so many good plyrs this yr, which is why the proposed scenario where the the flyers trade back for 2 picks in between their 1st and 2nd, is intriguing. grabbing a guy like hagg late in the 1st after drafting a forward in their comfort zone, is not a bad way to go.
- isaiah520

I'm with you, I have Hagg at #21.
I would be thrilled if they could swap picks 11 and 41 with Columbus for pick 14 and LA's pick

Fleury looked bad on two of the three goals he gave up last night. On top of that, there was a play last night in the second period where Boston would have had an easy wraparound goal if the player hadn't been taken off the puck as he came around. Fleury was stumbling all over himself and nowhere near getting over in time.

Besides, I don't think Vokoun has even been all that bad in the two games to date. He's had one of those "not the problem but not the solution, either" series thus far but he's the one who gives Pittsburgh a better chance of winning.

In fact, if I were Bylsma, it would take an injury to Vokoun for Fleury to get a start again in the playoffs. That "you've got to start the high-paid goalie" stuff is nonsense. Go with the one who gives you a better chance of winning, and that's not Fleury. He is still his team's weakest link. He was bad in the 2010, 2011, 2012 playoffs. He's been a mess in the 2013 playoffs to date.

Come playoff time, Fleury fails the Bernie Parent "make the first goal tough and the second one even tougher" mental strength test. He's always on the brink of falling apart as soon as he faces adversity. Why would he miraculously turn things around now?

Remember last year: Fleury played decently in the latter part of Game 4 as well as in Game 5. Everyone around the Pens was saying, "See, 'Flower' is locked in now. He's going to slam the door the rest of the series." The truth of the matter is that he really didn't have much adversity in those games. He came out and was thoroughly mediocre in Game 6 when the Flyers turned up the heat on him again, especially on the backbreaking goals by Briere (moments after Malkin got his team on the board) and the long-distance, unscreened Gustafsson goal.

I'm not pinning all the blame on Fleury (or Vokoun) by any means. The Pens have once again misplaced their committment to team D and any goalie is going to look bad when they get hung out to dry the way they were last night in particular. But the truth of the matter is that the Pens won their 2009 Cup despite getting average-quality goaltending from Fleury and, apart from 2008 (where he was undeniably excellent), he's pretty much been below-average in all of his other playoff runs.
- bmeltzer

at least he'll always have the "save" on carter.

Analysis and commentary such as this is what keeps you head-and-shoulders above all others here.



(Bold for emphasis in relation to my opinion of Philadelphia goaltenders this season.)
- Scoob

pffft. c'mon dude. bryz sucks. everybody knows it. even the 8 year old goalies i was working with last week at practice. they told me themselves.

Speaking of all red uniforms, anyone else old enough to remember this mess:


- johndewar

So this or the Astros rainbow bright unis or the White Sox shorts?

They have myriad of issues in this series. Turnovers at the blue line in each zone, other than Letang they are as weak as the Flyers on the backend, Fleury is awful and Vokoun has been average (the top of the circle, unscreend shots have to get stopped occasionally, they can't all get waved at). Their stars are showing no discipline and the rest of the team is following their lead. I can't see this series turning around.

It's great.
- mayorofangrytown

Hurricanes jerseys are much better now. No more ugly Hurricane Warning flag stripe or white piping.
- TrentKlatt

They look exactly the same

pffft. c'mon dude. bryz sucks. everybody knows it. even the 8 year old goalies i was working with last week at practice. they told me themselves.
- hammarby31

He couldn't start for my kids AA team

That's a mistake. I don't see any chance he turns his game around. Every time the pressures on he folds. You can't come into a 3-0 game and let in the first shot after your team cuts it to 2 with less than a minute left in the period. They went from in it to game over in 30 seconds.
- mayorofangrytown

the best goal was the last one against the islanders on the short side jam where he somehow with strange positioning deflected the puck into the net off his blocker/stick shaft and then rolled over into a ball. i was dying.

He couldn't start for my kids AA team
- mayorofangrytown

of course not!

the dallas starbucks? meh. better than it is i guess. don't think it's "timeless/classic" like the owner (or spokesperson not sure who) said it should be.
- hammarby31

They took the easy way out.

So this or the Astros rainbow bright unis or the White Sox shorts?



- mayorofangrytown

The Rainbow unis just burnt out my retinas.

the best goal was the last one against the islanders on the short side jam where he somehow with strange positioning deflected the puck into the net off his blocker/stick shaft and then rolled over into a ball. i was dying.
- hammarby31

There's no end to the joy that kid brings me.

They took the easy way out.
- mayorofangrytown

what would you do?

I wonder why, because Button seems to be the only one that has Morin that high.

Is it Morin's size (I see that he's listed at 6'7")?

