Post-Game Talk: #44 | FLYERS 1 at Rangers 5 | Tue., Jan. 16, 2018, 7:00 pm ET

[hatcher]

The Flyers have pretty much been a garbage product going back to the early part of the decade now. I don’t really see that changing anytime soon either.

They’ve been stealing money off the fans for a while now. You not only see them not win as much as they lose but you also get some NyQuil induced entertainment value.

We need major change.

 

[hatcher]

Such a frustrating game.

It was not like NYR played them off the rink, in fact it was pretty well balanced.

But horrendous mistakes and Elliott having an awful game combined with Hank being Hank made it ugly.

It was a no show plain and simple.

 

[Patrick Division]

Don't get me started on this.....
Flyers paid a price for going the North American route with players far too long while the rest of the league was internationalizing their respective teams and implementing speed and skill like Detroit and even the Devils to an extent. The latter were early adopters when they got Fetisov. Detroit was obviously the UN of the NHL. Never forget how mad I was when Clarke in the offseason where they changed the rules to eliminate clutching and grabbing goes and sign Hatcher and Ragnarsson. Then people wonder why the eff we are still cupless..

Mike Rathje

 

[Danko]

I miss Lavy.

 

[Rebels57]

Hextall wants his cake & wants to eat it too. He wants to rebuild but he wants to make the playoffs too. It could probably be done but the player evaluations by both him & Hakstol are so bad that they’re handcuffing the team. So we get no playoffs, a boring product, while seeing trash veterans take over spots that could go to younger players. Maybe they still don’t make the playoffs but it’s better than what’s currently going on. At least you could hang your hat on getting some young guys some playing time at the NHL level. Last year they could have done this but chased a long shot playoff opportunity all the way up the last few games when they were officially eliminated. Guys like VandeVelde played right up to the end & we didn’t even bring him back for this year.

Ultimately they can’t see that this team just isn’t very good & is being carried by a few players while having a good amount of deadweight that they actually think is good somehow. The only three forwards that score for us are Giroux, Voracek, & Couturier. All of them were kept off the scoresheet last night & unsurprisingly it wasn’t pretty.

Which is ironic, because playing guys with a future and developing them will at the same time give us a better chance to make the playoffs because they are already better players than the dross we have trotted out there nightly.

 

[deadhead]

Such a frustrating game.

It was not like NYR played them off the rink, in fact it was pretty well balanced.

But horrendous mistakes and Elliott having an awful game combined with Hank being Hank made it ugly.

It was one of those games. Most of our stars stunk out the joint, but of course the focus here is on the scrubs.
On the road in a tough arena, against a goalie who always plays out of his gourd against us, if your stars don't step up, and your goalie doesn't make a single big stop, you're dead meat.

We know this is a marginal contender for a playoff spot, we knew that in September, so why are people surprised they play that way in January?
Bad stretches, good stretches, big wins and clunkers - the definition of mediocrity.

Nothing has changed, Hextall will wait a few weeks, see if the team is still a playoff contender, and then make his moves.
He didn't overreact to the losing streak, the good play the last month, and he won't to this game.

 

[Rebels57]

Nah.

Hagg, MacDonald, and Elliott were equally as horrible. He had company.

I'd argue that Manning cost us the game.

We go up 1-0 and are playing decent.

He then either solely or partially costs us both the 1st and 3rd goals.

Inbetween was the terrible penalty by Filppula who decided to throw his first hit of the year on a player without the puck followed by a powerplay goal while MacDonald and Hagg were jerking each other off.

Back to Manning, how many dmen contribute to not 1, but 2 clear-cut breakaways against in 1 period? It doesn't happen often.

Notice the 4 bolded names are the usual suspects of suck.

 

[deadhead]

Hextall wants his cake & wants to eat it too. He wants to rebuild but he wants to make the playoffs too.

That's pretty normal.
In the off season you make the long-term moves to add future assets.
Once the season starts, you play to win.
When you approach the trade deadline you assess your playoff chances and make moves that reflect those chances.

For really bad teams, they have no chance, so decision making is easy, SELL, SELL, SELL.
For good teams, the GM has to determine how long he can ride this wave and whether to mortgage the future.
For a mediocre rebuilding team, a season is in flux until you get close to the trade deadline.

Flyers are too close to a playoff spot to throw in the towel, too mediocre to go for quick fixes.

 

[MacDonald4MVP]

I reffed a triple header of basketball last night and didn't get home until the game was over. From reading the comments, Manning was solely responsible for everything bad that happened. I will try to watch it sometime today and see what really happened...lol.

