What do they do to work on hockey sense in the minors? Was he going to get faster? Man these minor leagues are amazing. Alexander Daigle would have been Sidney Crosby before Sidney Crosby.
- mayorofangrytown

Maybe not his hockey sense, but his decision making, timing, and positioning could have been helped.

Every young player is constantly developing. You want Gostisbehere to get benched when he tries to do something that worked great against Harvard, but turns into a goal against when facing the Rangers?

Or do you want him to get guidance and the opportunity to play through the mistakes and learn from them? Right now, he's not going to get the second option on the Flyers
- Jsaquella

Well, that speaks to the coach and not the player which is two completely different things. We suck, why bench the kids to play the old logs in front of them.

Couturier is 21 years old. I don't envision it always being that way. I'm not going to look to trade Couturier, due to a knee jerk reaction to how the current season is going. How could Couturier is currently being used, would not factor into deciding whether to trade Couturier or not.
- MJL

Valid point. Look, I don't want to trade him. But whether Berube has a choice or not, he is not putting Coots in a position to succeed offensively, an expectation Berube set upon the player and talked about a lot about prior to the start of the season.

My worry is that the window is closing for Coots to develop any more offensive skill at the NHL level because of the overwhelming defensive zone starts he gets. I don't care how talented you are, your offensive production is going to be limited by the amount of defensive zone starts a player like Coots gets each game.

Maybe not his hockey sense, but his decision making, timing, and positioning could have been helped.
- jmatchett383

or not.

Can you imagine if the Flyers went into the season with Holmgren still as the GM?

I'm starting to think that hiring Hextall this past offseason was as much of a pre-emptive strike against Holmgren rather than a proactive move to retain Hextall.

/adjusts tin foil hat
- johndewar

What moves did Hextall make for this current team? I love how Holmgren get's killed. All his fault.

Les than half the season with the flyers and almost twenty games plus playoffs in the WHL...

so you're wrong.
- mayorofangrytown

Actually, I'm not. He played 39 games as a Flyer. Was a healthy scratch at least 8-10 times and played LW at times. Even if he was a healthy scratch twice, it's more than half a season.

He was returned to Lethbridge on February 3rd, 2009, played 18 regular season & 11 playoff games

Show me where I said he was a martyr. Ill wait.
- MBFlyerfan

That's the kind of top-down, organized terrorism you're referring to.

RCMP already suggested that he was a misguided lone wolf... I call him a tragic poser.

or not.
- mayorofangrytown

Maybe. We'll never know.

But yes, we should have never sent Morin/Sanheim/Fazleev/Aube-Kubel down. Trade everyone on the NHL team, bring up all of our prospects and watch them immediately beat the world!

Well, that speaks to the coach and not the player which is two completely different things. We suck, why bench the kids to play the old logs in front of them.
- mayorofangrytown

I wasn't aware I was being critical of the player. I'm simply saying to err on the side of caution. Playing a season in the AHL won't hurt the kid

Actually, I'm not. He played 39 games as a Flyer. Was a healthy scratch at least 8-10 times and played LW at times. Even if he was a healthy scratch twice, it's more than half a season.

He was returned to Lethbridge on February 3rd, 2009, played 18 regular season & 11 playoff games
- Jsaquella

No, I know but you said I was wrong so I really wanted to say you were wrong even if I had to be wrong again.

I wasn't aware I was being critical of the player. I'm simply saying to err on the side of caution. Playing a season in the AHL won't hurt the kid
- Jsaquella

I didn't say you were being critical of any of the kids. Playing in the AHL may not help him either. He could fall into bad habits playing lesser competition.

That's the kind of top-down, organized terrorism you're referring to.

RCMP already suggested that he was a misguided lone wolf... I call him a tragic poser.
- Tomahawk

To be honest I hope you are right.

What moves did Hextall make for this current team? I love how Holmgren get's killed. All his fault.
- MJL

I'd quite enjoy seeing Holmgren and Berube riding a tandem bike on the freeway, but that's just me.

Maybe. We'll never know.

But yes, we should have never sent Morin/Sanheim/Fazleev/Aube-Kubel down. Trade everyone on the NHL team, bring up all of our prospects and watch them immediately beat the world!
- jmatchett383

get on that already.

Valid point. Look, I don't want to trade him. But whether Berube has a choice or not, he is not putting Coots in a position to succeed offensively, an expectation Berube set upon the player and talked about a lot about prior to the start of the season.

My worry is that the window is closing for Coots to develop any more offensive skill at the NHL level because of the overwhelming defensive zone starts he gets. I don't care how talented you are, your offensive production is going to be limited by the amount of defensive zone starts a player like Coots gets each game.
- mcefalu

It certainly is, and I have some of the same worries about how Couturier is used. But the coach doesn't have much of a choice there.

