News Article: Flyers season preview

[Appleyard]

http://alongtheboards.com/2015/09/philadelphia-flyers-2015-16-preview/

Another article by myself, looking at the upcoming season.

Hope you all enjoy.

Click to read more...

 

[Curufinwe]

Great article. I particularly liked this bit.

The third line in 2014-15 could be compared to sub-atomic particles; we know they exist but cannot prove so simply by observing them, but instead by a combination of deduction, theory and their inferred presence. If only this ever-changing collection of players had worked as efficiently as such particles. In 2015-16 this has to change. This has to happen in two ways. Firstly, the Flyers middle six must have two lines with some chemistry who can provide offensive support for the first line. Secondly the bottom six has to take pressure off the top six defensively. Last year not only was the top six relied on to contribute offensively, but the first and second lines also got far tougher match-ups and zone starts that the bottom six. Good NHL teams have third and fourth lines that can match-up versus top six opponents when needed instead of being constantly shielded in both quality of opponent and zone starts.

 

[Audible Velvet]

As usual, well written and thorough. May your readership grow. When I see articles (rarely bother) by the beat writers, it's refreshing how this compares.

 

[explosive skating]

I've just read it while drinking vodka with coke. Good article bro. But assumption that three or more of our young d-men will make a team next year is too optimistic. Although I'd love to see it

 

[deadhead]

I think you're right on the mark.
Though they may finish better than 8th.
Depends on how well they adapt to Hakstol's system, and how the 3rd line and the defensive pairings jell.

One thing that may help this year is that the team will probably be set coming out of camp, and with Read and Umberger healthy, the 13th forward will be solid, Cousins is your 14th and they have some solid AHL+ types who can fill in for short periods. Last year they had to play hobbled players in Read and Umberger, marginal players like Akeson and a waste of roster space in Vinnie because they simply lacked depth in the organization (players like Cousins and Leier weren't ready).

Same on defense, even if they move Schenn, they'll have 7 D-men plus 5 talented prospects in the AHL. Compare to last year, Kimmo out, Coburn dinged, MDZ up and down, Alt hurt when he was the first call up, and so on.

Better PK, better backup goalie and better depth, all else held equal (not to mention Gagner on shootouts instead of Rinaldo), should add 10-12 points to last year's finish.

 

[CodyTheHuman]

I really hope Giroux wins the Art Ross. I've been imagining it as well.

 

[Cootsfanclub]

Great article, but why do you consider Schenn behind Gudas? Schenn has a better first pass, can kill penalties and Gudas isn't nearly as disciplined (3x as many minors in 27 less games).

 

[Ryker]

As usual, well written and thorough. May your readership grow. When I see articles (rarely bother) by the beat writers, it's refreshing how this compares.

Yeah, although you have to keep in mind why that's the case, as well.

 

[LegionOfDoom91]

I still think it will be a similar season to 2013.

 

[Appleyard]

Great article, but why do you consider Schenn behind Gudas? Schenn has a better first pass, can kill penalties and Gudas isn't nearly as disciplined (3x as many minors in 27 less games).

I think it is the way that camp is shaping out. Schenn the elder seems the odd man out, and I actually think he may well be traded after camp for a pick.

 

[Audible Velvet]

Yeah, although you have to keep in mind why that's the case, as well.

Not sure what you're referring to.

 

[Ryker]

Not sure what you're referring to.

Well, if you have to produce multiple articles every week and your focus is more on the daily ongoings, it's going to be harder to write a quality in-depth article than it is by having weeks or months to focus on a single one or a couple of them. I mean, those guys maybe still couldn't produce anything worthwhile, but comparing articles on blogs to those of beat writers isn't really all that apt.

 

[Random Forest]

Well, if you have to produce multiple articles every week and your focus is more on the daily ongoings, it's going to be harder to write a quality in-depth article than it is by having weeks or months to focus on a single one or a couple of them. I mean, those guys maybe still couldn't produce anything worthwhile, but comparing articles on blogs to those of beat writers isn't really all that apt.

