Laviolette's failure to address the mismatch of the Horton-Lucic-Krejci line against Briere.
This was a fairly noticeable problem, especially during games played in Philly. I'm not sure the Flyers could have beaten Boston that season, but I believe the team could have made that a close series. Lavi's decisions in that series were embarrassing.
Had Philly taken any games off of Boston, the Bruins may not have had enough gas in the tank to beat Vancouver; that's one positive I see of the sweep.
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I deride your truth handling abilities
Was this the playoff year where Laviolette said Bob was starting in net, but then pulled him for Boucher who he then pulled for Leighton who he then pulled for Boucher who he then...I forget what happened after that. But I definitely blame Laviolette's mis-handling of the goaltending situation. There was absolutely ZERO reason to scratch Bob and put Leighton in, what, 2 games into the Buffalo series?. You not only destroy a rookie's confidence after saying in the media that he was your starter, you put in a journeyman goaltender whose first game in the 2010-2011 regular season immediately led to 2 goals eerily similar to Kane's Stanley Cup winner and did not play an NHL game after that for the rest of the regular season.
Contrary to whatever stories the Philadelphia sports media put out, I do not believe Richards was the problem here; I believe the media had a grudge and a bone to pick with Richards and made an issue out of something that had little to do with their lackluster series against Boston.
So while we're on the topic, how about that 2009 collapse in Game 6 against Pittsburgh? Up 3-0, then Carcillo squares off with Talbot and the floor drops out from underneath them. What the hell happened there?
I really didn't get the hate on Zherdev either. He was given 4th line minutes but managed to get something done with those minutes. Why Laviolette didn't bother giving him more playing time, I don't know. It was arguably a reputation issue.
Shame, because I remember seeing him hustle his ass out there despite his reputation. Even threw a body check once and I remember Coatesy being impressed by it.
Was this the playoff year where Laviolette said Bob was starting in net, but then pulled him for Boucher who he then pulled for Leighton who he then pulled for Boucher who he then...I forget what happened after that. But I definitely blame Laviolette's mis-handling of the goaltending situation. There was absolutely ZERO reason to scratch Bob and put Leighton in, what, 2 games into the Buffalo series?. You not only destroy a rookie's confidence after saying in the media that he was your starter, you put in a journeyman goaltender whose first game in the 2010-2011 regular season immediately led to 2 goals eerily similar to Kane's Stanley Cup winner and did not play an NHL game after that for the rest of the regular season.
Contrary to whatever stories the Philadelphia sports media put out, I do not believe Richards was the problem here; I believe the media had a grudge and a bone to pick with Richards and made an issue out of something that had little to do with their lackluster series against Boston.
So while we're on the topic, how about that 2009 collapse in Game 6 against Pittsburgh? Up 3-0, then Carcillo squares off with Talbot and the floor drops out from underneath them. What the hell happened there?
Goaltending merry go round- Laviolette had absolutely no faith in any of the goaltenders and it showed by the way he used them- this translated over to the forwards and defencemen (and goaltenders). Every shot on the Flyers net became an adventure- Carter had his normal play-off, Richards played hurt and it was hard to expect Briere and Leino to repeat their play-off runs of the year before.
I really didn't get the hate on Zherdev either. He was given 4th line minutes but managed to get something done with those minutes. Why Laviolette didn't bother giving him more playing time, I don't know. It was arguably a reputation issue.
Shame, because I remember seeing him hustle his ass out there despite his reputation. Even threw a body check once and I remember Coatesy being impressed by it.
He got 4th line minutes because he turned the puck over and was awful defensively.
He wasn't a team player. He often killed rushes because the other forwards would need to stop at the blue line because instead of passing or dumping, he elected to skate in a circle and try to enter the zone himself. Huge amount of talent, but he couldn't use it "right."
I really didn't get the hate on Zherdev either. He was given 4th line minutes but managed to get something done with those minutes. Why Laviolette didn't bother giving him more playing time, I don't know. It was arguably a reputation issue.
Shame, because I remember seeing him hustle his ass out there despite his reputation. Even threw a body check once and I remember Coatesy being impressed by it.
Yeah, I loved having Zherdev on the team, as well.
The last two play-off collapses I have pegged on lavy.
We were dominated against NJ because he refused to change up anything. We were damn lucky to win the first game, then NJ pumped the puck down the right hand side of the boards all game. We couldn't do anything about it because we didn't have a single RH defenseman.
Against Boston, he refused to match lines with Boston. Their size and power completely **** on the Briere line, which was bad enough defensively as it is.
He wasn't a team player. He often killed rushes because the other forwards would need to stop at the blue line because instead of passing or dumping, he elected to skate in a circle and try to enter the zone himself. Huge amount of talent, but he couldn't use it "right."
is this about zherdev?
Z when he was on teh flyers was mia on defense, but on offense he was not a puckhog. I thought he did as good of a job as anyone playing off carter and giroux...that line had some amazing moments. The problem with that was that line did not need another sniper they needed some grit.
I thought zherdev was fine as a flyer, and i recall he had one of the highest goals per time on ice in the nhl that year.
i to was a pretty big fan of Z. when he was a Flyer, and suspect his play time or lack thereof was a direct result of backstage issues..
as the season progressed, and def. after he was waived and returned, his effort on ice was pretty good, certainly enuf to have justified more ice time.
but as in early in the season he was relegated to the bench or pressbox with Shelley..
secretly i kept hoping he would turn it around somehow , sort of like my man-crush on Leights.. i guess i love an underdog, hahaha
