Kapanen had to play D that year for Cripes sake! Although Calgary was tough that year, the Flyers still beat them for the cup if they make it.
- BOSS_TWEED

Apart from moving Kapanen from wing to defense, the Flyers had to use Mattias Timander as a 25-minute a game defenseman in the playoffs due to all of the injuries -- and, thankfully, he played the best NHL hockey of his otherwise so-so North American career.

I hate controllers though. Not near enough buttons.

To me, the keyboard mouse combo gives you a great deal more flexibility. But that's my preference. And my comp is faster than the console.
I tend to limit my console gaming to Final Fantasy. And the fiancee adores Skyrim, Mass Effect, etc...
- FlyersGrace

I could never get the hang on the mouse/keyboard, but that's because I was raised on NES and Sega. I agree, you can tailor your PC to be better than a console, but I'm just a console guy.

Only game I ever played much on the PC was Heroes of Might & Magic III, by far the best in the series. I always got bored with it after a while though.

Probably true but it won't be top end range and will be able to play games now decently but not at elite levels. Games in three years? Eh....
But you are correct. Depends on degree of gameplay you expect and longevity.
- FlyersGrace

I haven't upgraded in three years, and I'm still running everything at top setting just fine. It's really not as expensive or involved as everybody thinks. Not trying to convert anybody.

Now, if you're looking to mine bitcoins for some bizarre reason, then you'll be shelling out.

I could never get the hang on the mouse/keyboard, but that's because I was raised on NES and Sega. I agree, you can tailor your PC to be better than a console, but I'm just a console guy.
- jmatchett383

The 360 controller is a must have for PC, imo. Best controller made yet.

Then get an Xbox and play it on that
- JAKEw1234

I have an X-box. It doesn't hold a candle to my comp though... Sadly I can't remember the last time I dusted of the Playstation though!

This weekend is going to be less gaming and more Babylon 5 time. I have the whole series on DVD and got a friend hooked. Since I have to work Sun I'm keeping this weekend low maintenance...

The 360 controller is a must have for PC, imo. Best controller made yet.
- BulliesPhan87

Yeah, I know you can get either a PS3 or 360 controller to work for a PC. But then I'd also need a new mother board, graphics card(s). etc. Just don't have the $$ or time.

July and Aug are brutal months for hockey
- Pyzik

Especially when the Flyers haven't played a game since late April... and there are still two more months to go until training camp.

I hate controllers though. Not near enough buttons.

To me, the keyboard mouse combo gives you a great deal more flexibility. But that's my preference. And my comp is faster than the console.
I tend to limit my console gaming to Final Fantasy. And the fiancee adores Skyrim, Mass Effect, etc...
- FlyersGrace

Whenever I play a computer game I always find myself questioning what button does what, how to do a certain thing, etc. Keyboard controls are slower and more akward for me, imo. I tried playing Day Z, but it was so hard for me to figure out how to do stuff like open the inventory, eat, pick up things, equip things, etc. I didn't like it.

Apart from moving Kapanen from wing to defense, the Flyers had to use Mattias Timander as a 25-minute a game defenseman in the playoffs due to all of the injuries -- and, thankfully, he played the best NHL hockey of his otherwise so-so North American career.
- bmeltzer

Wasn't Malakhov used extensively as well?

Yeah, I know you can get either a PS3 or 360 controller to work for a PC. But then I'd also need a new mother board, graphics card(s). etc. Just don't have the $$ or time.
- jmatchett383

Understandable. I opted for PC over a laptop + console, got sick of consoles breaking. I'd rather fix it myself on the cheap, y'know?

I can't stand MMORPGs. Too many snot-nosed kids running around yelling "n00b" at everyone. I don't have time to play every night, or wait around for 4 hours so we can gather 40 people for a raid. I'd rather pop in Skyrim for 2 hours and call it a night.
- jmatchett383

That is not limited to MMORPGs but rather any game that has an online component. I remember hearing people call others noobs in Socom II on PS2 many years ago.
Just the way it is..

Skyrim is fun..The mods obviously add a level of depth that basically makes it a new game.

I have an X-box. It doesn't hold a candle to my comp though... Sadly I can't remember the last time I dusted of the Playstation though!

This weekend is going to be less gaming and more Babylon 5 time. I have the whole series on DVD and got a friend hooked. Since I have to work Sun I'm keeping this weekend low maintenance...
- FlyersGrace

I do play Total War on the comp, but I can't afford a good enough gaming comp to play it, so Xbox is best for me.

Understandable. I opted for PC over a laptop + console, got sick of consoles breaking. I'd rather fix it myself on the cheap, y'know?
- BulliesPhan87

I hear you. I had to get 3 PS3s to finally get a good one. I got a 60GB version from way back, when they offer PS/PS2 compatibility. Pros and cons to both.

I could never get the hang on the mouse/keyboard, but that's because I was raised on NES and Sega. I agree, you can tailor your PC to be better than a console, but I'm just a console guy.


- jmatchett383

amen brother

That is not limited to MMORPGs but rather any game that has an online component. I remember hearing people call others noobs in Socom II on PS2 many years ago.
Just the way it is..

Skyrim is fun..The mods obviously add a level of depth that basically makes it a new game.
- opeth_pa

That's the ONLY reason I'd rather have the PC version of Skyrim. Seeing it in 3D, playing it as a forest game, etc. would be cool. For now, I'm still content with randomly beheading witches and basically anyone who gets flip with me.

