It really is semantics whether or not Laviolette was outcoached. The Devils beat the Flyers like a drum in every phase of the game. And majority of it was based on outworking and outsmarting the Flyers at every turn.

you're a vancouver guy right? sami salo have anything left in the tank? just looking at the numbers, it seems like he was solid this year

he could be a guy for homer to target should he hit free agency/ continue playing. nice one year deal
- FlyerMike18

he is fragile, like Gagne with his injuries
when healthy he can be a good player, booming shot too.

I'm in WA about 40 miles S of Vancouver

Just one question.....How many time could the Flyers could have won the game with scoring less than 3 goals? There you go...you cant score 4 or more goals every game in playoff that s why your goalie has to be hot. Look at all the teams that are left in there......I ll name you the goalies.....Smith, Lunqvist, Brodeur, Quick and Holtby.............................What do they have in common? They can steal a game here and there even if the team in front of them are not playing great hockey. T hey give you a chance every night. Bryz well you saw it last night.....at least he got an assist i guess
- caredge

i know im late but its not just for this post

bryz was FAR from the reason the flyers lost the series, he was their best player throughout the series coming up with big saves after big save, he kept the flyers in games and gave them a chance, yes he gave up a few questionable and 1 awful goal but overall he was the only one who gave the flyers a chance, you can look at stats but that doesnt show the picture, not sure any goalie even quick or lundqvist could have made much more of a difference, this all lays on the D breakdowns and inability to sustain offense for the flyers

they need to get approval
- phi1671

He's pretty clearly long term injured. His situation is exactly what LTIR is for.

Well you have the fluffin muffin, Coburn who cant hit the net, Timonen who is decent enough, but isnt 27, Lilja (lol), and Gusty who has only played in like 20 games, and isnt exactly crushing the puck.
- jak521

You got it.

Crazy. It pisses me off because when theres that gap it means guys are not moving.. you get stationary guys and it kills any type of zone progress.
- jak521

Geez how many times did our D pass it to our forward who was stopped and facing our own end. Only to turn it over? The flyers talked about playing as a 5 man unit prior to game 5 Bc they heard jersey talking about themselves that way. That is never how the flyers played all year.

speaking of Vancouver I'd explore getting Edler.

he had a tough playoffs but is a great young defenseman.

It would cost Jvr + I think, but those are the kind of guys I'd look for.
John Carlsen is another one.

These are the kind of players that are rarely moved though, so it may be a pipe dream

i know im late but its not just for this post

bryz was FAR from the reason the flyers lost the series, he was their best player throughout the series coming up with big saves after big save, he kept the flyers in games and gave them a chance, yes he gave up a few questionable and 1 awful goal but overall he was the only one who gave the flyers a chance, you can look at stats but that doesnt show the picture, not sure any goalie even quick or lundqvist could have made much more of a difference, this all lays on the D breakdowns and inability to sustain offense for the flyers
- dmarsden2988

Thank you!

not to jump into the substantive argument, but that doesn't settle whether or not lava tried to make strategic adjustments. if the devils just flat out execute better, the coach can't really do anything about it

just pointing to the results doesn't really prove anything
- FlyerMike18

Sure, we can never prove anything 100%, but the issue remains why the Devils did not execute in game 1 then? I am not saying that the Devils completely changed their philosophy. But I suspect that after playing game 1, and having a couple more days to get over the FL series, they made some changes. For example, as Bill points out, we were constantly outnumbered in the Devils zone along the boards. And that is because their wingers came in low and were not scared of our own D pinching and getting open for a shot, or our forwards winning those battles and feeding the puck back up to the point for a shot. A reaction to that could have been one of the D pinching on the forecheck every now and then. But I don't remember this at all.

Funny how Flyers fans and New Jersey fans (people who actually paid attention when watching the series) think Bryz was the main reason most of the losses were even close. The ironic thing is Bryz's worst game IMO was game 1, which of couse the Flyers won anyways.

i know im late but its not just for this post

bryz was FAR from the reason the flyers lost the series, he was their best player throughout the series coming up with big saves after big save, he kept the flyers in games and gave them a chance, yes he gave up a few questionable and 1 awful goal but overall he was the only one who gave the flyers a chance, you can look at stats but that doesnt show the picture, not sure any goalie even quick or lundqvist could have made much more of a difference, this all lays on the D breakdowns and inability to sustain offense for the flyers
- dmarsden2988

Appreciate it.. Couldnt have said it any better. Best luck.. and as my tradition* continues, I hope you guys win the cup.

*My tradition goes, the team who beats the Flyers in the playoffs wins my support on their quest for the cup. They bested my team, and I hope they best every other team. I wanna be able to say that we lost to the best team.

speaking of Vancouver I'd explore getting Edler.

he had a tough playoffs but is a great young defenseman.

It would cost Jvr + I think, but those are the kind of guys I'd look for.
John Carlsen is another one.

