Those guys are tough to get out of the top 10, especially when you are drafting dmen.
- BiggE

I know.

I hear ya, though in this draft, they should get a very good player at 10-12 which is where they will likely be. However, if G or Jake should go down for any length of time, they could quickly find themselves picking 4-7. IMO this is not a bubble team, this is a bad team. The only way they are making the playoffs is if Giroux, Voracek and Mason carry them there and I just don't think that will happen.
- BiggE

I disagree that they are a bad team. They're an average team. Edmonton, Buffalo, Carolina are bad teams. And the Flyers have more then Giroux and Voracek. They just have to find some consistency, and play like they're capable of. And find a way to stop having games like they had last night, and compete consistently. No reason why this team can't make the playoffs.

Yeah I guess your right. Simmonds and Couturier for sure have been better. However if Bellemare received more ice I would think his offensive output would be better than Raffl

He just needs more ice and the coaches must allow that
- 3flyerkids

I agree, he should get more icetime in a different role. But I don't know that he would out produce Raffl.

Maybe this has been said but I would love to see bellamare moved up and ek moved down ( rj-vdv-zac ). poopty line but at least it would be the 4th and rj gets less minutes.

Maybe this has been said but I would love to see bellamare moved up and ek moved down ( rj-vdv-zac ). poopty line but at least it would be the 4th and rj gets less minutes.
- Philly2088

Never know, it could be a good 4th line. And maybe it takes some pressure off of Umberger and helps him find his game. For the few shifts that Bellermare was on Lecavalier's wing, I thought they looked good.


Flyers didn't skate last night. They better skate tonight, because Montreal is a much quicker team then Columbus is.

Maybe this has been said but I would love to see bellamare moved up and ek moved down ( rj-vdv-zac ). poopty line but at least it would be the 4th and rj gets less minutes.
- Philly2088

A washed up corpse, a career minor league poopbag, and an undisciplined meathead with no skill jacked up on red bull.

A poopty line? What gives you that idea?

That's ridiculous! Any Flyers top D prospect worth a dam is thinking when I get there, I'm going to make them better.
The doom and gloomers love a game like this. It makes them happy, and they get to bask in the loss. And that's not meant towards honest fans with honest criticisms. It's the hyperbole that comes out like D prospects should ask for a trade because the Flyers are where they are.
What I see is a team with room for improvement. A team that has lost 3 or 4 games that they probably should've won, has played inconsistent hockey, and yet is still right there in the playoff picture.
- MJL

You missed my point. Its not that the team is bad. It's that the team hasnt successfully groomed a d prospect since therein. 20 years ago. Think about that. Are you laughing? You should be

I understand the frustration with Read to this point, but he's been a really good player since day 1 as a Flyer. Most players are one point or another, fall into a rut or a slump. What makes Read any different? Look at last year and the start that Giroux and Voracek had. Giroux didn't score his first goal until how many game into the season? Read is still a good player, who is struggling and probably has a little bit of a confidence issue right now. I'm fully confident he'll get out of it, and return to the player that he's been in the past.
- MJL

I hope you're right -- I mean, yes. You are right in that Read's sample size, from Day 1, is the profile of a good player. He's been a good player long enough where you can reasonably believe that he simply isn't playing well.

The only thing is that we're 15 games in now, and he's played well in one, average in a handful of others, below-average in a handful of others, and below even that in a few, like last night.

Again: You are correct. He's been a good player, and he's certainly at an age where off-a-cliff regression just would make no sense.

But at the same time, the eye-test hasn't been kind for the vast majority of this season, and it'd be nice to see something out of him that makes you believe that he's even closing in on getting out of this funk -- he's been bad for long enough that it hard not to wonder what in the hell is going on.

I hear ya, though in this draft, they should get a very good player at 10-12 which is where they will likely be. However, if G or Jake should go down for any length of time, they could quickly find themselves picking 4-7. IMO this is not a bubble team, this is a bad team. The only way they are making the playoffs is if Giroux, Voracek and Mason carry them there and I just don't think that will happen.
- BiggE

I still think they make it, and I know the season's 82 games, and there will be nights like last night. I say it all the time: Some nights will be ugly.

What pisses me off is that last night shouldn't have been one of them. That's a game you need to win. But they didn't, and looked ridiculous.

