Agreed. Their hands were largely tied, but it was an embarrassing return all around for them.
- stayinthefnnet

Wonder why is so bad in P’burgh that both Brown and Bell want out so bad, that they are screwing the Steelers in the process? Never liked P’burgh, but damn, something is off kilter there.

....and as always, Boston is no help tonight, and Montreal wins as well. All around, a dismal night.

Wonder why is so bad in P’burgh that both Brown and Bell want out so bad, that they are screwing the Steelers in the process? Never liked P’burgh, but damn, something is off kilter there.

....and as always, Boston is no help tonight, and Montreal wins as well. All around, a dismal night.
- Hokeeguy9

Both players are morons. Bell was asking for 17mil a season because he believed he deserved to be paid as a running back and a receiver. The Steelers offered 14. I'm not sure how much was guaranteed. I think 30mil.

Brown is the new TO. Stone cold crazy. Greatest receiver ever in Pittsburgh, but an awful person. He also wanted more money....and got it. Poor Carr has no idea what he's getting into.

Both players are morons. Bell was asking for 17mil a season because he believed he deserved to be paid as a running back and a receiver. The Steelers offered 14. I'm not sure how much was guaranteed. I think 30mil.

Brown is the new TO. Stone cold crazy. Greatest receiver ever in Pittsburgh, but an awful person. He also wanted more money....and got it. Poor Carr has no idea what he's getting into.
- madmike71

The Steelers needed to appease both a little more. I know it sucks but that’s the modern era. They have the principle and are down two hall of fame guys for nothing. But both players will find the grass isn’t so green in the yard next door for sure. No one wins

Both players are morons. Bell was asking for 17mil a season because he believed he deserved to be paid as a running back and a receiver. The Steelers offered 14. I'm not sure how much was guaranteed. I think 30mil.

Brown is the new TO. Stone cold crazy. Greatest receiver ever in Pittsburgh, but an awful person. He also wanted more money....and got it. Poor Carr has no idea what he's getting into.
- madmike71

Was just weird to see two superstars on one team want out. Don’t know any facts, so I can’t comment on that. The one thing I will comment on, is that teams with malcontents in any sport rarely, if ever win. Fractured locker rooms create distractions, and that usually doom the organization. If they’re both a-holes, it’s better that they’re gone.

Boston chooses tonight to be useless
- SuperSchennBros

Oh no, not just tonight. They dropped the ball last week against the Pens too.

Was just weird to see two superstars on one team want out. Don’t know any facts, so I can’t comment on that. The one thing I will comment on, is that teams with malcontents in any sport rarely, if ever win. Fractured locker rooms create distractions, and that usually doom the organization. If they’re both a-holes, it’s better that they’re gone.
- Hokeeguy9

Looks like Bell is getting less than what the Steelers offered. Him and his agent grossly over-estimated his value. He'll never make up for missing that season.

Agreed with your assessment. Especially Brown. I think he has some mental issues and he was totally disruptive to the team. Missed meetings. Missed practices. He lived off campus during training camp. Probably the biggest narcissist we've ever seen in this town. Good riddance. Bell on the other hand wasn't the same kind of problem. He just thought he was worth more than he was. He was fine in the locker room.

Glad HEX didn’t sign Simmonds to a 6 year 48 million contract 🥳

Looks like Bell is getting less than what the Steelers offered. Him and his agent grossly over-estimated his value. He'll never make up for missing that season.

Agreed with your assessment. Especially Brown. I think he has some mental issues and he was totally disruptive to the team. Missed meetings. Missed practices. He lived off campus during training camp. Probably the biggest narcissist we've ever seen in this town. Good riddance. Bell on the other hand wasn't the same kind of problem. He just thought he was worth more than he was. He was fine in the locker room.
- madmike71

the coach and qb have alot to do with the problems theyre going through now.

There was something to be gained by limiting young players ice time to show that they had to earn their ice time and had to play the right way. It was an investment being made. Players are scratched or played for different reasons. How can you not see how ice time was used to force a player like Konecny to improve areas of his game? Veterans were used as stop gap players. Stating that Hakstol had nothing to do with Sanheim's development is disqualifying and shows a clear bias.
As does your comments concerning Provorov. How did Provorov play in his rookie season or in his second season leading the league in goals for defenseman, yet you claim Provorov only "turned it on" after Hakstol was fired. You've mentioned a pretty clear pattern of how ice time was used concerning young player but I don't think you're even aware of it.
Saying it's counter intuitive to keep young players in the press box doesn't make any sense. If their play warrants it, if they're making the same mistakes over and over even after having ice time reduced, then they go to the press box. It's a time tested development tool.
What you state has been proven wrong is actually the opposite. Player makes repeated mistakes, player is demoted to the 4th line. Player improves in areas and becomes a better player and then is moved up in the lineup and succeeds. That's proven wrong! No, its proven correct.
- MJL

I'm not saying that having a young talent sit in the press box to watch from a different point of view doesn't help, I'm saying what Hakstol did doesn't help. Going back and forth from the press box every time there was a bad game or two, makes a player try to play perfect, which as we all know shows even more. Just like when a team has a subpar goalie, they feel their play needs to be flawless, which only leads to more mistakes. It's not until a player feels comfortable out there where he truly shows his talent. Shuttling guys up to the press box over and over and over, multiple times per year, puts that lingering doubt in the back of their heads. It's been said in numerous interviews with ex-players, that confidence is so huge in hockey. You can see all of the aforementioned playing better, playing in a groove, forming chemistry, etc., due to their current usages.

