Bill Meltzer: Quick Hits: Flyers-FLA Wrap, Flyers Daily, Bigger than Hockey

Games like yesterday happen. A win over NYR and they come out of this gauntlet at hockey .500. The sky is not falling. Stolarz was on last night and the Flyers offense was not. Felix was not good. That’s hockey. Arguably the Flyers shouldn’t have beaten Toronto but for 4 posts. It happens and evens out. Great defensive team play in shutting down opportunities. After tomorrow night the schedule gets a little more forgiving.

P.S. how awesome was the Penguins collapse?!?

P.S. how awesome was the Penguins collapse?!?
- mikeyo27

Just remember, the worse the collapse gets, the better chance they have at winning the draft lottery.

Just remember, the worse the collapse gets, the better chance they have at winning the draft lottery.
- WhiskeyMan

Well, godspeed to them, and may they emulate the Sabres for the next decade-plus.

Well, godspeed to them, and may they emulate the Sabres for the next decade-plus.
- bmeltzer

Totally agree there Bill, but I feel Pitt is run a bit better. Not much but Pitts new GM gives me faith that they will be bad for awhile.

Totally agree there Bill, but I feel Pitt is run a bit better. Not much but Pitts new GM gives me faith that they will be bad for awhile.
- WhiskeyMan

Gary Buttman is already trying to figure out a way to get the Pens another generational talent. The Hawks are taken care after this upcoming draft and then he'll get to work on the Pens once again.

So, the HC, after ducking the press, bails after 38 seconds and answers virtually no questions.

Isn’t dealing with the media part of his job? He loves to punish players for lack of “accountability” and not doing their jobs, so when does he plan on doing his? Oh, and is anyone in the organization planning on calling him out for this? Do they even care?

Franchise of frauds in my book.

Well, godspeed to them, and may they emulate the Sabres for the next decade-plus.
- bmeltzer

So, the HC, after ducking the press, bails after 38 seconds and answers virtually no questions.

Isn’t dealing with the media part of his job? He loves to punish players for lack of “accountability” and not doing their jobs, so when does he plan on doing his? Oh, and is anyone in the organization planning on calling him out for this? Do they even care?

Franchise of frauds in my book.
- BiggE

I just saw a clip of the presser. I don't really have a problem with it. He was obviously very frustrated with the performance of his goalie and when that question was asked he answered it. What to say. We played a good game and our AHL level goalie $hit the bed.

That was NOT gratifying.
I understand Torts not wanting to dissect this game publicly.
He didn't need to comment on it at all.
It was TOO obvious.

“Sean hasn’t played well enough, the last month. The encouraging part is how he played in the first half. We know it’s there. Coming out of the two-year hiatus he was on, it wasn’t an easy situation. So the way I look at it (now), we know Sean can still be a good player. He proved that in the first half of the season, played a lot of heavy minutes. Is that what caught up to him? I don’t know. But he lost a little bit of his jump lately. But it’s still there, and that’s the encouraging part for me, is I know Sean can still play. I know Sean is going to help us down the stretch and help us make the playoffs. That’s the way I see it. It’s not fun to see, it’s not something you enjoy seeing, but at the same time I think it’s going to help him, it’s going to put him back on track, it gives him the chance to refocus, maybe get angry a little bit. When you play with an edge, you’re able to dig a little deeper and find a little bit more, and I hope Sean uses that to prove to his coach and everybody else that he’s still the player he was in the first half of the season.”

…

“He played a lot of minutes, if you think about it, he hasn’t played for two years, and we put him back (in a significant role). Part of it, the situation was forced, because we didn’t have the centermen at the beginning of the season that were ready to take on the load he was given, playing 20, 22 minutes a night. For a guy who hasn’t played in two years, that was a lot to ask out of him. He’s part of the reason where we are (now), because of his play. You look at how Morgan Frost has turned his season around, (Ryan) Poehling has gotten better and better. Scotty Laughton early in the season was having his trouble as well and is now playing much better also. You also have these other guys who are pushing, asking for more ice time because of the way they’re playing. We have all the young guys looking for more responsibility the way they’ve been playing. In a sense, it was good to give Sean the chance to maybe recuperate a little bit more, but when I say that we know he doesn’t want to be scratched. Nobody expected it to maybe go that far.”

