PFFt plz my great grandfather is rolling in his grave that I don't smoke in my own house, I do that and he'll climb out of that grave and kick my a$$!
- JoeRussomanno

Sounds like a movie plot.

Sounds like a movie plot.
- Flyskippy

Well a lot of my stories involve the undead so....

PFFt plz my great grandfather is rolling in his grave that I don't smoke in my own house, I do that and he'll climb out of that grave and kick my a$$!
- JoeRussomanno

You'll have time to get ready for him, with all the coughing

You'll have time to get ready for him, with all the coughing
- Jsaquella

you mean coffin or coughing?

you mean coffin or coughing?
- JoeRussomanno

Coughing to get the coffin open

Coughing to get the coffin open
- Jsaquella

well all the dead people that come back to life in my novels fight like a mother franker! not these slow mindless molasses up hill in the winter types so, hope i'm wrong if that other scenario really happens

It's possible, and it'd be another head scratcher.

What does it serve now? This is where you have to sink or swim with the number one guy. If you can't figure that out as a coach, maybe you shouldn't be coaching.

Stats wise, Bryz and Bob are identical now. No more of this "Bob's playing better" stuff.
- Jsaquella

Exactly. nitty, I mean Bob, has once again failed to seize these gifts of opportunity. And now it should be Bryz or bust.

Exactly. nitty, I mean Bob, has once again failed to seize these gifts of opportunity. And now it should be Bryz or bust.
- wilsonecho91

This is true, but I believe Bob's age means he can be "the guy" eventually. I also think he will be in the second trimester of Bryz's contract.

This is true, but I believe Bob's age means he can be "the guy" eventually. I also think he will be in the second trimester of Bryz's contract.
- Flyskippy

Also agreed. I love Bob for all the reasons Bryz frustrates me, but at the end of the day he's not a viable alternative this year.

What a day. What a thread.

Coburn Timmo
Carle Grossman
Mezzy Kubina




Pretty darn good top 6........just gotta get space cadet in net going, and Im slightly concerned about Kubina and Grossman being pylons, moreso Kubina....6'4" 250?

If Dave Tippet was the coach, would Bob and Bryz have 2.10 GAAs? Would the goals per game drop by 1? I'm losing faith in Lava's "style".

Maybe I'm just still sour/overreacting from yesterday. The goalies were bad, but they also don't have tons of confidence either, which hasn't been helped by countless defensive breakdowns over the course of the season. If the players confidence in the goalies can be a question, certainly the goalies can also question the rest of the players commitment to team D. I think this has been cycling around all season and no one is better for it

If Dave Tippet was the coach, would Bob and Bryz have 2.10 GAAs? Would the goals per game drop by 1? I'm losing faith in Lava's "style".

Maybe I'm just still sour/overreacting from yesterday. The goalies were bad, but they also don't have tons of confidence either, which hasn't been helped by countless defensive breakdowns over the course of the season. If the players confidence in the goalies can be a question, certainly the goalies can also question the rest of the players commitment to team D. I think this has been cycling around all season and no one is better for it
- eayost

Not just this season...

If Dave Tippet was the coach, would Bob and Bryz have 2.10 GAAs? Would the goals per game drop by 1? I'm losing faith in Lava's "style".

Maybe I'm just still sour/overreacting from yesterday. The goalies were bad, but they also don't have tons of confidence either, which hasn't been helped by countless defensive breakdowns over the course of the season. If the players confidence in the goalies can be a question, certainly the goalies can also question the rest of the players commitment to team D. I think this has been cycling around all season and no one is better for it
- eayost

i love hockey and want to win, but lavys system is very high pressure, his personality is high pressure, the beat writers are high pressure....im starting to feel bad for the for the players right now..its clear the pressure is getting to everyone, im thinking everyone needs to lay of for a bit because we have a really young team and they are doing a great job this year....i think lavy should go before we gut the team again or trade bryz

im not buying its the goalies fault anymore, since lavy has been here not 1 goalie has developed or has a good season...nobody points the finger at lavys system but now i will and am, look at ryan miller, new owners and all and he couldnt stop a beach ball, one of the worlds best goaltenders looks horrible this year, mike smith has a carreer of suck stats and is a champion in phx, brian elliot went from ahl hopefull to all-star under hitchcocks system.

im not buying its the goalies fault anymore, since lavy has been here not 1 goalie has developed or has a good season...nobody points the finger at lavys system but now i will and am, look at ryan miller, new owners and all and he couldnt stop a beach ball, one of the worlds best goaltenders looks horrible this year, mike smith has a carreer of suck stats and is a champion in phx, brian elliot went from ahl hopefull to all-star under hitchcocks system.
- mydoglicks

Plenty have pointed a finger at Laviolette, but few want to accept it because nobody wants to go through another coaching change. And because he's not a bad coach.
I said at the end of last season that one important change for this year was that the coaching staff had to improve. They have to recognize their flaws and actually work to fix them. That hasn't happened.
I don't want a coaching change, but I do want the coach to work on his game.

In the meantime, Holmgren sees what is happening. If the coach won't improve, the GM has to get players better suited to making the coach's plan work. He has been doing that. Losing Pronger had a big effect on the D. It made sense to play the rookies for as long as you could, but now is the time to get things shored up. The cost was probably high, but it had to be done.

You'd think so...but we will see. I'd be happy as a pig in poop if Bob was still making a case that he deserved to be the guy...right now, he's statistically even with Bryzgalov.

As Joe pointed out, Bryzgalov is used to playing every night. Well, let's see if it helps him to do so here.
- Jsaquella

Just replying to the concern that Bob's play has dipped since the all-star break. Yes he's let in alot of goals and noone wants to hear bad goals vs good goals but let's see what our favorite hockey blogger Bill Meltzer has to say about the goals Bob has been letting in.

