Sure.

First off, Haley and Patrick were both pursuing the puck, and Patrick tried to perform a stick lift and missed and clipped him. It happens. Every player has been there before (including Patrick) and every player will be there again.

Second, Patrick has been playing well of late. He was playing so well in fact, that Hakstal decided to move him up the lineup to play with a talented line.. He had his icetime cut by 1/3 because of a high stick? Interesting. I disagree with it.
- jak521

Neither player was anywhere near the puck so the attempted stick lift was unnecessary and a dumb play. He had his ice time cut due to multiple poor high stick penalties. 3 in the last two games to be exact, not because of one high stick penalty. Before that he was given leeway by the coach. Teaching young players those lessons is a very important part of player development. Hakstol would've been delinquent as a coach if he didn't send that message. Patrick has been playing better but well is a bit of a stretch in my opinion.

Frankly I don’t know if Hakstol is a good coach.....I don’t know if Hextall is a good GM and I don’t know if this leadership group needs a tweak....what I do know is this team is flawed. The young generation is floundering and I’m not sure where the blame lies. A side from Provorov I’m not sure what they have. The organization has gone from elite and revered to a bottom feeding-middle if the pack generic bore. They have have no identity....I always knew what the Flyers were.....I don’t anymore.

Patrick doesn't impress me in any way. Right now it seems Nico Hischier is far ahead of Patrick in skill level
- twpguy

who cares about Hischier? it's not like the Flyers passed on Hischier to pick Patrick. really premature to give up on a 19 yr old kid coming off of same surgery that slowed Giroux and Ghost down last year. Would I like to see more from him? of course but I get it.

who cares about Hischier? it's not like the Flyers passed on Hischier to pick Patrick. really premature to give up on a 19 yr old kid coming off of same surgery that slowed Giroux and Ghost down last year. Would I like to see more from him? of course but I get it.
- nastyflyergirl

kewpie doll awarded!

Can't agree with you there, under Berube they were pretty close to break even in the first, while under Hak they are getting clearly outscored. Yeah, I guess it's not a huge difference, but either way, it has gotten worse.
- BiggE

Being down a goal or two after the 1st affects how you have to play the rest of the game and how much energy the team needs to expend to try and come back, so being 30th in 1st period scoring is a huge problem.

Being down a goal or two after the 1st affects how you have to play the rest of the game and how much energy the team needs to expend to try and come back, so being 30th in 1st period scoring is a huge problem.
- Feanor

Of course it is, but when comparing the team under Hakstol and Berube, have to look at all the factors including the roster. The problem has been going on for way longer than since Hakstol took over.

Being down a goal or two after the 1st affects how you have to play the rest of the game and how much energy the team needs to expend to try and come back, so being 30th in 1st period scoring is a huge problem.
- Feanor

Agreed. It's gone from bad to worse. I'm not a fan of Hakstol. I want to see veterans traded AND a coaching change. No more 1st time NHL head coaches (Berube) or guys with zero pro experience (Hak); bring in a quality, experienced NHL head coach.

Of course it is, but when comparing the team under Hakstol and Berube, have to look at all the factors including the roster. The problem has been going on for way longer than since Hakstol took over.
- MJL

They are saying it's getting worse under Hakstol which if you look at ranking yes it has. If you look at raw number it's not as glaring to me.

who cares about Hischier? it's not like the Flyers passed on Hischier to pick Patrick. really premature to give up on a 19 yr old kid coming off of same surgery that slowed Giroux and Ghost down last year. Would I like to see more from him? of course but I get it.
- nastyflyergirl

This. Compare him to heiskanen glass or any of those guys. I don't see any of them tearing up the nhl. It's like being in buffalo and saying look what mcdavid is doing. Well it's not like you passed on him

Of course it is, but when comparing the team under Hakstol and Berube, have to look at all the factors including the roster. The problem has been going on for way longer than since Hakstol took over.
- MJL

To me there is no real difference....they have not gotten better with the coaching change in any substantive way.

Agreed. It's gone from bad to worse. I'm not a fan of Hakstol. I want to see veterans traded AND a coaching change. No more 1st time NHL head coaches (Berube) or guys with zero pro experience (Hak); bring in a quality, experienced NHL head coach.
- BiggE

Who? Please no Darryl Sutter...

Agreed. It's gone from bad to worse. I'm not a fan of Hakstol. I want to see veterans traded AND a coaching change. No more 1st time NHL head coaches (Berube) or guys with zero pro experience (Hak); bring in a quality, experienced NHL head coach.
- BiggE

Really don't know who's out there that we would want. I still think it's best to do this at the end of the season so we have plenty of options. Honestly when we hired hasktol I was looking for a highly touted nhl assistant from a winning franchise. I liked that over a lot of re treads.

