Coming up on 48 hours with no blob from Bill. I'm gonna give him one more day, before I contact the authorities. I'm very suspicious of Tanner and Garth, those (frank)ers are surely jealous of a real journalist like Bill who actually writes interesting and informative blogs.

So whoever wins the Bears/Bruins game today will be the opponent starting in LHV. I might get me some tickets
- Just5

I will be there!

Well, at least the Rags lost.
- BiggE

In spectacular fashion

In spectacular fashion
- YuenglingJagr

It made my weekend so far!

damn, mcdavid is just a beast. accelerates with the puck like nobody else and always seems to find a way to wire one past the goalie.
- hammarby31

It is truly amazing watching McJeebus play..
In a different way I get the same feeling from him I had watching Lindros in his prime..Just holding your breath waiting for something amazing to happen.

Might be leight but Stolarz out 3-4 months.


http://www.philly.com/phi...ome-ice-in-1st-round.html

Might be leight but Stolarz out 3-4 months.


http://www.philly.com/phi...ome-ice-in-1st-round.html
- opeth_pa

Man, that sucks for the kid. Not only will he miss the entire playoffs, but that will cut into his off season training time as well. With Bill saying that Sandstrom is likely to play one more year in Sweden and Hart not being AHL eligible yet next season, I'm guessing the plan for 17-18 is for Stolie and Lyon to start in LHV and for the Flyers to sign a vet to pair with Neuvirth.

i don't have a dog in this fight...but i will take issue with your position on flyers/pens. it's just not true. sure, the pens have won 4 cups in the last 25 years. we all know how those were both a result of the team nearly folding and being gifted generational talents - lemieux, crosby, et al. without being pure garbage at the perfect time, they have nothing, and perhaps don't exist. the flyers beat them in 97, 2000, 2012, if memory serves. the flyers own the pens in their new building. unfortunately they choked in 2009 which led to a cup for pittsburgh. to their credit after losing their way a bit, they've rebounded and rode rookies to a cup. this year, crosby is on fire.

things will tilt back our way. eventually all those guys will be gone. look at the (frank)ing devils. perennial contenders a long time. literally dead last in the conference this year. they're (frank)ing awful.

the flyers are building...would be nice to get a few top forwards...maybe guys like konecny, lindblom, rubstov, and vecchione will become a superb cast. i hate waiting. nothing we can do though.

(frank) pooptsburgh.
- hammarby31

I hear you Hammar. But you know you keep score. By Championships.
Amazing the Penguins 58 point season produced Crosby, the Flyers 54 point season produced a player traded for a third pairing defenseman.

Might be leight but Stolarz out 3-4 months.


http://www.philly.com/phi...ome-ice-in-1st-round.html
- opeth_pa

Classic

I hear you Hammar. But you know you keep score. By Championships.
Amazing the Penguins 58 point season produced Crosby, the Flyers 54 point season produced a player traded for a third pairing defenseman.

- PLindbergh31

Man Flyers totally did it wrong that season amiright?
100% on this clownshow organization that they couldnt even randomly get the first overall pick.

I hear you Hammar. But you know you keep score. By Championships.
Amazing the Penguins 58 point season produced Crosby, the Flyers 54 point season produced a player traded for a third pairing defenseman.

- PLindbergh31

I'm not really sure where you are going with this. Are you blaming the Flyers for:
A. Losing the lottery in 2007?
and
B. There not being a franchise player to select with the 2nd pick that year?

Looking back, pretty much every scout had either JVR or Turris at 2, not really sure what you expected them to do.

Also, are you really giving the Pens some kind of props for taking Crosby with a gift pick of 1st overall in 2005? That pick had nothing to do with where they finished as the entire 1st round was set up by lottery due to the lockout. Hmm, Pens on the verge of going bankrupt and folding, franchise player available, Pens get the first pick. WHo'd a thunk it??

So basically, either by pure luck, or shenanigans by Bettman and his cronies, the Pens get a franchise center in 2005. Do you really think that if the Flyers had won that lottery in 2005 they wouldn't have selected Crosby and gone on to win Cups as well?

I can understand getting frustrated with their current on ice performance and some of the coaching decisions, that is to be expected and is fair when your team misses the playoffs, but complaining about taking JVR 2nd overall in 2007 and then going on to beeyatch and moan about swapping him for L. Schenn years later is just moronic.

Man Flyers totally did it wrong that season amiright?
100% on this clownshow organization that they couldnt even randomly get the first overall pick.
- opeth_pa

Not getting the first pick was just typical, exacerbating the bad luck with an incompetent trade is just the cherry on the poop sundae.

Man Flyers totally did it wrong that season amiright?
100% on this clownshow organization that they couldnt even randomly get the first overall pick.
- opeth_pa

How dare they not put a gun to Bettman's head and rig the lottery. The nerve of them!

Not getting the first pick was just typical, exacerbating the bad luck with an incompetent trade is just the cherry on the poop sundae.
- PLindbergh31

Was the trade bad? In hindsight, yes, it was awful. However, at the time, while most thought the Flyers should have at least maybe gotten a 2nd or 3rd round pick along with Schenn, nearly all scouts and experts still thought Schenn was going to be a legit RH shooting top 4 Dman and most scouts and experts also thought that while JVR was a good player, he was kind of soft and not likely to ever be a top flight 1st line LW.

Hindsight is always 20/20.

Barry Melrose just said Charlie McAvoy is the next Bobby Orr.