Yes, I will admit Provorov was a really solid rookie and even had a better sophomore year, and maybe some of that was from Hakstol, but the way he treated other young players on the team, I just can't believe his entire performance throughout his career is based on Hak. His downward trend in the beginning of this year I think is more discernible of Hak's flaws with the young kids. Patrick was not in the same boat as Provy, Patrick really hasn't started coming into his own until this year, even though there were other issues such as injuries and playing catch up, Hakstol did him no favors, although maybe he didn't hurt him either.

You can give Hak all the credit you want, but at the end of the day there's a reason why he's gone. Even though he made the playoffs the last two years and his winning percentage wasn't horrible, there was something about his night in and night out decisions that not only irked me, or a large part of the fan base, but also the people who make the decisions. I feel if they thought like you did, he would still be here.

Why would those points haunt us any more than the 4 points lost VS CBJ? The reality is any game could be looked at as a game to haunt us. What about 1 VS MTL we lost.
- xShoot4WarAmpsx

Yes you're not wrong, that's just one of the top games that come to mind if we miss the playoffs by a point or two, but all those examples are just as true if they come back to haunt us.

Not a Hakstol lover or anything. I personally think you're maybe not giving him enough credit and MJL might be giving him too much. But Provy played well last season under Hak until he got hurt and Patrick turned it on similarly in the second half of last season too.
- Ftown19125

I don't like to give that guy really a lot of credit, I don't think his system worked in the NHL, i hated his lineups each night, his goalie usage, how he would employ our second and third line, and how he continually trusted AMac to do too much and saddle Provy with him. Maybe his hands were tied with the lack of other potential d partners for him, but for me AMac is a fringe 6/7, never deserved top pairing minutes.

As I just mentioned, I may have been a little harsh about Provy, but when you mention Patrick turning it on in the second half of last year, is not even comparable to the way he has been playing this year in the last 2 months. Since Hak has left, he seems to be an absolute beast out there. I love the way Gordon employs him, giving him more offensive zone time, as well as giving him favorable matchups to succeed.

Glad HEX didn’t sign Simmonds to a 6 year 48 million contract 🥳
- Landsbergfan

I expect Simmer will get a much lower contract in the open market this summer. Unless he has some playoff magic he hasn’t been performing for some time now.

I expect Simmer will get a much lower contract in the open market this summer. Unless he has some playoff magic he hasn’t been performing for some time now.
- coffee junkie

Does he come back to Philly on a sweetheart deal that is shorter than what he wanted originally? It takes time to heal from that abdominal surgery. Giroux was not really fully recovered until his second season after the operation. Flyers obviously know this and might be willing to take a chance if the deal is right I wonder if this all makes a return to O & B more of a possibility for Simmer.

Then again I also wonder if, now that Simmer is gone and guys like Patrick and Lindblom are blossoming, maybe they should double down on the youth movement. Will be an interesting offseason. Hopefully they'll close the gap and make it a playoff-shortened offseason.

You can give Hak all the credit you want, but at the end of the day there's a reason why he's gone. Even though he made the playoffs the last two years and his winning percentage wasn't horrible, there was something about his night in and night out decisions that not only irked me, or a large part of the fan base, but also the people who make the decisions. I feel if they thought like you did, he would still be here.
- sjk540

Many instances of questionable judgement, and we're not talking nitpick kinda stuff.

That foolish coaches challenge against Nashville quite literally cost them the game, after the team worked so hard to mount a huge comeback.

I'm not saying that having a young talent sit in the press box to watch from a different point of view doesn't help, I'm saying what Hakstol did doesn't help. Going back and forth from the press box every time there was a bad game or two, makes a player try to play perfect, which as we all know shows even more. Just like when a team has a subpar goalie, they feel their play needs to be flawless, which only leads to more mistakes. It's not until a player feels comfortable out there where he truly shows his talent. Shuttling guys up to the press box over and over and over, multiple times per year, puts that lingering doubt in the back of their heads. It's been said in numerous interviews with ex-players, that confidence is so huge in hockey. You can see all of the aforementioned playing better, playing in a groove, forming chemistry, etc., due to their current usages.


- sjk540

This is not accurate. Hakstol followed a consistent pattern of limiting ice time, demoting to a lower line and then scratching a player that happened over a period of time. He did not scratch a player for having a bad game or two. If there was a repeated occurrence of mistakes made by a young player that wasn't corrected, the player would lose ice time. This is pretty much what every coach does. The pattern was so discernible that it was often easy to predict when a player was gong to be scratched in the future.

