I was suprised Wellwood was sent down. IMO he's been one of their best players since the season opener. Would like to see him on the PK instead of Fedotenko.

Interesting article on Wellwood stats:


http://www.broadstreethoc...pdate-philadelphia-flyers
- Chris48

I would love to see Matt Read replace Rusty... who looks rusty

Bill, would you say there is more, less, or similar fan support w/ the Dallas organization? The threads on HB always appear longer on the Flyers postings.
- Daman

Less by far. But a similar percentage of diehards among those who follow the team at all.

Correct.
- MJL

Kk... it makes sense.

Would love to see him (Wellwood) get a chance to play bigger minutes with better linemates when Hartnell comes back from injury

Hartnell - G - Simmonds
Schenn - Briere - Voracek
Wellwood - Couturier - Read
McGinn - Talbot - Fed/Knuble

3rd line with tons of speed on the wings, scoring and shutdown capabilities would be interesting to give it a shot for a game or two

Dallas fans have jobs/lives.
- Scoob

That says it all!

I would love to see Matt Read replace Rusty... who looks rusty
- SuperSchennBros

I concur sir

carter needed to bury that shot with 2 min to go in game 6....
- Flyers4Life88

Yup. Was at that game.

/dies a little inside

Less by far. But a similar percentage of diehards among those who follow the team at all.
- bmeltzer

Unfortunately, they have more Cup success in the past 2 decades than we have. I would imagine that for a southern city with a recent NBA champ, great baseball team, and the Cowboys, that the Stars have a good culture/team history.

Years previously it was goaltending as the Achilles heel of the Flyers. Now that Bryzgalov is playing well, it's the enormous foot speed problem of the defense. I look at a team like the Devils. Who went to the Cup finals last year, and are undefeated so far this year. I wonder who the speedsters are for them on the defense? Fayne, Volchnkov, Tallinder, Salvador, Greene? There is no doubt that the Flyers could used an offensive minded puck moving 2 way defenseman. But I think stating that the Flyers D has an enormous foot speed problem is drastically overstating it.

And Tampa was able to dominate the neutral zone due to the situation of the game. Flyers were sloppy, took penalties, and failed to kill them off. Tampa clogged up the neutral zone and the Flyers didn't have the energy to fight through it and get back in the game. I'd like to see the Flyers play Tampa when they have more energy and are fresher. My bet is it would be a different game.
- MJL

"Last night, the Flyers were in action for the second time in less than 24 hours, the third time in four nights and for the sixth time in a span of 210 hours. Four of the six games have been on the road. So it was understandable that there might be some tired legs out there on the (horrendous) ice in Tampa Bay.

Understandable, yes. An excuse for the pathetic effort the Flyers put forth in last night's 5-1 loss to the Lightning, absolutely not. Tiredness is not an excuse for not hustling and not communicating. Fatiguewise, every NHL team is more or less in the same boat, with a grueling schedule following a six-day training camp."

Bill said it best, it doesn't matter. Good teams find ways to scratch out an ugly win or keep it close. We got train wrecked.

It is a shame to lose Hartnell but I do like the look of the power play without him. With Hartnell and Simmonds working down low, I didn't like the cycling or the inability to set up down there. You know the pp filters through Giroux but it is a matter of getting the pick to Giroux and reviving if you can't. Gotta keep that pick in the offensive zone.

Bill, I flew to the game yesterday from Dallas and sat 2 rows right behind Bryz on the bench. You could see two inch gashes all over that ice that were a whole foot long. It was ugly.

Boy did the Flyers look dead. The only saving grace for our experience was when Bryz handed a wayward puck from the bench to my daughter.

Simmonds took himself completely out of the game mentally after that first period scrum and it was ugly. He was moping the whole time and he's too old to be acting that immature the whole time. The "quit" the team displayed was more worrisome and damning then anything else. It shows something deeper wrong with this team that needs immediate attention. Giroux was standing at the gate yelling at his guys to pick up their energy halfway through the first period and everyone on the bench ignored him. I did not like what I saw out of the whole squad.

I'll tell you what though, Gervais was awesome with all of the kids before the game and Briere always shook the kids hands coming in and out of the tunnel no matter how bad they were doing, class act that guy.

are you seriously looking for a FA?
- hammarby31

Kind of. I want to start a portfolio for my son but we're not rich by any stretch.

Bill, is Foster always in a bad mood like that? He was out of it the moment he stepped on the ice. What happened in that locker room before the game started? Cooter sure was tough on himself when Tampa scored. That guy hustled the whole game. Love his heart.

Kind of. I want to start a portfolio for my son but we're not rich by any stretch.
- mayorofangrytown

I'll take my Da Man hat off for a minute.

