The Flyers just beat the Stanley cup champions the other night. The only thing stopping this Flyers team from winning more games consistently this season has been their goaltending. Fedotov is coming on now, but the first half of the season he was not very good. Ersson has been hurt multiple times, but even when he was in there, by his standards he was not playing as well as we know he can. And Kolosov, though he has shown spurts of good play, should be developing in the AHL. With consistent goaltending, not even great stand on your head goaltending, the Flyers would be in the 7th position. To me they are clearly better than the other teams fighting for the last two playoffs spots.

I only bring this up because we have seen the goaltending improve significantly in this second half so far, and if this continues I believe the Flyers will be right there in the mix at deadline time. So its going to be interesting to see what Briere does. I know what I would do, and possibly what you would do. I was pretty confident the Flyers would be sellers at the deadline. Now I'm not so sure.
- jd250

All teams have ups and downs, you’re looking at a recent stretch of better hockey and thinking this is what the team is consistently. It’s not, the season is 82 games for a reason, you are being fooled by a few games.

can you show us some tutorials?
- login

He just completed the Nikolas Kronwall school of hitting seminar. Certificate is in the mail.

I’d much rather they get Lycksell into the damn lineup consistently
- ClaudeFather

He is a tweener. Offers very little. Hasn't done much in his limited opportunities ao far.

He is gone at the end of the year.

I stopped reading at this point. The Flyers PK ranks 21st in the league at 77.5%. Their PP ranks 28th in the league at 16%

Do you recall a recent play that you complained about where Laughton turned ovng them from winning more consistently. ier the puck and went for a line change when they were up 2-1 in the 3rd period leading to a 2 on 1 goal against that the goalie had no chance to stop? Cost them from winning the game in regulation. That was on the goaltending?

The Flyers have beaten 5 good teams all season

Clearly, goaltending is not the only thing keeping them from winning more consistently.
- MJL

That was a bad play by Laughton but that was in the 3rd period of a back to back and Columbus had the better legs. In fact the only reason that game wasn't a regulation loss was the goaltending. Sure the Flyers make mistakes, but good goaltending makes up for those mistakes a lot of the time. The Flyers up until recently have not got good goaltending; every mistake ends up in the back of their net.

As far as the PK, which has been atrocious this year, a team's best defender on the PK is their goalie. This season so far, the Flyers are 28th in the league in GA/G at 3.41 , and LAST in the league in SV% at a pultry .880.

How much PK time has Risto had this year? Also, what is Zamula's HDCA/60? These metrics have a lot to do with situational play and the performance of the other 4 players on the ice at the time. They are not an accurate measure of one players individual performance. No serious NHL coach or analytics nerd evaluates players this way. As far as points, in Buffalo Risto was the guy. In those seasons where Risto had 30+ assists in Buffalo, he was also a -96, so he wasn't playing much defense. It's easy to put up points when you don't play defense nor play within a structure, and you are getting the bulk of the PP minutes. All knowledgable hockey analyst have agreed that Risto is playing the best hockey of his career currently.
- jd250

Those numbers are at 5 on 5. You're the king of fallacies. Do you even know what a fallacy is? Document that all knowledgeable hockey analysts agree with that. Ristolainen was getting PP minutes in Buffalo because he was producing. That's how that works.

Ristolainen remains a mediocre player that is drastically overpaid and is best suited for the 3rd pair. The trade and consequent re-signing remains a complete disaster

All teams have ups and downs, you’re looking at a recent stretch of better hockey and thinking this is what the team is consistently. It’s not, the season is 82 games for a reason, you are being fooled by a few games.
- ClaudeFather

The Flyers had a bad start to the season but they have been played very good hockey for a while now, barring a few bad games like the one against Dallas which is bound to happen. If the Flyers keep playing this way and get better goaltending, my premise is they will be in or very close to a playoff spot come deadline time.

Those numbers are at 5 on 5. You're the king of fallacies. Do you even know what a fallacy is? Document that all knowledgeable hockey analysts agree with that. Ristolainen was getting PP minutes in Buffalo because he was producing. That's how that works.

Ristolainen remains a mediocre player that is drastically overpaid and is best suited for the 3rd pair. The trade and consequent re-signing remains a complete disaster
- MJL

No but I know what a plethora is. Outside of this forum you are in an extemely small minority with this continued mis-characterization of Risto.

I’m not big in to these deep stats and metrics but I know some of you are analytics junkies. Certainly these things are an important tool in today’s NHL and the Flyers coach doesn’t seem to understand or care about them which is moronic. Anyway, this breakdown is quite interesting and I found it quite enlightening.

https://thehockeywriters....-matvei-michkovs-offense/
- mikeyo27

Completely false! Torts doesn't rely on these metrics alone. No good hockey coach does. Tort's staff uses them quite a bit actually.

