He will be 2 at the end of the month. We liked the idea of having two close together that were the same gender and got lucky with that

Btw @nutter the three point star is a guarantee for boy. 100% success rate, though the sample size is small. Two empty net goals
- YuenglingJagr

I want us to have a girl. Only then will our family be whole. YuenglingJagrette has voiced this to me as well.

I don't have a problem with a negative post towards a player or the team if it's accurate. The problem is his opinions are obviously flawed. Just like the rest of team negative.
- MJL

In route back from Yellowstone.
I get it. "Don't feed the animals"

I don't have a problem with a negative post towards a player or the team if it's accurate. The problem is his opinions are obviously flawed. Just like the rest of team negative.
- MJL

Let's talk in three years, when the Flyers let Morin and Laughton go, and assuming that the only changes they make are to promote guys and try to score more. By then, players like Ghost and Laughton will have cost Hak (and probably Hextall) his job, and you will be asking, "Why can't we win even one playoff series? We had such good prospects!"

I am viewed as negative, because I see the difference between teams that go deep in the playoffs and the teams that have good Corsi numbers: positional play and 200 ft. defense. Casual fans don't see it. Even many reporters don't see it (the good ones do). The ex-hockey players do.

The Flyers don't play defense. Their roster is not constructed to win playoff games. Period. They could have fixed that. They chose not to. That will come back to haunt them. Is that "negative"? I don't know. I see a lot of people saying the goaltending isn't good enough. Isn't THAT negative? It definitely isn't good enough to play behind the defense the team has now. People talk about how Fleury was responsible for Vegas' run, but how many breakaways did Vegas give up? How many really GOOD quality shots? How many situations did they have a defenseman standing around in their own end before there was a goal scored. I bet their front office wasn't building a roster based on Corsi.

Want to see a revealing stat? The Flyers gave up 10 short-handed goals. The only teams that were worse: Colorado and the Islanders. Guess who was on the ice for all 10?

Let's talk in three years, when the Flyers let Morin and Laughton go, and assuming that the only changes they make are to promote guys and try to score more. By then, players like Ghost and Laughton will have cost Hak (and probably Hextall) his job, and you will be asking, "Why can't we win even one playoff series? We had such good prospects!"

I am viewed as negative, because I see the difference between teams that go deep in the playoffs and the teams that have good Corsi numbers: positional play and 200 ft. defense. Casual fans don't see it. Even many reporters don't see it (the good ones do). The ex-hockey players do.

The Flyers don't play defense. Their roster is not constructed to win playoff games. Period. They could have fixed that. They chose not to. That will come back to haunt them. Is that "negative"? I don't know. I see a lot of people saying the goaltending isn't good enough. Isn't THAT negative? It definitely isn't good enough to play behind the defense the team has now. People talk about how Fleury was responsible for Vegas' run, but how many breakaways did Vegas give up? How many really GOOD quality shots? How many situations did they have a defenseman standing around in their own end before there was a goal scored. I bet their front office wasn't building a roster based on Corsi.
- hockeyal

You say this roster isn't constructed to win playoff series. In your opinion do you think they have the pieces in their current roster and the pipeline to build that playoff series winning team?

Edit: sorry not clear enough. In the next 2-4 years is what I was thinking.

The Flyers don't play defense.
- hockeyal

What the (frank) are you talking about?

- 7th best ES GA/60 in the league,
- 3rd best ES GA/60 in the league on the road.


That's with pretty mediocre goaltending and a defense-corps that had Brandon Manning playing top-4 minutes.

They played pretty good team-D over the course of the season.

Nothing, if your goal is to be a middle of the pack team that can light the lamp enough to offset their weaknesses against weaker teams, or teams on the second half of a back-to-back, or just taking the night off. But if you care about winning games in May/June, they are not good enough. Maybe if you could get 30 minutes out of Provorov and AMac every night in the playoffs, but even Provorov can't handle that game after game. A team that made a quick exit, put up 7, 5, and 5 goals BEFORE Provorov was injured. That is how good the Flyers back six is. That is good enough to qualify for the playoffs. Is that all you expect?
- hockeyal

No, most of us expect the Flyers young defenseman such as Sanheim, Myers, Morin and maybe a few others to continue to develop and make the Flyers defense corps better. Pretty basic stuff.

