenure in St. Louis ended pretty good. But you'd have been hard pressed to find ANYONE who wanted him retained as coach in Philly. 2 minutes ago, OccamsRazor said: Therefor not needing the mistake of hiring Hakstol? Maybe. Maybe not. Definitely not his finest moment. I liked the idea of bringing in someone who wasn't a Flyer alumni for a change, but we all know now it was a bad choice. 2 minutes ago, OccamsRazor said: Maybe I'm in the minority here but I think Chuckles has enhanced what was already here with a few tweaks. No, I agree with you. But again, it's a lot easier to do when you're not trying to rebuild what had become one of the worst farm systems in all of hockey and trying to get rid of several boat anchor contracts. Hextalls hands were tied. Fletcher is taking on caphits in trades that Hextall never had the luxury of. 2 minutes ago, OccamsRazor said: I think they get back into the playoffs. How far they go is anyone's guess. Agreed and sure. 2 minutes ago, OccamsRazor said: Having Hart and a nice lineup of centers to go with a young but skilled defense makes me think they not only get in but make it out the first round this coming year. No matter what we'll know more by December. Yes. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elmatus Posted July 15, 2019 Share Posted July 15, 2019 2 hours ago, OccamsRazor said: Maybe I'm in the minority here but I think Chuckles has enhanced what was already here with a few tweaks. I think they get back into the playoffs. How far they go is anyone's guess. Having Hart and a nice lineup of centers to go with a young but skilled defense makes me think they not only get in but make it out the first round this coming year. No matter what we'll know more by December. I don't think it's a minority situation. They really have everything needed to make the playoffs for sure. Depending on the competition and how things shake out, they might even win a round as you say. Just as others here have expressed, Fletch is really coming into a dream situation with this team. All he has to do is not screw things up too badly, and they absolutely should be a playoff team this season. Just the coaching upgrade and having Hart from day one would likely have been enough in fact. Those two things were easily our biggest challenges over the last bit. Adding to that, if any of our young guns take the next step, it'll be even better. TK? Patrick? Sanheim? A return to form from Provo? Frost? Just take your pick. If even one of them has a breakout season, we'll be laughing. If more than one does, even better! I think many of us here are expecting a playoff berth for sure. It would be silly to expect otherwise. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radoran Posted July 15, 2019 Share Posted July 15, 2019 1 hour ago, elmatus said: I think many of us here are expecting a playoff berth for sure. It would be silly to expect otherwise. They're definitely a playoff team. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoachX Posted July 15, 2019 Share Posted July 15, 2019 The Flyers have never failed to make the playoffs with a non-playoff team You cant argue facts Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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