…

“We had those discussions (about pushing him too hard) along the way. Early on, we were asking a lot of him. He was playing on the power play. He was facing all the top lines. He was first on the penalty kill. And we had those discussions together, the coaching staff, as far as ‘well we’re asking a lot.’ Sean was really beat up, too. If you remember, you go back to early in the season, Sean was missing some practices here and there. It wasn’t just to recuperate from playing 22 minutes (each night), he was really banged up. I think at one point, he had five different injuries that he was dealing with, and he was still playing. And the back was best part for him (laughs). We’re joking, but everything else was hurting while the back was okay, so we were feeling good about it. But Sean plays hard and we were asking a lot of him. Hopefully this is a reset and gives him a chance to refocus and we’re gonna need him. We’re gonna need him down the stretch and into the playoffs if we get in.”

Its exactly what anybody with a clue thought

but hey, him not good, him sit.......Jorts is god

Well, godspeed to them, and may they emulate the Sabres for the next decade-plus.
- bmeltzer

godspeed to their 5 Cups from doing the "thing" the Flyers wont

or maybe they turn out like Chicago or Tampa or maybe this new version of Chicago

Its exactly what anybody with a clue thought

but hey, him not good, him sit.......Jorts is god
- THE BLACK HAND

Who’s quote was that above

“Sean hasn’t played well enough, the last month. The encouraging part is how he played in the first half. We know it’s there. Coming out of the two-year hiatus he was on, it wasn’t an easy situation. So the way I look at it (now), we know Sean can still be a good player. He proved that in the first half of the season, played a lot of heavy minutes. Is that what caught up to him? I don’t know. But he lost a little bit of his jump lately. But it’s still there, and that’s the encouraging part for me, is I know Sean can still play. I know Sean is going to help us down the stretch and help us make the playoffs. That’s the way I see it. It’s not fun to see, it’s not something you enjoy seeing, but at the same time I think it’s going to help him, it’s going to put him back on track, it gives him the chance to refocus, maybe get angry a little bit. When you play with an edge, you’re able to dig a little deeper and find a little bit more, and I hope Sean uses that to prove to his coach and everybody else that he’s still the player he was in the first half of the season.”

…

“He played a lot of minutes, if you think about it, he hasn’t played for two years, and we put him back (in a significant role). Part of it, the situation was forced, because we didn’t have the centermen at the beginning of the season that were ready to take on the load he was given, playing 20, 22 minutes a night. For a guy who hasn’t played in two years, that was a lot to ask out of him. He’s part of the reason where we are (now), because of his play. You look at how Morgan Frost has turned his season around, (Ryan) Poehling has gotten better and better. Scotty Laughton early in the season was having his trouble as well and is now playing much better also. You also have these other guys who are pushing, asking for more ice time because of the way they’re playing. We have all the young guys looking for more responsibility the way they’ve been playing. In a sense, it was good to give Sean the chance to maybe recuperate a little bit more, but when I say that we know he doesn’t want to be scratched. Nobody expected it to maybe go that far.”

…

“We had those discussions (about pushing him too hard) along the way. Early on, we were asking a lot of him. He was playing on the power play. He was facing all the top lines. He was first on the penalty kill. And we had those discussions together, the coaching staff, as far as ‘well we’re asking a lot.’ Sean was really beat up, too. If you remember, you go back to early in the season, Sean was missing some practices here and there. It wasn’t just to recuperate from playing 22 minutes (each night), he was really banged up. I think at one point, he had five different injuries that he was dealing with, and he was still playing. And the back was best part for him (laughs). We’re joking, but everything else was hurting while the back was okay, so we were feeling good about it. But Sean plays hard and we were asking a lot of him. Hopefully this is a reset and gives him a chance to refocus and we’re gonna need him. We’re gonna need him down the stretch and into the playoffs if we get in.”
- THE BLACK HAND

At least DB admits they were running him into the ground while fighting multiple injuries.