It's well known that the Flyers are building through the draft.

More like hokeyal, amirite fellas?

What the (frank) are you talking about?

- 7th best ES GA/60 in the league,
- 3rd best ES GA/60 in the league on the road.


That's with pretty mediocre goaltending and a defense-corps that had Brandon Manning playing top-4 minutes.

They played pretty good team-D over the course of the season.
- Tomahawk

your first mistake was presenting statistics

those don't fly in here, bub

your first mistake was presenting statistics

those don't fly in here, bub
- Mordecai

blasphemous witchcraft

Let's talk in three years, when the Flyers let Morin and Laughton go, and assuming that the only changes they make are to promote guys and try to score more. By then, players like Ghost and Laughton will have cost Hak (and probably Hextall) his job, and you will be asking, "Why can't we win even one playoff series? We had such good prospects!"


- hockeyal

You talk as if it is a fact that Morin and Laughton won't be on the team long term. If Morin didn't have the injuries he had last season he'd probably already be on the team. You're opinion towards Gostisbehere is baseless and absurd. He is a quality defenseman who is getting better and better and has a major positive impact for the team.

I am viewed as negative, because I see the difference between teams that go deep in the playoffs and the teams that have good Corsi numbers: positional play and 200 ft. defense. Casual fans don't see it. Even many reporters don't see it (the good ones do). The ex-hockey players do.


- hockeyal

You're opinions are viewed as negative mostly because they are, not to mention are mostly absurd.

The Flyers don't play defense. Their roster is not constructed to win playoff games. Period. They could have fixed that. They chose not to. That will come back to haunt them. Is that "negative"? I don't know. I see a lot of people saying the goaltending isn't good enough. Isn't THAT negative? It definitely isn't good enough to play behind the defense the team has now. People talk about how Fleury was responsible for Vegas' run, but how many breakaways did Vegas give up? How many really GOOD quality shots? How many situations did they have a defenseman standing around in their own end before there was a goal scored. I bet their front office wasn't building a roster based on Corsi.


- hockeyal

The Flyers were one of the better 5 on 5 defensive teams in the league last year. That's a fact. Their issue in terms of goals against is on the PK. Where are you getting this idea that the Flyers are building a roster based on corsi?

Want to see a revealing stat? The Flyers gave up 10 short-handed goals. The only teams that were worse: Colorado and the Islanders. Guess who was on the ice for all 10?
- hockeyal

Who else was on the ice for those SH goals against? Tell me, out of the 10, which ones was Gostisbehere directly responsible for?

Who else was on the ice for those SH goals against? Tell me, out of the 10, which ones was Gostisbehere directly responsible for?
- MJL

1-3-1 formation tends to be susceptible to high turnovers leading to odd-man chances -- Jake and G make a lot of risky passes, and Ghost is the only guy back if things go wrong.

Also, the Flyers goalies had the 5th-worst SV% on the PP. Like .867%.

So dumb to blame Ghost for all those SHGs.

Me too! Sit that bum Gostisbehere and send him a message.
- MJL

Gostisbehere in my opinion is a great defensemen. How do you think the number one defensive pair happend with just Ivan Provorov?

Hockeyal is starting to make me miss 145 year old Joe.

FFS, no wonder guys like JSaq and Tangentman don’t come around anymore. The idiocy is breathtaking.

Ghost sucks, Morin’s a bust at 22, Laughton is horrible yet he’s worth a 2nd in a trade, the Flyers can’t play D but were one of the best ES teams in the league last year. JFC, get a life!

Congrats Al, you are officially the Doug Crossman of posters. Leon Stickle sees the game more clearly than you.

Wouldn't it be it a wild world if 2Real, hockeyal, rinalo and Vader were the same person.
- flyer_nutter

it would

You say this roster isn't constructed to win playoff series. In your opinion do you think they have the pieces in their current roster and the pipeline to build that playoff series winning team?
- peesinwind