Was the trade bad? In hindsight, yes, it was awful. However, at the time, while most thought the Flyers should have at least maybe gotten a 2nd or 3rd round pick along with Schenn, nearly all scouts and experts still thought Schenn was going to be a legit RH shooting top 4 Dman and most scouts and experts also thought that while JVR was a good player, he was kind of soft and not likely to ever be a top flight 1st line LW.

Hindsight is always 20/20.
- BiggE

I don't think it was hindsight. Pretty much everyone said it was an awful trade the second it was made.

Barry Melrose just said Charlie McAvoy is the next Bobby Orr.
- PLindbergh31

Well if that's the case, then Provorov is going to be much better than Nick Lidstrom.

I don't think it was hindsight. Pretty much everyone said it was an awful trade the second it was made.
- PLindbergh31

I recall most being unhappy that the Flyers didn't get a pick along with Schenn, but most seemed to call it mediocre or just not enough rather than awful. They didn't start to really call it awful until a year or 2 later.

Either way, it didn't work out well for the Flyers, no one will argue that. I was more annoyed that you seemed to giving the Pens some kind of great props for blatantly tanking for Lemieux and then being handed Crosby. IMO, especially when it comes to the Lemieux fiasco, they deserve nothing but scorn. They were playing journeyman minor leaguers over legit NHL players down the stretch to make sure that they finished last. It was an embarrassment.

edit: And if the NHL had any self respect, they would instituted a lottery that Spring having seen what the Pens and the Devils (they were just as guilty) did. It was a disgrace to the game.

Well if that's the case, then Provorov is going to be much better than Nick Lidstrom.

- BiggE

I love Melrose, but how can he say something so blasphemous.

Was the trade bad? In hindsight, yes, it was awful. However, at the time, while most thought the Flyers should have at least maybe gotten a 2nd or 3rd round pick along with Schenn, nearly all scouts and experts still thought Schenn was going to be a legit RH shooting top 4 Dman and most scouts and experts also thought that while JVR was a good player, he was kind of soft and not likely to ever be a top flight 1st line LW.

Hindsight is always 20/20.
- BiggE

Dug out what I thought in the archives the day of

"2 things concerned me about L. Schenn when watching him play against the flyers last year.
-He seemed to struggle with making the subtle puck moving plays in his own end (plays that Timonen is so good at), leading to turnovers.
-He is real slow agility wise. Skating is a big issue so he has to have perfect positioning.

He is an upgrade to the Flyers blue line. Time will tell if he is the right piece. I am hopeful he can pair well with Mez, allowing Mez to pinch and really push the play in the offensive zone with our 3rd pairing.

My initial feeling is I don't like this trade, but also can't blame the flyers too much if they feel JVR and Giroux will never work out together and they are skeptical with JVR's hip going forward. "

Dug out what I thought in the archives the day of

"2 things concerned me about L. Schenn when watching him play against the flyers last year.
-He seemed to struggle with making the subtle puck moving plays in his own end (plays that Timonen is so good at), leading to turnovers.
-He is real slow agility wise. Skating is a big issue so he has to have perfect positioning.

He is an upgrade to the Flyers blue line. Time will tell if he is the right piece. I am hopeful he can pair well with Mez, allowing Mez to pinch and really push the play in the offensive zone with our 3rd pairing.

My initial feeling is I don't like this trade, but also can't blame the flyers too much if they feel JVR and Giroux will never work out together and they are skeptical with JVR's hip going forward. "
- Just5

Exactly. I felt the same. I wasn't thrilled with the trade but I still thought that Schenn could help us and had legit potential to be a top 4 shutdown guy. I also was far from sold on JVR at that point who seemed to lack both consistency and drive.

Over time, I realized that Schenn wasn't going to improve and that the deal was a bad one, but not when it happened.

I recall most being unhappy that the Flyers didn't get a pick along with Schenn, but most seemed to call it mediocre or just not enough rather than awful. They didn't start to really call it awful until a year or 2 later.

Either way, it didn't work out well for the Flyers, no one will argue that. I was more annoyed that you seemed to giving the Pens some kind of great props for blatantly tanking for Lemieux and then being handed Crosby. IMO, especially when it comes to the Lemieux fiasco, they deserve nothing but scorn. They were playing journeyman minor leaguers over legit NHL players down the stretch to make sure that they finished last. It was an embarrassment.
- BiggE

JVR was traded when his stock was at it's lowest. Most Flyers fans probably didn't see Schenn play that often. Leafs fans were laughing. They knew how awful he was.
The Leafs got a perennial 30 goal scorer for literally nothing.

JVR was traded when his stock was at it's lowest. Most Flyers fans probably didn't see Schenn play that often. Leafs fans were laughing. They knew how awful he was.
The Leafs got a perennial 30 goal scorer for literally nothing.
- PLindbergh31

He's scored 30 goals once, it is his career high.

Just sayin....

I don't think it was hindsight. Pretty much everyone said it was an awful trade the second it was made.
- PLindbergh31

Here is your awful Team Negative take How dare you question management

"Toronto was 10th in the NHL last year in goals scored, and next to last in goals against. Why are they trading a defenseman, for a guy who's only asset right now is being a goal scorer?"

JVR was traded when his stock was at it's lowest. Most Flyers fans probably didn't see Schenn play that often. Leafs fans were laughing. They knew how awful he was.
The Leafs got a perennial 30 goal scorer for literally nothing.
- PLindbergh31

A perennial 30 goal scorer ...who has only scored 30 goals once in the 13-14 season.