i am starting to worry that he should have stayed in college and we should have hired a real coach.... out-shot 19-2 in the 1st sorta tells the story of this game...pathetic
- flyer186

The last 5 games are about as bad a stretch of hockey as I've ever witnessed watching this franchise. Dismantled by in large by NHL bottom feeders. Pretty sad.

Can we atleast wait until MJL analyzes this before we jump off the cliff?

We need the orange tinted glasses view.

Can we atleast wait until MJL analyzes this before we jump off the cliff?

We need the orange tinted glasses view.
- Richard_wilderness

See my avatar. That's how anyone with orange glasses should be viewing this team.

Agreed. If Medvedev is injured, put him on IR and give a Ghost a look
- BiggE

Ghost has not earned his callup. Starting to come around offensively but still having issues defensively at the AHL level. Bringing him up right now would be counter to Hextall's belief that players have to be very obviously NHL ready. At least let him hit a groove with the Phantoms first before making that move. Being no worse than Manning is not a basis for an immediate callup, IMO.

Sadly they have been. Manning is getting sheltered like a Faberge egg, and his possession metrics are still horrible. At least Schultz is facing tougher competition. Manning has also badly failed the eye test. Dumb pinches, blown coverages, glaring mistakes with and without the puck.

I'd waive Manning as soon as the plane lands in Philly and recall Gostisbehere. Hell, even MacDonald would be preferable to the poopshow from Manning.
- Jsaquella

Ghost has had, what, 15 or 16 games of pro experience? It's just too soon to recall him. He's starting to get a little confidence offensively in LV but not really dominating either. His D is still a work in process. I know it's painful on the big club, but really he's not going to make a big difference with this team either so give him another month or two in the minors before you recall him. I want him flying sky high when he finally joins the team.

Can we atleast wait until MJL analyzes this before we jump off the cliff?

We need the orange tinted glasses view.
- Richard_wilderness

no one is jumping off the cliff here ...what i see is a coach with no NHL experience not being able to adjust and bring his team out of a funk.....maybe we should adjust our schedule so he can only have 2 games a week and 3 or 4 days to prepare... He was a great college coach...this isn't college and he is going to prove to be the wrong decision behind the bench

Ghost has not earned his callup. Starting to come around offensively but still having issues defensively at the AHL level. Bringing him up right now would be counter to Hextall's belief that players have to be very obviously NHL ready. At least let him hit a groove with the Phantoms first before making that move. Being no worse than Manning is not a basis for an immediate callup, IMO.
- bmeltzer

Ha! Jinx!!

Didn't he and Giroux both go like 16 games last year without scoring and still end us as top-10 in points? I'm not saying that he doesn't deserve criticism or that it's acceptable, but I'm hoping it's a start of season slump.
- jmatchett383

I think Giroux did. I thought Jake got off to a good start last year. That one timer at the end of the game last night .. Jake puts that away last year. He is obviously struggling and you feel for the guy, but he has to pick it up For this team to be competitive.
The D is just horrific . How long can Hextall watch this

Ghost has not earned his callup. Starting to come around offensively but still having issues defensively at the AHL level. Bringing him up right now would be counter to Hextall's belief that players have to be very obviously NHL ready. At least let him hit a groove with the Phantoms first before making that move. Being no worse than Manning is not a basis for an immediate callup, IMO.
- bmeltzer

I agree that Ghost needs more AHL time and has not earned his call up yet. I can also see him making just as many defensive gaffes as Manning has. But at least there would be some offense to make up for it. With Manning all you get are the gaffes, but with no points and pathetic shot attempt production.

So I understand why people would love to see Ghost on this roster right now. But there's no space without a trade or someone going on LTIR.

Can we atleast wait until MJL analyzes this before we jump off the cliff?

We need the orange tinted glasses view.
- Richard_wilderness

Actually, for the most part I think he's been relatively fair.

I know everyone is disappointed with how they're playing. Many have been reacting emotionally. But think about it. Most people, myself included, had them as a borderline playoff team at best to a team picking 8-10 in the lottery at worst. Many seem to want the team to compete hard every night but still think they'll lose 40-50 games. That's just not realistic. They would luck into another 5-10 wins if that were the case. Too much parity in the league.

The reality is that they're learning a new system. They are lacking skill both up front and on the back-end. They're lacking depth. They're lacking confidence.

There will be stretches where they will play like this for 4, 5, 6 games. Later in the season you'll likely see better play or shorter stretches of bad play.

that's great coaching.... But could backfire, may be able to squeak out an OT win
- 3flyerkids

I agree that Ghost needs more AHL time and has not earned his call up yet. I can also see him making just as many defensive gaffes as Manning has. But at least there would be some offense to make up for it. With Manning all you get are the gaffes, but with no points and pathetic shot attempt production.

So I understand why people would love to see Ghost on this roster right now. But there's no space without a trade or someone going on LTIR.
- Feanor

Maybe I'm misremembering, but didn't Manning have a pretty physical edge to his game play in his previous call-ups. Right now, he's playing like a bad AMac. Very passive, poor puck management/movement, defensive gaffes, etc. Is Alt a realistic option (on-ice, not on salary cap) to replace him?

This one was real, real ugly. If Neuvirth hadn't played out of his mind -- even better than in his two shutouts, as a matter of fact -- this could have been anywhere from 7-2 to 10-2 even figuring that the Oilers would not have had an empty netter late.
- bmeltzer

Outshot 19-2 after 1 .. 49 - 22 for the game. Neuvirth was absolutely the only reason the Flyers weren't totally embarrassed on the ice last night.

