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

I think that's what everyone is most scared of

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.
- PhillySportsGuy

The giroux line is coming to life ... It needs to be less Abreuesqe tho

I think that's what everyone is most scared of
- PhillySportsGuy

Live by the checkbook, die by the checkbook

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

good point. phaneuf at 8 yrs with an nmc....Vanek 6 yrs ntc will right this ship

the harsh truth about these Flyers is that they are a mediocre team doing what mediocre teams do
- Bill Meltzer

/thread

/season

good point. phaneuf at 8 yrs with an nmc....Vanek 6 yrs ntc will right this ship
- Just5

Wow, watching him on 24/7 made it pretty obvious why he's not exactly ingratiated himself to his peers... eagerly flosses his wife and his money, does something stupid on the ice, gets suspended, and then gets short with the people around him. Not to mention that face you want to punch.

FWIW My assessment of the Flyers issues

1. Lack of take charge leadership
This team badly misses Pronger, Briere and Lappy, not just for their on ice skills but for their leadership. Timonen is a warrior, but he has really never been a vocal guy and Giroux, for whatever reason, is not showing up as a leader. The loss of VL right now is very telling as well.

2. Lack of team speed, especially on D
While the Flyers have some forwards who skate well, overall they are average skaters at best. The speed of the D however is terrible. Coburn and Gus are good, not great skaters. Timonen, Mezaros, Streit and Schenn are below average, Grossman is slow and Gill can be timed with sundial. Too many Flyers Dmen can be beat to the outside due to lack of speed and when trailing, the D lacks both the speed and in some cases the skill, to jump into the play.

3. Lack of size up front.
The Flyers forwards constantly lose battles along the wall, I believe this is due often to lack of size and strength. Giroux, Raffl, Schenn, Couturier, Simmonds, Read, Downie and Rinaldo are all under 200lbs and 3 or 4 of them are under 190lbs. The Flyers need more size and strength up front, especially on the wings

4. Questionable coaching decisions
Overall, for a rookie head coach, Berube has done a decent job. However his refusal to hold players such as Hartnell, Rinaldo and Streit accountable for poor play or bad decisions sends a bad message to the rest of the team. I also question his use of timeouts, there are times such as the one Bill pointed out today, where a timeout could have helped. Finally, the powerplay has struggled quite a bit, yet for the most part they keep going with the same lineup and formation when a change could be beneficial.

5. Lack of "killer instinct"
Good teams get a 2 or 3 goal lead and they step it up and put the other team away, see Chicago for an example. The Flyers get a 2 goal lead and just about stop playing. Their tendency to sit on a lead and give up offensively is killing them.

Bill is absolutely correct in his assessment that the Flyers are a mediocre club. As I've been saying for weeks, they will finish with 82-87 points and anywhere from 3rd to 7th in the division. Sadly, the only reason they have ANY chance of making the playoffs is that they play in a very weak division.

Next up I'll post some suggestions for turning this thing around.

You know what I take away from the last 2 games? Give Giroux some talent and he can score. Even if its a rookie with the "nuts" to play the game.

Now imagine if he had a real good player like Gaborik or Neal. I still hope they are going after Yakupov. Needs to get done.

FWIW My assessment of the Flyers issues

1. Lack of take charge leadership
This team badly misses Pronger, Briere and Lappy, not just for their on ice skills but for their leadership. Timonen is a warrior, but he has really never been a vocal guy and Giroux, for whatever reason, is not showing up as a leader. The loss of VL right now is very telling as well.

2. Lack of team speed, especially on D
While the Flyers have some forwards who skate well, overall they are average skaters at best. The speed of the D however is terrible. Coburn and Gus are good, not great skaters. Timonen, Mezaros, Streit and Schenn are below average, Grossman is slow and Gill can be timed with sundial. Too many Flyers Dmen can be beat to the outside due to lack of speed and when trailing, the D lacks both the speed and in some cases the skill, to jump into the play.

