Game Thread: New York Rangers(2) vs. Philadelphia Flyers(3) | ECQF

[4thstreet]

Where was all this energy and crisp passing before Berube pulled Mason.A damn horrid display today,and was surprising that they had a chance at the end.

 

[Cobiemonster]

The flyers need a 2nd line that can produce offense at 5 on 5. That's really all there is to it to me. Schenn Simmonds and Lecavalier is a dreadful line 5 on 5. They are weak on defense and they haven't been scoring. They need to be better.

Also, it'd be nice if we could complete passes. Might be been the worst passing display ive seen all season today, even beyond the coburn/Gill debacle, the passing was atrocious.

I would consider putting Michael Raffl back on the top line with G and Jake - this is how the lines would be imo:

Michael Raffl/Claude Giroux/Jake Voracek
Jason Akeson/Vinny Lecavalier/Wayne Simmonds
Scott Hartnell/Sean Couturier/Matt Read
Brayden Schenn/Adam Hall/Zac Rinaldo

Kimmo Timonen/Braydon Coburn
Mark Streit/Andrew MacDonald
Erik Gustafsson/Luke Schenn

 

[Cobiemonster]

Where was all this energy and crisp passing before Berube pulled Mason.A damn horrid display today,and was surprising that they had a chance at the end.

Rangers have had trouble putting teams away, I would like to see the Flyers get a lead in game 6 and make the Rangers have to come back instead of the other way around - the Rangers aren't a team that can blow anybody out, not by the evidence we've seen so far in this series - so I would like to see the Flyers get the first goal and move their feet and bring energy

This first round series for the Flyers might be more difficult offensively now than it would be if they were to move on - I would love to see them have a breakout win in game 6 and then play a strong defensive game in game 7 and get the PP working - it could catapult this team

 

[Progeriakid]

Giroux-Is not a top 5 player, if I hear he is "one of the top players in the world" again my fucking head will explode!

Vinny-Needs to go, he did the great disappearing act and is not a second line player, losing a step is an understatement!

Emery-Played solid at times but at his age and point in his careeer has no lateral movement and the Rangers took full advantage of that in the first 3 games with wraparound attempts. Get a viable backup.

Raffl-Needs to be on the second line, he has way to much skill to be wasted on the 3rd or 4th line.

Out with the old and in with the new, guys like Gill, Vinny, rosehill, etc need to walk and the likes of laughton, ghost, etc need to be on this roster next year.

Snyder needs to realize the broadstreet bullies are thing of the past and goons have no value in todays game other then putting the opposition on the powerplay.

Homer-Needs to go, we need to replace him with Hextall and move forward, his body of work with horrid albatross contracts speaks for itself, he is clueless.

Berube-Is he really the guy to lead this team?? At times I think yes, yes he is but other times I'm like what the F is he thinking???

Oh well, I feel better now, had to vent and get this off my chest whether is makes sense or not.

 

[stealth]

Giroux-Is not a top 5 player, if I hear he is "one of the top players in the world" again my fucking head will explode!

Vinny-Needs to go, he did the great disappearing act and is not a second line player, losing a step is an understatement!

Emery-Played solid at times but at his age and point in his careeer has no lateral movement and the Rangers took full advantage of that in the first 3 games with wraparound attempts. Get a viable backup.

Raffl-Needs to be on the second line, he has way to much skill to be wasted on the 3rd or 4th line.

Out with the old and in with the new, guys like Gill, Vinny, rosehill, etc need to walk and the likes of laughton, ghost, etc need to be on this roster next year.

Snyder needs to realize the broadstreet bullies are thing of the past and goons have no value in todays game other then putting the opposition on the powerplay.

Homer-Needs to go, we need to replace him with Hextall and move forward, his body of work with horrid albatross contracts speaks for itself, he is clueless.

Berube-Is he really the guy to lead this team?? At times I think yes, yes he is but other times I'm like what the F is he thinking???

Oh well, I feel better now, had to vent and get this off my chest whether is makes sense or not.

great post....one question, you mentioned hextall as a possible next GM. who would be the coach?



Oates is out there but he wasnt a Flyer. I think he would be great getting away from Ovechkin and the goaltending hasnt been any good since Kolzig retired.

 

[Cobiemonster]

great post....one question, you mentioned hextall as a possible next GM. who would be the coach?



Oates is out there but he wasnt a Flyer. I think he would be great getting away from Ovechkin and the goaltending hasnt been any good since Kolzig retired.

I would only hire Adam Oates to be a power play specialist

 

[Progeriakid]

I would only hire Adam Oates to be a power play specialist

Didn't really think of who could be the coach if Berube isn't the guy, was just thinking that Homers time has come and gone and he needs to go pasture before he signs another 10yr contract that cripples the org and for years to come.

