Briere has underperformed this year (regular season). I think most people give him a pass bc of his playoff performances. He is struggling right now there is no doubt about it. The problem with Briere is he is one dimensional so if he isn't scoring goals then he doesn't help in any other area. Briere doesn't seem to be the same player since having his concussion. As far as him talking to Bryz I dont have a problem with it bc he is a leader on this team.
- stveshdy

I do have a problem with that. It's hypocritical in every sense of the word and especially how it came off. IF he didn't say all that then stfu and don't say g-damn word anymore to Pantachio. I'm sorry but this whole he gets in done in the playoffs is complete bull poop. Its like the guy at work who doesn't do anything except for the last two hours of the day leaving all the other work to be picked up by co-workers. I wouldn't be going off but the Flyers are really inconsistent with offense, have lost plenty of games 1-0 and even a game where their goalie posted a s/o through regulation and o/t only to lose in a shootout! I also listened earlier about how the Flyers need to chase the Rangs and Pens. Well guess what when the highest paid player takes a two month vacation in the middle of the season you can kiss first place good bye and forget about how many games Bryzgalov is getting. Furthermore I'm usually right when players turn it around and don't. I know you guys don't have a big track record to hold me on here, but I just don't feel optimistic about Briere and I don't like to berate players. However his willingness to scold another teammate who btw has done more for this team all year than Briere, has me bothered. Not that he's pleased about his lack of performance, but it definitely isn't telling me he's not comfortable with it. Players who fall into this state of entitlement of late have found themselves in LA. A shame this one has a NTC otherwise I'd be all for moving him too. I'm sorry but getting that kind of contract means you show up all year, not when you feel like it.

In my opinion, Briere has never been an elite center. He's always been a top sniper, but only when he has the right linemates. Chemistry has always been an issue since he's been here, but that's just the type of player he is. I couldn't even tell you who he's been playing with most of the year. Danny B gets the leftovers as far as wingers go this year.
- feelingkettle

I wouldn't exactly call Simmonds and Read leftovers. He's been paired with top wingers on the team. Even got to play with Jagr for a little while.

You make solid points Joe. Bottom line Briere needs to start performing.
- stveshdy

If this whole thing with him sitting down Bryzgalov to scold him didn't come out in the midst of the longest non-rookie slump of his career, I'd be less than half as steamed. Right now I'm concerned he doesn't get it turned around and this is the beginning of the end. Just a gut feeling and believe me I hope I'm wrong.

Is this open mic night?

I do have a problem with that. It's hypocritical in every sense of the word and especially how it came off. IF he didn't say all that then stfu and don't say g-damn word anymore to Pantachio. I'm sorry but this whole he gets in done in the playoffs is complete bull poop. Its like the guy at work who doesn't do anything except for the last two hours of the day leaving all the other work to be picked up by co-workers. I wouldn't be going off but the Flyers are really inconsistent with offense, have lost plenty of games 1-0 and even a game where their goalie posted a s/o through regulation and o/t only to lose in a shootout! I also listened earlier about how the Flyers need to chase the Rangs and Pens. Well guess what when the highest paid player takes a two month vacation in the middle of the season you can kiss first place good bye and forget about how many games Bryzgalov is getting. Furthermore I'm usually right when players turn it around and don't. I know you guys don't have a big track record to hold me on here, but I just don't feel optimistic about Briere and I don't like to berate players. However his willingness to scold another teammate who btw has done more for this team all year than Briere, has me bothered. Not that he's pleased about his lack of performance, but it definitely isn't telling me he's not comfortable with it. Players who fall into this state of entitlement of late have found themselves in LA. A shame this one has a NTC otherwise I'd be all for moving him too. I'm sorry but getting that kind of contract means you show up all year, not when you feel like it.
- JoeRussomanno

I dont disagree. Briere is a leader in the locker room so its hard to say he shouldnt be talking to Bryz. By the way things look Bryz has turned his game completely around which is best for the team. Im not giving Briere all the credit as it all could be a coincidence. Briere needs to step up we all know this.