3. Lack of size up front.
The Flyers forwards constantly lose battles along the wall, I believe this is due often to lack of size and strength. Giroux, Raffl, Schenn, Couturier, Simmonds, Read, Downie and Rinaldo are all under 200lbs and 3 or 4 of them are under 190lbs. The Flyers need more size and strength up front, especially on the wings

4. Questionable coaching decisions
Overall, for a rookie head coach, Berube has done a decent job. However his refusal to hold players such as Hartnell, Rinaldo and Streit accountable for poor play or bad decisions sends a bad message to the rest of the team. I also question his use of timeouts, there are times such as the one Bill pointed out today, where a timeout could have helped. Finally, the powerplay has struggled quite a bit, yet for the most part they keep going with the same lineup and formation when a change could be beneficial.

5. Lack of "killer instinct"
Good teams get a 2 or 3 goal lead and they step it up and put the other team away, see Chicago for an example. The Flyers get a 2 goal lead and just about stop playing. Their tendency to sit on a lead and give up offensively is killing them.

Bill is absolutely correct in his assessment that the Flyers are a mediocre club. As I've been saying for weeks, they will finish with 82-87 points and anywhere from 3rd to 7th in the division. Sadly, the only reason they have ANY chance of making the playoffs is that they play in a very weak division.

Next up I'll post some suggestions for turning this thing around.
- BiggE

Nice review. Only thing I would change is the "size up front" They have big players, they are not a small forward group. But they dont PLAY big. Such as Voracek, Lecavalier, Hartnell. Even Simmonds would rather finesse around a guy then plow through him.

You know what I take away from the last 2 games? Give Giroux some talent and he can score. Even if its a rookie with the "nuts" to play the game.

Now imagine if he had a real good player like Gaborik or Neal. I still hope they are going after Yakupov. Needs to get done.
- youarewrong

Might as well just go after Stamkos while we're at it. He's injured, stock's at an all-time low.

Suggestions to turn this team around:

There is no one move or player that is going to turn the Flyers into a contender, however the following moves could make them a much better club next season.

1. Replace Holmgren with Hextall
Overall Homer has done a good job as GM, but he has made some questionable moves of late and it is time for a change. I am confident that Hextall's time in LA has taught him that you build a club from the net out and that leads to my next point.

2. Rebuild the D
Adding speed and size to the D is crucial if the Flyers are to be successful next year. I would suggest the following:
Offer Brayden Schenn, Luke Schenn and a 2nd round pick to Phoenix for Yandle.
Buyout Streit
Offer Hartnell, Gustafsson and a 2nd round pick to Vancouver for Edler
This would give them a top 4 of:
Yandle-Coburn
Edler-Grossmann
The bottom 3 can filled by a combo of inexpensive free agents, Lauridsen and/or Alt

3. Replace Paddock as an assistant coach with Terry Murray. Murray has a much better track record as a coach at the NHL level than Paddock and his experience could only help Berube and the Flyers D.

4. Sign at least one skilled, speedy winger and at least one big winger who is at least an average skater. I would not resign Downie, I would rather have someone with more size.The forward lines could look like the following:
Read or FA-Giroux-Voracek
Read or FA-VL-Simmonds
Raffl-Couturier-Read or FA
McGinn or Cousins-Laughton-Rinaldo
spares: Rosehill and/or VDV

5. Resign Mason to a 3 or 4 year deal and sign a backup for no more than 1 million per year, 2 years max.

Anyhow thats my 2 cents, what do you guys think?

You know what I take away from the last 2 games? Give Giroux some talent and he can score. Even if its a rookie with the "nuts" to play the game.

Now imagine if he had a real good player like Gaborik or Neal. I still hope they are going after Yakupov. Needs to get done.
- youarewrong

I wish we had signatures on this forum... imagine all the time you could save:

1. Yakupov
2. Heatley/Campbell/Gaborik/Byfuglien
3. NICHUSHKIN
4. Liberals

Nice review. Only thing I would change is the "size up front" They have big players, they are not a small forward group. But they dont PLAY big. Such as Voracek, Lecavalier, Hartnell. Even Simmonds would rather finesse around a guy then plow through him.
- youarewrong

Good point, but I don't consider Simmonds big. He is only listed at 183lbs and looks like a stringbean out there. While he can mix it up, I don't think he is physically strong enough to push a 210-230lb dman off the puck. I think the Flyers could use at least one 215-225 true power forward.

Good point, but I don't consider Simmonds big. He is only listed at 183lbs and looks like a stringbean out there. While he can mix it up, I don't think he is physically strong enough to push a 210-230lb dman off the puck. I think the Flyers could use at least one 215-225 true power forward.
- BiggE

They have one, but he's the worst hockey player since ever.

