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NHL 2013 regular season thread!
- Thread starter Broadstbully22
- Start date
Probably the one that's been sub .500 the entire season
Sad as it is to admit I believe he's right. Half the season is over and we are still below 500 and things are looking worse not better. This team has no d and to many injuries and as much as I like our coach I'm beginning to get frustrated that he can't seem to get these guys morning in the first period.
Probably the one that's been sub .500 the entire season
I certainly hope so!
Although two of the B's three outright losses and one of their three OT losses have come from sub .500 teams.
If the B's team that plays 55-60 minutes of hockey shows up, they should be OK. Anything less and anything can happen.
Jordan Caron will replace Bourque on the 3rd line, maybe that will get that line going or at least get them a 0 plus/minus.
I ended up skipping the PHI/BOS game after all. Too much driving in one day, and the Harvard/Dartmouth playoff game was more appealing to me. Speaking of, game three on Sunday in Hanover. The winner moves on to play Quinnipiac.
-Mike
-Mike
You didn't miss much, unless you're a Bruin fan. They looked like an NHL team playing a pickup team. Nick Grossmann played an inspired game for the Flyers, but nobody could find the twine...
What's wrong with the Flyers? I'm not trying to antagonize, honestly wondering. They looked ready to take the next step last season with Giroux leading the way.
-Mike
-Mike
I think they need someone experienced and more battle hardened for a leader figure. Giroux is very talemted and a good leader but a Chris Pronger he is not
Flyers' Defense sucks. Passing is sloppy and disorganized. Timmonen; as much as a love him, is showing his age. Coburn has looked like crap in most games that I've seen him play. Luke Schenn has been good for hitting the opposition,...but that's about it. Too many turnovers and a ton of blown line changes (Is this a coaching issue? A chemistry issue? or is the D just lazy?) I'm hoping that when Meszaros gets healthy; that will sure up the D a little bit,...but I'm not holding my breath.
Offense is trying to be too cute and need to adopt a shoot first mentality. I can't count how many odd man rushes I've seen where one to many passes leads to a blown scoring opportunity. Meanwhile I'm screaming SHOOT at the TV. If you put the puck on net; at least you are making the goaltender work. Maybe it goes in; maybe you get a rebound opportunity, but it's definitely a better odd than rifling a pass that hops the blade of the intended recipient's stick and dies in the corner.
Lack of heart, lack of determination, lack of killer instinct, lack of work ethic, lack of response. And some bad luck. That's a lot of what I'm seeing.
Disappointments = Coots, Briere, Coburn (the entire defense really). I'd be looking to dump these guys in the summer.
Bright Spots so far? Well; I have a tough time pinning this debacle of a season on Bryz. The Flyers have been riding him hard as Boosh is really only good for absorbing a loss and Leighton is a career AHLer (IOW we need a better backup goalie situation). Yes; there have been some goals that I thought Bryz was weak on, but this season is a damn sight better than last one was for him. He is getting hung out to dry way too often.
Simmer and Voraceck have been looking good offensively.
I'm also enjoying watching Rinaldo develop into a more disciplined agitator/wrecking ball a la Matt Cooke. He is getting physical without taking nearly as many stupid penalties (we leave those for Harry Z). He is a little more calculated with when and with whom he drops the mitts with.
This is a young team and with this being a lockout shortened season; I'm having a hard time going along with a lot of the Flyer Faithful's calls to completely rebuild this team. "Fire Lavy and Homer; Buyout Bryz's Contract, trade the whole team" all this sort of stuff seems a bit hasty in what; to me, amounts to nothing more than an exhibition season (a little bit of disgust with the lockout still lingers). As much as it pains me to watch the team struggle, I'm not anywhere near the end of my patience.
One of the biggest things I enjoy about hockey is the unpredictability of it. You never know what's going to happen. The season is a little more than half over and as depressing at it has been there is the remote possibility (emphasis on remote) that this team could find it's stride heading down the stretch, battle for a playoff spot and make a serious push for the Cup.
Of course If that happens, then the shortened season is more than an exhibition season
I can be optimistic right.
One last thing, watching a season that has been as ugly as this one has been for the Flyers; does a lot for turning me into a good sport. Yes I get frustrated but not nearly as much as I have in the past. I'm realizing how much it's just a game and I don't let it rule over my life like I have in the past. I like the test of my fortitude. Yes this team is letting me down this season,...but I'm no fairweather fan and am happy to stick through the adversity along with the team. I'm also enjoying the schooling on how important defense is.
I'm just hoping that Philly doesn't turn into the Maple Laughs of the past decade or so (IOW has a lengthy playoff dry spell).
