No parade for the winner this year.
- arichardson22

We'll just call it a protest

Your opinion?

Are the Pens starting to see the effects of trading away all the picks and Crosby and Malkin being a little over or was this just the shortened season and a bad situation???
- wcorvette

if anything, the shortened season should have helped them. and as far as any situation or whatever, that wasnt unique to them so that excuse holds no water. in a small sample size, its always tough going against a try hard team with an all world goalie. you play them 82 times you probably win 60, but none of that matters.

that being said. the pens have major problems, the majority of are self inflicted. crosby and malkin are still studs for the most part, but they cant superman a flawed roster across the goal line at this stage in their careers. the annoying thing is, they still have a good number of in their prime assets, but they sink themselves more for who they have on their roster as opposed to who they dont.

I think you guys had no shot against us. You guys have looked out of sink since hockey came back.
- SuperSchennBros

my thing is this. you say out of sink since hockey came back. thats five games man. think about how many games in the past the flyers shouldnt have had a shot against the pens, and look what happened. when both of these teams are engaged, its mayhem. its largely a coin flip, which obviously i have the benefit of hindsight after seeing their puke fest they just did, but it would hard to be more apathetic than they were. malkin truly looked like he didnt want to be there. maybe that doesnt happen against the flyers, who knows.

also, hart is really good now and looks to be a stud, but ill take my chances that he doesnt put out what price did over a four game output there.

still, to take nothing away from you guys right now. youre collectively rolling and dont have the 100 point guy, but just collective contributions up and down. thats tough to beat in a series, because even if one thing momentarily goes cold, you have other production to fall back on.

Watching NBC sports. According to them, Pittsburgh holds the long current playoff streak, even though they just lost a qualifying round to make the playoffs? Does this season count because they just lost to a team that wasn’t gonna make it.

not to sound cocky, because yes i do think the pens window is largely closed. but you look at toronto and especially edmonton, and its a lot of collective why the (frank) are you guys like this.

you have far and away the top two scorers in the league, and i dont think anyone reasonably thought they would have beaten chicago in this series. and its not as though you sense they are on the cusp of turning the corner either.

same with toronto. and that all star talent is held together against the cap anyway. just a lot of yikes.
- stayinthefnnet

Both teams have done a poor job of developing D and TO especially has managed the cap poorly. You build teams by being strong up the middle and TO has spent way too much on their wings. In Edmonton, until they add some quality 2 way D and better goaltending, they’re going nowhere either.

Watching NBC sports. According to them, Pittsburgh holds the long current playoff streak, even though they just lost a qualifying round to make the playoffs? Does this season count because they just lost to a team that wasn’t gonna make it.
- SuperSchennBros

it does. for whatever reason theyve considered all of these games "playoff games", even just the seeding ones. so say giroux scores, he gets that tallied to his career playoff total, etc. makes no sense to me.

my thing is this. you say out of sink since hockey came back. thats five games man. think about how many games in the past the flyers shouldnt have had a shot against the pens, and look what happened. when both of these teams are engaged, its mayhem. its largely a coin flip, which obviously i have the benefit of hindsight after seeing their puke fest they just did, but it would hard to be more apathetic than they were. malkin truly looked like he didnt want to be there. maybe that doesnt happen against the flyers, who knows.

also, hart is really good now and looks to be a stud, but ill take my chances that he doesnt put out what price did over a four game output there.

still, to take nothing away from you guys right now. youre collectively rolling and dont have the 100 point guy, but just collective contributions up and down. thats tough to beat in a series, because even if one thing momentarily goes cold, you have other production to fall back on.
- stayinthefnnet

I think you guys looked like poop in every game you guys played since hockey has returned.

it does. for whatever reason theyve considered all of these games "playoff games", even just the seeding ones. so say giroux scores, he gets that tallied to his career playoff total, etc. makes no sense to me.
- stayinthefnnet

Yeah, it’s an interesting set of Circumstances

Both teams have done a poor job of developing D and TO especially has managed the cap poorly. You build teams by being strong up the middle and TO has spent way too much on their wings. In Edmonton, until they add some quality 2 way D and better goaltending, they’re going nowhere either.
- BiggE

agreed, big time.

its cliche to point out, but it isnt basketball. (frank) him and all, but what mcdavid is doing is head and shoulders above everyone else in the world right now, and it simply does not matter.

then you look at carolina, who doesnt have a top anything but has cobbled together a D lineup that if healthy will scratch 2 or 3 guys that would be top four on most teams.

not to sound cocky, because yes i do think the pens window is largely closed. but you look at toronto and especially edmonton, and its a lot of collective why the (frank) are you guys like this.

you have far and away the top two scorers in the league, and i dont think anyone reasonably thought they would have beaten chicago in this series. and its not as though you sense they are on the cusp of turning the corner either.

same with toronto. and that all star talent is held together against the cap anyway. just a lot of yikes.
- stayinthefnnet

Teams are just built poorly. You need top players but you also need the depth around them. The best team wins, not the team with the best player, or a few of the best players.