My instinct is to just say no, but it depends on how well some of the prospects mature. Definitely NOT in the next three years. If you think that Ghost and Provy should be the Flyers top pairing on defense, there is no point in talking. Teams that win, pair their defensemen in ways that maximize their strengths. Playing away from Ghost, Provorov is a great two-way defenseman. Playing with him, he trys to stay back and cover. Its a waste of the Flyer's 1st or 2nd best defenseman. I think the Flyers have three good puck movers (although Sanheim is still learning) who need to be paired with defensive guys to maximize their potential, and who have to take some responsibility for playing defense in system. In THEORY, the Flyers have three guys who can play the stay at home role: AMac, Hagg, and Gudas. If they are half of your three pairings, can you make up pairings that you think are good enough to win playoff hockey? Or do you think balance doesn't matter? 7-0, 5-1, 5-0, says it does. I WANT Myers to be ready, and he might be by the All Star Break, but the defensive side of the game takes time to master, and I don't expect him or Hagg or Sanheim to be playoff ready until at least April 2020, and then, there's some wishful thinking there. I worry about Hagg.

And then there is the issue of centers. I think that at the end of the season, Patrick was showing that he is ready to be a solid 3rd line center in the NHL for years. And maybe a fixture of PP2. And of course there is Coots. There are a lot of guys I would love to have on my AHL team playing center: Frost, Vecchione, Rubtsov, Vorobyov, Lehtera, Laczynski, Warren, and most of those guys I would personally play before I played Laughton. But setting my unpopular opinion of the "Little Engine Who Could" that people seem to love, can you see any of these guys being a top 6 center NOW? I like Vecchione and Vorobyov as possible 3/4 centers (but they were pretty close to neutral in +/- in the AHL), and I think that if Frost can crack 190 lbs and get closer to 195 without losing quickness, he could be a 2/3 center. In 2019 or 2020. Coots was +34 last season, and Patrick was +1. That's a pretty big drop off between #1 and #2. Sure the kid will be better, but will his defense be THAT much better? Maybe in a year or two.

Do the Flyers have a goaltender that can stand on his head, night after night and make one impossible save after another to make up for facing a fusillade? I like Lyon and Hart, and maybe one of them (or Sandstrom) could be that good. In a year or two or three.

So there you see the reasons for my negativity. Can you win a Stanley Cup with just elite offense? Ask the Capitals. That's what they improved. In the playoffs, they and Vegas were near the top of that stat. I bet you can guess who had the worst GA/G.

Not a bad thing but worried we will have another roster crunch on our D.

Thinking in the case that Myers is tearing it up in the AHL and Morin jumps in and looks good in Feb. that even if we are looking solid in the playoff race that we should still try and move a vet at the trade deadline. Not likely but I can only dream.

Hockeyal is starting to make me miss 145 year old Joe.

FFS, no wonder guys like JSaq and Tangentman don’t come around anymore. The idiocy is breathtaking.

Ghost sucks, Morin’s a bust at 22, Laughton is horrible yet he’s worth a 2nd in a trade, the Flyers can’t play D but were one of the best ES teams in the league last year. JFC, get a life!

Congrats Al, you are officially the Doug Crossman of posters. Leon Stickle sees the game more clearly than you.
- BiggE

Sorry you can't read. The Flyers are more than capable of playing regular season hockey and finishing mid pack in goals for and against 5v5 (can't find any stats that suggest they were an elite 5v5 team). The bright spot would seem to be PP1. The Flyers were 10th in PPG during 17-18. Unless you factor in SHGA, and rank NET goals. Then they drop to 17th. See, SHG still count. Either way, another mid pack stat.

I like to think of myself as the Bill Clement of posters. Nobody thinks he is any good, so they replace him will Mel Bridgman who is clearly "better". And you never win a cup again and you don;t know why it didn't work to replace a 200ft center with a "scorer".

Not a bad thing but worried we will have another roster crunch on our D.

Thinking in the case that Myers is tearing it up in the AHL and Morin jumps in and looks good in Feb. that even if we are looking solid in the playoff race that we should still try and move a vet at the trade deadline. Not likely but I can only dream.
- peesinwind

What are the chances all the D stay healthy? These things usually work themselves out.

Sorry you can't read. The Flyers are more than capable of playing regular season hockey and finishing mid pack in goals for and against 5v5 (can't find any stats that suggest they were an elite 5v5 team). The bright spot would seem to be PP1. The Flyers were 10th in PPG during 17-18. Unless you factor in SHGA, and rank NET goals. Then they drop to 17th. See, SHG still count. Either way, another mid pack stat.

