Had a night to sleep on it and sober up. Some observations:

First the positives:
We have a goalie! Anyone not sold on Mason needs an eye exam.
Voracek had a very good series, looks like a legit top line wing
L Schenn had a nice playoff, looks like a solid 2nd pair guy
The Flyers PK was fantastic, hats off to Lappy and his crew

And now the negatives:
VL needs to and most likely will want to go; get it done
Timonen needs to retire, and if he doesn't want to, I have no interest in re-signing him
With his good pal Timonen gone, time to ask Hartnell for a list of teams he'd be willing to play for and trade him.
Couturier's work on the PK was excellent, but I need more from him offensively
Ditto for Matt Read
The PP while scoring a few goals, was generally not goid enough. Time to shake things up and if Mullen can't see that, he needs to go.

Overall, while I wouldn't mind a change, I can live with Homer st GM for one more year, but he should be on thin ice. Berube IMO did very well for a rookie coach. Heck just getting them in the playoffs was a major accomplishment.

So, where to go from here
Get another mobile, skilled dman who can play on the top pair
Get an upgrade for Hartnell on the top line
Get that done, and Go Flyers!!!!!
- BiggE

I like keeping Hartnell around for our second line. I enjoyed the play of Hartnell Schenn Simmonds, but if it is needed to move him in order to bring in a true top line left wing than I am all for it.

VL has to go. Need that space for a top line LW. I would REALLY love to see Moulson take that spot, but I doubt they can make the cap numbers work.

Couturier and Read both had a rough series. I am pretty sure against a different team we would have seen some offense out of them. Our third line's play and the lack of a complete top line is why we lost this series, besides our defensive problems.

PP should stay the same they just need to tweak it a little bit. Like, maybe, have Simmonds go BEHIND the net for once and try to make a pass to an open guy. I have no clue why they have never once thought to try that...

WE HAVE A GOALIE!!

Mason truly was fantastic last night wasn't he?

I am so glad he's here. I'll be sad to see Emery go but I understand completely.

I agree with a lot of this BiggE. But I think Vinny stays for next season. I think he was playing fairly hurt. With a summer to heal I think he'll come back strong. He was our best player at the beginning of the season. What we may find is he starts strong and then slowly fades as the season progresses. As long as he's ok with being sat occaisonally or being moved down lines as he fades I think we can make it work. He does have one hell of a one time shot and he has some speed if he chooses to use it.

As for Hartnell - yeah if I see another cross ice pass I might throttle him through my TV. With his NTC though I doubt he goes anywhere... However, I did like him on the Simmonds, Schenn line. I thought it would be a case of overkill but I thought he looked much more natural there.
Timmonen, such a smart player. But he's done. Let's make him a scout and pay him to put some of our young up and coming D through boot camp.
- FlyersGrace

I like your idea for Timo. The team simply needs a # 1 Dman and I know they are hard to come by. We have the # 1 goalie, let's get that Dman to play in front of him. I also believe Gus can make a contribution somewhere on this team 5 or 6, but I just want to see him have a chance.

Akeson really does look like he deserves a chance to become a top 9 forward

I was pleasantly surprised with Akeson. It was obvious he wanted to be with the big club and he wasn't intimidated to be playing in the play-offs.
I think he'll get a serious look next year. A lot is going to depend on whether or not they feel Laughton is ready for the big time or needs 1 season in the AHL. As well as who getd traded in the off season. Do we find that D-man?
I honestly don't know.
I just hope they don't trade Grossmann. I know many people don't like him but I think he's a solid stay at home defenseman and we need those types of players as well as the highly speedy offensive ones.

New blog up.