GDT: #45 FLYERS 2 at Devils 3, Saturday, Jan. 12, 2019, 1:00 pm ET

[Foggy14]

I may be dyslexic.

I read the bolded as "above my gay parade".

 

[Glak18]

You realize that everyone people label a player as "untouchable" it's because that player helps the TEAM win and moving them would hurt the TEAM, right?

Nobody is playing individual players over the TEAM.

Yeah it had no reference to who and which players are "untouchable". Just been seeing a lot of blame for players for mistakes that aren't even their fault and justification when it's an individuals favorite player. I would love to see JvR get traded, but he had a good game today, not because he scored or had 2 points, but because he skated and showed some effort while not being a complete floating pile of turds the rest of the game.

 

[Rodu58]

When and where will this gay parade take place?

 

[Striiker]

Yeah it had no reference to who and which players are "untouchable". Just been seeing a lot of blame for players for mistakes that aren't even their fault and justification when it's an individuals favorite player. I would love to see JvR get traded, but he had a good game today, not because he scored or had 2 points, but because he skated and showed some effort while not being a complete floating pile of turds the rest of the game.

I got ya.

Personally, when I’m harder on some players over others, its not about playing favorites or thinking that some players don’t make mistakes. It’s because some mistakes are more easily forgivable than others when you look at the overall impact of who made the mistake.

In other words, if someone like Giroux turns over the puck and the opponent scores, it’s not as frustrating as when someone like Weise does it because you know that Giroux makes up for his mistakes many times over. For every one Giroux screw up, there’s a ton of goals and assists and smart plays that help the team win games.
If Weise screws up it could be 10 + games before he does something positive enough to neutralize the mistake, and in the mean time he might still be screwing up and hurting the team.

But it all comes down to what’s best for the team in the end. Giroux is my favorite player BECAUSE of how much he helps the team.
The guys I hate are hated BECAUSE of how much they hurt the team.

 

[FlyerNutter]

I love you all, but I can’t bring myself to feel that rage again.

I went balls deep with Hak, and now am simply waiting for this season to run out.

Good on ya for keeping up the good fight boys. There are talented players on this squad, that have been misused and have had terrible habits hammered into them for years. Will take time.

 

[baudib1]

Pleeeeeease. Nolan Patrick was given every opportunity to be the #2C and has fewer points than Robert Hagg. Maybe Patrick should do something with his opportunities. 35% of his shifts at ES this season have been with Lindblom and Voracek, so enough with the excuses and crying that it's the team that's letting Patrick down. It's Patrick who has let the team down, and if he doesn't want to play with Laughton and Simmonds then he should have done more with better linemates.

I think fans can be excused for getting excited about Patrick. As Flyers fans we've rarely had picks at the top of the draft. The only real elite top 5 prospect we've had was Peter Forsberg. Patrick is obviously an NHL caliber player and he has significant upside, but the expectations were way too high.

Many many people on this board thought Patrick could be an elite player this season; that he'd be better than Coots or Tavares; one person notably said he was just behind McDavid and Matthews as elite forwards drafted this decade.

There is a lot of desperation surrounding Patrick. People really want him to play with Giroux or to get PP1 time so he can pad his stats a bit and finish the season with a respectable point total. GB is absolutely right about this -- this is the NHL,you get better opportunities based on what you earn, not your draft slot.

By all accounts Patrick is an extremely confident-to-cocky kid. Maybe the game has just come to easy for him and he was able to rely on his physical abilities instead of really working on his game.

It's going to take some time. The best hope now is that he'll be like Ryan Johansen, who struggled his first few years before developing into a solid top 6 center.

 

[Glak18]

I love you all, but I can’t bring myself to feel that rage again.

I went balls deep with Hak, and now am simply waiting for this season to run out.

Good on ya for keeping up the good fight boys. There are talented players on this squad, that have been misused and have had terrible habits hammered into them for years. Will take time.

I like you for going balls deep all the time, thank you.

 

[FlyerNutter]

Okay I’ll play a bit. Minus the obvious issues of starting out your career playing under the direction of an absolute Neanderthal, and trying to stay healthy...

