Why hope he's not? Why not hope that he is? I think you can win with Mason. None of the young goaltenders are a guarantee. I've always felt that defense and goaltending go hand in hand. One effects the other. Goalies have to stop letting in weak goals, and the team defense has to improve and get better. When and if those two areas collide, then we'll have a better idea.
- MJL

I love this post. First, yes I think we can win with Mason. I'm not so sure he's the top 10 goalie many here claim him to be but he's without question above average. The slow starts to the season have to stop when it comes to Mason. Defense and Goaltending absolutely go hand and hand. We develop the kids, improve the defense with the right pieces and the rest will work itself out. I think we also have to stop talking ourselves into believing average or even above average defenders are the answer to ankoring a defense. This defense still needs work. Provorov still has ways to go until being a legitimate number one and Del Zotto never will be one.

Barring the personal issue he dealt with early last season which deserves complete absolution, his Flyers career has ONLY been ups. 3 years of it. Until his first 6 weeks this season. I think he has earned a mulligan. And lo and behold, it seems he has come around the last week. One 3-0 loss, where he didn't let in anything easy, doesn't change that.

Fact is always the same: people have the long term memories of a fly when it comes to our key players. They'll ignore years of success for a bad month or two.
- Mononoke

He's just now, hopefully coming out of a down period, where overall he has not played well enough this season. So there have certainly been some downs in his Flyers career. I don't think the few downs are enough to disqualify him from looking at him for the future for this team.

This is believable, at the very least
- Giroux_Is_God

Can confirm: I am a 2Real account

I love this post. First, yes I think we can win with Mason. I'm not so sure he's the top 10 goalie many here claim him to be but he's without question above average. The slow starts to the season have to stop when it comes to Mason. Defense and Goaltending absolutely go hand and hand. We develop the kids, improve the defense with the right pieces and the rest will work itself out. I think we also have to stop talking ourselves into believing average or even above average defenders are the answer to ankoring a defense. This defense still needs work. Provorov still has ways to go until being a legitimate number one and Del Zotto never will be one.
- SuperSchennBros

Yep! Lots of things have to be ironed out right now. Last game we saw Jake Voracek weak on a back check. Today, we saw Simmonds get caught watching the puck on a goal on the PK, and not being aware of who is behind him and being late to seal off a lane on a PP against. To be fair though, I have to note that I believe that is the first PP GA that Simmonds has been on the ice for since they started using him on the PK. Del Zotto went down prematurely to block a shot, lost his balance allowing a player to cut into the dead slot unchecked for a goal. These are the individual skater errors, along with the weak goal issues that have plagued the team this season.

I thought Embiid had an ankle sprain and wasn't going to play tonight. Damn. I wished I caught this game.

Also Brayden Coburn is such a beast! If you wanna talk about legitimate top pair defensemen who doesn't have the offensive flash and compliment a legitimate number one, Brayden Coburn is that. I love the return of Konecny and Gudas but I think we miss Brayden Coburn. If Coburn was somehow put on the market for a Santa Sack, he would improve our defense instantly.

Can confirm: I am a 2Real account
- Mononoke

This is believable, at the very least

Did VD get injured, b/c according to NHL.Com he only had a 1:21 ice time for the game.

Did VD get injured, b/c according to NHL.Com he only had a 1:21 ice time for the game.
- WhirlingDervish

Yep.

Ghost enters....we lose.

VDV exits....we lose.

This isn't coincidence people.

Del zotto has been horrible

Yep! Lots of things have to be ironed out right now. Last game we saw Jake Voracek weak on a back check. Today, we saw Simmonds get caught watching the puck on a goal on the PK, and not being aware of who is behind him and being late to seal off a lane on a PP against. To be fair though, I have to note that I believe that is the first PP GA that Simmonds has been on the ice for since they started using him on the PK. Del Zotto went down prematurely to block a shot, lost his balance allowing a player to cut into the dead slot unchecked for a goal. These are the individual skater errors, along with the weak goal issues that have plagued the team this season.
- MJL

This makes sense.

I'm not fond of it

Do you guys know who jimmy devellano is?

Mike Richards = Wayne Simmonds/Brayden Schenn

Jeff Carter = Jake Voracek/Sean Couturier

Brayden Coburn = Radko Gudas/Travis Konecny

Anyone catch the Vancouver review in OT? The players were leaving the ice until the COach was left like hell no!

