1. They can't skate with over 80% ove the teams in the league...they are just flat out slow.
2. Teams don't fear thier offense, so in the third they know they can take risks and not have it cost them...
3. They are fragile and aren't frequently up on thier skates driving the net, which with all of the other small issues, they are a team that has to give 100% every night to get a win..and that is just not possible.
4. The are a one shot wonder in the offensive zone. More times than not, the shot comes from the sideboards and misses, is blocked, or a save is made and the puck is immediately headed the other direction...when the can control the puck and cycle they are pretty good, but that happens so rarely on a regular basis that it limits the ability to lock down a game and kill clock.
5. Few pure goal scorers, this is the OT and shootout issue...they just dont have guys that can create every time they have the puck...there is a reason we can almost 100% know we are not getting the second point in a SO. I am not sure how the front office does not see the glaring issue...if you go to a shoot out 7-10 time a season, you just can't afford to hand over 80% of those points...and that is what we have done since the leagure went to the SO format...sorry, gimic or not, those are points the Flyers can't earn...
- JW98FlyerFan

Great assessment. Exactly WHO on this team are opponents afraid of seeing with the puck on his stick? Besides G...Voracek? cut, spin, cut, fumble the puck away.....or pass to a covered linemate?

Great assessment. Exactly WHO on this team are opponents afraid of seeing with the puck on his stick? Besides G...Voracek? cut, spin, cut, fumble the puck away.....or pass to a covered linemate?
- edmac812

Don't talk about Jesus Leino like that!

A little note about Wayne Simmonds that drives me nuts. Obviously this is not a core issue, but on the PP, EVERY TIME he gets the puck at the side of the net, he tries this little drag it back in front and roof it short-side. Every time. I think I've MAYBE seen it work once. It's a terribly low-percentage play because the goalie's already (hopefully) tight on the post, so you have almost no shot of roofing it past him. Then again, if he was playing on the right side instead of the left to start with...

Don't talk about Jesus Leino like that!
- jmatchett383

LOL! Could he be any more predictable?

LOL! Could he be any more predictable?
- edmac812

Best player I have ever seen in my life at making 85% of an amazing play the leads to an odd-man rush the other way. Deke, cut, spin, deke, get pinned, lose puck.

You know in the closing minutes of the game, the broadcast team, I think it was Keith Jones, who basically called what Adam Oates was going to do with Ovechkin, and then Oates did exactly that with Ovechkin scoring the tying goal with 48 seconds left....2 points gone.

Now if the broadcast team knows that, how come Berube doesn't? Why doesnt the team on the ice know this? Why try to keep play going with Ovechkin on the ice as the extra skater? TIE UP THE PUCK GUYS! WTF!

It says a lot about the leadership of this team since the same problems have persisted through Stevens, Laviolette and now Berube.

Best player I have ever seen in my life at making 85% of an amazing play the leads to an odd-man rush the other way. Deke, cut, spin, deke, get pinned, lose puck.
- jmatchett383

Exactly. Agree 100%

I would also comment to the G "haters", that he has averaged 1 point for game for the last ~20 games. His game is to assist goal scorers, he is a setup guy, and probably one of "as Lavi said" the best in the world...Yes he can can score goals, but that is not his game...what he does do is make amazing no look passes through traffic to the open man...

The Flyers problem is that they don't have that "goal scorer" So G is on an island. We all thought V had broken through and was going to be that guy to bury the puck every night on the pass from G, but that has just not happened this year, why I don't know, but the more glaring probelem is there is no one else...We have about 12 power forwards, 2 skill guys (G and Vinny)...and some grinders (goons)...

Hammer away on G and the D-men, but I think we are looking at the wrong problems...The D is not that bad...overpaid for what they bring, yes 100% agree, but the fact that when they do bring the puck up, because of the lack of sustained O, it is coming right back in the D zone...

Wrong guys for the system, and no goal scorers...LOADS of talent, but the wrong mix...

