Ghost = Nick Foles
Hak = Chip Kelly

Put Bishop behind this Flyers team for that span. Think he'd have done better -- enough to be worth expending assets to be an upgrade -- as compared to Mason and Neuvirth? I don't.
- bmeltzer

But last time the Flyers expended assets from a soon to be UFA goaltender preparing for a big pay day it worked so well.

Ghost = Nick Foles
Hak = Chip Kelly
- JFlyers00

Thankfully, Hak isnt gutting the Flyers system of talent the way the Chipster did the Eagles.

Otherwise, your analogy makes me smile.

(frank) the Eagles.

I agree totally that Bishop would not fare much better than Mason or Neuvirth and Bishop stock has dropped considerably with his injury woes and really he has not been that great. I posted the other day that I would love to see Gost play lw with Giroux and Voracek and was happy to see that you agree it should be considered. I do not think Gost will ever master playing without the puck but his skill is undeniable. Trying him at forward or on the point on the pp or in ot with 93 and 28 and then he will become useful and believe me the team needs a spark.

Very interesting take. I do not think it will be very popular, but it's certainly honest.

I don't think Ghost should be scratched for more than one or at most a couple of games at a time. Even if he's the worst coverage dman on the team as Bill said on twitter, he offers offensive ability no one else on defense does, especially at 5 on 4 and 3 on 3. After the OT debacle against the Kings it should have been an easy move to put Ghost at LD and Streit and RD on the third pairing last night. Unless the order to play Schultz came from Hextall, sending Schultz-Streit out there against the Blues to get dominated can't be defended.
- Feanor

I don't think he should be benched at all as long as I see effort there. How else is he supposed to learn if not by his mistakes and God forbid the coach or asst coach pulls him aside to offer instruction/constructive criticism. Then, review the tapes and remedy it at practice. I'm sorry, isn't that what coaching is? If your Hak, maybe coaching means sitting behind your players like a deer in headlights. Pathetic display of taking ownership of the situation. #OnlyWatchFlyersHighlitesFromNowOn

Paying assets for an early window with a UFA is just giving their agents additional leverage. Everyone who female doges about Macdonald now and Bryz in the past should think real hard about Bishop.

Paying assets for an early window with a UFA is just giving their agents additional leverage. Everyone who female doges about Macdonald now and Bryz in the past should think real hard about Bishop.
- Baxter27

I wish they would fix the censor to be grammatically correct.

God forbid the coach or asst coach pulls him aside to offer instruction/constructive criticism. Then, review the tapes and remedy it at practice. I'm sorry, isn't that what coaching is?
- Corporate_hater

They've done all that. To be fair to both the players and coaches, though, practice time this season has been irregular for the team this season, though, which does complicate the process of working through issues.

I agree totally that Bishop would not fare much better than Mason or Neuvirth and Bishop stock has dropped considerably with his injury woes and really he has not been that great. I posted the other day that I would love to see Gost play lw with Giroux and Voracek and was happy to see that you agree it should be considered. I do not think Gost will ever master playing without the puck but his skill is undeniable. Trying him at forward or on the point on the pp or in ot with 93 and 28 and then he will become useful and believe me the team needs a spark.
- joegreif17

I don't think Bill meant move him to LW but move him to LD which helps simplify his defensive positioning.

Can't disagree with any of your comments on Ghost or on Hakstol for that matter. I also don't think Hextall gets a pass. While Hextall's method of building from with in is sound there is no proof that it s working or will.....there's a lot of faith being put in Hextall's transformation project. While I agree Holmgren was a little to aggressive in some cases, I do feel Hextall seems complacent in the current core group. It is concerning to watch some of the lack lustre efforts on some nights with no meaningful response coming from management. From this fans perspective it's frustrating to watch.

Can't disagree with any of your comments on Ghost or on Hakstol for that matter. I also don't think Hextall gets a pass. While Hextall's method of building from with in is sound there is no proof that it s working or will.....there's a lot of faith being put in Hextall's transformation project. While I agree Holmgren was a little to aggressive in some cases, I do feel Hextall seems complacent in the current core group. It is concerning to watch some of the lack lustre efforts on some nights with no meaningful response coming from management. From this fans perspective it's frustrating to watch.
- landros 2

The season ticket holder meeting is tonight. Hopefully there are some good questions asked of Hex and Hak.

The season ticket holder meeting is tonight. Hopefully there are some good questions asked of Hex and Hak.
- Feanor

I hope that they also ask how that fat dancing guy got a job doing stupid irrelevant interviews during games.

Bored at work so I went back to the to-be UFAs list... before the 14-15 season, I wanted Flyers to sign Brian Boyle. When Gordon, VV, and Bellemare are off the payroll this summer, would anyone have interest in Boyle? Big body, center, does PK work, tops out around 15 goals, $2M cap, and he's been on winning teams with a bunch of playoff experience over the years. Maybe a good locker room guy signing.

The season ticket holder meeting is tonight. Hopefully there are some good questions asked of Hex and Hak.
- Feanor

I hope some of the folks who post here are actual season ticket holders. Their voices need to be heard.