I wouldn't exactly call Simmonds and Read leftovers. He's been paired with top wingers on the team. Even got to play with Jagr for a little while.
- JoeRussomanno

I don't recall Briere playing with them all season. When Voracek and JVR were healthy, the 2nd and 3rd lines looked a little different. But I don't think he's had time to develop chemistry with any of his wingers because of his injuries, and injuries to the wingers.

Is this open mic night?
- Flyskippy

Floors your's....

I do have a problem with that. It's hypocritical in every sense of the word and especially how it came off. IF he didn't say all that then stfu and don't say g-damn word anymore to Pantachio. I'm sorry but this whole he gets in done in the playoffs is complete bull poop. Its like the guy at work who doesn't do anything except for the last two hours of the day leaving all the other work to be picked up by co-workers. I wouldn't be going off but the Flyers are really inconsistent with offense, have lost plenty of games 1-0 and even a game where their goalie posted a s/o through regulation and o/t only to lose in a shootout! I also listened earlier about how the Flyers need to chase the Rangs and Pens. Well guess what when the highest paid player takes a two month vacation in the middle of the season you can kiss first place good bye and forget about how many games Bryzgalov is getting. Furthermore I'm usually right when players turn it around and don't. I know you guys don't have a big track record to hold me on here, but I just don't feel optimistic about Briere and I don't like to berate players. However his willingness to scold another teammate who btw has done more for this team all year than Briere, has me bothered. Not that he's pleased about his lack of performance, but it definitely isn't telling me he's not comfortable with it. Players who fall into this state of entitlement of late have found themselves in LA. A shame this one has a NTC otherwise I'd be all for moving him too. I'm sorry but getting that kind of contract means you show up all year, not when you feel like it.
- JoeRussomanno

I don't recall anyone saying he "scolded" Bryz in any way. If anything, what I got from it was they said to Bryz, don't worry about taking it all on yourself and instead deflect everything to the team. He used poorly chosen words when he said Bryz was a "better team mate". Or more accurately, was misconstrued by Pistachio and they blew it way out of proportion.

All that being said, Damn right Briere needs to pick it up. I just wish I knew the reason behind it.

Floors your's....
- stveshdy

I'm not gonna sweat or fret over one game when they've looked good and have collected points of late. If they come out flat on Tuesday and make it three games in a row with little offense, then I will worry. For now, we're seeing a reversal of their success and struggles: where once they were strong offensively and porous defensively, the team has more recently been strong defensively and struggling offensively. I'd rather they play well defensively than offensively going into the stretch drive and playoffs.

Tonight, the wheels fell off. Flush the game and start a new streak.

I don't recall anyone saying he "scolded" Bryz in any way. If anything, what I got from it was they said to Bryz, don't worry about taking it all on yourself and instead deflect everything to the team. He used poorly chosen words when he said Bryz was a "better team mate". Or more accurately, was misconstrued by Pistachio and they blew it way out of proportion.

All that being said, Damn right Briere needs to pick it up. I just wish I knew the reason behind it.
- MBFlyerfan

Poorly worded phrase + reporter who loves controversial angles = Bryzaster

I'm not gonna sweat or fret over one game when they've looked good and have collected points of late. If they come out flat on Tuesday and make it three games in a row with little offense, then I will worry. For now, we're seeing a reversal of their success and struggles: where once they were strong offensively and porous defensively, the team has more recently been strong defensively and struggling offensively. I'd rather they play well defensively than offensively going into the stretch drive and playoffs.

Tonight, the wheels fell off. Flush the game and start a new streak.
- Flyskippy

frak yeah!

- MBFlyerfan

can't wait for next week

I'm not gonna sweat or fret over one game when they've looked good and have collected points of late. If they come out flat on Tuesday and make it three games in a row with little offense, then I will worry. For now, we're seeing a reversal of their success and struggles: where once they were strong offensively and porous defensively, the team has more recently been strong defensively and struggling offensively. I'd rather they play well defensively than offensively going into the stretch drive and playoffs.

Tonight, the wheels fell off. Flush the game and start a new streak.
- Flyskippy

skippy you da maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan!

Floors your's....
- stveshdy

Few Thoughts:

-Briere's slump and overall lack of production are worrisome. Regardless of his linemates, ice time or anything that is happening on ice, he needs to play better. With all the injuries, it's not realistic to simply scratch Briere for poor play.

