Tim Panaccio: Must Win? Yeah, It Is

No such thing in the first month of the season... Find a better cliche!

Beating up the Pens would be a perfect game to start. Most arrogant organization in NHL!

Tim Panaccio: Must Win? Yeah, It Is
- tpanaccio

I agree it is a big game, for many of the reasons cited, but I don't think so much should be hinged on game 8 of the regular season, win or lose. The Pens will be tough to beat, but a challenge the team should rise to and embrace. I'd call it a statement game...what that statement is we'll know in about 4 or 5 hours. Win or lose, I just want to see the continued progression of the team's play since Berube took over and it would be nice to see more aggressive pursuit of the puck and stronger, more tenacious battling for it, in all zones. A win would provide a nice shot of confidence though, something they do need before we see what we really have here with this team.

It was interesting to see Timonen's comments in the blog. He echoed some of the same things I posted yesterday on Meltzer's thread (second post down from this page):

http://www.hockeybuzz.com...?thread_id=110610&page=22

So much for the 'must win'. Time to start the fire sale?

Our best forward last night was playing his 2nd or 3rd NHL game (Raffl), thats a joke when you have the talent like Giroux, Schenn, Simmonds, Read, Voracek etc...
This roster is loaded with talent, just not the right combination of talent. If you're going to lose, at least go down with a little fight in you. It's one thing to lose, but its another when its so damn obvious that nobody is trying (that second period was just a flat out joke). At least we'll likely have a top 5 pick in our own building next year, assuming Homer doesn't trade it away for some vet.

Kind of have to wonder about the organizational leadership at this point. Farm system seems depleated and that does not bode well for the future either.

I don't think it's prudent to make too much of a fuss over one game. I know the context and the circumstances kind of dialed up the drama, but it's one game against a top club for a team who is coming off a coaching change trying to find it's way very early in a long season. I draw some good out of the game as I saw some continuation of some of the positive changes the new system is bringing. That said, they have a ways to go in order to get the system down pat and right now they aren't playing with the confidence that lends itself to successful execution, of any system. There are a lot of young players in the lineup being counted on and they are learning lessons on the fly...the current makeup of the team is not that of a Stanley Cup contender, but of a young group trying to find their game, their chemistry and their identity, something they must do before becoming a legit threat. This kind of thing usually takes time, maybe even a few seasons, so patience is needed. There are a lot of good young pieces that should be able to come together and grow into a very good team in time...look at the players who are either less than 25 yrs old or have less than 200 NHL games: Giroux, Read, B Schenn, Couturier, Simmonds, Voracek...plus good prospects like McGinn, Raffle, Cousins, Laughton, Akeson, Straka...on D it's similar for L Schenn, Gustafsson, Alt, Morin, Hagg, Ghostisbehere...throw in top goalie prospect Stolarz and the still young Mason...all of these players have solid potential but need to develop more and mature into their games and develop chemistry at the NHL level before it can be concluded what kind of team Holmgren has assembled.

Given the makeup of the team, it would be premature and probably counter-productive (and not really fair) to pull the plug on the GM and go in a new direction...the reaility is, the Flyers window of opportunity narrowed significantly in the short term with the loss of Pronger and the swapping out of the core (Carter/Richards) for more youth...consider also that Timonen is on his way out and Mez is on the last year of his contract, Coburn has regressed, etc. and the D will need a refresh...in my estimation there's a pretty good chance that the Flyers can re-emerge as contenders once the aforementioned young players and prospects develop and start to come into their own. Flyers fans and the organization will need to be patient though, which isn't really a part of their DNA...it will be interesting to see how things play out.