How do you rule on intent to cause harm? It wasn't a premeditated situation where he was hunting the player down. It was a hockey play. Is there a situation with a hit where you're not trying to physically take the player out?
- MJL

Granted, it's a judgement call. If you watch it in slow motion, you see Tsyp extend up through the hit into the head. It was more than just removing a player from the puck. Comparing to many other similar plays that have resulted in majors and suspensions, this one qualifies. That's my take and I'm fairly liberal when it comes to hitting in the NHL.

I don't want hitting removed at all. What happened to RP is just a price to pay in a fast hard hitting game. But a penalty and a suspension is ALSO part of the price to pay. It works both ways.

that was impressive. how many wins do they have all season against good teams?

Sam is overrated around here. Look at his career numbers. average at best at every stop.

nothing what you posted changes what I posted. Do "if" factors apply to other teams as well other just the flyers? Has goaltending killed the pens?
- login

Every team has "ifs". My only point is from the batch of eastern conference teams after the top 6 teams, the Flyers are the best team and playing the right way. With better goaltending which lately they have been getting, they are going to win more games and be right there for one of the final two playoff spots come deadline time. And when that happens I fear Briere will stand pat, not add, but also not subtract. This means the Flyers make the playoffs or they barely miss them like last year, and purgatory continues.

The Flyers had a bad start to the season but they have been played very good hockey for a while now, barring a few bad games like the one against Dallas which is bound to happen. If the Flyers keep playing this way and get better goaltending, my premise is they will be in or very close to a playoff spot come deadline time.
- jd250

it applies to every team. why don't you acknowledge this possibility?

Amazes me how fans can try to simplify it but not factor in other teams "if" factor around their "Weakness".

That was a bad play by Laughton but that was in the 3rd period of a back to back and Columbus had the better legs. In fact the only reason that game wasn't a regulation loss was the goaltending. Sure the Flyers make mistakes, but good goaltending makes up for those mistakes a lot of the time. The Flyers up until recently have not got good goaltending; every mistake ends up in the back of their net.

As far as the PK, which has been atrocious this year, a team's best defender on the PK is their goalie. This season so far, the Flyers are 28th in the league in GA/G at 3.41 , and LAST in the league in SV% at a pultry .880.
- jd250

Just another example of how you contradict yourself. When you see stats for Ristolainen, it's about the team. Now with this, it's just the goalies, not the team.

Your statement that the only reason why the Flyers aren't winning is goaltending. Is simply incorrect.

No but I know what a plethora is. Outside of this forum you are in an extemely small minority with this continued mis-characterization of Risto.
- jd250

Just another fallacy. Do you know what a fallacy is?

Every team has "ifs". My only point is from of the batch of eastern conference teams after the top 6 teams, the Flyers are the best team and playing the right way. With better goaltending which lately they have been getting, they are going to win more games and be right there for one of the final two playoff spots come deadline time. And when that happens I fear Briere will stand pat, not add, but also not subtract. This means the Flyers make the playoffs or they barely miss them like last year, and purgatory continues.
- jd250

it is your opinion they are the best out of the other bunch. that's fine.

Now apply that "if" to the sens, wings, pens, and the like. They are above the flyers more than likely.

pens goalies have been worse I believe. using your logic, they would be firmly entrenched in a playoff spot.

it isn't as simple as you want to believe/say with better goaltending flyers are in the playoffs.

the playing the right way buzzword? wtf is playing the right way? are other teams playing the wrong way? if so maybe the flyers version of playing the right way is the worng way.

Just another example of how you contradict yourself. When you see stats for Ristolainen, it's about the team. Now with this, it's just the goalies, not the team.

Your statement that the only reason why the Flyers aren't winning is goaltending. Is simply incorrect.
- MJL

I never said goaltending was the ONLY reason, but it is the predominant reason. I said with better goaltending this Flyers team is playing better than the other teams fighting for those last two spots.

Completely false! Torts doesn't rely on these metrics alone. No good hockey coach does. Tort's staff uses them quite a bit actually.
- jd250

It's not false. Tortorella made a recent statement that he gets an analytics report after every game. He said that he doesn't know what it means.

Prove that his staff uses them quite a bit.