Great post Bill. My GM "hat" is on. I don't believe goaltending is our biggest issue. Micheal Leighton took us to final in 2010. Team d is key. No one down with Phantoms can help with scoring immediately. I'd trade Streit for draft pick and whatever else we could get. That clears cap space. I'd package another dman (Manning, Schultz, Mac- God please!!) not necessarily a prospect (Hagg, Morin, Sanheim, Myers) with one of our "3rd line at best" forwards (Schenn, Coots, Raffl, Read, Cousins, Laughton, etc) and try and get some offensive firepower like Duchene, Draistail, Eberle, RNH, etc. Forget anyone older than 26-27 years old (not sure Tatar is answer). Our d prospects will be ready next season and season after. Our forward prospects are still a year + away (Lindblom and 2 Russians). We don't have a true 2nd line center and, right now, in my opinion, we have no scoring threat. Simmonds to me is untouchable as is Provorov. G and Jake need to step up and be our best players. Kocnecy needs time but has shown promise. Ghost needs to run our PP. I love our 4th line but they are expandable (unfortunately).

The season ticket holder meeting is tonight. Hopefully there are some good questions asked of Hex and Hak.
- Feanor

Hopefully the answers are just as good if those types of questions are asked.

They won't ever compete for a Stanley Cup as long as Giroux is their best player.Imo they need to do some retooling of this core.Best case scenario the flyers will be competitive in 3-4 years.Giroux by that time will be irrelevant. Coots can stay as long as he is the 3rd center on this team.The comparison made to Bergeron are laughable.Ghost is going through the dreaded sophomore jinx.I believe he will come back stronger next year.Hack can follow Giroux out the door.Hextall go get a legit head coach.I need to listen to all these leaf fans laugh at our coach.I never thought the leaf organization would outsmart the flyers.They did it right.Just tanked,did a good job scouting and getting high picks.If they ever get any defense they will be very dangerous. If they win the cup i will have to move.lol

I hope some of the folks who post here are actual season ticket holders. Their voices need to be heard.
- Scoob

Bored at work so I went back to the to-be UFAs list... before the 14-15 season, I wanted Flyers to sign Brian Boyle. When Gordon, VV, and Bellemare are off the payroll this summer, would anyone have interest in Boyle? Big body, center, does PK work, tops out around 15 goals, $2M cap, and he's been on winning teams with a bunch of playoff experience over the years. Maybe a good locker room guy signing.
- arichardson22

I wanted him too. I like Dwight King as a bottom 6 type in UFA. Also is younger.

But the thing is I feel the flyers have plenty of role/bottom 6 type players in the system. Not sure I would want to spend real money on a FA when I could have cheaper in house options.

Corban Knight, Bardreau, Fazleev, Abel-Kubal all that could be bottom 6 types.

Hopefully the answers are just as good if those types of questions are asked.
- landros 2

Yes, the answers will be full, complete, and truthful, unlike the lip service given to the professional media who pose questions daily.

They've done all that. To be fair to both the players and coaches, though, practice time this season has been irregular for the team this season, though, which does complicate the process of working through issues.
- bmeltzer

Ok, they may have done all that, but the fact remains....they're going about it the wrong way. Isn't it counterproductive to have a young player out there on the ice second guessing everything that he does in fear of getting benched? Wouldn't it be better to have him work through it in practice and actual games? It's not like this is our year anyway, so there is nothing to lose. Simply getting into the playoffs is not doing anything for anyone.

Yes, the answers will be full, complete, and truthful, unlike the lip service given to the professional media who pose questions daily.
- Scoob

In previous years a lot of good info has come out of them. The management seem to take the concerns of the STHs seriously, unlike the crap guys like TimmyP throw at them.

Great post Bill. My GM "hat" is on. I don't believe goaltending is our biggest issue. Micheal Leighton took us to final in 2010. Team d is key. No one down with Phantoms can help with scoring immediately. I'd trade Streit for draft pick and whatever else we could get. That clears cap space. I'd package another dman (Manning, Schultz, Mac- God please!!) not necessarily a prospect (Hagg, Morin, Sanheim, Myers) with one of our "3rd line at best" forwards (Schenn, Coots, Raffl, Read, Cousins, Laughton, etc) and try and get some offensive firepower like Duchene, Draistail, Eberle, RNH, etc. Forget anyone older than 26-27 years old (not sure Tatar is answer). Our d prospects will be ready next season and season after. Our forward prospects are still a year + away (Lindblom and 2 Russians). We don't have a true 2nd line center and, right now, in my opinion, we have no scoring threat. Simmonds to me is untouchable as is Provorov. G and Jake need to step up and be our best players. Kocnecy needs time but has shown promise. Ghost needs to run our PP. I love our 4th line but they are expandable (unfortunately).
- cdearth23

To get Draistl you would need someone like Simmonds in the deal.

In previous years a lot of good info has come out of them. The management seem to take the concerns of the STHs seriously, unlike the crap guys like TimmyP throw at them.
- Feanor

such as?

such as?
- Scoob

lack of wifi