Yes, I will admit Provorov was a really solid rookie and even had a better sophomore year, and maybe some of that was from Hakstol, but the way he treated other young players on the team, I just can't believe his entire performance throughout his career is based on Hak. His downward trend in the beginning of this year I think is more discernible of Hak's flaws with the young kids. Patrick was not in the same boat as Provy, Patrick really hasn't started coming into his own until this year, even though there were other issues such as injuries and playing catch up, Hakstol did him no favors, although maybe he didn't hurt him either.


- sjk540

Every player is and should be handled differently. That happened under Hakstol. None said or believes that Provorov's entire performance was due to Hakstol. Just illustrating the bias you're showing by not willing to give Hakstol any credit for the positives and blaming him for the negatives. Two way street. Hakstol gave Patrick plenty of opportunity and minutes. Not sure how he did him no favors.

You can give Hak all the credit you want, but at the end of the day there's a reason why he's gone. Even though he made the playoffs the last two years and his winning percentage wasn't horrible, there was something about his night in and night out decisions that not only irked me, or a large part of the fan base, but also the people who make the decisions. I feel if they thought like you did, he would still be here.
- sjk540

Hakstol had to be let go because the entire team was in a deep funk with no signs of coming out of it. That doesn't change that Hakstol obviously did a very good job in developing the young players during his tenure. There is more to being an NHL coach than developing young players. It's results oriented.

I don't like to give that guy really a lot of credit, I don't think his system worked in the NHL, i hated his lineups each night, his goalie usage, how he would employ our second and third line, and how he continually trusted AMac to do too much and saddle Provy with him. Maybe his hands were tied with the lack of other potential d partners for him, but for me AMac is a fringe 6/7, never deserved top pairing minutes.

As I just mentioned, I may have been a little harsh about Provy, but when you mention Patrick turning it on in the second half of last year, is not even comparable to the way he has been playing this year in the last 2 months. Since Hak has left, he seems to be an absolute beast out there. I love the way Gordon employs him, giving him more offensive zone time, as well as giving him favorable matchups to succeed.
- sjk540

MacDonald has been for most of his career a solid veteran to pair a young defenseman with. Provorov himself gave MacDonald credit for helping and to calm his game down due to how reliable he is. MacDonald has been a top 4 defenseman for most of his career under a number of coaches.

You're conveniently forgetting how Patrick turned it on in the latter part of the second half of last season under Hakstol.

MacDonald has been for most of his career a solid veteran to pair a young defenseman with. Provorov himself gave MacDonald credit for helping and to calm his game down due to how reliable he is. MacDonald has been a top 4 defenseman for most of his career under a number of coaches.

You're conveniently forgetting how Patrick turned it on in the latter part of the second half of last season under Hakstol.
- MJL

Top 4 because Isles and Flyers had for the most mediocre to horrible D cors.

I saw that Crosby skated over and congratulated Ovechkin on his 1200th point last night. For the hate he gets in Philly, he seems like a pretty good dude.

Does he come back to Philly on a sweetheart deal that is shorter than what he wanted originally? It takes time to heal from that abdominal surgery. Giroux was not really fully recovered until his second season after the operation. Flyers obviously know this and might be willing to take a chance if the deal is right I wonder if this all makes a return to O & B more of a possibility for Simmer.


Then again I also wonder if, now that Simmer is gone and guys like Patrick and Lindblom are blossoming, maybe they should double down on the youth movement. Will be an interesting offseason. Hopefully they'll close the gap and make it a playoff-shortened offseason.
- Lexington Flyer

While I love Simmer, I think there will be better options that are better fits for the Flyers. Fit has been their main issue

I wish the best for Simmer

MacDonald has been for most of his career a solid veteran to pair a young defenseman with. Provorov himself gave MacDonald credit for helping and to calm his game down due to how reliable he is. MacDonald has been a top 4 defenseman for most of his career under a number of coaches.

You're conveniently forgetting how Patrick turned it on in the latter part of the second half of last season under Hakstol.
- MJL

You can’t read can you? The guy literally said how the end of last season doesn’t compare to how he is playing right now. Amac is and has been trash. Do you expect provy to trash an alternate captain to the media? Like honestly do you really think he would do that? Get a grip

While I love Simmer, I think there will be better options that are better fits for the Flyers. Fit has been their main issue

I wish the best for Simmer
- wcorvette

Agreed. That money would be best added to other monies to acquire a sniper. While they are scoring adequately now, we are not far removed from a stretch where goals were scarce

Agreed. That money would be best added to other monies to acquire a sniper. While they are scoring adequately now, we are not far removed from a stretch where goals were scarce
- DaveofYork

Correct, need skill, speed and scoring off the rush. Flyers have JVR and other players who crash the net for goals.

This won’t be popular but JVR IS HAVING A GOOD SEASON

Taking their damn time with this Voracek decision

While I love Simmer, I think there will be better options that are better fits for the Flyers. Fit has been their main issue

I wish the best for Simmer
- wcorvette

Like who?

Taking their damn time with this Voracek decision
- arichardson22

I don't hold out much hope tbh...