Its exactly what anybody with a clue thought

but hey, him not good, him sit.......Jorts is god
- THE BLACK HAND

Who’s quote?

Who’s quote was that above
- ClaudeFather

GMDB

Who’s quote was that above
- ClaudeFather

GMDB

GMDB
- Flyfly

Ahhhh. So such eloquent words were NOT spoken by the coach. The GM had to cleanup the coach’s lack of accountability to the fans.

For $4 million a year, I guess Tortorella doesn’t have to talk to the press/fans about his decisions. Got it.

At least DB admits they were running him into the ground while fighting multiple injuries.

- Flyfly

Just horrendous coaching decisions by Tortorella. Along with the GM and the head cheerleader POHO Jones

“Sean hasn’t played well enough, the last month. The encouraging part is how he played in the first half. We know it’s there. Coming out of the two-year hiatus he was on, it wasn’t an easy situation. So the way I look at it (now), we know Sean can still be a good player. He proved that in the first half of the season, played a lot of heavy minutes. Is that what caught up to him? I don’t know. But he lost a little bit of his jump lately. But it’s still there, and that’s the encouraging part for me, is I know Sean can still play. I know Sean is going to help us down the stretch and help us make the playoffs. That’s the way I see it. It’s not fun to see, it’s not something you enjoy seeing, but at the same time I think it’s going to help him, it’s going to put him back on track, it gives him the chance to refocus, maybe get angry a little bit. When you play with an edge, you’re able to dig a little deeper and find a little bit more, and I hope Sean uses that to prove to his coach and everybody else that he’s still the player he was in the first half of the season.”

…

“He played a lot of minutes, if you think about it, he hasn’t played for two years, and we put him back (in a significant role). Part of it, the situation was forced, because we didn’t have the centermen at the beginning of the season that were ready to take on the load he was given, playing 20, 22 minutes a night. For a guy who hasn’t played in two years, that was a lot to ask out of him. He’s part of the reason where we are (now), because of his play. You look at how Morgan Frost has turned his season around, (Ryan) Poehling has gotten better and better. Scotty Laughton early in the season was having his trouble as well and is now playing much better also. You also have these other guys who are pushing, asking for more ice time because of the way they’re playing. We have all the young guys looking for more responsibility the way they’ve been playing. In a sense, it was good to give Sean the chance to maybe recuperate a little bit more, but when I say that we know he doesn’t want to be scratched. Nobody expected it to maybe go that far.”

…

“We had those discussions (about pushing him too hard) along the way. Early on, we were asking a lot of him. He was playing on the power play. He was facing all the top lines. He was first on the penalty kill. And we had those discussions together, the coaching staff, as far as ‘well we’re asking a lot.’ Sean was really beat up, too. If you remember, you go back to early in the season, Sean was missing some practices here and there. It wasn’t just to recuperate from playing 22 minutes (each night), he was really banged up. I think at one point, he had five different injuries that he was dealing with, and he was still playing. And the back was best part for him (laughs). We’re joking, but everything else was hurting while the back was okay, so we were feeling good about it. But Sean plays hard and we were asking a lot of him. Hopefully this is a reset and gives him a chance to refocus and we’re gonna need him. We’re gonna need him down the stretch and into the playoffs if we get in.”
- THE BLACK HAND

They didn't have to play him so many minutes and the coach didn't have to try to humiliate him when he predictably wore down.

Just horrendous coaching decisions by Tortorella.
- MJL

I think most of us have been saying this except for the cement-head Torts apologists. It was there in plain sight.

I think most of us have been saying this except for the cement-head Torts apologists. It was there in plain sight.
- Flyfly

We don't have enough centers so let's scratch the center who led our team in scoring for 50 games the previous season after two games. We're a cup contender after all and have no time for patience. Just incompetence.