I think we have to realize that this Flyers team with better goaltending would be firmly entrenched into a playoff spot right now. It's the Tortorella effect. He gets the most out of a team. The Flyers are not as good as the top 6 teams in the Eastern conference, but out of the remaining teams the Flyers play the best hockey to win, even though they don't have the most talent. With this realization, if the Flyers are 2 or 4 points out of the playoff spot around the deadline, I wonder if Briere would make any moves at all? Risto for example is playing the best hockey of his career and is earning his contract. Would Briere decide he is now part of the solution and future versus trading him for another 1st or 2nd round pick? Frost is once again starting to pick it up in the 2nd half of the season. Trading Frost is not going to bring back much to the Flyers. Does Briere decide instead to keep him and extend him? To me this is where a GM has to put his money where his mouth is. He and Jones have said many times this team is not close and they will not sacrifice the long term plan for short term success. Well Briere, here is your chance to show everyone that you were serious, because if the Flyers start to get better goaltending as they have lately (7 out of 8 points in the last 4 games), its going to take balls to trade players and tell the team, the fans and Torts the playoffs right now are not important. If I had to handicap it, I think the Flyers stand pat and do nothing at the deadline, don't add and don't subtract. Subtracting from a team that has a decent chance to make the playoffs would be considered tanking, and Briere and Jones have also said they are not going to do that. My hope currently is a team gets so desperate they make Briere an offer he cannot refuse.
- jd250

And IF the queen had balls, she'd be the king!

I never said goaltending was the ONLY reason, but it is the predominant reason. I said with better goaltending this Flyers team is playing better than the other teams fighting for those last two spots.
- jd250

sure, though you're leaving out the other teams applying the same logic. how can you not grasp this?

it is your opinion they are the best out of the other bunch. that's fine.

Now apply that "if" to the sens, wings, pens, and the like. They are above the flyers more than likely.

pens goalies have been worse I believe. using your logic, they would be firmly entrenched in a playoff spot.

it isn't as simple as you want to believe/say with better goaltending flyers are in the playoffs.
- login

The Flyers statistically and by the eye test have the worst goaltending in the league. But using the Penguins as an example, even if the Penguins had better goaltending they are still not better than the Flyers IMO. The Flyers play a much better structured game than the other teams in the eastern conference outside of the top 6. The Flyers may not have the talent of a Pittsburgh or Ottawa, but the way the Flyers play is much better.

sure, though you're leaving out the other teams applying the same logic. how can you not grasp this?
- login

Other teams don't play as well as this Flyers team, and now the Flyers are getting much better goaltending. Watch, today the Flyers will lose 8-1

I never said goaltending was the ONLY reason, but it is the predominant reason. I said with better goaltending this Flyers team is playing better than the other teams fighting for those last two spots.
- jd250

You made this statement literally 40 minutes ago

https://www.hockeybuzz.co...p?thread_id=190058&page=2


"The only thing stopping this Flyers team from winning more games consistently this season has been their goaltending"

As far as the Flyers playing better than the other teams fighting for those last two spots. You're a homer.

Granted, it's a judgement call. If you watch it in slow motion, you see Tsyp extend up through the hit into the head. It was more than just removing a player from the puck. Comparing to many other similar plays that have resulted in majors and suspensions, this one qualifies. That's my take and I'm fairly liberal when it comes to hitting in the NHL.

I don't want hitting removed at all. What happened to RP is just a price to pay in a fast hard hitting game. But a penalty and a suspension is ALSO part of the price to pay. It works both ways.
- Letterkenney

My original take on the hit was that I thought it was a good hit. After studying it more and watching it again, I changed my mind. Most players extend up into hits. Leading with a shoulder. As long as you don't leave your skates, that's fine. Just can't hit the head to do it.

He is a tweener. Offers very little. Hasn't done much in his limited opportunities ao far.

He is gone at the end of the year.
- login

I don’t doubt it but he’s 25, let it run out with the big club and see what it is.

Completely false! Torts doesn't rely on these metrics alone. No good hockey coach does. Tort's staff uses them quite a bit actually.
- jd250

I love your enthusiasm but you really have to stop carrying water for the current coach. He is trapped in the past and too arrogant to ever admit there are new tools to improve the coaching. Just his nasty response to that reporter earlier in the week when she cited the metrics… what was it? “Well there’s your problem” or something like that? That shows he has little to no regard for analytics.

The Flyers statistically and by the eye test have the worst goaltending in the league. But using the Penguins as an example, even if the Penguins had better goaltending they are still not better than the Flyers IMO. The Flyers play a much better structured game than the other teams in the eastern conference outside of the top 6. The Flyers may not have the talent of a Pittsburgh or Ottawa, but the way the Flyers play is much better.
- jd250

How is the way the flyer play better than the blue jackets? Sens? Bruins? Montreal? Rangers?

Pens save % IS .89. flyers .88 (last)
pens goals against is last.

point is use the "if" factor for every team's weakness. when you do that the standings are what they are