Well, yeah long term there are reasons for alarm. Our defense is injured, we give up huge leads early, and played a style of game (run n gun) that is inappropriate for the POs, and would kill us very swiftly vs the Bruins (maybe the Rags as well).
Pray the Bruins lose. That's our best chance. We can beat anyone in the East even with our banged up defense except Bruins and possibly Rags.
BTW the reason I devalue the Rags so much is two fold:
1. their defense while good is too young
2. their forward depth isnt great; there is no one terribly scarey once you get past Gabby and Richards. Callaghan is good but not a superstar by any means. The others? no names.
Because the only way to be a fan is to be blindly optimistic and drink the kool-aid?
I'm not saying we don't have a chance this year, but at some point the injuries on D are going to catch up to us.
Pretty much this.
Sure, I am a huge Flyers fan, but I don't blindly expect them to win the cup every year, the Flyers have real issues that need to be addressed, we match up well against the pens, but not well against the Rags and Boston.
Not to rain on anyone's parade and I'm as big of a flyers fan as it gets but if the flyers are going to raise Lord Stanley, some things are going to have to change. I know a team shouldnt look ahead, you have to take it one day at a time, but this team has some major weaknesses right now. Can they be fixed?
My only worry is game three Sunday. One slice at a time.
Not that the Flyers have gotten past Pittsburgh yet, but the way Boston is playing is not impressive. Their top two lines have been shut down by a defense led by Mike Green. I think the Flyers can beat them, the Rangers are different story.
The big picture should be not looking past the Pens yet. It's only 2-0, and not to be a downer, but if the players are thinking a lot of posters here, they're going to be in for a rude awakening when they let down their guard thinking they've won the series already.
Not to rain on anyone's parade and I'm as big of a flyers fan as it gets but if the flyers are going to raise Lord Stanley, some things are going to have to change. I know a team shouldnt look ahead, you have to take it one day at a time, but this team has some major weaknesses right now. Can they be fixed?
How about the big, big picture?
How about the fact that we unloaded our cornerstones last summer and our rebuild year includes ripping 2 playoff games off of the Penguins in Pittsburgh?
Also, if we move on and get jvr and mez back, does it mess up chemistry? Do they show to much rust? What's your take?
We need Meszaros back. Our blue line is awfully slow with Bourdon out. That really is essential to making a run.
And I don't see how putting JvR in for Rinaldo or Wellwood is going to disrupt chemistry. It's not like he's going to come in and play 20 mins and PP1. He'll just be chipping in on a small role unless he proves worthy of more.
How about the fact that we unloaded our cornerstones last summer and our rebuild year includes ripping 2 playoff games off of the Penguins in Pittsburgh?
The next 5 years are shaping up to be fun.
Seriously. I don't think some of you understand what "big picture" means.
Go back to the day Richards and Carter were traded and see how many people were thinking this year was cup or bust.
it'll be 10x harder to come back from an early 2-0 deficit against the rangers or the bruins, so i'm definitely worried. but right now i'm enjoying the series. take it a game at a time.
I have concerns about the way they have been going about winning at the end of the reg season and now with the first 2 games, as this stuff has the great potential to bite them on the rear if Pittsburgh remembers how to play defense and Fleury plays better. Furthermore, it really wouldn't appear to have any hope of succeeding against the Rangers or Bruins (likely opponent if they win this series).
However, as I had no realistic expectations that this year's Flyers would make it out of the first round, I'm pretty placid about it. Let them sort out the long-term plans with Pronger, look for a top Dman in the off-season, and build on this unexpected success with a rookie-filled line-up and a (seemingly) revitalized Bryzgalov.
I agree with this. Can't go on going down 2-3 goals in every game like this. Even if it's fun watching the comebacks, it's not gonna work against tighter defenses like the Rangers'.
I thought this team would make the playoffs, and that it had a good chance at lasting one round. Anything more than that would just be gravy. And that was with Pronger on the team. A lot of guys on this team are playing better than I expected them to. The next few seasons could be really fun if we can keep most of these guys together.