Wasn't Malakhov used extensively as well?
- jmatchett383

That's what I recall too.

Despite how heavily tinted my orange glasses are, we are the superior team over the Caps, Isles, and Jackets. Jacket's success relies completely on the play of their goaltender. Caps success relies completely on the play of their top line LWer. The Isles success relies completely on the play of their #1 center. Giroux can have a few cold games, and the rest of our team is still good enough to win games without him being an impact guy. We're not a 1-man team, and they all are, for the most part. I can see NJ making the playoffs, but not being in the top 3. They've lost too much core to do that.
- JAKEw1234

I know everyone wants to forget last year happened but two of those teams were in the playoffs and the other one just missed. The Flyers had to run off 5 wins at the end just to get out of the bottom 5 in the league forget the conference.

I know everyone wants to forget last year happened but two of those teams were in the playoffs and the other one just missed. The Flyers had to run off 5 wins at the end just to get out of the bottom 5 in the league forget the conference.
- mayorofangrytown

Well a lot of people also forget that with the same number of games played, we were in a similar underdog situation 2 seasons ago. I think if last season was a regular length we would have made the playoffs.

I still play NHL 2009 on the PC ... leave the consoles to my sons my youngest beats me in NHL13 - which is okay since he is amazed I actually create the updated rosters on rainy nights ...

Star Wars Player here too and I swear one day I'll figure out how it really is supposed to work ...

Thanks for the entertaining discussions today

I know everyone wants to forget last year happened but two of those teams were in the playoffs and the other one just missed. The Flyers had to run off 5 wins at the end just to get out of the bottom 5 in the league forget the conference.
- mayorofangrytown

Last year we were plagued by injuries to key players from day 1. More so that other years, even. All things considered, the Flyers are a better team. Once they hit the ice though, anything can happen. Heck, if Crosby and Malkin go down for a few months, the Pens could miss the playoffs. Nothing is guaranteed (except that Boston and Chicago will be in the playoffs).

I know everyone wants to forget last year happened but two of those teams were in the playoffs and the other one just missed. The Flyers had to run off 5 wins at the end just to get out of the bottom 5 in the league forget the conference.
- mayorofangrytown

I think so much depends on the development of Couturier and Schenn. If they take the next step then this team will be very good. If they stagnate like last year, the team will be fighting for the 8th seed.

So I sped read this and I had to stop and figure out what they'd find under their couch.
Sigh...
Long day.
- FlyersGrace

I hear ya, happy hour can't come fast enough!!

Last year we were plagued by injuries to key players from day 1. More so that other years, even. All things considered, the Flyers are a better team. Once they hit the ice though, anything can happen. Heck, if Crosby and Malkin go down for a few months, the Pens could miss the playoffs. Nothing is guaranteed (except that Boston and Chicago will be in the playoffs).
- jmatchett383

I believe Boston will regress. They lost some depth. I still think theyll be a playoff team.

I agree. Detroit was, by far, the better team.

Looking back, those Legion of Doom teams really were a 1 line team. If the big guys (or even Brind'Amour) weren't scoring, they were cooked.

I mean, Trent Klatt was considered secondary scoring on that team.
- johndewar

Klatt played on Mike Modano's line a bit in Dallas (and had 12 goals in the cut-in-half 1994-95 lockout year) and had the pedigree to suggest he could pop a few supporting goals in addition to being a sturdy grinder. The 24-goal season with the Flyers didn't come out of the blue. It was the hockey ignorance of Mike Missanelli that made it sound like it was a miracle that he topped 20 goals.

Apart from the LOD and Brind'Amour, the Flyers had Hawerchuk (declining and injured but still a good player), an entire third line of viable double-digit scorers as well as excellent two-way players in Joel Otto, Shjon Podein and Klatt.

In 1995-96, Falloon had a respectable 22 goals and 46 points in 62 games after coming over from San Jose. People were expecting him to be some 40-goal star because he was the second overall pick in the 1991 draft, but what he did right after coming over from the Sharks was pretty much in line with a second-line scorer's pace (especially with scoring going down around the league). The problem with Falloon was that he HAD to score to contribute, because he had no other game. So he rapidly fell out of favor here the same way he did with the Sharks.

Vaclav Prospal made an immediate impact in 1996-97 after being called up from the Phantoms and had a great first round of the playoffs. Unfortunately, he suffered a broken wrist in practice between rounds one and two and had to have surgery -- so he was done for the playoffs.

Dainius Zubrus showed hints of offensive promise as a rookie.

When you add it all up, lack of forward depth really wasn't a big problem for the Flyers in those years. The bigger issue was that they had a generally mobile and decent top six on defense, but a bunch of injury-prone players (Svoboda, Haller), inconsistent ones (Therien, Dykhuis, Yushkevich at that point of his career) and aging/injury prone guys (Kejll Samuelsson)with no depth behind them and goaltending that was OK but not quite good enough.

I think so much depends on the development of Couturier and Schenn. If they take the next step then this team will be very good. If they stagnate like last year, the team will be fighting for the 8th seed.
- PhillySportsGuy

Idk about that, besides for them we still have Giroux, Voracek, Hartnell, Read, Lecavalier, Simmonds, and even Talbot to score goals. We have one of the deepest top-9s in the entire league. Our success does not rely on 1 or 2 particular forwards playing out of their minds. It's the same philosophy as to why I like goalie tandems better than 1 guy. If your 1 goalie goes cold for a bit, you have no one else. In a tandem you just switch over and feel confident with your 1b goalie.