my thing is this. you say out of sink since hockey came back. thats five games man. think about how many games in the past the flyers shouldnt have had a shot against the pens, and look what happened. when both of these teams are engaged, its mayhem. its largely a coin flip, which obviously i have the benefit of hindsight after seeing their puke fest they just did, but it would hard to be more apathetic than they were. malkin truly looked like he didnt want to be there. maybe that doesnt happen against the flyers, who knows.

also, hart is really good now and looks to be a stud, but ill take my chances that he doesnt put out what price did over a four game output there.

still, to take nothing away from you guys right now. youre collectively rolling and dont have the 100 point guy, but just collective contributions up and down. thats tough to beat in a series, because even if one thing momentarily goes cold, you have other production to fall back on.
- stayinthefnnet

I have to add, a lot of the hockey “experts” pinned the Pens as a team who would greatly benefit from time off bc you were getting Grundle, I mean Guentzel back, Dumelin (spelling?) back, and other guy on d (Marino?). You guys just weren’t clicking tho. Especially on the PP

8 PM TMRW

I think you guys looked like poop in every game you guys played since hockey has returned.
- SuperSchennBros

thats not necessarily an incorrect statement. my point remains though, its only been five games. and honestly, in the series against the habs the pens controlled more periods than not. again, not that it counts for much, but still.

i dont think the flyers will be tested by whoever they play first round. it wont be until a series with another eastern player. granted, the flyers have looked good against those games.

it definitely could be the flyers year. boston looks horrific for some reason. tampa simply never executes. washington is always hanging around. but still, actually doing it is hard for any team until its done.

I have to add, a lot of the hockey “experts” pinned the Pens as a team who would greatly benefit from time off bc you were getting Grundle, I mean Guentzel back, Dumelin (spelling?) back, and other guy on d (Marino?). You guys just weren’t clicking tho. Especially on the PP
- arichardson22

guentzel is a very, very good complimentary player. he still looked rusty though. marino is a very good find. the powerplay continues to be laughable. letang, all jokes aside, may honestly get hall of fame consideration when all is said and done (not saying its correct, but still) and for an offensive defenseman he has never been a good powerplay guy.


i dont think theres anything wrong with assuming that the time off should have helped them more than most. but for a litany of reasons, it clearly didnt matter. maybe if jack johnson would have had a stroke or chose a new profession during the layoff.

Teams are just built poorly. You need top players but you also need the depth around them. The best team wins, not the team with the best player, or a few of the best players.
- MJL

for sure. and in that arena, this current amalgamation of the flyers deserves a lot of credit. is coots a top ten forward in the league? no. is giroux what he once was? no. is hayes probably technically overpaid cap wise? sure. is jvr on an inflated cap hit. undoubtedly. ill argue all of those things are true in a vacuum. but everyone is just good enough and versatile enough where it works.

ive always thought laughton was a good two way guy and hes chipping in. i miss the (frank) out of niskanen. like i said, the roster is very immune from one person having a bad game and sinking the ship, which is huge this time of year.

Teams are just built poorly. You need top players but you also need the depth around them. The best team wins, not the team with the best player, or a few of the best players.
- MJL

Yup. 90s/early 00’s Flyers are a good example of that.

Edmonton lol

Toronto soon to be lol

guentzel is a very, very good complimentary player. he still looked rusty though. marino is a very good find. the powerplay continues to be laughable. letang, all jokes aside, may honestly get hall of fame consideration when all is said and done (not saying its correct, but still) and for an offensive defenseman he has never been a good powerplay guy.


i dont think theres anything wrong with assuming that the time off should have helped them more than most. but for a litany of reasons, it clearly didnt matter. maybe if jack johnson would have had a stroke or chose a new profession during the layoff.
- stayinthefnnet

Serious question, didn’t Crosby play a role in signing Johnson since they’re close friends? I’d like to see Guentzel on another team to see how he does. Just to see if he’s like Kunitz with his success coming from playing on same line as Sid.

Serious question, didn’t Crosby play a role in signing Johnson since they’re close friends? I’d like to see Guentzel on another team to see how he does. Just to see if he’s like Kunitz with his success coming from playing on same line as Sid.
- arichardson22

i wont claim to know how much of that is true, although it is well documented they are pals in some capacity. if thats the case, then fine, just let him be (frank)ing benched. you got your boy paid and you can just say thats your justification for taking less cap then you potentially could have.

i think thats a different argument though. kunitz would have carved out a nice nhl career for himself if crosby had never been born. would he have been a 35 goal guy who popped up on the olympics? im sure not. but its overly harsh that people think kunitz would have been some ahl scrub but for crosby.

same with guentzel. both guentzel and kunitz both absolutely crushed it with malkin as well. theyre both consistent 20 goal guys in the nhl, crosby or not.

The Edmonton thread is ready to burn Draisaitl at the stake lol

The Edmonton thread is ready to burn Draisaitl at the stake lol
- hereticpride

that makes me happy

Leafs about to come back eh?

The end of this CBJ vs TOR game is getting interesting.

The end of this CBJ vs TOR game is getting interesting.
- NC Flyers Fan

WOW

Leafs about to come back eh?
- arichardson22

eh is right