Post-Game Talk: #54| FLYERS at Canadiens | Tue., Feb. 10, 2015

[YEM]

only 28 more games.

till we're talking about who we could have potentially gotten in the draft if we had only sucked a little bit more during the season...
it's like groundhog day again again

 

[beetee15]

hows it MDZ's fault? pass bounces off his skate, Emery was playing the pass and it was a weird play. The flyers need to cash in on opportunities. How many breakaways haven't been scored on in the past few games? too many.

 

[SolidSnakeUS]

Emery did everything you could of asked him to do. The Flyers ****ed themselves in chances. If anything, the biggest issue in the OT was Vinny. 2 or 3 clear chances to finish it and he flubs it sooooooooo hard and then stays out there too long, doesn't back check and we get ****ed.

 

[flyershockey]

hows it MDZ's fault? pass bounces off his skate, Emery was playing the pass and it was a weird play. The flyers need to cash in on opportunities. How many breakaways haven't been scored on in the past few games? too many.

His crappy outlet pass to a guy that was changing sprang the whole counter-rush. Then he gave up the blue line so easily on the ensuing 2 on 2 that it pretty much gave the Habs a chance at the net. Then to top it all off, he got beat in a physical battle against DD, a guy he outweighs by 20 pounds.

That was the kind of sequence that MDZ is guilty of way too much. One bad play compounded by another... and another.

 

[hatcher]

Forwards are a joke work ethic wise. No compete along the wall whatsoever.

 

[hatcher]

Habs took the forwards off the puck way to easily and I hope Hexy is seeing this. Top line off the rush or nothing and there is no 2nd or 3rd line and Vinny ****ed the 4th line due to speed but atleast the 3 together are good most nights.

 

[Funf]

hows it MDZ's fault? pass bounces off his skate, Emery was playing the pass and it was a weird play. The flyers need to cash in on opportunities. How many breakaways haven't been scored on in the past few games? too many.

Yeah, they look like they're gripping their sticks a bit tight. G had Price down and out, couldn't finish, and Couts has had 3 breakaways in his last few games and couldn't do anything with them. It wouldn't be surprising to me at all if confidence was lacking and playing into what we're seeing.

I was hoping coming into last night's game that our PP would get going, mostly so G and V could get some points. How many games in a row is this that we've had 1 or fewer PP's?

 

[Dirty but Good]

I don't think people realize how hard it is to pull out a win in MTL. They're 19-7-2 at home.

I know Vinny played like **** but the Flyers put up a huge effort to pick up a point in this game.

Emery played great and the Flyers PK was spectacular. Loved the effort by the team last night.

 

[MadFerIt95*]

I don't think people realize how hard it is to pull out a win in MTL. They're 19-7-2 at home.

I know Vinny played like **** but the Flyers put up a huge effort to pick up a point in this game.

Emery played great and the Flyers PK was spectacular. Loved the effort by the team last night.

The effort level was fine, but you cant get outplayed like they did and expect to win many games

 

[Rebels57]

The effort level was fine, but you cant get outplayed like they did and expect to win many games

They got outplayed because Montreal has a better team.

Pretty simple.

 

[BackWithaVengeance]

They got outplayed because Montreal has a better team.

Pretty simple.

Damn true.

I remember the play-off series in 2010 were the Flyers flat out dominated the Canadiens from the first puck drop till the handshake.

This years team ...

 

[deadhead]

This is the problem with MDZ, when Berube benched him people whined, when he plays he's an allstar one game, a mindfart waiting to happen the next. Flyers can afford to live with it and hope they can turn him around, but fortunately Holmgren won't be giving him a $5 year, $25M deal.

The real problem is what it's been all season, lack of talent, especially wingers and defense. With VV stepping up and White playing, it's better, and Raffl returning will help, and Read certainly looks better now that he can skate again, but they're still shuffling lines. Hopefully Couts, Simmonds and Read can click, and at least Laughton can center a decent checking line (with Umberger?). To be fair, the 4th line was their second best line for a month with all of Vinnie's limitations. Once the trade deadline is past, don't be surprised if his minutes disappear.

 

[Garbage Goal]

This is the problem with MDZ, when Berube benched him people whined, when he plays he's an allstar one game, a mindfart waiting to happen the next. Flyers can afford to live with it and hope they can turn him around, but fortunately Holmgren won't be giving him a $5 year, $25M deal.

The real problem is what it's been all season, lack of talent, especially wingers and defense. With VV stepping up and White playing, it's better, and Raffl returning will help, and Read certainly looks better now that he can skate again, but they're still shuffling lines. Hopefully Couts, Simmonds and Read can click, and at least Laughton can center a decent checking line (with Umberger?). To be fair, the 4th line was their second best line for a month with all of Vinnie's limitations. Once the trade deadline is past, don't be surprised if his minutes disappear.