Offense is trying to be too cute and need to adopt a shoot first mentality. I can't count how many odd man rushes I've seen where one to many passes leads to a blown scoring opportunity. Meanwhile I'm screaming SHOOT at the TV. If you put the puck on net; at least you are making the goaltender work. Maybe it goes in; maybe you get a rebound opportunity, but it's definitely a better odd than rifling a pass that hops the blade of the intended recipient's stick and dies in the corner.
Lack of heart, lack of determination, lack of killer instinct, lack of work ethic, lack of response. And some bad luck. That's a lot of what I'm seeing.
Disappointments = Coots, Briere, Coburn (the entire defense really). I'd be looking to dump these guys in the summer.
Bright Spots so far? Well; I have a tough time pinning this debacle of a season on Bryz. The Flyers have been riding him hard as Boosh is really only good for absorbing a loss and Leighton is a career AHLer (IOW we need a better backup goalie situation). Yes; there have been some goals that I thought Bryz was weak on, but this season is a damn sight better than last one was for him. He is getting hung out to dry way too often.
Simmer and Voraceck have been looking good offensively.
I'm also enjoying watching Rinaldo develop into a more disciplined agitator/wrecking ball a la Matt Cooke. He is getting physical without taking nearly as many stupid penalties (we leave those for Harry Z). He is a little more calculated with when and with whom he drops the mitts with.
This is a young team and with this being a lockout shortened season; I'm having a hard time going along with a lot of the Flyer Faithful's calls to completely rebuild this team. "Fire Lavy and Homer; Buyout Bryz's Contract, trade the whole team" all this sort of stuff seems a bit hasty in what; to me, amounts to nothing more than an exhibition season (a little bit of disgust with the lockout still lingers). As much as it pains me to watch the team struggle, I'm not anywhere near the end of my patience.
One of the biggest things I enjoy about hockey is the unpredictability of it. You never know what's going to happen. The season is a little more than half over and as depressing at it has been there is the remote possibility (emphasis on remote) that this team could find it's stride heading down the stretch, battle for a playoff spot and make a serious push for the Cup.
Of course If that happens, then the shortened season is more than an exhibition season
I can be optimistic right.
One last thing, watching a season that has been as ugly as this one has been for the Flyers; does a lot for turning me into a good sport. Yes I get frustrated but not nearly as much as I have in the past. I'm realizing how much it's just a game and I don't let it rule over my life like I have in the past. I like the test of my fortitude. Yes this team is letting me down this season,...but I'm no fairweather fan and am happy to stick through the adversity along with the team. I'm also enjoying the schooling on how important defense is.
I'm just hoping that Philly doesn't turn into the Maple Laughs of the past decade or so (IOW has a lengthy playoff dry spell).
I was very surprised at how lifeless the Flyers looked yesterday. Rask made 23 saves and I don't remember any of them being much more than routine.
Good man, you are.
Hockey is much more enjoyable for me now that I care about the teams as much as they care about me personally.
-Mike
Flyers' Defense sucks. Passing is sloppy and disorganized. Timmonen; as much as a love him, is showing his age. Coburn has looked like crap in most games that I've seen him play. Luke Schenn has been good for hitting the opposition,...but that's about it. Too many turnovers and a ton of blown line changes (Is this a coaching issue? A chemistry issue? or is the D just lazy?) I'm hoping that when Meszaros gets healthy; that will sure up the D a little bit,...but I'm not holding my breath.
Offense is trying to be too cute and need to adopt a shoot first mentality. I can't count how many odd man rushes I've seen where one to many passes leads to a blown scoring opportunity. Meanwhile I'm screaming SHOOT at the TV. If you put the puck on net; at least you are making the goaltender work. Maybe it goes in; maybe you get a rebound opportunity, but it's definitely a better odd than rifling a pass that hops the blade of the intended recipient's stick and dies in the corner.
Lack of heart, lack of determination, lack of killer instinct, lack of work ethic, lack of response. And some bad luck. That's a lot of what I'm seeing.
Disappointments = Coots, Briere, Coburn (the entire defense really). I'd be looking to dump these guys in the summer.
Bright Spots so far? Well; I have a tough time pinning this debacle of a season on Bryz. The Flyers have been riding him hard as Boosh is really only good for absorbing a loss and Leighton is a career AHLer (IOW we need a better backup goalie situation). Yes; there have been some goals that I thought Bryz was weak on, but this season is a damn sight better than last one was for him. He is getting hung out to dry way too often.
Simmer and Voraceck have been looking good offensively.
I'm also enjoying watching Rinaldo develop into a more disciplined agitator/wrecking ball a la Matt Cooke. He is getting physical without taking nearly as many stupid penalties (we leave those for Harry Z). He is a little more calculated with when and with whom he drops the mitts with.
This is a young team and with this being a lockout shortened season; I'm having a hard time going along with a lot of the Flyer Faithful's calls to completely rebuild this team. "Fire Lavy and Homer; Buyout Bryz's Contract, trade the whole team" all this sort of stuff seems a bit hasty in what; to me, amounts to nothing more than an exhibition season (a little bit of disgust with the lockout still lingers). As much as it pains me to watch the team struggle, I'm not anywhere near the end of my patience.