I hate to say it, but I can only imagine G with a guy like Yak...those two would score goals like I used to dump quarters in to Pac-Man at the mall...

You know in the closing minutes of the game, the broadcast team, I think it was Keith Jones, who basically called what Adam Oates was going to do with Ovechkin, and then Oates did exactly that with Ovechkin scoring the tying goal with 48 seconds left....2 points gone.

Now if the broadcast team knows that, how come Berube doesn't? Why doesnt the team on the ice know this? Why try to keep play going with Ovechkin on the ice as the extra skater? TIE UP THE PUCK GUYS! WTF!

It says a lot about the leadership of this team since the same problems have persisted through Stevens, Laviolette and now Berube.
- edmac812

Was only 1 point gone...just sayin...

Actually a bigger issue is a puck moving, top pair defenseman.

Overall, they lack hockey sense. Too often they make simple, routine plays into nightmares. They lack discipline, & I don't just mean that they take too many penalties. They don't stay in their assignments & when forced to make reads they tend to make the wrong ones.
- Jsaquella

I agree with all of the above. I also think that the true "shutdown defenseman" is a thing of the past. You can't clear the crease in front of the goalie anymore and blocking shots doesn't take any particular skill. More important are guys with good hockey sense who can make a simple outlet pass. As long as a player isn't defending air and can make a basic pass to a teammate without turning it over he has a chance to be a good defensive defenseman.

You know in the closing minutes of the game, the broadcast team, I think it was Keith Jones, who basically called what Adam Oates was going to do with Ovechkin, and then Oates did exactly that with Ovechkin scoring the tying goal with 48 seconds left....2 points gone.

Now if the broadcast team knows that, how come Berube doesn't? Why doesnt the team on the ice know this? Why try to keep play going with Ovechkin on the ice as the extra skater? TIE UP THE PUCK GUYS! WTF!

It says a lot about the leadership of this team since the same problems have persisted through Stevens, Laviolette and now Berube.
- edmac812

It was also a case of Mason trying to do too much...He moved that puck from behind the net when he should have kept it and let his D fight for it...it immediately deflected to Ovi and Mase was already out of position...

Agreee Jonesy called it, but an over agressive play by Mase, caught everyone off guard.

Was only 1 point gone...just sayin...
- jmatchett383

Yeah I know but i look at it as a 2 point swing in division. They could have had 2 points, Caps 0. instead they lost a point and gave the caps 2

I think the bigger shock was not blowing the 3 goal lead with 10 mins left, it was losing the shootout. Damn gimmick.

I would also comment to the G "haters", that he has averaged 1 point for game for the last ~20 games. His game is to assist goal scorers, he is a setup guy, and probably one of "as Lavi said" the best in the world...Yes he can can score goals, but that is not his game...what he does do is make amazing no look passes through traffic to the open man...

The Flyers problem is that they don't have that "goal scorer" So G is on an island. We all thought V had broken through and was going to be that guy to bury the puck every night on the pass from G, but that has just not happened this year, why I don't know, but the more glaring probelem is there is no one else...We have about 12 power forwards, 2 skill guys (G and Vinny)...and some grinders (goons)...

Hammer away on G and the D-men, but I think we are looking at the wrong problems...The D is not that bad...overpaid for what they bring, yes 100% agree, but the fact that when they do bring the puck up, because of the lack of sustained O, it is coming right back in the D zone...

Wrong guys for the system, and no goal scorers...LOADS of talent, but the wrong mix...

I hate to say it, but I can only imagine G with a guy like Yak...those two would score goals like I used to dump quarters in to Pac-Man at the mall...
- JW98FlyerFan

I dont hate G. I like him, I just don't think he's that kind of a crunch time- go to guy. Maybe he will grow into it. I agree that the mix is just plain bad. I'd be pretty happy if they cleaned house defensively. They have a bunch of "okay" defenders but nothing special. There really is no "leader" on the defensive side of the ice. Again if you are an opposing forward, which Flyers defender are you afraid of challenging? Whose side are you avoiding?