I'm more worried that he's playing through an injury. As MB has said, he looks like a broken down horse, at least on some nights.

-Agree or disagree with starting Bob tonight, he had little chance on any of the 4 New Jersey goals. He made several good stops early on.

-A worrisome trend is that, when the Flyers have struggled for offense, it's been games where the opposing goalie didn't have to really work hard. They have been shut out by Nabokov, Dubnyk and Gustavsson over the past few weeks, and the only guy that really had to work to earn his shutout was Nabby.

Tonight, Brodeur didn't have to work especially hard, either. To many one shot and dones, not enough second chances. That has to change.

-Tonight was one of the few times I have seen Grossmann and Coburn make a mistake that ended up in the Flyer net. Coburn got caught pinching and Parise elevated the puck over him, creating a 2 on 1, with Kovalchuk and Volchenkov. Grossmann failed to take away the pass effectively and Volchenkov had a wide open net to make it 2-1.

-Coburn and Carle got caught making a stupid line change right before the Devils third goal

-All that said, they have had a 5 game win streak and still are right in the thick of the playoff race and can easily bounce back. Hopefully they can get three key defensemen back soon, and possibly Voracek.

Tonight was bad, but it's hardly the end of the line.

I'm not gonna sweat or fret over one game when they've looked good and have collected points of late. If they come out flat on Tuesday and make it three games in a row with little offense, then I will worry. For now, we're seeing a reversal of their success and struggles: where once they were strong offensively and porous defensively, the team has more recently been strong defensively and struggling offensively. I'd rather they play well defensively than offensively going into the stretch drive and playoffs.

Tonight, the wheels fell off. Flush the game and start a new streak.
- Flyskippy

+1, good work as always sir

DeBoer said he was yelling from the bench for Kovalchuk to shoot on the 2-on-1. "Goes to show you Kovy is smarter than I am."

Few Thoughts:

-Briere's slump and overall lack of production are worrisome. Regardless of his linemates, ice time or anything that is happening on ice, he needs to play better. With all the injuries, it's not realistic to simply scratch Briere for poor play.

I'm more worried that he's playing through an injury. As MB has said, he looks like a broken down horse, at least on some nights.

-Agree or disagree with starting Bob tonight, he had little chance on any of the 4 New Jersey goals. He made several good stops early on.

-A worrisome trend is that, when the Flyers have struggled for offense, it's been games where the opposing goalie didn't have to really work hard. They have been shut out by Nabokov, Dubnyk and Gustavsson over the past few weeks, and the only guy that really had to work to earn his shutout was Nabby.

Tonight, Brodeur didn't have to work especially hard, either. To many one shot and dones, not enough second chances. That has to change.

-Tonight was one of the few times I have seen Grossmann and Coburn make a mistake that ended up in the Flyer net. Coburn got caught pinching and Parise elevated the puck over him, creating a 2 on 1, with Kovalchuk and Volchenkov. Grossmann failed to take away the pass effectively and Volchenkov had a wide open net to make it 2-1.

-Coburn and Carle got caught making a stupid line change right before the Devils third goal

-All that said, they have had a 5 game win streak and still are right in the thick of the playoff race and can easily bounce back. Hopefully they can get three key defensemen back soon, and possibly Voracek.

Tonight was bad, but it's hardly the end of the line.
- Jsaquella

- stveshdy

Nothing to be angry about. Just a night where things went bad, mistakes bit them in the ass and they couldn't overcome the opposing team. They can easily bounce back-and should be fired up for revenge on Tuesday

Nothing to be angry about. Just a night where things went bad, mistakes bit them in the ass and they couldn't overcome the opposing team. They can easily bounce back-and should be fired up for revenge on Tuesday
- Jsaquella

Agreed. Bryznasty will be back between the pipes as well. Not that Bob did anything wrong tonight bc those goals were all legit.

I don't recall anyone saying he "scolded" Bryz in any way. If anything, what I got from it was they said to Bryz, don't worry about taking it all on yourself and instead deflect everything to the team. He used poorly chosen words when he said Bryz was a "better team mate". Or more accurately, was misconstrued by Pistachio and they blew it way out of proportion.

