Lost in all the Fletcher press conference stuff, if anyone missed it...

Congrats to Phantoms Max Willman for his new 2-way, 2 yr contract! Good work hard story.

York and Cates.
- bmeltzer

What is your view on Ronnie Attard? Could he play for the Phantoms this year given his NCAA season is done?

You would suggest to base a goalies play off of a gimmick where they can stroll in at any speed and do anything they’d like? Most of these guys in the shootout also have go to moves/shots that they do majority of the time. You are a moron if you are judging a goalies play in any sense by their play in the shootout.
- ClaudeFather

Since reading English is clearly not your forte, I am trying another track:

他们不会漫步并以他们喜欢你的方式射击，他妈的白痴，他们的镜头有花样。

Edit: made a mistake, should be:

他们不会漫步并以他们喜欢你的方式射击，他妈的白痴，他们的射击有一种模式

I would like to see Morin tonight but I want them to draw penalties no get them, get a big lead then pound someone.

because "everyone else sucks" doesn't seem like the best argument for putting Morin on the roster in my opinion. I dont get the impression that AV is tremendously impressed by Morin's defensive play. If you're telling me that Morin has shown great improvement in his defensive play, he's been the Phantoms best shut down Dman and has earned a call up to the big club, I'm all in.
- Dkos

I wanted to thank you for the The Investigation recommendation. We have seen 4 episodes so far and we are loving it. And those Swedish cadaver dogs are insanely cute when they whinny (and even when they don't)

You realize that winning and $ are not the only things players consider, right?
- Tomahawk

You realize they are the likely main driver right? Quality if life in the philly area is great s yeah that will be a factor.

Bill don't let the facts get in the way of a good narrative from Pavel.
- Letterkenney

Most correct they are in a nomansland. No playoffs, not the greatest shot on highend picks.

Since reading English is clearly not your forte, I am trying another track:

他们不会漫步并以他们喜欢你的方式射击，他妈的白痴，他们的镜头有花样。

Edit: made a mistake, should be:

他们不会漫步并以他们喜欢你的方式射击，他妈的白痴，他们的射击有一种模式
- PT21

You were a mistake

I cannot read the full article. I would be interested in knowing if there are specific issues with his technique or just loose play in every direction.

I notice, for example, that skaters rarely try to deke him in s/o and always go top shelf.
- PT21

I didn't realize it was an ESPN+ article. Thought it was public. It starts out talking about the team's overall defensive struggles, and how those certainly play a role in Hart's struggles. Here's the section that speaks specifically to Hart. I'll post in 2 parts. EDIT: Article is by Greg Wyshynski

1 of 2
There are two major points of regression for Hart. The first is in "slot line plays." Goalies track east-to-west passes in two different ways. For the first, Valiquette uses the "track suit" analogy in teaching goalies. As soon as the puck comes across the "zipper" of that track suit, the goalie's head has to engage over their leading knee and they begin their push.
The other method is the spread: The pass is coming across, and the goalie launches into a split to defend it.
What Valiquette noticed about Hart: When he's going down, his knee is hitting the ice as the puck is coming across his "zipper," before he even begins to push to make the save. Then he engages into a spread.
"Here's the amazing part: You can mark his skate from where it is before he starts to go into a spread and then mark it after the puck goes into the net, and he hasn't moved an inch. He hasn't gained any lateral mobility at all because he's putting his knee down too early. On any goal he's giving up on an east-to-west play, you'll see it," Valiquette said.

ESPN article about Hart - post 2 of 2

The other metric where Hart has fallen off severely is in rebound-chance goals. I asked Valiquette if this was a symptom of odd-man rushes or not having a clearer back there like Niskanen. Again, he said it's a problem with Hart's form.
"He's down early on just about everything. When you're down early, your pads are on the ice and the timing for using your stick is always going to be at a detriment when you're down early. When you have a goalie that's lacking confidence, they go to the ice early. Carter Hart is always down before the shot is getting to him. Rebounds are coming off of him at spots where the puck should be going down with him," Valiquette said.
"Imagine I'm shooting a puck at your chest. You collapse on it and then your knees hit the ice. But Carter is down and then he's getting hit with the puck in the chest. That's killing his [control of] rebounds."
Another reason Hart is playing low on so many scoring changes is an instinctual one. Every goalie has their default save. Something they instinctually do as a fail-safe when they're nervous on a play. Valiquette used to go "right-knee down" when he had to guess at a shot. Hart's default save is paddle down, taking the paddle of the stick down to the ice along with his right knee. That opens up the net for chances up high, and it also hurts his mobility. If Hart isn't playing with confidence, that default move gets used too often.
"It's very safe to say he's not playing with confidence," Valiquette said. "Goalies are always in our own heads. We're very introspective. It's detrimental if you don't have enough away from the rink to keep your mind off things."