These are the kind of players that are rarely moved though, so it may be a pipe dream
- Marc D

I love his game and would explore that type of deal. Im not in a rush to move jvr tho

i know im late but its not just for this post

bryz was FAR from the reason the flyers lost the series, he was their best player throughout the series coming up with big saves after big save, he kept the flyers in games and gave them a chance, yes he gave up a few questionable and 1 awful goal but overall he was the only one who gave the flyers a chance, you can look at stats but that doesnt show the picture, not sure any goalie even quick or lundqvist could have made much more of a difference, this all lays on the D breakdowns and inability to sustain offense for the flyers
- dmarsden2988

I love his game and would explore that type of deal. Im not in a rush to move jvr tho
- Just5

me either but the D needs big time help

I guess you can draft and develop guys, that is the right way to go,
but I think with Kimmo almost done, Pronger done, Carle likely gone they are in need big time on the blue line.

Maybe Bourdon and Gusty will continue to improve, we can hope.

Absolutely. They need to be more connected a 5 man defensive unit.
- MJL

system issue or personnel issue (not saying trade the personnel, but symptomatic of a really young and talented forward corps)?

speaking of Vancouver I'd explore getting Edler.

he had a tough playoffs but is a great young defenseman.

It would cost Jvr + I think, but those are the kind of guys I'd look for.
John Carlsen is another one.

These are the kind of players that are rarely moved though, so it may be a pipe dream
- Marc D

LOVE edler

It really is semantics whether or not Laviolette was outcoached. The Devils beat the Flyers like a drum in every phase of the game. And majority of it was based on outworking and outsmarting the Flyers at every turn.
- PLindbergh31

When do they provide the info on injuries?

speaking of Vancouver I'd explore getting Edler.

he had a tough playoffs but is a great young defenseman.

It would cost Jvr + I think, but those are the kind of guys I'd look for.
John Carlsen is another one.

These are the kind of players that are rarely moved though, so it may be a pipe dream
- Marc D

both guys I would be very interested in

LOVE edler
- OrangeBlack27

X2

Doubtful he will be going anywhere especially after they allowed Erhoff to leave. Edler is their best defenseman. Very good player.

You can't lay singular blame on Ilya Bryzgalov for Philadelphia's loss to the New Jersey Devils, but by the same token, he was brought in to be the answer in net for the Flyers, and he was anything but.

In the clinching game, all three Devils' goals against Bryzgalov weren't great. The first one was a flutter ball, the second one was an absolute gift, and the third one, he may have been screened a little bit. At the end of the day, he didn't get the job done.

You don't want to equate everything to money but this is a guy who actually pulled down $15 million in signing bonus and salary this year. His cap hit is only $5.67 million for the Flyers but he's got a nine-year deal at $51 million, or if you take away the somewhat bogus years at the end, a seven-year deal for $47.5 million.

The Flyers had to know when they got him that he didn't have a playoff track record. He'd never won a playoff series before this year. He got through the first round series against the Pittsburgh Penguins, but it was almost in spite of himself along with the fact Marc-Andre Fleury didn't play very well.

He's now played 22 career playoff games and in 14 of those, he's had a sub-.900 save percentage. That's not nearly good enough. Good luck with that contract and good luck with Bryzgalov, Philadelphia because there is no playoff track record there.
- BingoLady

the 1st goal was a big deflection, most goalies wont get it

2nd while he did f up big time on it, he isnt a puckhandler and doesnt make the best decisions and timmonen put him in a bad situation

3rd was a blast into the upper corner off post by kovy, not too many woulld stop that

bryz was far from the problem

of course, and that's why i turned off the tv as soon as the clock hit zero, and haven't turned it on since. i don't want to hear a word of it. i haven't read a single article other than bill's piece here, and i won't. i know what i saw. don't need someone else to skew it, pissing me off more than i already am.
- hammarby31

+1

I turned my back as soon as it was over. Didn't see the handshake so as far as I know there wasn't one. (I'll admit that now that I've heard G was down in his suit for it I'm sorry I didn't see that.)

One of my friends in NY was talking about how they were killing Bryz on the radio up there and I pointed out that all the NYR guys on here say no one on radio up there knows anything about the Rangers so what could they possibly know about the Flyers?

He's pretty clearly long term injured. His situation is exactly what LTIR is for.
- BulliesPhan87

yep i agree...
then again we never know how the league operates. They surprised a time or too this year.

I disagree. Other then the one 3rd period where the Devils dropped back into a 1-2-2, which I thought was a mistake by Doboer. The Devils did not in any way change their style of play throughout the Series.
- MJL

It is ridiculous to change one teams' entire style in the 8th month. I am looking for subtler changes, augmentations, covering of deficiencies etc.

Brodeur has done his puckhandling thing for decades and their have been other times when we have managed to beat it with a soft dump-in or a hard wraparound the glass. If carrying the puck-in was so difficult for us facing their 2-2-1 system, then I would have liked to see more of the soft sumps or along the glass style entries. But most of our dump-ins were the conventional style.

He has stolen games this year. That's where your theory breaks down.
- Jsaquella

Apparently March never happened.

In the playoffs, im referring to, plus if i can recall didnt Bryz have a melt down this year during the season? BOB was starting at one point until Bryz regained his confidence?
- Ur Not Me

They shared time through the first half of the season but the only time Bob was the designated starter was when Bryz broke his foot.