I wish we had signatures on this forum... imagine all the time you could save:

1. Yakupov
2. Heatley/Campbell/Gaborik/Byfuglien
3. NICHUSHKIN
4. Liberals
- Tomahawk

What about Shea Weber and BOB RYAB

Bill Meltzer: Meltzer's Musings: Why Do Flyers Lose So Many 3rd Period Leads?
- bmeltzer

re #3... mike richards or chris pronger wouldn't sit back and let that happen. they'd be pissed. this team just gives up it seems like.

Bill Meltzer: Meltzer's Musings: Why Do Flyers Lose So Many 3rd Period Leads?
- bmeltzer

Because Rosehill?

No?

Then it must be Hartnell.

That game sucked. Felt bad for Mase, clearly he blames himself, you could tell just looking at him. He's been stellar so far but it's asking too much for him to carry them the whole season.

Nice to see that first line clicking.

Wonder what they do with the lines when VL gets back?

Do you think Mason is showing some cracks?

I think the better he plays the more they rely too much on him, & do not support him.

also wondering if the contract extension may be affecting (somewhat).
- puckhead17

I don't. The Flyers gave up 16 shots on net in the 3rd, and who knows how many actual attempts. That would seem to indicate the game got tilted in favor of the Caps and the Flyers didn't respond all that well to the adversity. But even so, Mason didn't have much of a chance on any of those 3 goals in the 3rd with the screens and bodies around him.

I blame the loss on bad luck for Mason (just look at that first shootout goal), and the Flyers being unable to prevent the caps from cycling in their zone.

2. Rebuild the D
Adding speed and size to the D is crucial if the Flyers are to be successful next year. I would suggest the following:
Offer Brayden Schenn, Luke Schenn and a 2nd round pick to Phoenix for Yandle.
Buyout Streit
Offer Hartnell, Gustafsson and a 2nd round pick to Vancouver for Edler
This would give them a top 4 of:
Yandle-Coburn
Edler-Grossmann
The bottom 3 can filled by a combo of inexpensive free agents, Lauridsen and/or Alt

- BiggE

I don't think anyone disagrees that the D needs a change. But I'd rather them not gut their team (and I doubt Vancouver or Phoenix make those deals) as much as possible and just be patient instead of chasing the big trade/big FA. It will be hard and painful, but maybe, for once, patience is needed.

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

i'm impressed. some sweet passes.

You know what I take away from the last 2 games? Give Giroux some talent and he can score. Even if its a rookie with the "nuts" to play the game.

Now imagine if he had a real good player like Gaborik or Neal. I still hope they are going after Yakupov. Needs to get done.
- youarewrong

He has the worst +/- in the NHL with -22. Closest is -17.

I don't. The Flyers gave up 16 shots on net in the 3rd, and who knows how many actual attempts. That would seem to indicate the game got tilted in favor of the Caps and the Flyers didn't respond all that well to the adversity. But even so, Mason didn't have much of a chance on any of those 3 goals in the 3rd with the screens and bodies around him.

I blame the loss on bad luck for Mason (just look at that first shootout goal), and the Flyers being unable to prevent the caps from cycling in their zone.
- wolfhounds

Mason has given up (I believe) 13 goals in his last 4 games. If this was Bryz, we'd be killing him. I hope it's just a bad/unlucky string, and he gets back to bailing them out nightly again.

re #3... mike richards or chris pronger wouldn't sit back and let that happen. they'd be pissed. this team just gives up it seems like.



- -davies-

You mentioned 2 Flyers captains.. there. What are you trying to say?

He has the worst +/- in the NHL with -22. Closest is -17.
- mikel33

Plus/minus is not exactly and individual stat. That said, that's really bad. But hey, he is cool with learning the game without the puck, it's just a language thing.

I don't think anyone disagrees that the D needs a change. But I'd rather them not gut their team (and I doubt Vancouver or Phoenix make those deals) as much as possible and just be patient instead of chasing the big trade/big FA. It will be hard and painful, but maybe, for once, patience is needed.
- jmatchett383

My concern is that if they stay patient it will be 5 or 6 years before guys like Morin, Ghost, Hagg and Alt hit their primes and by that time they will need to rebuild most of their forward group other than Couturier, Schenn and Laughton.