ESPN article about Hart - post 2 of 2

The other metric where Hart has fallen off severely is in rebound-chance goals. I asked Valiquette if this was a symptom of odd-man rushes or not having a clearer back there like Niskanen. Again, he said it's a problem with Hart's form.
"He's down early on just about everything. When you're down early, your pads are on the ice and the timing for using your stick is always going to be at a detriment when you're down early. When you have a goalie that's lacking confidence, they go to the ice early. Carter Hart is always down before the shot is getting to him. Rebounds are coming off of him at spots where the puck should be going down with him," Valiquette said.
"Imagine I'm shooting a puck at your chest. You collapse on it and then your knees hit the ice. But Carter is down and then he's getting hit with the puck in the chest. That's killing his
- Big_E_88[control of] rebounds."
Another reason Hart is playing low on so many scoring changes is an instinctual one. Every goalie has their default save. Something they instinctually do as a fail-safe when they're nervous on a play. Valiquette used to go "right-knee down" when he had to guess at a shot. Hart's default save is paddle down, taking the paddle of the stick down to the ice along with his right knee. That opens up the net for chances up high, and it also hurts his mobility. If Hart isn't playing with confidence, that default move gets used too often.
"It's very safe to say he's not playing with confidence," Valiquette said. "Goalies are always in our own heads. We're very introspective. It's detrimental if you don't have enough away from the rink to keep your mind off things."

This one was very interesting, thanks! And Valiquette does tie it explicitly to lack of confidence. Must admit I am not discerning enough to have noticed the first issue you posted above though.

ESPN article about Hart - post 2 of 2

The other metric where Hart has fallen off severely is in rebound-chance goals. I asked Valiquette if this was a symptom of odd-man rushes or not having a clearer back there like Niskanen. Again, he said it's a problem with Hart's form.
"He's down early on just about everything. When you're down early, your pads are on the ice and the timing for using your stick is always going to be at a detriment when you're down early. When you have a goalie that's lacking confidence, they go to the ice early. Carter Hart is always down before the shot is getting to him. Rebounds are coming off of him at spots where the puck should be going down with him," Valiquette said.
"Imagine I'm shooting a puck at your chest. You collapse on it and then your knees hit the ice. But Carter is down and then he's getting hit with the puck in the chest. That's killing his
- Big_E_88[control of] rebounds."
Another reason Hart is playing low on so many scoring changes is an instinctual one. Every goalie has their default save. Something they instinctually do as a fail-safe when they're nervous on a play. Valiquette used to go "right-knee down" when he had to guess at a shot. Hart's default save is paddle down, taking the paddle of the stick down to the ice along with his right knee. That opens up the net for chances up high, and it also hurts his mobility. If Hart isn't playing with confidence, that default move gets used too often.
"It's very safe to say he's not playing with confidence," Valiquette said. "Goalies are always in our own heads. We're very introspective. It's detrimental if you don't have enough away from the rink to keep your mind off things."

Hopefully the rest of the division did not read this article lol

You realize they are the likely main driver right? Quality if life in the philly area is great s yeah that will be a factor.
- login

Depends on the person, but by and large, hockey players are the least mercenary of all the major sports. They're pretty loyal dudes. And the Flyers treat their players like royalty.

Hopefully the rest of the division did not read this article lol
- ClaudeFather

Oh, they probably have people in their staff who can read.

You were a mistake
- ClaudeFather

My mom says otherwise. So there.

This one was very interesting, thanks! And Valiquette does tie it explicitly to lack of confidence. Must admit I am not discerning enough to have noticed the first issue you posted above though.
- PT21

What a great in depth analysis of Hart's issues this season as compared to last. My question is can he be fixed...and how? Is it possible for him to recover this season? With confidence issues it seems tricky.

Depends on the person, but by and large, hockey players are the least mercenary of all the major sports. They're pretty loyal dudes. And the Flyers treat their players like royalty.
- Tomahawk

Disagree as $$ for the most part still drives the bus. Especially for guys who have the one shot a pay day.

He has nothing to lose by testing free agency unless he flay out wants to stay here. His agent will have an idea what he will get when the season is over. So we shall. Personally I hope they resign him and overpay in $$ and term.

Bill,

While I respectfully disagree with some of what you wrote, especially the last statement (which makes these long cup droughts seem like a fait accompli), nvm, I want to focus only on the snippet I preserved above.