Did VD get injured, b/c according to NHL.Com he only had a 1:21 ice time for the game.
- WhirlingDervish

Got boarded really bad only drew a 2 minute call should have been 5

Won't be shocked that DoPS pulls a review off it. But of course there will be no suspension

Growing pains are to be expected from this team. They still lack top pair Dmen, badly need another quality center and more skill among their 3rd and 4th lines. Now add to that inconsistent goaltending and I'm surprised that their record isn't worse.

Let's not kid ourselves, if Ghost doesn't do a 4 month Paul Coffey imitation and Mason doesn't stand on his head the last 6 weeks of the season, they don't even sniff the playoffs.

Patience is easy to say, but not always easy to do.

Growing pains are to be expected from this team. They still lack top pair Dmen, badly need another quality center and more skill among their 3rd and 4th lines. Now add to that inconsistent goaltending and I'm surprised that their record isn't worse.

Let's not kid ourselves, if Ghost doesn't do a 4 month Paul Coffey imitation and Mason doesn't stand on his head the last 6 weeks of the season, they don't even sniff the playoffs.

Patience is easy to say, but not always easy to do.
- BiggE

Especially the last sentence.

Growing pains are to be expected from this team. They still lack top pair Dmen, badly need another quality center and more skill among their 3rd and 4th lines. Now add to that inconsistent goaltending and I'm surprised that their record isn't worse.

Let's not kid ourselves, if Ghost doesn't do a 4 month Paul Coffey imitation and Mason doesn't stand on his head the last 6 weeks of the season, they don't even sniff the playoffs.

Patience is easy to say, but not always easy to do.
- BiggE

Yup. Right now they're getting hurt mainly by the inconsistency that comes from the rebuilding process. Lot of young guys in the mix. Some others coming back from injury. Others being forced to play about their ideal usage due to the lack of a legit number one D-man.

Overall, they haven't been a bad team and that is the encouraging thing. If they can maintain the level of play we've seen for most of the season and get the kind of goaltending we've seen from Mason since he arrived in Philly, they're a playoff team.

Sure it's frustrating and takes patience. But they are on the right track, for sure. As guys like Provorov and Konecny get more along in their careers and guys like Sanheim, Myers and Morin come into the line up. The system is healthy. They just need to stay on course.

Yep! Lots of things have to be ironed out right now. Last game we saw Jake Voracek weak on a back check. Today, we saw Simmonds get caught watching the puck on a goal on the PK, and not being aware of who is behind him and being late to seal off a lane on a PP against. To be fair though, I have to note that I believe that is the first PP GA that Simmonds has been on the ice for since they started using him on the PK. Del Zotto went down prematurely to block a shot, lost his balance allowing a player to cut into the dead slot unchecked for a goal. These are the individual skater errors, along with the weak goal issues that have plagued the team this season.
- MJL

Good analysis on the breakdowns and what went wrong.

Tampa has the high end skill and speed to make teams pay for these breakdowns and they did just that.

For most the game the Flyers dominated the play, I thought. Winning puck battles more often then not. Great play in the neutral zone, breaking up TB passing lanes and starting counter attacks.

Voracek himself had at least 3 grade A scoring chances, and I credit the Tampa goalie who was outstanding.

Good bounce back game from being benched I thought for Ghost. He pushed things offensively and was creating chances. His D game still could be better, but I don't want him to stop creating chances entirely on offense.

Another solid performance from the rookies, especially Provorov. He is so quietly efficient. Love what I've seen so far. Also love the skill and energy from Konecny.

They didn't get or create any puck luck last night. Plus the high end skill on TB is really good. The goalie, Kucherov, Hedman. Those guys are fantastic.

The result wasn't good. But I can live with the effort, especially if they can clean up the big breakdowns.

Good analysis on the breakdowns and what went wrong.

Tampa has the high end skill and speed to make teams pay for these breakdowns and they did just that.

For most the game the Flyers dominated the play, I thought. Winning puck battles more often then not. Great play in the neutral zone, breaking up TB passing lanes and starting counter attacks.

Voracek himself had at least 3 grade A scoring chances, and I credit the Tampa goalie who was outstanding.

