Have the flyers gotten soft?

[pacehimself]

After watching pretty much every game this year I have come to the conclusion that we are a soft team...we trade away hartnell who is a gritty player that finishes checks...not saying that's the only reason we seem to lack intensity and grit but It is noticeable. the coaches seem to be preaching a no response philosophy because of how many penalties we have taken over our existence as a team but it seems we are playing like we were just neutered...

It just seems like we get rag dolled out their every night, im not saying an enforcer is necessary because that is far from the truth but this team lacks physicality and heart.

I also understand the league is trying to stop fighting which i get to an extent but the flyers have always thrived on that kind of game...I really don't see what direction the coaching/upper management is trying to take the team.

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[Rebels57]

After watching pretty much every game this year I have come to the conclusion that we are a soft team...we trade away hartnell who is a gritty player that finishes checks...not saying that's the only reason we seem to lack intensity and grit but It is noticeable. the coaches seem to be preaching a no response philosophy because of how many penalties we have taken over our existence as a team but it seems we are playing like we were just neutered...

It just seems like we get rag dolled out their every night, im not saying an enforcer is necessary because that is far from the truth but this team lacks physicality and heart.

I also understand the league is trying to stop fighting which i get to an extent but the flyers have always thrived on that kind of game...I really don't see what direction the coaching/upper management is trying to take the team.

It's a combination of the players we have, the NHL getting softer in general, and Berube having them on a leash so they take less penalties, which doesnt even matter because our PK is so much worse than last year.

If I were Berube, I would let them off the leash and see if playing physical and taking an extra penalty or two per game, has a negative effect. My guess is, the unit will perform better because they will have more practice at it. We have been one of the highest penalized teams for a few years and have had one of the better PKs until this year.

 

[Psuhockey]

The Flyers have no identity. They aren't a physical team to begin with except for Simmonds. B. Schenn could but the effort is still inconsistent. I think he is another Drew Stafford at this point. They aren't a hard working team either nor overly skilled or fast .This is what happens when you collect players instead of building a team like Holmgren did. You have zero identity and a mismatched roster.

 

[sharpeye97]

I think they need to get faster, they are still playing physical but also changing their mentality along with the NHL. You don't have enforcers really, now the enforcers need to be able to play. A more physical power forward is what you'll pretty much have, like Lucic. A guy that can put up points and will fight. Flyers have Simmonds that kind of fills that but not really, he's not much of a heavy weight power forward, but is strong and one hell of a player. I think thir speed is the issue and most importantly, they're not moving their fee constantly which contributes to the lack of speed.

 

[Funf]

I think they need to get faster, they are still playing physical but also changing their mentality along with the NHL. You don't have enforcers really, now the enforcers need to be able to play. A more physical power forward is what you'll pretty much have, like Lucic. A guy that can put up points and will fight. Flyers have Simmonds that kind of fills that but not really, he's not much of a heavy weight power forward, but is strong and one hell of a player. I think thir speed is the issue and most importantly, they're not moving their fee constantly which contributes to the lack of speed.

I know everybody is probably tired of hearing this by now, but a lot of that is on the defense. When you're stuck in your own zone for extended lengths of time, you're supposed to stop and start, not just keep moving around, or else you wind up looking like Edmonton. It has a snowball effect, as well. If you don't have speed leaving the zone, you're not going to have it in the neutral zone, which is going to require more stopping and starting.

Some of that is on the forwards, too. Last year, it seemed like every 10 games or so they'd forget how to hockey and just float around. I feel like we've actually been more consistent in that regard, but other areas have just gone off the rails...

 

[BringBackHakstol]

No we have just gotten worse in general

Team looks slow because they can't move the puck efficiently, they spend too much time without it which leads to them chasing the play all the time

 

[Clown Baby*]

This team's just awful.

Think Brian Savage (Raffl), Derian Hatcher (Coburn), Mike Rathje (Grossmann), and Chris Therien (Schenn) awful. With Kim Johnsson (Streit).

And wasn't Umberger on that squad too?

 

[Danko]

easy...yes.

 

[Curufinwe]

The way the coaches ruined a top 10 PK is much more of an issue than supposed softness.

 

[Jtown]

Arizona is a bad team, but they are difficult to play against and make you work hard. The flyers are not that type of team. They are easy to play against.

 

[hatcher]

Gagne,Richards,G,Betts,Lappy,Powe,to name afew were your penalty killers at forward and now look what you have. We are slow at forward and only have one real two way forward on the team but he can't skate that well in Coots. Berube hasn't ruined anything it's the players. Scott Bowman won lots of cups on stacked teams just like every other coach. This team is slow and has no 2nd line at all and PKers are ****** at the forward position and we are soft and are *******. No skill besides Jake and G either. No coach fixes this mess.

