Who the hell knows what's going on with the defense when the guy Hextall went out and paid $3m for as a free agent is continually sitting as a healthy scratch while the make-a-wish-kid Manning plays almost every night.
- Feanor

He is only sitting for a few games now.So not a worry whole season long.
Even when he is 33 years old he is still a NHL rookie

I would love to have Bellemare on the Canes, but I don't think he's much more than a pretty good 3rd line guy.
- BINGO!

I like Bellemare's skating a lot and defensive awareness but he doesn't create much offensively. Maybe a little more at even strength but not at all shorthanded and we've had 3rd and 4th liners who could regularly. I really think we overrate him.

this board will change its stance constantly so long as it supports whatever the flyers do... yea just because i never played pro sports means i have no first hand experience about recovering from injuries and the rehabilitative process. that's rich.

you guys just keep lapping up that Koolaid but just try to make up your minds...

Again last year and this past offseason you all were saying Ghost needed another season in Lehigh, now it's "oh he became captain America" recovering from an acl that's hysterical...
- JoeRussomanno

I have said several times that he is being sheltered and is not captain america. He is exciting to watch though and he has looked good on the power play. He has shown, now that he got called up, that he is ready for the NHL. How exactly does that mean that he shouldve been in the NHL all along? He was not great in the beginning of the AHL season.

Your blatant ignorance on his ACL recovery and the value of him adding size is what is wrong. If you want to compare now to last year and act like they are the same then sure, go ahead. I definitely can't stop you, but everyone knows you are wrong

this board will change its stance constantly so long as it supports whatever the flyers do... yea just because i never played pro sports means i have no first hand experience about recovering from injuries and the rehabilitative process. that's rich.

you guys just keep lapping up that Koolaid but just try to make up your minds...

Again last year and this past offseason you all were saying Ghost needed another season in Lehigh, now it's "oh he became captain America" recovering from an acl that's hysterical...
- JoeRussomanno

You said it takes 1-2 years to recover from an ACL injury. We showed you a player who came back within 6 months. There's no koolaid involved, just basic knowledge about the sport of hockey. Something you clearly lack.

this board will change its stance constantly so long as it supports whatever the flyers do... yea just because i never played pro sports means i have no first hand experience about recovering from injuries and the rehabilitative process. that's rich.

you guys just keep lapping up that Koolaid but just try to make up your minds...

Again last year and this past offseason you all were saying Ghost needed another season in Lehigh, now it's "oh he became captain America" recovering from an acl that's hysterical...
- JoeRussomanno

If Striet, didn't get hurt, do you think Gostisbehere is on the team right now?

If Striet, didn't get hurt, do you think Gostisbehere is on the team right now?
- MJL

Nope, my boy took one for the team.

There's 30 teams in the league.
- MJL

You know what, you are right....that is what I was forgetting. So simple

Nope, my boy took one for the team.
- Streit2ThePoint

Killed it on this one

Who the hell knows what's going on with the defense when the guy Hextall went out and paid $3m for as a free agent is continually sitting as a healthy scratch while the make-a-wish-kid Manning plays almost every night.
- Feanor

It doesn't make any sense. If Medvedev was truly injured why wouldn't they just say he was.

Completely off-topic, but a reason to burn an entire city down:

http://www.cnn.com/2015/1...-invasion-feat/index.html
- jmatchett383

Agreed.

You know what, you are right....that is what I was forgetting. So simple
- YuenglingJagr

If were on the same page and talking about if there would be a trade market for Matt Read, then yea, I'm right. There would be. You named 3 players who were free agents, as if Read was a free agent at the same time, nobody would be interested in him. We agree on one thing, yea, it is simple.

I like Bellemare's skating a lot and defensive awareness but he doesn't create much offensively. Maybe a little more at even strength but not at all shorthanded and we've had 3rd and 4th liners who could regularly. I really think we overrate him.
- SuperSchennBros

I think he's a good player to have in your bottom 6. He stands out for us because he is fast on a team that is not terribly fast.

If Striet, didn't get hurt, do you think Gostisbehere is on the team right now?
- MJL

Assuming Streit played well and all else being equal, no, he's probably not on the team right now. Opportunity arose and he's making the best of it right now. Is he truly "NHL ready?" Who knows. The sample size is too small to make that assessment right now. That said, I'm basically enjoying what I've seen so far.

You said it takes 1-2 years to recover from an ACL injury. We showed you a player who came back within 6 months. There's no koolaid involved, just basic knowledge about the sport of hockey. Something you clearly lack.
- Feanor

I said in some cases... I clearly have no knowledge of the sport says someone who tried to tell me a few years ago how great this team would be now, sorry that hasn't worked out for you... anyway the point is simlle everyone said last year how he needed time in the minors, however he never got that and now cause he scored a goal everyone wants him up here... that's hillarious.

It doesn't make any sense. If Medvedev was truly injured why wouldn't they just say he was.
- PLindbergh31

hextall is all knowing don't question him or any flyer gm, especially those that played for the team before.

Some observations from last nights game:

I was mildly surprised at how many empty seats/no shows there were, especially on a night when they were honoring a player as popular as Brind'amour.