Good bounce back game from being benched I thought for Ghost. He pushed things offensively and was creating chances. His D game still could be better, but I don't want him to stop creating chances entirely on offense.

Another solid performance from the rookies, especially Provorov. He is so quietly efficient. Love what I've seen so far. Also love the skill and energy from Konecny.

They didn't get or create any puck luck last night. Plus the high end skill on TB is really good. The goalie, Kucherov, Hedman. Those guys are fantastic.

The result wasn't good. But I can live with the effort, especially if they can clean up the big breakdowns.
- Marc D

If the Flyers can play that way, and clean up a few things, they'll be in a lot of games, and win a lot of games. I though Gostisbehere had a strong game yesterday, and it was clear to me that he made a conscious effort to cut down on the big shot, and simply get the puck on the net more, by using a wrist shot. I think that was part of what the coaching staff wanted him to adjust, because he was missing the net too much, and he was pretty good overall.

Good analysis on the breakdowns and what went wrong.

Tampa has the high end skill and speed to make teams pay for these breakdowns and they did just that.

For most the game the Flyers dominated the play, I thought. Winning puck battles more often then not. Great play in the neutral zone, breaking up TB passing lanes and starting counter attacks.

Voracek himself had at least 3 grade A scoring chances, and I credit the Tampa goalie who was outstanding.

Good bounce back game from being benched I thought for Ghost. He pushed things offensively and was creating chances. His D game still could be better, but I don't want him to stop creating chances entirely on offense.

Another solid performance from the rookies, especially Provorov. He is so quietly efficient. Love what I've seen so far. Also love the skill and energy from Konecny.

They didn't get or create any puck luck last night. Plus the high end skill on TB is really good. The goalie, Kucherov, Hedman. Those guys are fantastic.

The result wasn't good. But I can live with the effort, especially if they can clean up the big breakdowns.
- Marc D

Jake had a few chances he should have buried, but omg bellemare was completely stoned on his shot. Wow.

Yup. Right now they're getting hurt mainly by the inconsistency that comes from the rebuilding process. Lot of young guys in the mix. Some others coming back from injury. Others being forced to play about their ideal usage due to the lack of a legit number one D-man.

Overall, they haven't been a bad team and that is the encouraging thing. If they can maintain the level of play we've seen for most of the season and get the kind of goaltending we've seen from Mason since he arrived in Philly, they're a playoff team.

Sure it's frustrating and takes patience. But they are on the right track, for sure. As guys like Provorov and Konecny get more along in their careers and guys like Sanheim, Myers and Morin come into the line up. The system is healthy. They just need to stay on course.
- Jsaquella

It's been pretty much what I expected, except for the sub par goaltending. I just can't wait until guys like AMac, Streit, Schultz, PEB, Gordon and Vdv are gone and guys like Sanheim, Morin, Myers, Rubtsov, Lindblom, NAK and Leier are in.

All in all, I think Hexy has done a remarkable job at re-tooling the system. I mean geez, 2 years ago, the only remotely legit goal prospect in the system was Stolarz. Now there is he, and Lyon, Sandstrom, Hart, Tomek and perhaps even that huge Russian kid. Their D group of Sanheim, Morin, Myers, Hagg et al is as good as any team in the league, and while they could still use more up front, Lindblom, Rubtsov, NAK, Leier, Laberge, Allison, et al is getting there.

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Bernie Parent let in a 120-foot third period goal in a tied game that knocked the Flyers out of the playoffs on the final day of the RS. Also, prior to 1974, he'd never won a single playoff series at the pro level.
>

Never knew this one........Always learn something new with Bills blogs. Thank you as always for your big picture insight and candid and in depth details on every game, Cant say I see such write ups on other teams, You truely do help keep us fans informed even if we miss a game and cant get the replay.

<
Bernie Parent let in a 120-foot third period goal in a tied game that knocked the Flyers out of the playoffs on the final day of the RS. Also, prior to 1974, he'd never won a single playoff series at the pro level.
>

Never knew this one........Always learn something new with Bills blogs. Thank you as always for your big picture insight and candid and in depth details on every game, Cant say I see such write ups on other teams, You truely do help keep us fans informed even if we miss a game and cant get the replay.
- GPerogie

Yup it was the last game of the 69-70 season. It was an afternoon game and Parent said that he lost sight of the puck due to the sunlight that was streaming in through the end doors. Go figure!