The kids skating is an issue. I’ll call it. Perhaps not an issue but it’s going to make him have to out-think, get better position and use his body to create. He’s got the skill, but he’s not going to be winning a shitload of races and driving plays with his speed. By all accounts he’s got that level of hockey IQ that’s needed.

It’s going to take time, and I’m fine with it. Give him a chance, nothing to lose really.

 

[Striiker]

I'm not worried about his skating at all

He's not a pretty skater and he'll never be a burner like TK, but it's not an issue.

 

[FlyerNutter]

I don’t think it’s an issue really, (how easy it is to change my mind) but he’s not in that realm of upper tier skaters imo.

Do think if he had a quicker acceleration he wouldn’t have to “think” his way so much.

Rosy cheeks is here to stay though, I’m cool with him.

 

[FlyerNutter]

Hell, I don’t know what to think. They’ve sapped me the last few years.

 

[Rodu58]

Right now the whole team can't skate. Every team looks faster as a whole. Probably stop moving their feet to often.

 

[BiggE]

I don’t think it’s an issue really, (how easy it is to change my mind) but he’s not in that realm of upper tier skaters imo.

Do think if he had a quicker acceleration he wouldn’t have to “think” his way so much.

Rosy cheeks is here to stay though, I’m cool with him.

Patrick will be fine. He’ll never be a dominant number one, but give him a good coach and wingers who can finish and he’ll be a good top 6 center. He needs a faster LW than Lindblom and someone who can finish better than Jake on his right. Put a guy like Frost on his left side and a guy like Stone on his right and he’ll look like a completely different player.

 

[Striiker]

I don’t think it’s an issue really, (how easy it is to change my mind) but he’s not in that realm of upper tier skaters imo.

Do think if he had a quicker acceleration he wouldn’t have to “think” his way so much.

Rosy cheeks is here to stay though, I’m cool with him.

Sure, I get what you’re saying.

Couturier isn’t an upper tier skater either and I think Patrick definitely has better raw offensive tools than he does. I’m not at all worried about Patrick yet, but I’ll admit it’s kinda disappointing to have to be patient.

Obviously the faster the better for any player, but I think being a guy without great speed makes it take a little longer before you reach your potential in the NHL. Progression is more about trial/error and experience. Learning what you can and can’t do, and how to compensate using your head and skill. A guy like TK, for comparison, can just blow past people and use his shooting skill immediately. Meanwhile Patrick needs to learn how to get himself into a position to make use of his great skills.

 

[Rebels57]

Friendly reminder that Giroux was not yet in the NHL at Patricks current age.

 

[FlyerNutter]

Patrick will be fine. He’ll never be a dominant number one, but give him a good coach and wingers who can finish and he’ll be a good top 6 center. He needs a faster LW than Lindblom and someone who can finish better than Jake on his right. Put a guy like Frost on his left side and a guy like Stone on his right and he’ll look like a completely different player.

Totally fair. In the land of wet dreams, I want Panarin over Stone.

 

[deadhead]

Patrick skates well enough, my disappointment is he didn't add a lot of strength last summer, and that's going to be an important part of his game, like Couts. With the right linemates and experience, he's going to be a top two way center down the road.
He's a smart, responsible center who back checks consistently, for all his struggles he has better xGF and xGFrel than say Voracek.
And it would help to have wings, put Lindblom back with him and get him a RW (or get Couts a RW and move TK to Patrick's line).
He could have had a couple assists today if his wings could shoot.

I think Patrick's injuries have slowed his development, as has the clusterf--- which is the current Flyers.

What we're seeing with Gordon is the reason Berube and Hakstol played conservative schemes and got to the playoffs that way - there just isn't that much talent on this team, split up G and Couts and you have two top lines that can't keep up with the top 1st lines around the league. And open up the game and the talent deficit is exposed. 4th line talents (Laughton, Simmonds/Raffl) playing on the 3rd line. Marginal talents (Varone, Weise) on the 4th line. Trying to pass/puck handle at higher speed has exposed some players. And more open play makes more demands on young defensemen to make good decisions.

