Game 5

[awaz]

wow. what an awesome game to watch.

1. jagr. damn. thats really all i need to say.

2. read - i think we can start penciling him into our line combos (see below).. he's fast, he's got a good shot, and his smarts took left (center was occupied by jagr) stage tonight.. pking he winds around the offensive zone and looks for room, sends it all the way back to the d-zone to kill off another 15-20 seconds.. and on the PP he drifts in to the net when the battle is in the corner, unbelievably smart play for a rookie, and he gets rewarded with a great pass, and puts a wicked shot up top.. i'm VERY impressed

3. simmonds - he's probably about 2 periods away from topping my jersey power rankings.. another great game, being physical, being dangerous, and the way he handled avery tonight was very impressive to me.. never got to say anything about the incident, but he handled that with pure class.. i'm very impressed with simmonds

4. coburn - monster tonight.. physically and with the shot.. very good to see

5. voracek/giroux/jagr - i see no reason for this not to be the top line.. if they learn to shoot a little more, wow.. cause they play keep away forever

6. harry z - unfortunate that he has to be this low, cause i thought he played fantastic.. and damn is he fast.. i think him and read add another element to this team that wasn't there in the preseason games they didnt play

7. walker - anybody else notice him being a pillar of strength tonight? i'm just as surprised as the next guy, but walker looked real good defensively tonight.. i wonder if there is a way to fit him under that cap because..

the negatives

lilja is not good, neither is gustaffson (unfortunately), and bart has looked shakey too.. hence me wanting to play walker

bryz could have been better, but i wont get on him yet, its preseason, and there were a couple tonight that he had no chance on anyway (see lilja and gustafsson)

sestito = shelley part 2, so no thank you.. make an example of him too shanny, thanks

Awaz's lineup after 5 games:

voracek.giroux.jagr
jvr*.briere.simmonds
read.schenn.hartnell
harry z.betts.talbot
nodl

coburn.mesz (see below)
pronger.timmo (just for fun i have them flipped, cause thats what i want haha)
walker.**carle
bart

bryz
bob

*in case anyone was wondering about how amped i am about our forwards, i forgot jvr initially

**pains me to put carle down here with how well he played the other night, but this just makes me realize how much i like our defense again

not sure if that lineup fits under the cap, but i hope it does.. i know walker is 1.7 mil which is really unfortunate.. if he plays like he did tonight, he's well worth it, but i dont think he was in the flyers plans when they were calculating the cap

they're setting me up to be crushed, but i LOVE this team right now

 

[FlyerFinFan]

Nice post bro all I could think is wow about Jagr and Giroux....just comical how the pen fans kept saying that he was done. He'll be worth his cap hit on the PP and shootouts alone...keep thinking can he hit 30 goals? Really? Seriously? Wouldn't shock me one bit and if so Giroux will push 90 pts.

Read sold me tonight he did everything right and controlled the game when he was out there. He's in and Couturier will be out as I can't see them playing him 4th line. Either way Reids a GREAT story...love it. Nice that he can play center too and SPEEEEEEED!!!

Harry Z would make for a great story but I think Rinaldo will make it on toughness and spunk. In any case Homer retooled and I love all of the potential.

 

[WOOTPOKER]

these forwards have me VERY excited for this team. they are talented, hard working, and have size. lots of them are young and hungry. i love it. and jagr is showing that he still has something left..he will surprise lots of people this year. i think these forwards will score plenty of goals and be a very tough bunch to play against. and i think our defense is more than set this year with a (hopefully) healthy pronger as well as carle/coburn playing for contracts and mez a year better. plus the obvious strength in net. i really like the makeup of this team.

 

[dspice07]

wow. what an awesome game to watch.
3. simmonds - he's probably about 2 periods away from topping my jersey power rankings.. another great game, being physical, being dangerous, and the way he handled avery tonight was very impressive to me.. never got to say anything about the incident, but he handled that with pure class.. i'm very impressed with simmonds

you forgot to throw in that he called avery a 'homophobic slur' hahaha, +1000.

it bothers me that people pick apart what he said to avery when the dude makes a living sucker punching and saying all sorts of shit to guys who are classier than him and won't run to the media.

 

[Maverick426h]

I taped and watched this entire game and I have to say that it might as well have been a regular season game in April with both teams jockeying for playoff a position. It had the look, the feel and the atmosphere of a very heated rivalry game that meant a lot. It did not at all feel like a preseason game, so I was quite pleased with the result. Both teams appeared to really come to play and our Flyers were pretty clutch in getting a late lead and sealing the deal with an empty netter.

You have to think that if Jagr plays on a line with Giroux and Voracek as expected that is it going to be something magical by the time they reach midseason form. Jagr could've had a natural hat trick last night with any luck at all. He and Giroux already have quite a bit of chemistry and Voracek can make a lot of guys miss. That said, I could probably score 60 points on a line with Jagr and Giroux. They are going to flat out dominate together (at even strength and on the power play) no matter who flanks them on the other wing.

 

[Maverick426h]

Remember how god awful our power play was last season? That is almost certainly going to change this season with Jagr one-timing the puck from the right wing, Pronger directing traffic or bombing it from the point and likely a new presence in front screening the goalie.

We're going to revert back to 2009-10 and have one of the best power plays in the Nhl. There is no doubt in my mind.

I bet Giroux threatens 90 points and Jagr threatens 80 points (a lot of them on the power play). They are going to surprise a lot of people regardless.

Read definitely played his way onto the team last night for good. His spot is set in stone as far as I'm concerned. He already appears to be way more effective at the Nhl level than Nodl ever was.

 

[awaz]

Remember how god awful our power play was last season? That is almost certainly going to change this season with Jagr one-timing the puck from the right wing, Pronger directing traffic or bombing it from the point and likely a new presence in front screening the goalie.

We're going to revert back to 2009-10 and have one of the best power plays in the Nhl. There is no doubt in my mind.

I bet Giroux threatens 90 points and Jagr threatens 80 points (a lot of them on the power play). They are going to surprise a lot of people regardless.

Read definitely played his way onto the team last night for good. His spot is set in stone as far as I'm concerned. He already appears to be way more effective at the Nhl level than Nodl ever was.

yep, even coming from nodl's biggest supporter on here.. i think harry z is more effective than nodl as well.. his speed is such a mismatch.. i think the two of them give the flyers the jump they need.. when you watch 3rd and 4th line guys burn by opposing defenders and create scoring chances it gives the team the boost powe could never provide.. they might not hit, but so far this preseason they've been way more effective energy guys than powe/nodl were

 

[Maverick426h]

Speaking of Nodl, I don't even recall seeing him play at all this preseason. I'm sure he's been playing some, but I have yet to even notice him...lol

They've been testing Read and other prospects big time lately. But he in particular is playing huge minutes in all situations and impressing at every turn.