One of the biggest things I enjoy about hockey is the unpredictability of it. You never know what's going to happen. The season is a little more than half over and as depressing at it has been there is the remote possibility (emphasis on remote) that this team could find it's stride heading down the stretch, battle for a playoff spot and make a serious push for the Cup.
Of course If that happens, then the shortened season is more than an exhibition season
I can be optimistic right.
One last thing, watching a season that has been as ugly as this one has been for the Flyers; does a lot for turning me into a good sport. Yes I get frustrated but not nearly as much as I have in the past. I'm realizing how much it's just a game and I don't let it rule over my life like I have in the past. I like the test of my fortitude. Yes this team is letting me down this season,...but I'm no fairweather fan and am happy to stick through the adversity along with the team. I'm also enjoying the schooling on how important defense is.
I'm just hoping that Philly doesn't turn into the Maple Laughs of the past decade or so (IOW has a lengthy playoff dry spell).
Pretty good observations. One thing I disagree with though is that I would NOT get rid of Couturier. Yeah, he's struggling this year; but he's still very young. He played very well last year, and I believe he will again. He's a hard enough worker that I'd have patience with him.
I definitely agree about passing up too many shots. I too have felt like yelling "Shoot it!" when they try to get too fancy and end up making one too many passes.
I still think they have a strong young nucleus. This season is pretty much shot for them. Only 21 more games for them to play, and still near the bottom of the Conference. But like you, I don't think they should go crazy and start trading away their young talent. Whatever moves Holmgren decides to make (assuming HE doesn't get the axe!), I hope he thinks long and hard before giving away the future.
Wow!
*2* obvious boarding penalties by the Flyers against the 2 smallest guys on the Sabres team.
Man, I gotta say I'm getting real tired of the rough stuff from Philly and Boston. If it was an honest mistake, that'd be fine but the replays clearly show the Flyers players hitting their midget opponents squarely in the numbers.
Sure hope they find a way to increase the fines and suspensions because a 2k fee isn't enough of an impact on a goon to curtail these dirty hits.
Disgusting and pointless. Anybody who says that it's part of hockey is a gigantic moron.
*2* obvious boarding penalties by the Flyers against the 2 smallest guys on the Sabres team.
Man, I gotta say I'm getting real tired of the rough stuff from Philly and Boston. If it was an honest mistake, that'd be fine but the replays clearly show the Flyers players hitting their midget opponents squarely in the numbers.
Sure hope they find a way to increase the fines and suspensions because a 2k fee isn't enough of an impact on a goon to curtail these dirty hits.
Disgusting and pointless. Anybody who says that it's part of hockey is a gigantic moron.
Yeah I'm rethinking my Coots analysis. Especially since he is probably the most defensively sound forward on the team. In fact; he should probably be getting more TOI.
Simmonds hit on Ennis was not only not an "obvious" penalty, it was not a penalty at all, and the officials made the correct call.
NHL Rule 41:
41.1 Boarding A boarding penalty shall be imposed on any player or goalkeeper who checks or pushes a defenseless opponent in such a manner that causes the opponent to hit or impact the boards violently in the boards. The severity of the penalty, based upon the impact with the boards, shall be at the discretion of the Referee.
There is an enormous amount of judgment involved in the application of this rule by the Referees. The onus is on the player applying the check to ensure his opponent is not in a defenseless position and if so, he must avoid or minimize the contact. However, in determining whether such contact could have been avoided, the circumstances of the check, including whether the opponent put himself in a vulnerable position immediately prior to or simultaneously with the check or whether the check was unavoidable can be considered. This balance must be considered by the Referees when applying this rule.
Simmonds had Ennis lined up for a clean check. Ennis stopped and turned to the boards just as Simmonds delivered the hit. That's not a penalty.
Luke's Schenn's hit, on the other hand, was not a good hit, and was correctly penalized.
I agree, but that would change the nature of the 2012-2013 Sabres who employ John Scott - 80 minutes on the ice; 41 minutes in the penalty box. Even Thornton and Rinaldo spend more time on the ice than Scott.
But you may have a point with Philly being a rough team in that they are tied for first in Power Play Opportunities Against while the Bruins are 20th. However, the team that is tied with Philly is, wait for it, Buffalo. So the Sabres are either playing rough or are getting a lot of too many men on the ice and delay of game penalties or maybe the B's slip more money to the refs.
There are many glass houses in hockey - the B's coach stepped into one last week with his rant on embellishment. That said, our two best divers - Marchant and Seguin - have been much better behaved this year than last.
Loved that bunch of YouTube videos on the embellishment and the B's coach. They were hilarious! Plenty of good stuff out there for all (glass houses).