They are saying it's getting worse under Hakstol which if you look at ranking yes it has. If you look at raw number it's not as glaring to me.
- dragonoffrost

I think it's more about trying to understand why it's so poor. Reality is what good does it do to compare under previous coaches. They need to fix it now. I think it's fair to say that nobody is without blame. It's a hard argument to make between leadership, coaching, and talent.

Looks like they need to get drunk again.
- Streit2ThePoint

I know I do watching this team

Bless you and your optimism.

This team just has me so frustrated right now. I can live with kids making mistakes, rookies are going to occasionally take dumb penalties (Patrick) or just go through rough patches (Hagg), what I can't take is watching this team come out flat for games way too much.

This goes back 3 coaches now. I think it really says something about the on ice leadership of this squad. In years past, guys like Timonen, Briere and Pronger were there to not let things like this spiral out of control, and I think that type of veteran leadership is sorely lacking.

At least a guy like Raffl, who is no heavyweight fighter by any stretch of the imagination, goes out and drops the gloves to try to get things going. But so many veterans are coming up short. The team voted to put an "A" on Filppula's chest, but he's been pretty invisible for a guy who gets a lot of ice time. Weise was awful last night, but he is what he is. Gudas has been a huge disappointment this season and even Simmonds, who everybody loves, seems to disappear for long stretches of the game.

While Giroux and Voracek are certainly having good seasons, it sure doesn't seem to be trickling down to the rest of the team. The way they started last night's game was just pathetic and they should be embarrassed. Do they really think that they are good enough to just throw a switch and turn it on in the last 10 minutes of a game?

While this has been going on for a while, some of it, not all but certainly some, is on the coaches. The last 2 coaches were both guys in their first NHL head coaching jobs and most of the current assistants, with the exception of Knoblauch, have been around for a while. I think it's time to do what they did in 2002, clean house. Bring in an experienced NHL head coach with a winning resume and sign him to a 4 or 5 year deal. You can keep Knobs, but let the new coach choose the rest of the assistants. This will send a clear message to the players, that it's now 100% on them, and if the culture of this team doesn't change, players will be on the move.

I've had enough.
- BiggE

Honesty I look forward to Filppula being gone and Weise a constant healthy scratch or at most a 4th liner. Just rather see young players continue to trickle onto the roster. Of course while Hakstol is feeling pressure to win I am sure the young players aren't going to get minutes. I rather live and die with the kids than continue to rely so heavily on veterans that just aren't coming thru (not talking about 14/28/93). D men not named Provorov take time to get their game refined so I would continue to play Hagg and Sanheim.

Who? Please no Darryl Sutter...
- dragonoffrost

Not sure who, and it would have to come after the season when there will be more available candidates. But either way, a change needs to be made.

I could even live with bringing in a successful coach out of the AHL who is ready to make the next step, but I'd want at least one of his assistants to have NHL head coaching experience. To have a staff that is headed by a guy with no pro experience and to also not have at least one assistant with NHL head coaching experience was the biggest mistake Hextall has made during his tenure as GM.

ttt

I think it's more about trying to understand why it's so poor. Reality is what good does it do to compare under previous coaches. They need to fix it now. I think it's fair to say that nobody is without blame. It's a hard argument to make between leadership, coaching, and talent.
- MJL

This is true.

Patrick was hurt
- DaveofYork

That excuses his skating. It does not excuse his dumb penalties and lots of times appearing out of place out there.

Honesty I look forward to Filppula being gone and Weise a constant healthy scratch or at most a 4th liner. Just rather see young players continue to trickle onto the roster. Of course while Hakstol is feeling pressure to win I am sure the young players aren't going to get minutes. I rather live and die with the kids than continue to rely so heavily on veterans that just aren't coming thru (not talking about 14/28/93). D men not named Provorov take time to get their game refined so I would continue to play Hagg and Sanheim.
- nastyflyergirl

Living and dying with the kids would be an even worse environment for young player to develop in. You have to give them responsibilities in steps and layers. They're already relying too heavily on a player like Hagg.

So piss poor effort last night against a bad team. Odds they come out tonight and play good against a good team?
- dragonoffrost

I have a bad feeling that tonight they get embarrassingly blitzed (and not in a BiggE way).

I'm not an advocate for tanking at all and its awesome the Flyers were "rewarded" going from 13 to 2 without tanking......and I want to see the playoffs...but that said, watching the world juniors makes losing less painful Impressed with the obvious, Dahlin as well as Hughes, Tkachuk and Zadina. I didn't notice Svechnikov too much in Russia's first game and I didn't see yesterdays game.

I have a bad feeling that tonight they get embarrassingly blitzed (and not in a BiggE way).
- Scoob

I think they'll lose the game but they'll be far more competitive. They'll be up for this game. They didn't need to be up for last night's game. (sarcasm)

Going back to December 22nd of last season, the Flyers have played 82 games.

They have a record of 33-36-13 good for 79 points.

Thats terrible.
- jak521

But they're great at 5v5 this year, so there's that.

But they're great at 5v5 this year, so there's that.
- Scoob

that's cause of Elliott though