I would depend on guys on the board here who follow the CHL far more closely than I do to tell me about Morin's play.
- johndewar

Only saw him at the U18 Worlds but he struck me as a defensive defenseman with pretty good mobility for a guy that size and who plays a pretty physical brand of D. Button has said that he thinks Morin will develop an offensive game in years to come based on his physical tools.... I'm doubtful of that.

Only saw him at the U18 Worlds but he struck me as a defensive defenseman with pretty good mobility for a guy that size and who plays a pretty physical brand of D. Button has said that he thinks Morin will develop an offensive game in years to come based on his physical tools.... I'm doubtful of that.
- bmeltzer

Bill do you think Nicolas Petan has a legit shot at being an effective NHLer?

Is he in the Gerbe mold?

Only saw him at the U18 Worlds but he struck me as a defensive defenseman with pretty good mobility for a guy that size and who plays a pretty physical brand of D. Button has said that he thinks Morin will develop an offensive game in years to come based on his physical tools.... I'm doubtful of that.
- bmeltzer

What has continued to baffle me about this is that there's simply no reason for the Flyers to draft Morin at 11 -- your insight matches all that I've read about the player, and there's simply no good reason to draft him that highly, correct?

I certainly am not saying Samuel Morin can't play or anything like that. It's just a little baffling that Button seems so certain that this is the player that not only do the Flyers want, but need.

what would you do?
- hammarby31

It's what I do so give me a month and I'll give you 60 new corporate identities. I wouldn't just stick a "D" on a Star and drop a circle around it for the alternate. The logo on it's own doesn't say "Stars" and it doesn't say "Dallas" and they've changed it too many times (at least colour wise) for it to build the kind of identity that the Dallas Cowboys Star screams. It's remained unchanged for so long you can't see it without thinking Dallas Cowboys.

Find an identity and stick with it. That would be my first advice.

Find an identity and stick with it. That would be my first advice.
- mayorofangrytown

When I saw Dallas' logo change, my first thought was that they should have considered a nickname change, but I doubt they'd ever do that.

It's what I do so give me a month and I'll give you 60 new corporate identities. I wouldn't just stick a "D" on a Star and drop a circle around it for the alternate. The logo on it's own doesn't say "Stars" and it doesn't say "Dallas" and they've changed it too many times (at least colour wise) for it to build the kind of identity that the Dallas Cowboys Star screams. It's remained unchanged for so long you can't see it without thinking Dallas Cowboys.

Find an identity and stick with it. That would be my first advice.
- mayorofangrytown

i know. me too. that's why i asked.

what do you guys think of potentially signing Streit?

It's what I do so give me a month and I'll give you 60 new corporate identities. I wouldn't just stick a "D" on a Star and drop a circle around it for the alternate. The logo on it's own doesn't say "Stars" and it doesn't say "Dallas" and they've changed it too many times (at least colour wise) for it to build the kind of identity that the Dallas Cowboys Star screams. It's remained unchanged for so long you can't see it without thinking Dallas Cowboys.

Find an identity and stick with it. That would be my first advice.
- mayorofangrytown

You know, it really killed me when the Flyers went with the Black jersey in lieu of the old Orange Jersey. Allegedly the players preferred the Black jersey... I hated it. To me, the Flyers wore Orange AND Black, thats who they were... I blame the Oakland Raiders and the L.A. Kings for that sudden explosion of black (or silver and black) that seemed to take over sport there for a while.


Grrrr.

what do you guys think of potentially signing Streit?
- sarmen25

Too old and probably too expensive.

When I saw Dallas' logo change, my first thought was that they should have considered a nickname change, but I doubt they'd ever do that.
- johndewar

The ownership changes have affected a lot of their problems. Being the North Stars and sticking with the Stars was a smart move. Keeping the green wasn't, at least not as the prominent colour scheme.

There's no reason they should be at the point where they're changing their branding. They have enough of a history to exploit already. Modano, Hatcher and a Stanley Cup should be enough to sustain an identity in Dallas. Of course Hatcher is living in Jersey and Modano can't find a place in the organization.

i know. me too. that's why i asked.
- hammarby31

I can never remember whether it's you or Scoob.

You know, it really killed me when the Flyers went with the Black jersey in lieu of the old Orange Jersey. Allegedly the players preferred the Black jersey... I hated it. To me, the Flyers wore Orange AND Black, thats who they were... I blame the Oakland Raiders and the L.A. Kings for that sudden explosion of black (or silver and black) that seemed to take over sport there for a while.


Grrrr.
- Doc_Sarcasm

I didn't mind the black as much as I did the alteration of the logo when they included the silver. I'm sure on a computer screen someone could sell it as a 3D look but it just laid there on the jersey and never worked.

The Black Jersey needed more orange but agreed, after the failed silver experiment it was my second least favourite.