I feel like I should screenshot this because I wholly doubt the reasoning that Berube is so ****** with lineup decisions and ice-time decisions (in general, but in this instance centered on Lecavalier) because they're showcasing him.

Even if it were the case, which it definitely isn't considering how stupid that logic would be and how consistently poor Berube's decisions are across the board as well as the fact that it's been like this his whole time here, then that would be something that the organization (since they would have to be the ones giving the directive to showcase Lecavalier) should be fully shameful of. Hurting your team's chances at winning games and cutting down on your best players ice-times (nevermind the playoff hopes) just to showcase one terrible player and terrible contract that it's apparent no team really wants is something that should cause you to lose all respect for this current incarnation of the organization.

 

[Prongo]

I just always think back to islander fans stating Capuano was the worst head coach but look how their opinion has changed. I'm not saying berube is exempt from criticism but I feel like a lot of fans really go over board with it.

The team is not talented. We have a far way to go regardless of who out coach is throwing out there.

 

[Jtown]

I just always think back to islander fans stating Capuano was the worst head coach but look how their opinion has changed. I'm not saying berube is exempt from criticism but I feel like a lot of fans really go over board with it.

The team is not talented. We have a far way to go regardless of who out coach is throwing out there.

I feel this way with 99 percent of coaches. Talent at the end of the day wins out. Occassionally a coach can have an impact but not as much as you would think, short term luck plays more of an impact than coaching.

I dont know if berube is a good coach or not, but i do know we are not a talented team. IF we had a better coach what we make the playoffs as a wild card? NOthing to write home about. This roster is going to have to go through some major changes before we are going to compete for a cup.

 

[Beef Invictus]

I know that Berube holds the talent we do have back and makes winning harder than it should be.

 

[klutch]

Does anybody keep track or know how to figure out how many of that damn too-many-men-on-the-ice penalties they have taken this season already?
Must have been a dozen. Can't happen.

Did you expect anything less from umberger?

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

Does anybody keep track or know how to figure out how many of that damn too-many-men-on-the-ice penalties they have taken this season already?
Must have been a dozen. Can't happen.

This is on Frank Seravalli's Twitter:

That is the #Flyers' 9th bench minor of the season for too-many-men. Only Vancouver (11) has more.

https://twitter.com/frank_seravalli

 

[deadhead]

I feel like I should screenshot this because I wholly doubt the reasoning that Berube is so ****** with lineup decisions and ice-time decisions (in general, but in this instance centered on Lecavalier) because they're showcasing him.

Even if it were the case, which it definitely isn't considering how stupid that logic would be and how consistently poor Berube's decisions are across the board as well as the fact that it's been like this his whole time here, then that would be something that the organization (since they would have to be the ones giving the directive to showcase Lecavalier) should be fully shameful of. Hurting your team's chances at winning games and cutting down on your best players ice-times (nevermind the playoff hopes) just to showcase one terrible player and terrible contract that it's apparent no team really wants is something that should cause you to lose all respect for this current incarnation of the organization.

One reason for the recent run is that the 4th line became their second best scoring line, and yes, Vinnie has to get some credit, it's about the only thing he can do (you could say the same for Hartnell, which is why they traded him, how many slow forwards who don't play defense can you carry at one time?).

Once past the trade deadline, and at which point they'll probably be out of contention, I suspect if they think a young forward is ready, they may bring one up to give him a cameo, looking forward to next season.

Let's be honest, Akeson got a shot and did zilch, Jones got a shot and did less than zilch, Rinaldo got PT and played decent defense but was a cipher offensively. It's not like Vinnie and Umberger are blocking anyone decent, VV got a shot and produced, but who else? White is getting his shot, Straka was ok but he really needs to play regular minutes in the AHL right now.

If you replaced Umberger with Hartnell on the 3rd line, what numbers would he put up in Philly, certainly less than his 20 goal, 50 point pace. So the problem wasn't Hartnell v Umberger, but that they had guys like Hartnell and Vinnie drawing big long-term money for aging 3rd/4th line talent in the first place. And that's hard to coach around.

The bigger issue is what philosophy does Hextell espouse, and can he find a coach who agrees - because long-run success does not come from shuffling coaches, but from having a consistent organizational philosophy, shared by both the NHL and AHL coach, and understood by the GM, who gets the right players to fit that system. And we won't know until we see who Hextall hires to replace Berube - and if he keeps Berube, it will mean he thinks the problem is the current players don't fit what Hextall wants the team to do (i.e. he thinks Berube can implement HIS vision).

I don't think Hextall dictates player PT, rather, I hope he discusses this with Berube and they're on the same page. I think the key to coaching in any sport isn't brilliance, but understanding what you're trying to accomplish, recognizing which players are hindrances to implementing a successful system, and working with your GM to replace them. Especially basketball and hockey, where there is far less strategy than the NFL, players have to implement a system on the ice, you can't do much once the game starts if you don't have the right players (you can coach all day but if MDZ mind farts in critical situations, at some point you have to replace him).