Dude what's your relation to him, is he your buddy or something?

 

[deadhead]

I'd argue that Manning cost us the game.

We go up 1-0 and are playing decent.

He then either solely or partially costs us both the 1st and 3rd goals.

Inbetween was the terrible penalty by Filppula who decided to throw his first hit of the year on a player without the puck following by a powerplay goal while MacDonald and Hagg were jerking each other off.

Back to Manning, how many dmen contribute to not 1, but 2 clear-cut breakaways against in 1 period? It doesn't happen often.

Notice the 4 bolded names are the usual suspects of suck.

So Voracek (bad turnover directly leading to a goal), Gudas (let man behind him for a breakaway), Provorov (out of position on two goals), Konecny (turnover machine), Elliott (not one big stop, shootouts hit 33% at best but he can't stop one breakaway?) are blameless?

It was a team effort, except you expect more from your stars.

 

[hatcher]

So Voracek (bad turnover directly leading to a goal), Gudas (let man behind him for a breakaway), Provorov (out of position on two goals), Konecny (turnover machine), Elliott (not one big stop, shootouts hit 33% at best but he can't stop one breakaway?) are blameless?

It was a team effort, except you expect more from your stars.

This board is funny how they think its not a team game. provy and ghost were terrible but so was the whole f***ing team. They sucked against the sabres and Devils but got lucky too. Sell high.

 

[tucson83]

It was one of those games. Most of our stars stunk out the joint, but of course the focus here is on the scrubs.
On the road in a tough arena, against a goalie who always plays out of his gourd against us, if your stars don't step up, and your goalie doesn't make a single big stop, you're dead meat.

We know this is a marginal contender for a playoff spot, we knew that in September, so why are people surprised they play that way in January?
Bad stretches, good stretches, big wins and clunkers - the definition of mediocrity.

Nothing has changed, Hextall will wait a few weeks, see if the team is still a playoff contender, and then make his moves.
He didn't overreact to the losing streak, the good play the last month, and he won't to this game.

this team is not contender and do you really need to watch the last six years of how inconsistent this team has played and results are the same? how many more years is it going to take for you get it? or you still living in fantasy world like hextall is? inconsistent hockey means we won more championships than the pens, that's how delusional you are.

 

[deadhead]

Once the season starts, in any sport, you play to win.
Hextall is not going to give up on the season in mid-stream.
He'll wait until they're clearly out of contention for a playoff spot and move some people, if they remain in contention, he'll probably try to upgrade Filppula at low cost but that'll be about it.

 

[Vikke]

Once the season starts, in any sport, you play to win.
Hextall is not going to give up on the season in mid-stream.
He'll wait until they're clearly out of contention for a playoff spot and move some people, if they remain in contention, he'll probably try to upgrade Filppula at low cost but that'll be about it.

Lol what? In contention for what? Worst team in the division?

 

[bennysflyers16]

Once the season starts, in any sport, you play to win.
Hextall is not going to give up on the season in mid-stream.
He'll wait until they're clearly out of contention for a playoff spot and move some people, if they remain in contention, he'll probably try to upgrade Filppula at low cost but that'll be about it.

Letting your coach play Manning and Lehtera as full time healthy PP options is the def of giving up.
Not replacing Lappy who may be one of the worst PK coaches in history is giving up,, and its actually getting worse.
Playing Flip top 6 and having him destroy any linemates is giving up.
Letting the coach RUN an older goalie into the ground is Giving up

OR , Hextall is as big of an idiot as Haktard is and this team is f***ed,,,,,

 

[Wellwood]

Hak after finding out his wife cheated on him.

Hak after stepping on a lego.

 

[deadhead]

No, it's gambling on a few veterans to eek out a little more from this season.
Neuvirth wasn't 100% when he came back, and Elliott had the hot hand.
Filppula was 2C because Patrick stunk out the joint for 3 months, look for Patrick's minutes to increase.
Who do you replace Lappy with at this point of the season? Are PK coaches on the street? Do you give Knob both units to coach?

This team is playing about the same as expected in September, just good enough to be on the edge of a playoff spot, not good enough to be a playoff team, not bad enough to pick top 10. That's what happens when your GM trades a top 6 forward in the summer and doesn't add a single asset in the offseason other than trading out Mason for Elliott. Hextall gambled he could get some mediocre seasons from some veterans that cost him nothing, and buy time for his prospects to grow up.