Well, uh, that's one way to look at it. The other is that they are paid to write daily and should be producing quality whether it's in depth or not. It's the inane articles from the beats that gets everyone bothered. No one expects them to be producing brilliant analyses. We just expect them to put a modicum of critical thought into their articles.

I'm not even a Meltzer fan (I kinda resent the worship he often gets around here), but he's far and away better than most of the beat writers despite writing probably more per week than them. Meltzer's articles aren't overly in depth or analytical, but they make sense and offer fair evaluation. Those two things should be standard for professional journalists, but they are lacking in most of what I read from the beat writers.

 

[Ryker]

Well, uh, that's one way to look at it. The other is that they are paid to write daily and should be producing quality whether it's in depth or not. It's the inane articles from the beats that gets everyone bothered. No one expects them to be producing brilliant analyses. We just expect them to put a modicum of critical thought into their articles.

I'm not even a Meltzer fan (I kinda resent the worship he often gets around here), but he's far and away better than most of the beat writers despite writing probably more per week than them. Meltzer's articles aren't overly in depth or analytical, but they make sense and offer fair evaluation. Those two things should be standard for professional journalists, but they are lacking in most of what I read from the beat writers.

Sure, I agree with what you're saying, especially the bolded, and I don't have much respect for journalists in general, either. I was just saying that reading blog articles like this one is a wholly different beast than reading beat writers' articles, which are usually of a different kind. I don't read the latter, really, since the daily goings-on don't really interest me all that much, and I also usually enjoy quality and longer blog posts myself. So I can't comment on how good or bad the Flyers beat writers are, and I was only pointing out that comparing might be a bit hard.

 

[CodyTheHuman]

Bill Meltzer writes articles every day for different teams and still manages to write insightful, thought-out articles. It just so happens that we have bad beat writers.

 

[Audible Velvet]

Exactly. I was thinking they produce quite a bit that's absolute dreck. How is having to do articles at the rate of several a week an excuse? It's their job. Not many jobs that allow poor performance because one has to perform on a regular basis. I tend to think as professional journalists, they have a greater obligation to bring quality writing and insight.
Pretty sure some of them do blog articles too.

 

[Appleyard]

Bill Meltzer writes articles every day for different teams and still manages to write insightful, thought-out articles. It just so happens that we have bad beat writers.

Yeh, it is true... you look at some of the beat writers on quite a lot of other teams and they are better. (more analytical, insightful, knowledgeable.)

However, I do agree as well that writing articles everyday would be tough.

Though I should say while I write an article every ~two weeks the formulation of the article and the research and writing are generally done in one day to be honest, generally days or evenings I have no other commitments I just sit down and do the articles in one solid block from the start to end of the process.

The only one that took more than 2 days start to finish was the analysis of elite forwards peak and decline, which I believe took 3 days for collection, analysis and writing, though I had the idea in mind for a good few weeks before writing it.

The hard bit though is the formulation of something worth writing in my mind, if you can do that every day that is serious talent.

But the process of researching and writing that thing thoroughly itself once formulated I feel is really quite quick, especially if you are used to research and substantive or analytical writing before-hand.

 

[Audible Velvet]

I should also say that I do respect Bill M. He puts a great deal of information out there. The first post should have maybe separated him because there's a consistent genuine effort.

 

[Lord Defect]

http://alongtheboards.com/2015/09/philadelphia-flyers-2015-16-preview/

Another article by myself, looking at the upcoming season.

Hope you all enjoy.

Tried to view on mobile and could not. Full screen pop up that is off center, blocking the X.

 

[thelos]

Good article, but watch the apostrophes on stuff like Finals =/=Final's

 

[DrHamburg]

I think we used to have a bold prediction thread for season players and its a lot of fun. It would be great if Giroux won the art ross.

But its crazy to think about how many variables the Flyers have. Not to mention Grossmann led the Flyers in +/- last year which is hilarious

 

[Jtown]

good article appleyard, but it was really really long. i think you could've edited it down a bit but other than that good info.