 

[DoobeeDoobeeDoo]

I wouldn't fire Berube, he did a heck of a job his 1st season. Would be really unfair to fire him when he totally changed the season around like he was supposed to do. This goes double if your plan to replace him is Adam Oates. Why not just hire George McPhee for GM while you're at it?

 

[awaz]

Giroux-Is not a top 5 player, if I hear he is "one of the top players in the world" again my fucking head will explode!

Vinny-Needs to go, he did the great disappearing act and is not a second line player, losing a step is an understatement!

Emery-Played solid at times but at his age and point in his careeer has no lateral movement and the Rangers took full advantage of that in the first 3 games with wraparound attempts. Get a viable backup.

Raffl-Needs to be on the second line, he has way to much skill to be wasted on the 3rd or 4th line.

Out with the old and in with the new, guys like Gill, Vinny, rosehill, etc need to walk and the likes of laughton, ghost, etc need to be on this roster next year.

Snyder needs to realize the broadstreet bullies are thing of the past and goons have no value in todays game other then putting the opposition on the powerplay.

Homer-Needs to go, we need to replace him with Hextall and move forward, his body of work with horrid albatross contracts speaks for itself, he is clueless.

Berube-Is he really the guy to lead this team?? At times I think yes, yes he is but other times I'm like what the F is he thinking???

Oh well, I feel better now, had to vent and get this off my chest whether is makes sense or not.

i disagree with almost all of that.

1. giroux - he finished 3rd in the league in points (1 point out of 2nd) and plays in all situations. he sucks against the rangers (mcdonagh/girardi). can't the rest of the team pick up the slack against one team? so light the fuse, because "claude giroux is one of the top players in the world".

2. vinny - this one i partially agree with. but he looked great playing against weaker competition down the stretch as a member of the 4th line. he's not a top 6 player, but he can still be effective in the right role.

3. raffl - if raffl is on the 2nd line the flyers are probably in trouble. he's a great 3rd line caliber guy though IMO.

4. vinny will still be there. rosehill and gill have played a combined 41 games this year so lets not get too much heartburn over them. plus, in ideal situations, they aren't playing (ie grossmann isn't hurt)

5. snider.. which goons are you talking about? rinaldo is probably the only one on the game day roster that could classify as a goon and he's got 2 PIMs in the playoffs. perhaps you need to realize the flyers aren't goons anymore? (they take a ton of stupid stick infraction penalties though). maybe this is a continuation of your rosehill and gill gripe, which as i stated, is making a mountain out of a molehill.

6. homer - everybody loves blaming homer for stuff. the vinny contract isn't great. aside from that, what part of this team makes you so upset? do you want richards and carter back instead of simmonds, schenn, couturier, and voracek? do you want a couple draft picks instead of timonen and hartnell? do you not want akeson, read, or raffl on the team (all undrafted FAs)? do you want a 3rd round pick back for mason? do you want zhitnik back for coburn? i honestly don't get why people don't like homer. it blows my mind. he makes a bad signing every now and then, but he's gotten out of most of them. he took over the worst team in the NHL by leaps and bounds and turned it in to a perennial playoff team, if not stanley cup contender, in one season. one. season. there are a handful of teams that have been rebuilding for 10 years.

7. berube - come on, you can't be serious with that. he's in pretty much everybody's top 5 for the jack adams. he's done a fantastic job.

 

[FlyerFinFan]

Totally agree Awaz I think most of that post is simply frustration. We all must realize that this team is still growing it's young. Could we win a cup this year? Sure but the odds are more favorable in time as they supplement the roster with even better talent and the young guns grow up. G simply can't win a cup on his own...heck even crosby malkin can't seem to sniff it again unless they improve their overall team.

We also have to give the rags some credit they're not a bad team. I don't think that they have enough to win it all but they are a tough 1st round foe. I bet you next year the Flyers will have a far easier time with a team like that but this year is part of the process....and who knows they're not done by any means yet.

 

[awaz]

Totally agree Awaz I think most of that post is simply frustration. We all must realize that this team is still growing it's young. Could we win a cup this year? Sure but the odds are more favorable in time as they supplement the roster with even better talent and the young guns grow up. G simply can't win a cup on his own...heck even crosby malkin can't seem to sniff it again unless they improve their overall team.