All that being said, Damn right Briere needs to pick it up. I just wish I knew the reason behind it.
- MBFlyerfan

Maybe I misconstrued the message then I hope so.

I don't recall anyone saying he "scolded" Bryz in any way. If anything, what I got from it was they said to Bryz, don't worry about taking it all on yourself and instead deflect everything to the team. He used poorly chosen words when he said Bryz was a "better team mate". Or more accurately, was misconstrued by Pistachio and they blew it way out of proportion.

All that being said, Damn right Briere needs to pick it up. I just wish I knew the reason behind it.
- MBFlyerfan

Thing is he didn't say HE talked to Bryz. He said that management and the leadership TEAM talked to Bryz. He's part of that, whether he's playing well or not.

My problem with it is not what he or they or anyone said to Bryz. My problem is him talking to Pinocchio about it.

Poorly worded phrase + reporter who loves controversial angles = Bryzaster
- Flyskippy

This is true but the player knew this before hand. However if in fact that was the case then I stand by my earlier reccomendation for Briere. Put Pantachio on mute or ignore. Maybe someday he will realize not to be a TMZ writer when covering sports. However I can tell you something I have learned in my limited experience as an intern for a media outlet, they(media outlets in general) love generating traffic to their sites, articles etc. It's really a shame imo and robs the fans of a true liaison between themselves and the team, which is really what the beat writers are supposed to be. Take WIP for example, they know exactly what they are doing. They cater to the mindless masses. Casual misinformed bandwagon fans outnumber those of us who closely follow the team by a striking large margin. Personally I would work to educate said masses but apparently someone a lot smarter than me thinks it's a better business decision to do otherwise. goodnight.

Thing is he didn't say HE talked to Bryz. He said that management and the leadership TEAM talked to Bryz. He's part of that, whether he's playing well or not.

My problem with it is not what he or they or anyone said to Bryz. My problem is him talking to Pinocchio about it.
- bodiva88

I think that Briere was trying to get the media off Bryzgalov's back with his comments and it simply went awry.

Like with Bryzgalov, Briere's a pro. He;s done a lot of good things in his career and I'll overlook some of the bad here and have faith that he'll be able to right himself.

This is true but the player knew this before hand. However if in fact that was the case then I stand by my earlier reccomendation for Briere. Put Pantachio on mute or ignore. Maybe someday he will realize not to be a TMZ writer when covering sports. However I can tell you something I have learned in my limited experience as an intern for a media outlet, they(media outlets in general) love generating traffic to their sites, articles etc. It's really a shame imo and robs the fans of a true liaison between themselves and the team, which is really what the beat writers are supposed to be. Take WIP for example, they know exactly what they are doing. They cater to the mindless masses. Casual misinformed bandwagon fans outnumber those of us who closely follow the team by a striking large margin. Personally I would work to educate said masses but apparently someone a lot smarter than me thinks it's a better business decision to do otherwise. goodnight.
- JoeRussomanno

Media companies are going to focus on what advertisers focus on. Most casual fans only want to know who is to blame for a loss and who they should praise after a win. They get that from WIP. They get that from DNL. They get that from the other sports talk outlets.

When WIP can point to it's arbitron numbers and say it's the most listened to sports radio station in Philly among 24-49 year old males, it can charge a premium for it's airtime. They know that even a guy like Angelo, who upsets people, will draw a huge audience solely because of controversy.

Often times, you'll hear a reporter say that there's no cheering in the pressbox. But there is an agenda. And it's not just the writers. If I'm writing for the Inquirer and making good scratch and my editor tells me to TMZ it up or I will be out of a gig, guess what....I'm going to TMZ it up to some extent.

My issue with some of the writers is, they don;t bother to take the time to learn the sport or worry about gaining a deeper knowledge to pass on to their readers. They live for the TMZ aspect of it, too

The Flyers have been playing decent in front of Bryz but Bryz obviously deserves most of the credit. I think what I'm most worried about now is who will be ready for the playoffs as far as health and who will be ready for the playoffs as far as bring their "A Game".