 

[BackToTheBrierePatch]

No we have just gotten worse in general

Team looks slow because they can't move the puck efficiently, they spend too much time without it which leads to them chasing the play all the time

who cares man. The Flyers have SIZE on the backend and that is most important.

#Berubelogic

this team is slow, easy to play against and so ****ing boring. But they have just enough talent to stick around where they are. Many of us saw this coming though. I know Hextall isn't off to the greatest of starts but Holmgren really left him with a giant mess with some of these untradeable contracts.

 

[OrangeAndBlackMetal]

who cares man. The Flyers have SIZE on the backend and that is most important.

#Berubelogic

this team is slow, easy to play against and so ****ing boring. But they have just enough talent to stick around where they are. Many of us saw this coming though. I know Hextall isn't off to the greatest of starts but Holmgren really left him with a giant mess with some of these untradeable contracts.

Homer left him with a pile of ****, no doubt, but Hexy has done nothing but add to that pile of ****. Id rather have Hartnell for the duration of his contract than Umberger for the duration of his.

 

[BackToTheBrierePatch]

Homer left him with a pile of ****, no doubt, but Hexy has done nothing but add to that pile of ****. Id rather have Hartnell for the duration of his contract than Umberger for the duration of his.

Like I said Hextall isn't off to the greatest of starts. I didn't mind the idea of trading Hartnell to save money on the cap. I get why Hartnell was traded. It just should of not been for Umberger.

 

[TheLegendkiller]

Like I said Hextall isn't off to the greatest of starts. I didn't mind the idea of trading Hartnell to save money on the cap. I get why Hartnell was traded. It just should of not been for Umberger.

No, Berube has them playing neutered. Which is stupid cause they usually play better by getting into it with other teams.

 

[pacehimself]

I guess I am just upset and asking to much for the team to look like they give a **** out there...it's one thing to lose games but to be out worked and pretty much man handled by teams is embarrassing. I agree the talent on the back end is the biggest problem but they don't look strong out of the gate either. This has been by far the most frustrating season since they Finished last. The difference has been that with that team you had a feeling they were gonna figure a way to compete the next year, this team it looks like they need a complete overhaul top to bottom starting with coaching and we aren't going to compete for a while...

 

[BackToTheBrierePatch]

No, Berube has them playing neutered. Which is stupid cause they usually play better by getting into it with other teams.

not sure if I want them taking more penalties. it is a lose/lose situation no matter what you do.

 

[Flyerfan4life]

No, Berube has them playing neutered. Which is stupid cause they usually play better by getting into it with other teams.

^^^this^^^

what your seeing is a direct result of Berube..

/endstory

 

[Sniped]

They are slow and soft.

 

[LegionOfDoom91]

When you play agressive & take no **** you're likely going to pick up some penalites on the way. Berube set out to cut those down hence why the team is now soft as hell.

 

[Beef Invictus]

Gagne,Richards,G,Betts,Lappy,Powe,to name afew were your penalty killers at forward and now look what you have. We are slow at forward and only have one real two way forward on the team but he can't skate that well in Coots. Berube hasn't ruined anything it's the players. Scott Bowman won lots of cups on stacked teams just like every other coach. This team is slow and has no 2nd line at all and PKers are ****** at the forward position and we are soft and are *******. No skill besides Jake and G either. No coach fixes this mess.

Remember when the exact same pk unit was really good last year?



That sort of blows your whole "its the players" argument to shreds. Its not the players. Its the coach, telling then to be aggressive.

 

[Danko]

Count me in on the blame berube argument.

 

[flyershockey]

It's the coach's mentality. Pretty much the same roster last year was far from soft. Berube has basically attacked the players for penalties, so it shouldn't come as a shock to anyone that they've lost their edge.

 

[dats81]

Lazy, slow, uninspired, lack of focus ... that all comes to my mind first.

 

[FlyersFan61290]

They indeed are soft. It's been painfully apparent for a while now and I agree with the others I think part of it is the fact that people are afraid to take penalties cause Chief wanted to cut down on them and also the fact that the pk unit has struggled. No one wants to put the team down.

As far as the pk goes, losing Kimmo (the only significant loss to the pk squad IMO) shouldn't drop the team from top 5 last year (?) to what 29th this yr.

I would much rather have a top pk unit and take a lot of penalties then be in the 15-10 range interms of PIMs and total penalties with one of the worst pks in the league.