3 against the leafs - "Sergei Bobrovsky, playing in substitution for flu-riddled Ilya Bryzgalov, was adequate in the first two periods and then very strong in the third as he helped the team slam the door (including a late penalty kill) with a one-goal lead. Bob had a few puckhandling misadventures in periods one and two (charged with three giveaways) and left out a bad rebound on Joffrey Lupul's power play goal. He was flawless in the final stanza."

5 against the rangers - "Yesterday, the PK coverages were abysmal. Sergei Bobrovsky had no chance on two of the three power play goals (or either of New York's even strength goals). "

4 against the wings -"They continued to struggle on the penalty kill, made the front of the net an all-too-hospitable place and they got a pedestrian goaltending performance from Sergei Bobrovsky on a night where if he had played even marginally better they may have gotten at least a point from the game. The clutch "momentum" saves just weren't there from Bob on this night."

What I take from Bills analysis is that although Bob has given up alot of goals post allstar break, most were not ones he had a chance on. His lone pedestrian performance was against the top team in the league. Bob has made the saves a goalie should make and let's in very few soft goals most can be pegged on the skaters leaving men wide open for the rebound or pass.

I'm not saying he was great against the Penguins, he wasn't, but one of the goals the Penguins scored was to a wide open guy off a rebound after Timmonen put a surprise SOG on his own tender. You can't tell me the red wings have any guy who has put a SOG on his own net this year?

Then what do you do for the next 8 years with Bryzgalov? Tossing in the towel on him after 40 games one year into a 9 year deal could have serious ramifications with his head, as well as enticing another goalie to come in later.
- Jsaquella

My biggest concern. The guy's head is mush. You can have all the physical talent in the world, if you're brain is a steaming pile of poop, it doesn't matter.

Just replying to the concern that Bob's play has dipped since the all-star break. Yes he's let in alot of goals and noone wants to hear bad goals vs good goals but let's see what our favorite hockey blogger Bill Meltzer has to say about the goals Bob has been letting in.

3 against the leafs - "Sergei Bobrovsky, playing in substitution for flu-riddled Ilya Bryzgalov, was adequate in the first two periods and then very strong in the third as he helped the team slam the door (including a late penalty kill) with a one-goal lead. Bob had a few puckhandling misadventures in periods one and two (charged with three giveaways) and left out a bad rebound on Joffrey Lupul's power play goal. He was flawless in the final stanza."

5 against the rangers - "Yesterday, the PK coverages were abysmal. Sergei Bobrovsky had no chance on two of the three power play goals (or either of New York's even strength goals). "

4 against the wings -"They continued to struggle on the penalty kill, made the front of the net an all-too-hospitable place and they got a pedestrian goaltending performance from Sergei Bobrovsky on a night where if he had played even marginally better they may have gotten at least a point from the game. The clutch "momentum" saves just weren't there from Bob on this night."

What I take from Bills analysis is that although Bob has given up alot of goals post allstar break, most were not ones he had a chance on. His lone pedestrian performance was against the top team in the league. Bob has made the saves a goalie should make and let's in very few soft goals most can be pegged on the skaters leaving men wide open for the rebound or pass.

I'm not saying he was great against the Penguins, he wasn't, but one of the goals the Penguins scored was to a wide open guy off a rebound after Timmonen put a surprise SOG on his own tender. You can't tell me the red wings have any guy who has put a SOG on his own net this year?
- Flyers_01

What I take from watching the games myself is that Bobrovsky's play has dipped of late. He's certainly had games where he was solid and it's really hard to fault him for most if any of the goals. Kind of like was happening to Bryzgalov in certain games.

See, this is the same kind of stuff that people ridiculed when others defended Bryzgalov. They pointed out bad defensive play, or deflections or whatever and got ripped for it.

As of right now, Bryzgalov has a better GAA than Bob. He also has an identical save percentage. Both played bad yesterday, but of late Bryzgalov has been much more solid.

My biggest concern. The guy's head is mush. You can have all the physical talent in the world, if you're brain is a steaming pile of poop, it doesn't matter.
- flyguy12

That's definitely a concern. Perhaps he simply needs to come to the conclusion that a lot of us have-ignore the morons, especially the ones in the press.

I have a feeling a deal is in place, and won't be announced till after the Flyers Carnival this evening.

Plenty have pointed a finger at Laviolette, but few want to accept it because nobody wants to go through another coaching change. And because he's not a bad coach.
I said at the end of last season that one important change for this year was that the coaching staff had to improve. They have to recognize their flaws and actually work to fix them. That hasn't happened.
I don't want a coaching change, but I do want the coach to work on his game.

In the meantime, Holmgren sees what is happening. If the coach won't improve, the GM has to get players better suited to making the coach's plan work. He has been doing that. Losing Pronger had a big effect on the D. It made sense to play the rookies for as long as you could, but now is the time to get things shored up. The cost was probably high, but it had to be done.
- hobo

how many goalies have come thru since lavy was here? emery, nitty, leight, bob, boucher, bryz, backlund....7 or so. in 2 years

I have a feeling a deal is in place, and won't be announced till after the Flyers Carnival this evening.
- jesustouchedme

there's no blockbuster coming. i agree w/asst gm bill meltzer, maybe a deal for a checking center with size and that's it. Maybe Nabokov...

how many goalies have come thru since lavy was here? emery, nitty, leight, bob, boucher, bryz, backlund....7 or so. in 2 years
- mydoglicks

just keeping up with the pace for the last 25 years

there's no blockbuster coming. i agree w/asst gm bill meltzer, maybe a deal for a checking center with size and that's it. Maybe Nabokov...
- flyguy12

This Nash thing has to many legs.