It was also a case of Mason trying to do too much...He moved that puck from behind the net when he should have kept it and let his D fight for it...it immediately deflected to Ovi and Mase was already out of position...

Agreee Jonesy called it, but an over agressive play by Mase, caught everyone off guard.
- JW98FlyerFan

True. Everyone should have known that the extra skater was coming on and who it was. Nobody stuck him, and the Goalie should have known to stay in the net at that time of the game, if there was ever a time to stay put it would be in a one goal game, less than a minute left and a rested Ovechkin as the extra attacker coming on.. That's proactive coaching.

1. They can't skate with over 80% ove the teams in the league...they are just flat out slow.
2. Teams don't fear thier offense, so in the third they know they can take risks and not have it cost them...
3. They are fragile and aren't frequently up on thier skates driving the net, which with all of the other small issues, they are a team that has to give 100% every night to get a win..and that is just not possible.
4. The are a one shot wonder in the offensive zone. More times than not, the shot comes from the sideboards and misses, is blocked, or a save is made and the puck is immediately headed the other direction...when the can control the puck and cycle they are pretty good, but that happens so rarely on a regular basis that it limits the ability to lock down a game and kill clock.
5. Few pure goal scorers, this is the OT and shootout issue...they just dont have guys that can create every time they have the puck...there is a reason we can almost 100% know we are not getting the second point in a SO. I am not sure how the front office does not see the glaring issue...if you go to a shoot out 7-10 time a season, you just can't afford to hand over 80% of those points...and that is what we have done since the leagure went to the SO format...sorry, gimic or not, those are points the Flyers can't earn...
- JW98FlyerFan

The Flyers historical lack of success is more due to poor goaltending. Goal scoring in actual games and scoring in the shootout are not necessarily related. Some of the best scorers in the league are poor at shootouts e.g. Stamkos.

Read and Giroux are close to 40% in their careers and Couturier has the hands to be successful eventually.

The Flyers historical lack of success is more due to poor goaltending. Goal scoring in actual games and scoring in the shootout are not necessarily related. Some of the best scorers in the league are poor at shootouts e.g. Stamkos.

Read and Giroux are close to 40% in their careers and Couturier has the hands to be successful eventually.
- Feanor

So, in the left hand you have G, Read and Coots...In the right you have Toews, Sharp, Kane, Hossa, Versteeg, Shaw...

You pick, tell me which team is designed to score goals at any point of the game.

And with a bit of an optimistic touch.. How bout that Raffl!

So, in the left hand you have G, Read and Coots...In the right you have Toews, Sharp, Kane, Hossa, Versteeg, Shaw...

You pick, tell me which team is designed to score goals at any point of the game.
- JW98FlyerFan

This is a really level assessment

So, in the left hand you have G, Read and Coots...In the right you have Toews, Sharp, Kane, Hossa, Versteeg, Shaw...

You pick, tell me which team is designed to score goals at any point of the game.
- JW98FlyerFan

So...you're saying the Flyers offense isn't as good as Chicago's? I don't buy it.

I think Bill's a bit frustrated with them.

And with a bit of an optimistic touch.. How bout that Raffl!
- jak521

He did look good. But I don't think he's saving this season...
And coots and his side of the goal shot?
Man he was friggin lucky!
But he looked good on his skates last night too.

He did look good. But I don't think he's saving this season...
And coots and his side of the goal shot?
Man he was friggin lucky!
But he looked good on his skates last night too.
- FlyersGrace

This year's leino?

Everybody just relax, the caps going back up and we'll just buy our way out of trouble....

I think Bill's a bit frustrated with them.

- FlyersGrace

I think we all are. If they win that game, we're talking about how the Giroux line came to life and how the addition of Raffl has been tremendous for G and Jake.