I like to think of myself as the Bill Clement of posters. Nobody thinks he is any good, so they replace him will Mel Bridgman who is clearly "better". And you never win a cup again and you don;t know why it didn't work to replace a 200ft center with a "scorer".
- hockeyal

someone literally posted those stats on this same page you jabroni

Sorry you can't read. The Flyers are more than capable of playing regular season hockey and finishing mid pack in goals for and against 5v5 (can't find any stats that suggest they were an elite 5v5 team). The bright spot would seem to be PP1. The Flyers were 10th in PPG during 17-18. Unless you factor in SHGA, and rank NET goals. Then they drop to 17th. See, SHG still count. Either way, another mid pack stat.

I like to think of myself as the Bill Clement of posters. Nobody thinks he is any good, so they replace him will Mel Bridgman who is clearly "better". And you never win a cup again and you don;t know why it didn't work to replace a 200ft center with a "scorer".
- hockeyal

Just an FYI. Last year I got to talk with Bill Clement and he loves what Hexy is doing with the flyers. He is a pretty positive guy from what I know of the guy. Not sure he is the best comparison.

Not a bad thing but worried we will have another roster crunch on our D.

Thinking in the case that Myers is tearing it up in the AHL and Morin jumps in and looks good in Feb. that even if we are looking solid in the playoff race that we should still try and move a vet at the trade deadline. Not likely but I can only dream.
- peesinwind

The thing is that a roster crunch is only a thing if you either have no cap room or you make it a thing. If Myers is ready, would anybody be sad if the Flyers sent the lowest performing defender through waivers? Even if it is Folin or Gudas? Even if somebody decided to claim Gudas's contract? If the Flyers had any vets on D that were worth what they are being paid, I'd agree, but it might be hard to move Gudas, and the Flyers would miss AMac more than casual fans can appreciate. I know I am in a minority, but what I have seen in the AHL is AHL forwards skating past Morin, seeing him out of position, seeing a heavy but inaccurate shot, seeing him take bad penalties. Everybody wants him to be Pronger-esque, but he hasn't shown anything to make me believe he will be. He has watched Hagg, Sanheim and Myers pass him on the depth chart. He is the defensive Laughton. Everybody REALLY WANTS him to be good. Homer spent a #1 on him so he should be good. If we squint really hard we can see good play. But both of them are borderline NHL players. Question: If we offered to trade Laughton for Nick Cousins, would Arizona bite? If we offered to trade Morin for someone like Sustr or even Luke Schenn would Anaheim bite? Maybe the second one, but without knowing if a player will fully recover from their meniscus tear, I doubt it.

I like to think of myself as the Bill Clement of posters.
- hockeyal

Nah, you're more like Bryz. You think you're pretty smart, but nobody knows WTF you're going on about, and we're all laughing at you, not with you.

(Jagr would totally get up if you tried to sit next to him)

Interesting things in this blog. Glad for it as July rolls on.

My thing with Sanheim last year was this: I understood why Hakstol was reticent to play him at times. It's one thing to be a rookie. It's another thing entirely to play soft, which I saw at times. There were good things about Sanheim last year, to be certain. He's a physically gifted player who we all want to do well -- hell, we need him to be a Top 4 defender, a difference maker.

I think the coach will attempt to give him a longer leash this year. I believe that. But it's also up to the player to be consistent and tough defensively -- not dirty, or blindly looking for hits. But making sure you don't lose your man off the wall, behind the net, in the slot. Not getting beaten to the front of the net.

That's the stuff I saw from Sanheim that he needed to improve upon. Got to be tougher in his own zone

someone literally posted those stats on this same page you jabroni
- Mordecai

Just an FYI. Last year I got to talk with Bill Clement and he loves what Hexy is doing with the flyers. He is a pretty positive guy from what I know of the guy. Not sure he is the best comparison.
- peesinwind

I have talked to him a few times over the years too. A great mind and a gritty player. I had him sign my favorite jersey - orange road #10. And he was a #1 pick by the Flyers and exactly the sort of player the Flyers hoped Laughton might become. Pretty apt I would say.

He loves the idea of building from within. He also LOVES AMac and Provy. He is regularly roasted for it on boards like this. He is paid by the parent company to not criticize management. But he gets the fact that Corsi and shot attempts don't win games let alone championships.