I understand that NHL teams are particularly dependent on ticket revenue and TV deals are relatively much smaller. As such, there is presumably much greater pressure to not suck for extended periods and produce a decent product on ice. This is probably even truer for a big market team with a long tradition like Flyers.

But for Comcast, the Flyers are no more than pocket money. Further, many teams do go through multiple year periods where they languish. Some strike gold quickly during such basement dwelling (Tampa), others stay longer (Colorado, Canes), some are doing it now for a while (Detroit, NJ Devils), some of these are storied franchises

What is the point of being a playoff bubble team by design, as you clearly allude above? You are essentially conceding you have little chance of winning the cup. If you are in that position, why not concentrate the pain and get a few years of truly bottom feeding status in?

And before some pipe in here yet again with the "there are no guarantees" argument repeated ad nauseum, yeah, sure, there are no guarantees. But there are likelihoods and the data is quite clear on that. If one has early stage cancer, one has surgery, radiation, chemo. None of these are pleasant, nor are there guarantees. But they offer a higher probability of success, which is why humans do it.

Unless those humans are the Flyers brass, I mean.
- PT21

As opposed to the argument you offer ad nauseum? You answered your own question. The Flyers wanted to remain competitive while rebuilding or retooling.

This one was very interesting, thanks! And Valiquette does tie it explicitly to lack of confidence. Must admit I am not discerning enough to have noticed the first issue you posted above though.
- PT21

I feel like this has been talked around in circles. My only comment is that confidence as the cause of the technical problems isn’t the root cause. Team defense was lacking, a high number of horrid high danger chances just kept coming, and Hart’s game results reflected his decline. I think the Covid quarantine followed by the outdoor game was particularly difficult to deal with...in the last few weeks he is coming back. I have no idea how pandemic restrictions are adding to the challenge, but first an foremost, this is a team game. The team needs to focus and communicate on the details to help themselves out of this mud.

I disagree. I would suggest that if players are shooting at a specific region repeatedly it indicates they believe he has a relative weakness there.
- PT21

Players have their pet moves and what their most confident in for the shootout. It is a completely different animal than in game play.

What a great in depth analysis of Hart's issues this season as compared to last. My question is can he be fixed...and how? Is it possible for him to recover this season? With confidence issues it seems tricky.
- DANCER

It's hopeless. Trade him to Columbus for a 2nd + 4th and let's sign 2021's version of Ilya Bryzgalov.

I didn't realize it was an ESPN+ article. Thought it was public. It starts out talking about the team's overall defensive struggles, and how those certainly play a role in Hart's struggles. Here's the section that speaks specifically to Hart. I'll post in 2 parts. EDIT: Article is by Greg Wyshynski

1 of 2
There are two major points of regression for Hart. The first is in "slot line plays." Goalies track east-to-west passes in two different ways. For the first, Valiquette uses the "track suit" analogy in teaching goalies. As soon as the puck comes across the "zipper" of that track suit, the goalie's head has to engage over their leading knee and they begin their push.
The other method is the spread: The pass is coming across, and the goalie launches into a split to defend it.
What Valiquette noticed about Hart: When he's going down, his knee is hitting the ice as the puck is coming across his "zipper," before he even begins to push to make the save. Then he engages into a spread.
"Here's the amazing part: You can mark his skate from where it is before he starts to go into a spread and then mark it after the puck goes into the net, and he hasn't moved an inch. He hasn't gained any lateral mobility at all because he's putting his knee down too early. On any goal he's giving up on an east-to-west play, you'll see it," Valiquette said.
- Big_E_88

Great analysis. Thanks for posting it. Definitely related to confidence I’d say. I’d love it if he compared hart now to how he played in the playoffs last year. It’s likely a night and day comparison.

Oh and every player will test free agency.

Players have their pet moves and what their most confident in for the shootout. It is a completely different animal than in game play.
- MJL

Hey guys look, here is another one.

Poster clearly says he notices an unusually high # of shoot out attempts going top shelf on Hart.

And another guy posts an article where ESPN says Cart is going down too early.

Likely conversation:

Asst. coaches tell players: hey go high on Cahtah in the shootout. Just fake the shot, Carter will go down. There will be net to shoot at. He is doing that a lot.

Players: Naaah!! Am gonna do what am gonna do what I always do. My moves, they gold bro! Ain't listening to that jive! Don't matter which dawg in net! I just do my thang, irrespective!

Since reading English is clearly not your forte, I am trying another track:

他们不会漫步并以他们喜欢你的方式射击，他妈的白痴，他们的镜头有花样。

Edit: made a mistake, should be:

他们不会漫步并以他们喜欢你的方式射击，他妈的白痴，他们的射击有一种模式
- PT21

my wife said this makes no sense