Bill Meltzer: Flyers Gameday: 11/5/13 @ Carolina

first game of the rest of the season. toonite

2nd mofo comment, huzzah

This stretch of NJ, Car, Edm, and NJ could be just games needed for Philly to get back into this season.

This stretch of NJ, Car, Edm, and NJ could be just games needed for Philly to get back into this season.
- PhiFaninEdm

it really could be.. Imagine if they were able to put a string of wins in here and carry some confidence again..

first game of the rest of the season. toonite
- jak521

STATEMENT GAME?

Bill Meltzer: Flyers Gameday: 11/5/13 @ Carolina
- bmeltzer

Bill, put your GM hat on. what would you do with this team?

Bill Meltzer: Flyers Gameday: 11/5/13 @ Carolina
- bmeltzer

luke schenn being a healthy scratch.....eeesh. trending in the wrong direction.

have been waiting for gill to get a shot. he does, and they get the first shutout of the season. coincidence? i think not.

Great Blog Bill.

I have a question about Hartnell in particular. Is there something you see in his game that is adding to his lack of scoring? With other players it seems as if they are a bit snakebitten (hitting posts, pucks taking bounces etc) but hartsy doesn't even seem to be in position for scoring opportunities like he used to....

Thanks for the insight!

Hard to have team confindence when your captain is struggling. To me, it starts and ends with Giroux needing to be better and needing to set the tone.

WIth our luck the only thing than facing a backup goalie would be facing a 3rd string goalie!

All kidding aside, this is the came where they SHOULD snap out of their funk and score some goals. The Canes are a banged up mess right now. To me, anything less than 5 out of a possible 6 points in their next 3 games (CAR, NJ, EDM) would be a total failure.

Bill, put your GM hat on. what would you do with this team?
- nastyflyergirl

I'm not Bill, but I'll respond anyway

I think the best thing they can do is stay patient. Lets see how they do over their next 10-12 games. IF they are still struggling at that point, it will quickly become apparent that they are not making the playoffs. At that point, its time to see which vets will be willing to waive NTC/NMCs and time to start dealing for picks and prospects. IF that is the case however, it is most likely best to wait til the trade deadline to make most of those moves, you want the other team to be as desperate as possible to upgrade before you make a deal.

Hard to have team confindence when your captain is struggling. To me, it starts and ends with Giroux needing to be better and needing to set the tone.
- Trainfellow

This.

STATEMENT GAME?
- hammarby31

- tangent_man

I'm not Bill, but I'll respond anyway

I think the best thing they can do is stay patient. Lets see how they do over their next 10-12 games. IF they are still struggling at that point, it will quickly become apparent that they are not making the playoffs. At that point, its time to see which vets will be willing to waive NTC/NMCs and time to start dealing for picks and prospects. IF that is the case however, it is most likely best to wait til the trade deadline to make most of those moves, you want the other team to be as desperate as possible to upgrade before you make a deal.
- BiggE

I guess I mean the overall direction of the organization. I am a fan of youth and speed sprinkled with a few veterans and size.

luke schenn being a healthy scratch.....eeesh. trending in the wrong direction.

have been waiting for gill to get a shot. he does, and they get the first shutout of the season. coincidence? i think not.
- hammarby31

Agreed. Gill may be slow as heck, but he positions himself well, is still a very good penalty killer and makes good decisions with the puck.

Is it just me or has their schedule been incredibly soft so far? From days off between games to playing other struggling teams with star players missing from the game?

Even the Islanders the Flyers played against the backup goalie on the second half of a back to back for them.

Look at the Flyers next 2 games, Carolina and NJ.

Carolina is on a 5 game losing streak and being forced to play their backup goalie.

New Jersey hasn't scored a goal in over 120 minutes of play and has a starting goalie who has been letting in 3 goals a game.

There's a day off between those 2 games.

The Flyers need to go 2-0 over these next 2 games and need to win them convincingly.

I guess I mean the overall direction of the organization. I am a fan of youth and speed sprinkled with a few veterans and size.
- nastyflyergirl

With you on that!

I prefer a balanced lineup. I don't think that you have to have 2 scoring lines, a checking line and an energy line per se. I would rather have a top notch 1st line, 2 balanced lines that can both score and play 2 way hockey and a 4th line that can provide energy, but still be a threat to score a goal now and then.
I also think each line should have at least 2 guys with above average speed and at least 1 guy with size.

On D, I like a top pair in which both players have good size and good speed. Both should be solid defensively and good puck movers as well. On the 2nd and 3rd pairs, I like having a puck mover and a physical shut down guy on each pairing

i heard some bans were handed out the other night. maybe that's why it's so quiet around here. or maybe the flyers are so embarrassing they're slowly killing the fan base.

I'm not Bill, but I'll respond anyway

I think the best thing they can do is stay patient. Lets see how they do over their next 10-12 games. IF they are still struggling at that point, it will quickly become apparent that they are not making the playoffs. At that point, its time to see which vets will be willing to waive NTC/NMCs and time to start dealing for picks and prospects. IF that is the case however, it is most likely best to wait til the trade deadline to make most of those moves, you want the other team to be as desperate as possible to upgrade before you make a deal.
- BiggE

I wonder if there have been other teams that have had 1.6 GFA that was resolved with patience that same year. I don't think patience fixes these problems this year, but allows our young players to continue to develop.

The problems the flyers are facing aren't due to bad breaks.. there is something seriously wrong with the psyche of this team. If they were looking good out there each game I would stress patience.. but they look like a team who will be competing for lowest goals scored in the league. I think the problem is with the makeup or chemistry somewhere. They need a goal scorer.

Is it just me or has their schedule been incredibly soft so far? From days off between games to playing other struggling teams with star players missing from the game?

Even the Islanders the Flyers played against the backup goalie on the second half of a back to back for them.

Look at the Flyers next 2 games, Carolina and NJ.

Carolina is on a 5 game losing streak and being forced to play their backup goalie.

New Jersey hasn't scored a goal in over 120 minutes of play and has a starting goalie who has been letting in 3 goals a game.

There's a day off between those 2 games.

The Flyers need to go 2-0 over these next 2 games and need to win them convincingly.
- Flyers_01

Some of that is due to being in the Metro division and the schedule having a lot of division games. Outside of the Pens, our division has really struggled this year.

i heard some bans were handed out the other night. maybe that's why it's so quiet around here. or maybe the flyers are so embarrassing they're slowly killing the fan base.
- hammarby31

Maybe a little of both. At least there are no Penguins fans in here yet this morning. They sure came out of the woodwork the other day.

Is it just me or has their schedule been incredibly soft so far? From days off between games to playing other struggling teams with star players missing from the game?

Even the Islanders the Flyers played against the backup goalie on the second half of a back to back for them.

Look at the Flyers next 2 games, Carolina and NJ.

Carolina is on a 5 game losing streak and being forced to play their backup goalie.

New Jersey hasn't scored a goal in over 120 minutes of play and has a starting goalie who has been letting in 3 goals a game.

There's a day off between those 2 games.

The Flyers need to go 2-0 over these next 2 games and need to win them convincingly.
- Flyers_01

I think the Flyers are lucky to have the wins they do have, at this point.

i heard some bans were handed out the other night. maybe that's why it's so quiet around here. or maybe the flyers are so embarrassing they're slowly killing the fan base.
- hammarby31

Jeeze, now the flyers are causing virtual rioting in their message boards.. this wouldn't be happening if they were winning.