And lets' put some clarity here. He does have a very high percentage of D zone starts, and a very low percentage of O zone starts. And that has an effect on his production.
But he had 11 D zone starts in the last game. But he had 27 total shifts. So he's not spending the entire game in his own end.

No, I know but you said I was wrong so I really wanted to say you were wrong even if I had to be wrong again.
- mayorofangrytown

I wasn't wrong. He was up for more than half a season, got used sparingly and was handled poorly.

His case & Ghost's case are different. I'm still in favor of a slow process. I'm not willing to rush a kid into this mess of a team, where people will expect him to be a savior, when I think he will benefit more in the AHL.

You want him up now, great. Me, I want to wait

Maybe. We'll never know.

But yes, we should have never sent Morin/Sanheim/Fazleev/Aube-Kubel down. Trade everyone on the NHL team, bring up all of our prospects and watch them immediately beat the world!
- jmatchett383

I might have kept Morin for 9 games. I'd happily trade all of our D but Coburn and Streit if anyone would take them. I could sign plugs off the street and save cap dollars and not see our record regress.

Muzzin - spent 2.5 years in AHL.
Voynov - about 2.5 years in AHL
Duncan Keith - 2 years in AHL


Why can't Gostisbiere just play in the AHL? Just let te kid playin every situation and once he is ready and the team is ready with the minutes for him then bring him up.

Also remember he is coming from college hockey where they play less games a season.

I didn't say you were being critical of any of the kids. Playing in the AHL may not help him either. He could fall into bad habits playing lesser competition.

- mayorofangrytown

I think each player is different and some can handle being thrown into the fire and some can't. I think the overall point is that spending too much time in the minors isn't going to hurt the prospect, but being brought up too early can hurt a prospect.

I've watched the Phantoms games and I can tell you Ghost has been pushed around a bit and has made some positioning mistakes. He's learning when to push the play and when to play back. In college he was given more freedom because the team needed his scoring and creativity.

Tied game in the 3rd isn't really a good time to take a risk. That's exactly what happened in the last game and the Phantoms allowed a grade A scoring chance because of it.

I didn't say you were being critical of any of the kids. Playing in the AHL may not help him either. He could fall into bad habits playing lesser competition.

- mayorofangrytown

DP

I wasn't wrong. He was up for more than half a season, got used sparingly and was handled poorly.

His case & Ghost's case are different. I'm still in favor of a slow process. I'm not willing to rush a kid into this mess of a team, where people will expect him to be a savior, when I think he will benefit more in the AHL.

You want him up now, great. Me, I want to wait
- Jsaquella

Sbisa seemed to me (from memory) like a very well-rounded player at the time. I seem to remember his being fairly physical with a lot of upper-body strength, fairly good defensive instincts, and some raw offensive upside (for a rookie, not a vet).

Speaking of terrorism or whatever, one soldier shot dead at parliament hill and one shot at the Ottawa War Memorial.

I am a conspiracy guy, and fear is a wonderful way to keep the masses obedient but damn..

But hey, free and open doors to immigration are the way to go. The current conservative/republican can government decided to go to war in the middle east again. This is the result.

I wasn't wrong. He was up for more than half a season, got used sparingly and was handled poorly.

His case & Ghost's case are different. I'm still in favor of a slow process. I'm not willing to rush a kid into this mess of a team, where people will expect him to be a savior, when I think he will benefit more in the AHL.

You want him up now, great. Me, I want to wait
- Jsaquella

I just acknowledged that you weren't wrong and that I was being a petty @$$. Try to keep up here ummmkay?

I wasn't wrong. He was up for more than half a season, got used sparingly and was handled poorly.

His case & Ghost's case are different. I'm still in favor of a slow process. I'm not willing to rush a kid into this mess of a team, where people will expect him to be a savior, when I think he will benefit more in the AHL.

You want him up now, great. Me, I want to wait
- Jsaquella

I want them to wait as well. I think playing in this clusterfrak will hurt him. Offense is not as big a problem as team defense. Bringing up an offensive d-man who CLEARLY needs to work on his defensive game, and put on ten pounds, and putting him in this defensive nightmare is not going to be productive in any way.

I might have kept Morin for 9 games. I'd happily trade all of our D but Coburn and Streit if anyone would take them. I could sign plugs off the street and save cap dollars and not see our record regress.
- mayorofangrytown

I agree with you on all accounts. But that still is not reason to pluck Ghost out of the AHL and throw him into the fire.