And when Frost shows up in TC next September, my suspicion is we'll all think it was worth it.
Couts, Patrick, Frost, Laughton down the middle is a nice core for a playoff team.

 

[BackToTheBrierePatch]

this team is not contender and do you really need to watch the last six years of how inconsistent this team has played and results are the same? how many more years is it going to take for you get it? or you still living in fantasy world like hextall is? inconsistent hockey means we won more championships than the pens, that's how delusional you are.

you dont think this team is a contender for a playoff spot when the Flyers are right there with the Rangers, Devils, Canes and Pens? No one is ever going to suggest this club is a Cup contender. but a playoff contender? right now they are. all those teams I mentioned are flawed teams. there is a reason why there has been no separation in the bottom of this division. 3 or 4 points separate 4th from last in the division.

 

[hatcher]

you dont think this team is a contender for a playoff spot when the Flyers are right there with the Rangers, Devils, Canes and Pens? No one is ever going to suggest this club is a Cup contender. but a playoff contender? right now they are. all those teams I mentioned are flawed teams. there is a reason why there has been no separation in the bottom of this division. 3 or 4 points separate 4th from last in the division.

Worst of the buch that's forsure.

 

[BackToTheBrierePatch]

Worst of the buch that's forsure.

at this point of the season you are what you are. each team has their own different flaws. no team has shown any resemblance of consistency to separate themselves from the teams I mentioned and forgot to mention the Islanders.
You think the Flyers D is bad? look at the Rangers and Isles D.

 

[hatcher]

at this point of the season you are what you are. each team has their own different flaws. no team has shown any resemblance of consistency to separate themselves from the teams I mentioned and forgot to mention the Islanders.
You think the Flyers D is bad? look at the Rangers and Isles D.

I know were not great but its the flat effortless hockey that bugs me. last night and the first period against Sabres and devils and the Pens game are just flat out terrible and they got lucky in the 2 wins. Dropping 20 to 25 no shows a year for 5 years now and the team has changed a ton shows there is something wrong and its more than just afew bad players.

 

[whitstifier]

Hak after finding out his wife cheated on him.

Hak after stepping on a lego.

His wife got lured into a vampire harem. Hakstol can't imagine leaving her, so he offers his neck and braces for the pain.

 

[boxcar65]

Dude what's your relation to him, is he your buddy or something?

No, he just reminds me of myself when I played as a teenager. I was a RHD, 6’1, 210, and played a fairly physical game. I didn’t have the talent level of some of the other D, but I worked hard and was popular with my teammates. I got along well with everyone.

Guess I just see a little of myself from the old days in Manning. No, I didn’t pinch on a regular basis...strictly a defensive D-man.

 

[tucson83]

you dont think this team is a contender for a playoff spot when the Flyers are right there with the Rangers, Devils, Canes and Pens? No one is ever going to suggest this club is a Cup contender. but a playoff contender? right now they are. all those teams I mentioned are flawed teams. there is a reason why there has been no separation in the bottom of this division. 3 or 4 points separate 4th from last in the division.

what's one and done in the playoffs going to accomplish? hextall is not going to make changes regardless of what happens, coaches and players. good gms make changes to the roster and coaching staff regardless of what happens in the playoffs, that's how you build a team.

no good gms sit on coaches and players if there's accountability they will address it, that's the difference between hextall and clarke/homer, they are not to afraid to make changes, that's how you build a team, that's why there was success, yes we didnt win the stanley cup but that's why we kept on winning, there was accountability.

 

[BackToTheBrierePatch]

what's one and done in the playoffs going to accomplish? hextall is not going to make changes regardless of what happens, coaches and players. good gms make changes to the roster and coaching staff regardless of what happens in the playoffs, that's how you build a team.

no good gms sit on coaches and players if there's accountability they will address it, that's the difference between hextall and clarke/homer, they are not to afraid to make changes, that's how you build a team, that's why there was success, yes we didnt win the stanley cup but that's why we kept on winning, there was accountability.

I wonder how Clarke would have fared being the GM of a team in a Cap era.
The Flyers tried it the Holmgren way, trade away 1st and 2nd round picks every season. it didnt accomplish the goal. it just left the franchise with a laughable group of prospects by the time he was shown the door.
Holmgren by the way never would of fired John Stevens until Snider told him you are both gone unless you fire him. So that part of the argument is not true.
Is Hextall a great GM? probably not, but just like with head coaches you can probably count on one hand the amount of what is considered really good to elite GMs there are in the league.
That of course doesnt count the ones here at HF