Last night's game just makes you throw your hands in the air and ask WTF and truly wonder exactly when a Stanley Cup is heading their way

You missed my point. Its not that the team is bad. It's that the team hasnt successfully groomed a d prospect since therein. 20 years ago. Think about that. Are you laughing? You should be
- Just5

An equally ridiculous reason for why a defense prospect should ask for a trade.

I hope you're right -- I mean, yes. You are right in that Read's sample size, from Day 1, is the profile of a good player. He's been a good player long enough where you can reasonably believe that he simply isn't playing well.

The only thing is that we're 15 games in now, and he's played well in one, average in a handful of others, below-average in a handful of others, and below even that in a few, like last night.

Again: You are correct. He's been a good player, and he's certainly at an age where off-a-cliff regression just would make no sense.

But at the same time, the eye-test hasn't been kind for the vast majority of this season, and it'd be nice to see something out of him that makes you believe that he's even closing in on getting out of this funk -- he's been bad for long enough that it hard not to wonder what in the hell is going on.
- AllInForFlyers

15 games isn't a long time. Last year, Giroux didn't score his first goal until what, 20 some games in? I think Read will bounce back.

I still think they make it, and I know the season's 82 games, and there will be nights like last night. I say it all the time: Some nights will be ugly.

What pisses me off is that last night shouldn't have been one of them. That's a game you need to win. But they didn't, and looked ridiculous.

Last night's game just makes you throw your hands in the air and ask WTF and truly wonder exactly when a Stanley Cup is heading their way
- AllInForFlyers

Stanley Cup? Really that shouldn't be part of our vocabulary for a couple years at least. Cue the Jim mora playoffs haha

15 games isn't a long time. Last year, Giroux didn't score his first goal until what, 20 some games in? I think Read will bounce back.
- MJL

Again: I hope you're right. Because they need him to play better than this. It's not even the goal-scoring that concerns me as much as how weak he's been defensively and on the PK -- yeah, the PK is going to get scored on from time-to-time, by definition, but he's just looked lost out there at ES and on the kill

Stanley Cup? Really that shouldn't be part of our vocabulary for a couple years at least. Cue the Jim mora playoffs haha
- Just5

Last night's game made that dream seem really far away -- it was like a punch in the face when you were expecting a hearty handshake

Again: I hope you're right. Because they need him to play better than this. It's not even the goal-scoring that concerns me as much as how weak he's been defensively and on the PK -- yeah, the PK is going to get scored on from time-to-time, by definition, but he's just looked lost out there at ES and on the kill
- AllInForFlyers

Looks like a struggling player with a confidence issue. I thought he had a good game against Colorado and was coming out of it. But last night, didn't prove that out.

Last night's game made that dream seem really far away -- it was like a punch in the face when you were expecting a hearty handshake
- AllInForFlyers

No Laurel?

No Laurel?


- MBFlyerfan

Ha! Yeah. Not so much.


It's almost midday; time (for me, at least) to put last night's debacle behind and think about tonight.

It was asked earlier, and I think it's a good question: We see Emery tonight, right? (Not because Mason was poor or anything.)

No Laurel?
- MBFlyerfan

akeson has no future on this team he isn't showing he can do anything at the NHL

Good to see that the CBJ lit a fire under Umberger. He was awesome last night!
- PLindbergh31

you mean like when luke lit a fire under darth vader in return of the jedi?

Columbus:
9 game losing streak
10 players injured
backup goaltender

And the Flyers lost at home to them. Think about that. Absolutely (frank)ing pathetic.
- PLindbergh31

did you really think it would end any other way? that's what this team does, and by this team, i do not mean the 2014-15 flyers, i mean the organization.

I would agree 100% that Bellemare would have to be considered in the top 3 forwards this year. But why doesn't he get more ice? What is wrong with this coaching staff. He clearly works hard every shift, but yet Zombieburger continually rolls out there.
- 3flyerkids

i love frechie and would like to see him get a bigger bite. the guy has wheels, works his balls off, and has shown he's got hands in the swedish like. if rj continues to suck, and there's no indication that he won't, maybe beroobee will move him up.

Welp, in the bright side I picked the right night to get loaded

Easy win for Flyers tonight.

akeson has no future on this team he isn't showing he can do anything at the NHL
- 2Real

well if read's poopty play is "only 15 teams" then the same should hold true for anyone else. right now i agree that akeson isn't showing much though. i think he's working hard, but the creative play we saw from him in the playoffs is not there. at the same though, is he bringing anything less than the other cruds? not really.