My advice would be to go to computershare and pick 5 or 10 stocks that you can add to, $50-$100 at a time (e.g. monthly). Exxon, Phillip Morris, J&J, Abbot Labs, etc.... they are all there. You don't have to be rich and over a couple years this will add up nicely.

I would also consider opening a small UGMA account and buy Apple while it is so cheap. For a young kid, shares of Disney seem tempting to acquire over time as well.

EDIT - if your son is older, scratch the UGMA account and have him open a regular margin account on Etrade/Scotrade/Schwab/etc........

Bill, is Foster always in a bad mood like that? He was out of it the moment he stepped on the ice. What happened in that locker room before the game started? Cooter sure was tough on himself when Tampa scored. That guy hustled the whole game. Love his heart.
- Boyer83

Lavy was yapping at Foster on the bench in the third period of the panthers game

Lavy was yapping at Foster on the bench in the third period of the panthers game
- vejim

Oh, I see. That was his doghouse face then.

Kind of. I want to start a portfolio for my son but we're not rich by any stretch.
- mayorofangrytown

Put all of your money into Blackberry. Borrow if you have to.

You owe me $1000....

Put all of your money into Blackberry. Borrow if you have to.

You owe me $1000....
- canadianpenfan

Full disclosure: RIMM, maker of Blackberry, is a Canadian company. Any bias here?

"Last night, the Flyers were in action for the second time in less than 24 hours, the third time in four nights and for the sixth time in a span of 210 hours. Four of the six games have been on the road. So it was understandable that there might be some tired legs out there on the (horrendous) ice in Tampa Bay.

Understandable, yes. An excuse for the pathetic effort the Flyers put forth in last night's 5-1 loss to the Lightning, absolutely not. Tiredness is not an excuse for not hustling and not communicating. Fatiguewise, every NHL team is more or less in the same boat, with a grueling schedule following a six-day training camp."

Bill said it best, it doesn't matter. Good teams find ways to scratch out an ugly win or keep it close. We got train wrecked.
- GirouxForTheShow

Call it an excuse or whatever you want to call it. It's just the way it is. This Season, teams have a poor record on the 2nd day of back to back games. That trend is likely to continue. Good teams do not always find a way to scratch out an ugly win or keep it close. Good teams lose games to lesser teams in situations that the Flyers were in all the time. Good teams have games where the energy isn't there. It's part of the Season. To me the schedule and the Flyers energy level was a factor in the game. It wasn't the only factor. But it's a factor nonetheless. It's a fact of life in the NHL. It would be wonderful to think that a good team can always overcome that. But that's just not the case. When you see a player like Wayne Simmonds, who's been great all Season, lack energy. It's a dead giveaway.

Call it an excuse or whatever you want to call it. It's just the way it is. This Season, teams have a poor record on the 2nd day of back to back games. That trend is likely to continue. Good teams do not always find a way to scratch out an ugly win or keep it close. Good teams lose games to lesser teams in situations that the Flyers were in all the time. Good teams have games where the energy isn't there. It's part of the Season. To me the schedule and the Flyers energy level was a factor in the game. It wasn't the only factor. But it's a factor nonetheless.
- MJL

Factors = excuses LOL

Full disclosure: RIMM, maker of Blackberry, is a Canadian company. Any bias here?
- Daman

No bias, even we're not stupid enough to invest with them.

I know I'm late to the party here but want to chime in. Every team in the league this year is going to have 3 games in 4 nights, and 6 games in 9. It is completely unacceptable for the Flyers to use this as an excuse. Teams in the West have 2x time travel. Hell, WPG probably won't know what city they're in half the time they'll be traveling so much. Piss poor effort by all involved last night.

I'll tell you what though, Gervais was awesome with all of the kids before the game and Briere always shook the kids hands coming in and out of the tunnel no matter how bad they were doing, class act that guy.
- Boyer83

Good to hear about Gervais. I'll be very sad if Danny leaves the team. As much as the boards love to bash him I started watching hockey and following the Flyers because of Briere. It's his jersey I wear and his interviews I stop to watch. So it's good to hear fans who appreciate him!

Since everyone is so down on Foster shoudln't the Flyers just bring up Gus?

Since everyone is so down on Foster shoudln't the Flyers just bring up Gus?
- jstross

I've only seen the Flyers play 3 full games but I think it's hard to expect more from a waiver wire pick up than what he's given. I thought he's looked solid from what I've seen.

Since everyone is so down on Foster shoudln't the Flyers just bring up Gus?
- jstross

Well, to do so, they'd need to send somebody down. If that somebody is Foster, he'd have to clear waivers and would still count against the Flyers cap for $50K. If they send Lilja down, he'd still count as $637,500 against the cap as an over 35 deal. They could send down Gervais and not incur a cap hit, but he's played solidly and could easily be claimed on waivers.

Also, Gustafsson just returned to game action. Better to let him get a few games in the AHL