Congrats again to Brind'amour, he gave a great speech. This came as no surprise as he was always one of the classiest players both on and off the ice.

The Flyers played pretty well for most of the 2nd period and on and off during the 1st. However, they completely stopped skating during the 3rd. They were lucky that Carolina decided not to bother to show up until the 3rd period. It sadly seemed like a case of a bad team beating a worse one last night.

I thought both Giroux and Couturier had strong games and Bellemare, as usual, played his role very well. Two forwards who really showed me nothing last night were Simmonds and Raffl, the Flyers need more from those 2. Also Read didn't show much either. Voracek and B. Schenn were solid and the rest were ok.

The D looks even worse in person. Gudas seems to be constantly out of position chasing hits and I can't even count how many times he and Del Zotto ended up in the same corner in their own zone. Manning is a #7 at best and Schultz wasn't terrible, but he just seems to do nothing particularly well. Luke Schenn looked so-so, and that's probably as much as you are going to get from him. Ghost made a sweet play on the GWG and also made some very nice passes that the Flyers stone hand forwards often flubbed. He made a few mistakes in the D zone here and there, but overall he looked pretty good and he definitely belongs in the NHL.

Lastly, Neuvirth had a very strong game. He made a couple of fantastic saves in the 3rd and kept them alive and able to make it to OT.
- BiggE

I was at the game last night and the place was quite full for the ceremony and the first 2 periods. I think a lot of people left for the third period because of how late the game went... there were a lot of kids there last night.

If were on the same page and talking about if there would be a trade market for Matt Read, then yea, I'm right. There would be. You named 3 players who were free agents, as if Read was a free agent at the same time, nobody would be interested in him. We agree on one thing, yea, it is simple.
- MJL

I think there is a trade market for a player of Matt Read's skill set, but by no means do I think Matt Read is the best trade target for another team. If I was one of the other (29) NHL teams, why would I give up assets for Read when I could acquire a cheaper player of the same skill set? The only way you make a deal for a player with an additional 2 years on his contract is if you want him to be a part of your core or he comes so ridiculously cheap that it makes sense to do so.

My point about the free agents is that an open market showed the value of these types of players, and pretty much all of them were signed to friendlier deals. So again, why would a team trade for Matt Read when they could choose from several other players on better deals.

note: I am not saying trading Matt Read is impossible, I think it is harder than most think and will bring back a smaller than expected return or require retained salary

I said in some cases... I clearly have no knowledge of the sport says someone who tried to tell me a few years ago how great this team would be now, sorry that hasn't worked out for you... anyway the point is simlle everyone said last year how he needed time in the minors, however he never got that and now cause he scored a goal everyone wants him up here... that's hillarious.
- JoeRussomanno

He got six weeks in the minors, which is as much as Laughton got last season.

Pretty shocking that Umberger who was injured when he was acquired, has been a pretzel the entire time he's been here.

Meanwhile Hartnell has 39 goals, and 37 assists in 99 games as a Jacket. Man his contract is looking like an albatross every day. Good thing they got rid of him to cater to Berube.

Assuming Streit played well and all else being equal, no, he's probably not on the team right now. Opportunity arose and he's making the best of it right now. Is he truly "NHL ready?" Who knows. The sample size is too small to make that assessment right now. That said, I'm basically enjoying what I've seen so far.
- Scoob

This is exactly it. He has brought an exciting element to a team that outside of a small handful of other players, was completely lacking from Flyers games. Just be happy about it

Assuming Streit played well and all else being equal, no, he's probably not on the team right now. Opportunity arose and he's making the best of it right now. Is he truly "NHL ready?" Who knows. The sample size is too small to make that assessment right now. That said, I'm basically enjoying what I've seen so far.
- Scoob

I agree, the sample size is small. I think it's evident that Gostisbehere's offensive game, skating, and play with the puck, is NHL caliber. As expected. I think he's further along defensively than I thought he would be. He still has areas of his game that needs further development, but it appears to this point, that he's not overwhelmed, and is capable of working on those areas at the NHL level. He would certainly benefit from more AHL time to work on his play away from the puck, but at this point, I don't think he's being hurt by doing that at the NHL level.

Since they can bury him, I dont think they need to trade him to unload salary
- YuenglingJagr

They cannot bury $4.05M of him.

I said in some cases... I clearly have no knowledge of the sport says someone who tried to tell me a few years ago how great this team would be now, sorry that hasn't worked out for you... anyway the point is simlle everyone said last year how he needed time in the minors, however he never got that and now cause he scored a goal everyone wants him up here... that's hillarious.
- JoeRussomanno

Your knowledge of how "going to the minors" helps in development is on par with your ACL rehabilitation expertise

I agree, the sample size is small. I think it's evident that Gostisbehere's offensive game, skating, and play with the puck, is NHL caliber. As expected. I think he's further along defensively than I thought he would be. He still has areas of his game that needs further development, but it appears to this point, that he's not overwhelmed, and is capable of working on those areas at the NHL level. He would certainly benefit from more AHL time to work on his play away from the puck, but at this point, I don't think he's being hurt by doing that at the NHL level.
- MJL

I don't disagree with any of that.