I also find it amazing how bad the Flyers cap situation is year after year after year, despite the compliance buyouts and finally getting Pronger's contract off the books. There are other teams that push the cap but the Flyers carry the most deadweight against the cap every freaking year and if they had another 2 compliance buyouts, they'd use those as well.

The next 2 years are going to continue to be tough as this roster and deadweight get turned over.

With the recent exception of Konecny the Flyers have not drafted high end offensive talent in the 1st round since Giroux and JVR. I want them to dump Streit at the deadline for a 1st and target the two filthiest snipers they can in this draft.

(I will acknowledge that they acquired Jake and BSchenn via trade over that time span but its still concerning.)
- hereticpride

Sadly, I don't see them drafting a pure sniper, let alone two. That's not their value system. They'll draft a 200-ft player with higher offensive upside.

If I had to pick on one player this year for not pulling their weight, it would be Jake without question. Simply must produce. He had a great year , got a huge deal,... The honeymoon is over..12 games and no goals. Simply not good enough.
I wonder if he was playing / producing like he was last year would our record be the same..
- 3flyerkids

No offense but a bigger problem on this team is everyone not named Giroux and Voracek right now..

Their is exactly 0% offensive threat from anyone else on this team and when Couturier is in the lineup maybe that goes up to a 5% threat from anyone else on this team. Teams can load up on shutting those 2 down knowing they have nothing else to worry about.

Outshot 19-2 after 1 .. 49 - 22 for the game. Neuvirth was absolutely the only reason the Flyers weren't totally embarrassed on the ice last night.

I also find it amazing how bad the Flyers cap situation is year after year after year, despite the compliance buyouts and finally getting Pronger's contract off the books. There are other teams that push the cap but the Flyers carry the most deadweight against the cap every freaking year and if they had another 2 compliance buyouts, they'd use those as well.

The next 2 years are going to continue to be tough as this roster and deadweight get turned over.
- Flyers_01

Everyone other than Neuvirth was completely embarrassed last night.

Ghost has not earned his callup. Starting to come around offensively but still having issues defensively at the AHL level. Bringing him up right now would be counter to Hextall's belief that players have to be very obviously NHL ready. At least let him hit a groove with the Phantoms first before making that move. Being no worse than Manning is not a basis for an immediate callup, IMO.
- bmeltzer

Yeah, I hear you, I'm just frustrated with the current club

No offense but a bigger problem on this team is everyone not named Giroux and Voracek right now..

Their is exactly 0% offensive threat from anyone else on this team and when Couturier is in the lineup maybe that goes up to a 5% threat from anyone else on this team. Teams can load up on shutting those 2 down knowing they have nothing else to worry about.
- opeth_pa

Yup. Been saying that for 2 seasons now. And people mock when I say I want a second line center that can potentially hit 60-70 points in any given year.

Maybe I'm misremembering, but didn't Manning have a pretty physical edge to his game play in his previous call-ups. Right now, he's playing like a bad AMac. Very passive, poor puck management/movement, defensive gaffes, etc. Is Alt a realistic option (on-ice, not on salary cap) to replace him?
- jmatchett383

Manning at AHL level is physical and an offensive contributor but has defensive issues (improved over time but still not much more than average). At NHL level, he has tried to play very simply and conservatively but it has caught up with him.

Alt is a better defender than Manning but not sure he is any better of an NHL option. All the injuries last year set him back quite a bit. Has yet to get back even to where he was at the end of his AHL rookie year where he seemed close to being ready to take next step being a viable, no-frills NHL 6D. Went backwards last year.

no one is jumping off the cliff here ...what i see is a coach with no NHL experience not being able to adjust and bring his team out of a funk.....maybe we should adjust our schedule so he can only have 2 games a week and 3 or 4 days to prepare... He was a great college coach...this isn't college and he is going to prove to be the wrong decision behind the bench
- flyer186

This is why I think Hexy screwed up in not hiring at least one assistant with NHL head coaching experience

Last 5 games:
GF - 8
GA - 19

As someone mentioned before regarding G and Jake on another club and how well they'd perform.. I literally had this convo last night with friends watching the game. The thing is, the two of them were able to put up points despite having he same roster this year, but teams have caught on. Very rarely do Jake and G touch yhe ice and not have the best line defensively against them. If the flyers could effectively role more than one line with offensive threat these guys would finally get the space they need. Last year they were able to and I mainly think because most didn't expect Jake to pop out like that but boy is our team figured out. Shut those two down, shut everyone else down. We desperately need a top line LW. I'm getting very tired of Raffl

Love Neuvirth

As someone mentioned before regarding G and Jake on another club and how well they'd perform.. I literally had this convo last night with friends watching the game. The thing is, the two of them were able to put up points despite having he same roster this year, but teams have caught on. Very rarely do Jake and G touch yhe ice and not have the best line defensively against them. If the flyers could effectively role more than one line with offensive threat these guys would finally get the space they need. Last year they were able to and I mainly think because most didn't expect Jake to pop out like that but boy is our team figured out. Shut those two down, shut everyone else down. We desperately need a top line LW. I'm getting very tired of Raffl
- arichardson22

That is a part of the issue for sure..It's not even that other teams can key on the first line its that they can key on 2/3 of the first line making it even easier to shut those two down..

If you split them it's even worse because your diluting the offensive talent even more..

Upfront it's a disaster unless Couturier gets healthy and produces and some combo of Simmonds, B Schenn and Read break out soon.