Every year it's another big trade, another huge shakeup without addressing the 800 pound gorilla in the room. They do not want to give up assets to draft a decent goaltender. The forwards and the defense isn't the issue. Philadelphia can buy/trade for a decent lineup, but they can't get a decent goaltender. Add into the fact that Laviolette is a blowhard who lucked into a cup in Carolina. I'd ditch Laviolette and stick with the same lineup for a couple of years, meanwhile giving up picks or prospects for the top goaltender in a draft.
The goaltending isn't the problem this year. At least not yet. And who would they get rid of Lavi for? There aren't really any other options.
Every year it's another big trade, another huge shakeup without addressing the 800 pound gorilla in the room. They do not want to give up assets to draft a decent goaltender. The forwards and the defense isn't the issue. Philadelphia can buy/trade for a decent lineup, but they can't get a decent goaltender. Add into the fact that Laviolette is a blowhard who lucked into a cup in Carolina. I'd ditch Laviolette and stick with the same lineup for a couple of years, meanwhile giving up picks or prospects for the top goaltender in a draft.
The 800 pound gorilla in the room is the best player on the team right now. By a large margin. It's been discussed in this thread, the "Bryzgalov" thread, yesterday's "Flyers are terrible" thread, and the Flyers boards, and is plain to see if you watch the games. Fans who continue to draw this conclusion are just ignorant and lazy.
I was under the impression that the Flyers D was decimated by injury. Having your D injured can severely hurt your offense if the D that you replace the regulars with don't have a good transition game. Without watching them play, that sounds like something that would logically happen to even a good team.
Their defense looks ridiculously bad. Did Holmgren not get the memo that you need mobile puck movers to start the transition game? They really need to get some help back there.
Huh? It's the teams lack of scoring and special teams that are doing this team in. So far this year they've scored 1, 2, 0, 2, 7, 1, and 1 goals. This season they've given up 8 ES goals in 7 games the rest have been 2 EN, 9PP, 1 SH/PS. The defense has been fine. In fact the defense has been much better than expected IMO.
Huh? It's the teams lack of scoring and special teams that are doing this team in. So far this year they've scored 1, 2, 0, 2, 7, 1, and 1 goals. This season they've given up 8 ES goals in 7 games the rest have been 2 EN, 9PP, 1 SH/PS. The defense has been fine. In fact the defense has been much better than expected IMO.
I think the point he's trying to make is that Philly lacks guys who can move the puck effectively on their blueline, and that's causing their transition game to suffer, which affects their offense. Poor puck movement and lack of a good distributor on the blueline during a PP can also make it less effective.
I don't know how true either of those things are, however. Both aspects certainly didn't look very good last night against the Rangers, but I'm not sure how much of that is the Flyers and how much of it is the Rangers
At least Bryz is looking good, but yeah, a lot of the offense is falling on young guys in their second years or so and while they may be talented, it can still be hard to adjust to that. Schenn, Read, and Couturier all look like good players though
I think the point he's trying to make is that Philly lacks guys who can move the puck effectively on their blueline, and that's causing their transition game to suffer, which affects their offense. Poor puck movement and lack of a good distributor on the blueline during a PP can also make it less effective.
I don't know how true either of those things are, however. Both aspects certainly didn't look very good last night against the Rangers, but I'm not sure how much of that is the Flyers and how much of it is the Rangers
At least Bryz is looking good, but yeah, a lot of the offense is falling on young guys in their second years or so and while they may be talented, it can still be hard to adjust to that. Schenn, Read, and Couturier all look like good players though
Very good points. Philly has only allowed a lot of goals (five) in two games and only got shelled with a ton of shots in one game. Defensively and in nets things are okay. But when you've got nobody on D who can move the puck to your forwards, the offense becomes lame.
Check out the Flyers' PP -- it's terrible. And that's a direct result of defensemen who can't control the play in the opposing zone.
Man - I sympathize. My Habs went through this last year with a total changeover in their D. Our PP dried up faster than Lance Armstrong's sponsorship deals and it killed our season.
I think Philly, Van, and a lot of other teams are suffering from the same thing. In Vancouver's case our defense has been downright brutal. I'm sure the late start is a factor and as the season wears on you'll see the slow starters emerge and the early powerhouses will fall back down to earth.
Give it time.
While I agree in principle. It is difficult to draw a parallel when even playing to expectations Van's defense is widely superior. Unfortunately, Philly has been unable to address the massive hole Pronger left. I do see them turning it around somewhat but they may need to consider dealing assets to chase a defenseman. Though if stay the freefall course. Who knows, they could trade up and draft Jones.
Very good points. Philly has only allowed a lot of goals (five) in two games and only got shelled with a ton of shots in one game. Defensively and in nets things are okay. But when you've got nobody on D who can move the puck to your forwards, the offense becomes lame.
Check out the Flyers' PP -- it's terrible. And that's a direct result of defensemen who can't control the play in the opposing zone.
Man - I sympathize. My Habs went through this last year with a total changeover in their D. Our PP dried up faster than Lance Armstrong's sponsorship deals and it killed our season.
The top PP unit is the same as last year. Kimmon Timonen is the only defenseman on the top PP and he certainly can control the play. Your theory isn't really sound.
While I agree in principle. It is difficult to draw a parallel when even playing to expectations Van's defense is widely superior. Unfortunately, Philly has been unable to address the massive hole Pronger left. I do see them turning it around somewhat but they may need to consider dealing assets to chase a defenseman. Though if stay the freefall course. Who knows, they could trade up and draft Jones.
This is the best solution for Philly. They can't keep filling one hole by creating another. They have to draft a #1D and let him grow with all the young guys.
The top PP unit is the same as last year. Kimmon Timonen is the only defenseman on the top PP and he certainly can control the play. Your theory isn't really sound.
Does Giroux usually play the point or rotate around? Cuz it seems like a waste to use him up there like the Flyers seemed to be doing last night
Scanning through this thread and seeing a bunch of people blame Bryz and Luke Schenn is making it really easy to figure out who actually watches hockey and who just repeats what other people say to act like an analyst.
The problem with Philly is simple. Too much change. The Schenn trade has worked out, but that should have been the only change they made. I think they should have held onto Jagr. I liked the look of their offense when he was there. The team just isn't meshing well at all and it shows when you watch the games. There is enough talent there to win the division but this looks like it is going to be a transition year because the numerous guttings have left them with very little NHL experience and no chemistry.
Also, and I've been saying it since 10-11, Laviolette needs to go. He was a great hire for the turnaround during 09-10 but as the roster has turned over, it is has become clearer and clearer that he is not the right coach for the team they have now.
I'd probably wait on hiring a longterm replacement though. There just isn't anyone available right now that seems like a great fit. See if some teams panic after this season and dump a good coach.