Our D worries me, but we can not do anything about it right now. I'm enjoying this series against Pittsburgh to much. When were knocked out of the playoffs/or after we win (which is the best outcome.) That's when I'd actually sit their and think of the D issue. Does the Flyers D give me a heart attack? Of course, but enjoy the wins no matter what.
Our D is really bad right now, as is our goaltending. Flashes of the Caps run and gun playoffs are going through my head. If we don't tighten up, we are gonna get swept next round.
Bryz needs to be better, and we need to tighten up. Not sure if this is just how we are playing to match against the pens... but it is worrying.
Our D is really bad right now, as is our goaltending. Flashes of the Caps run and gun playoffs are going through my head. If we don't tighten up, we are gonna get swept next round.
Bryz needs to be better, and we need to tighten up. Not sure if this is just how we are playing to match against the pens... but it is worrying.
Precisely. Only reaosn we are whipping the Pens is somehow their defense and goaltending is performing even worse than ours. Which is weird cuz Fleury and Letang and Orpik and even Michalek are supposed to be pretty good defensively.
And we have good excuse for being poor defensively, actually two good excuses. Named Pronger and Meszaros.
But excuse or no excuse, we will fall in the next round if we dont fix this.
Yes, Philly's big concern is the D. The Flyers match up well against fast, skilled teams like the Pens because they can disrupt the fancy passing and stickhandling with a little size and muscle. Same thing works almost every time against my Habs. Doesn't work as well against a team like Boston, whose forwards charge the zone and the net, relying on shorter passes, and outwork Philly's D with four solid lines of offense. This is exactly where Pronger's presence is missed.
Upside is Flyers are stronger offensively. Get the top lines out when Chara/Seidenberg are off and you can beat them at their own game. Also, Boston is without Horton.
I'm not concerned about the big picture because each series is going to play out differently. They could have easily let the game fall apart but once the pens got it within 1 they answered right back, got a 3 goal lead in the 3rd and then played strong defense.
Of course a series against Boston or the Rangers is going to be more defensive, but the Bruins have scored 2 goals in 7 periods of hockey against a worse defensive team and a rookie goaltender. I mean right now the Flyers are man handling the consensus favorite to come out of the East so no I'm not really concerned.
I'm not concerned about the big picture because each series is going to play out differently. They could have easily let the game fall apart but once the pens got it within 1 they answered right back, got a 3 goal lead in the 3rd and then played strong defense.
Of course a series against Boston or the Rangers is going to be more defensive, but the Bruins have scored 2 goals in 7 periods of hockey against a worse defensive team and a rookie goaltender. I mean right now the Flyers are man handling the consensus favorite to come out of the East so no I'm not really concerned.
I'm not really concerned either. To think you're gonna shut down the Pens offense is asking a lot. They're the highest scoring team in the league and have a ton of talent on offense. Probably more then any other team in the East. They are going to make you look foolish at times.
Facing a team like the Rangers or Bruins will create different problems offensively and I'm sure you'll see guys like Simmonds, Hartnell and Jagr come to the forefront in those series since you will have to score more ugly goals. But defensively, it will be easier to defend against those teams because the skill level is simply just a step down from the Pens.
Styles make fights. The style of the Pens is to make it run and gun. Ok, the Flyers can play that style. The Rags and Bruins are tight checkers. I think the Flyers can do that as well. We'll see. I'm not concerned.
After the games last night I was really thinking about this thread. If we can win one more against the Pens without any injuries, I like our chances with the Rag's and B's on the brink of elimination. The Sens, Caps, and Devils are far better match ups for us and it gives some of our guys more time to rest and heal up. Of course, we need to get one more game on the Pens and pray for no more head shots against us. It reminds me of 2010 when we were fortunate enough to only play the B's and struggle. The Canadians did all the heavy lifting that year eliminating the Caps and Pens.