The young talent is developing, but Patrick (20), TK (21), Lindblom (22) need time, and Frost, Farabee, etc. are just around the corner.
But right now they're imbalanced, a bad fit and don't really fit any scheme.
Same on defense, Provorov (21), Sanheim (22), eventually Myers (22), Friedman (23) and expect some growing pains.

 

[Ghosts Beer]

I think fans can be excused for getting excited about Patrick. As Flyers fans we've rarely had picks at the top of the draft. The only real elite top 5 prospect we've had was Peter Forsberg. Patrick is obviously an NHL caliber player and he has significant upside, but the expectations were way too high.

Many many people on this board thought Patrick could be an elite player this season; that he'd be better than Coots or Tavares; one person notably said he was just behind McDavid and Matthews as elite forwards drafted this decade.

There is a lot of desperation surrounding Patrick. People really want him to play with Giroux or to get PP1 time so he can pad his stats a bit and finish the season with a respectable point total. GB is absolutely right about this -- this is the NHL,you get better opportunities based on what you earn, not your draft slot.

By all accounts Patrick is an extremely confident-to-cocky kid. Maybe the game has just come to easy for him and he was able to rely on his physical abilities instead of really working on his game.

It's going to take some time. The best hope now is that he'll be like Ryan Johansen, who struggled his first few years before developing into a solid top 6 center.

I agree. I was very skeptical throughout this off-season about entering the season with Patrick as the #2 center -- I wanted him at 3C. The excitement of the #2 overall pick took over for many, though, and now it's a flood of excuses. When 35% of your ES shifts have been between Lindblom and Voracek, however, you probably shouldn't have fewer points than Robert Hagg, and the fact that you do is NOT the team's fault.

 

[baudib1]

I agree. I was very skeptical throughout this off-season about entering the season with Patrick as the #2 center -- I wanted him at 3C. The excitement of the #2 overall pick took over for many, though, and now it's a flood of excuses. When 35% of your ES shifts have been between Lindblom and Voracek, however, you probably shouldn't have fewer points than Robert Hagg, and the fact that you do is NOT the team's fault.

I want him to be the No. 4 next season. That will give the Flyers enormous strength and depth at C - Giroux-Couturier-Frost (Hughes)- Patrick is really strong and the team will have tons of matchup advantages. Forcing Patrick into the top 2 lines does the opposite; it creates a titanic deficit vs. the good teams in the league.

If we get Panarin, he can still have his buddy Lindblom to play with, and he can still get PP time if he deserves it.

 

[Ghosts Beer]

I want him to be the No. 4 next season. That will give the Flyers enormous strength and depth at C - Giroux-Couturier-Frost (Hughes)- Patrick is really strong and the team will have tons of matchup advantages. Forcing Patrick into the top 2 lines does the opposite; it creates a titanic deficit vs. the good teams in the league.

If we get Panarin, he can still have his buddy Lindblom to play with, and he can still get PP time if he deserves it.

I’d be completely fine with that.

 

[Tripod]

I like you for going balls deep all the time, thank you.

That's what she said.

 

[Bruckuss]

O RLY?

lol

 

[Nizzle]

Today i removed all the negative content from my facebook feed. Now all i get is quotes from the Sopranos. Life is good.

 

[Dumpster Flyers]

Patrick: good to see him with the puck on his stick around the net and in the dirty areas. Last year when he started putting it all together was when he really stuck his nose in the play instead of sticking around the perimeter. A sign of good things to come I hope.

At this rate, he'll look like an NHL player by 2020!

 

[Captain Dave Poulin]

O RLY?

lol

 

[Beef Invictus]

Talent is fine, it just needs to be used properly.

Like I said earlier, we went from a horrible coach with a horrible system to a horrible coach with no system.

Stizzle, Magua, myself, and a few others said many times that Gordon is a horrible coach, and that was in the AHL... so it's no shock he didn't turn the team around once in the NHL.

What's hilarious is he's actually an improvement over Hak though.

Yeah. His transition is not as good as Hakstol's and the constant dumping is grating to me but the fact that players are trying to set up real chances instead of living on the perimeter is far more watchable. So is player usage with a semblance of logic.