We also have to give the rags some credit they're not a bad team. I don't think that they have enough to win it all but they are a tough 1st round foe. I bet you next year the Flyers will have a far easier time with a team like that but this year is part of the process....and who knows they're not done by any means yet.

totally agree. the rangers are the most difficult match up for the flyers right now. we've said it all season. i said i would rather play the pens, or even the bruins, in round 1, than play the rangers (just not at the expense of going in to the playoffs on a 5 game losing streak). if the flyers can manage to get by the rangers, i love their chances moving forward. i really do. for whatever reason, girardi and mcdonagh have the book on giroux, and the flyers have zero 5 on 5 threat if he's not generating offense. their 5 on 5 play is 100% determined by how well giroux is playing. if he's scoring and fired up, all 4 lines look more dangerous. for whatever reason, he can't get that mojo going against the rangers, it has to come from someone else. brayden schenn was my #1 key to this series, and so far he has not shown up. they need production from that 2nd line.

as for the state of the flyers, i love where they are right now. very young team, only 1 dreadful contract, and they actually have players in the system that we can be excited for (hagg, ghost, morin, vasilev, laughton, alt). and most of them are on defense, which is the flyers biggest need. the difference between the state/future of the team now, and where it was even 2 or 3 years ago is light years better. thanks in large part to paul holmgren.

 

[Retroram52]

Pretty good synopsis awaz.

 

[Cobiemonster]

Nothing's over yet, Flyers can win Game 6 and come back the next night and win Game 7 and things will look really good - the way the series has gone, each team has alternated wins, so the Flyers should be able to win Game 6 with the crowd they have and just overall playing better, and then Game 7, who knows what might happen? Steve Mason is fresher than Henrik Lundqvist and that could be a difference if they get to that point

 

[4thstreet]

i disagree with almost all of that.

1. giroux - he finished 3rd in the league in points (1 point out of 2nd) and plays in all situations. he sucks against the rangers (mcdonagh/girardi). can't the rest of the team pick up the slack against one team? so light the fuse, because "claude giroux is one of the top players in the world".

2. vinny - this one i partially agree with. but he looked great playing against weaker competition down the stretch as a member of the 4th line. he's not a top 6 player, but he can still be effective in the right role.

3. raffl - if raffl is on the 2nd line the flyers are probably in trouble. he's a great 3rd line caliber guy though IMO.

4. vinny will still be there. rosehill and gill have played a combined 41 games this year so lets not get too much heartburn over them. plus, in ideal situations, they aren't playing (ie grossmann isn't hurt)

5. snider.. which goons are you talking about? rinaldo is probably the only one on the game day roster that could classify as a goon and he's got 2 PIMs in the playoffs. perhaps you need to realize the flyers aren't goons anymore? (they take a ton of stupid stick infraction penalties though). maybe this is a continuation of your rosehill and gill gripe, which as i stated, is making a mountain out of a molehill.

6. homer - everybody loves blaming homer for stuff. the vinny contract isn't great. aside from that, what part of this team makes you so upset? do you want richards and carter back instead of simmonds, schenn, couturier, and voracek? do you want a couple draft picks instead of timonen and hartnell? do you not want akeson, read, or raffl on the team (all undrafted FAs)? do you want a 3rd round pick back for mason? do you want zhitnik back for coburn? i honestly don't get why people don't like homer. it blows my mind. he makes a bad signing every now and then, but he's gotten out of most of them. he took over the worst team in the NHL by leaps and bounds and turned it in to a perennial playoff team, if not stanley cup contender, in one season. one. season. there are a handful of teams that have been rebuilding for 10 years.

7. berube - come on, you can't be serious with that. he's in pretty much everybody's top 5 for the jack adams. he's done a fantastic job.

Agree with you to disagree,and those 3 signings were excellent moves.

 

[4thstreet]

Nothing's over yet, Flyers can win Game 6 and come back the next night and win Game 7 and things will look really good - the way the series has gone, each team has alternated wins, so the Flyers should be able to win Game 6 with the crowd they have and just overall playing better, and then Game 7, who knows what might happen? Steve Mason is fresher than Henrik Lundqvist and that could be a difference if they get to that point

Yo-I didn't hear any bell!

 

[raptorlife4]

LETS GO FLYERS

 

[JBM73]

6. homer

Top 10 Best Paul Holmgren Trades & Transactions

Top 10 Worst Paul Holmgren Trades & Transactions

 

[awaz]

Top 10 Best Paul Holmgren Trades & Transactions

Top 10 Worst Paul Holmgren Trades & Transactions

Working my way through the worst.

1. Bryz - all snider

2. Bob - had to protect the Bryz investment, let's see how the picks turn out before we call this a massive blunder.

3. Schenn for jvr - I still think this is a fine trade. Potential on d for potential on o, when they were/are desperate for impact dmen.

To be continued...

 

[awaz]

Randy Jones - bad

Steve Eminger - bad (though they did get a 2nd for him if I recall

Shelley - horrendous, but a 1.1 mil cap hit is hardly crippling.

Up shall - bad

Gagne - bad (may not have been as painful if zherdev
ever got starts though)

Leighton - bad

Pronger - ya'll know how I feel about this one..

 

[awaz]

The best for outweigh the worst, and they don't even have the Richards move in there which, imo, is one of his best moves too.