Vanflyer

@flyercanuck 3 steps forward with their front office personnel moves and then 3 steps backwards with their coaching move. Pfffft

I was against the JJ trade (either retrospective Carter for him, or prospective JVR for him). However, I will say that it looks like (thus far) that trade to Columbus has served as a wake up call for JJ. He still had some clunker games for Columbus (as the whole Columbus team did), but he also elevated his game while playing nearly 28 minutes a night on average in Columbus. He ended the year a +5 with Columbus (over the course of 82 games is +20), which is a pretty big statement. He also averaged .66 ppg (which would be 55 points over the course of a season). If JJ can play 26-28 top pairing minutes a night for a full season, be +20ish, and put up 55 points (at a cap hit of 4.3M)- then Columbus wins that trade running away (but loses the initial Carter trade hands down). All that said, I don't do Voracek + Coots for JJ at all- regardless of current play in Columbus. I would do the JVR for JJ trade- yet only giving both another 1/2 year in their current situations. I want to see if JVR can turn it up in his big contract year and being healthy (hopefully) and I want to see if JJ can play at his Columbus level for more than 21 games.

I just think it is a regional thing. Even allot of Philly fans have checked out of the finals. Say what you want, but the Devils have LONG been associated with bland / boring hockey. Even with their style changing somewhat, the stigma sticks. With LA, nobody in the NE region US / Eastern region Canada really knows much about them (aside from glimpses of Doughty, Kopitar, Brown, Richards and Quick). This again aligns to very little identity. People will not tune in, even if they are a strong hockey fan, if there is not something there for them to identify with and interest them.

Truthfully, I see an Avery move coming up if they can not trade him. Since his NMC expries on July 1, they can send him to the minors and then suspend him (so he doesn't poison the young kids on the farm). There is the outside chance that he could get claimed off waivers, but so what. Boston surely would like to get something in return, but aside from that and sending him to the AHL and suspending him, having someone claim him off waivers would remove their headache.

@sarsippius To Sars point, I think that is EXACTLY what the Bruins will do (send him to the minors). They will bite the 3m salary, but the 5m cap hit will be off the books (ala Leighton). Goalies are a strange breed. But not for us to judge what is going on in his private life and I respect that and will not judge ...oh...well. Ok. :-P

@mojo1917 Ok. He did let not one, but TWO men go on the lone Jersey goal in game one. Neither one of them were the ones to score, but that coverage breakdown has a domino effect. Yes, he is playing decent. But I will reitterate, he is a second fiddle. Aside from his hat trick and last nights OT winner, he has not done anything to stand out in the entire SC playoffs. So, in 16 playoff games, only in two he has done something note worthy. If you want to pay 5.5M for that, go right ahead. For me, I will take Voracek at 3.5m 7 days a week and twice on Sunday (let alone the future stud Couturier). P.S. He has one more point than Schenn for the playoffs.

While I agree that with a real goalie, we should have beat Chicago, this LA team is MUCH better than that Flyer team. Don't kid yourself. Are you going to get to see a game there in LA?

Wooooooo there big guy. Lets not get carried away. 1) He was on the ice for the lone goal by the devs in game one doing pirrouettes down low in the zone. 2) He has taken 47 faceoffs the entire playoffs and zero in game one, but he did do well last night (5/8 63%). 3) In two games he has 1 hit and 1 blocked shot. He is a decent second fiddle player. Nothing more, nothing less. But at 5+m, bleh! Let's not annoint him to anything beyond that. If he was something special, he would be scorching in the playoffs as he is not drawing first d pairing / checking line assignments. Him and Richards (Richards more so) are filling round holes in round pegs on the LA team. They are not winning because of Richards and Carter (which they were EXPECTED to do in Philly). They are winnig because of Brown, Kopitar, Doughty and Quick and the second / third role players are doing their expected jobs.

I am pretty shocked to see carter playing "decent" on the wing after all his failures in Phily to do so. But to say clutch is a joke. Take away his hat trick and he has 7 points in 15 games. Pretty pedestrian. To put it into perspective, he NOW has ONE more point in the playoffs than Schenn. Earlier in the game yesterday, I joked about his stock move of coming down the wing with speed and just cruising all the way around the boards and doing nothing. He did that exact same move in OT and got lucky.

@hf101 Isn't that Giroux's junior club as well?? Did they do anything in the Memorial with Giroux?

@Finnfly75 Don't forget Quick. If we had a "Quick", we might still be playing. Marty also played exceptional again yesterday.

The bummer is that if you are a casual fan that tuned into the first round of the playoffs (which I thought was one of the most entertaining rounds in quite a while across the board) and then tuned into the quaters, semis and now finals, You are lost and scratching your head trying to understand the game. In some regards, I jokingly think that the NHL has a game day memo that is put on the refs white board prior to the game: today we are going to call these three things. The three things rotates game to game. Remember post lockout, teams wanted to be built like the Sabres pre lock out. Smallish but lightning quick. The whole reason for removing the two line pass was to open it up and let the speedsters go unimpeded. Now it coming right back in. Its more blatant on the defensive side, but still occurs with the forwards in the neutral zone as well. I don't mind the nature of the beast in competition, but if you are going to promote a sport and try to escalate it, try and figure out the style that you are going to promote and stay consistent with it. I hate to say it, but its almost as if all the publicity with the concussions has removed the focus of the interference (hooking, holding, rub outs without the puck stuff) that was a mandate call 4 years ago.

While I agree somewhat, I also think the Devils are very well coached in coverage. I was watching yesterday (and gamen one) and they RARELY blow their coverage asignments AND they are not the mud in mollasses slow team I thought they were in catching game 7 against Florida.

@canoli I was a bit tongue in cheek on my 2.45 / 2.48, .910 sv pctg. Up through January he was at 2.75 / .870 sv pctg. Without his "player of the month" March, he would have remained there (which would have put him 31st in the league). You are absolutely right, we should expect more for that money. But the reality is it is not going to happen. You are not going to get much better than what he is. Which is a 2.45 / .910 goaltender. What I want, knowing what he is, is some semblance of consistency. I don't want this "hot" guy in October / early November, cold December / January, mediocre February / hot March. I want a guy that when the team takes the ice every night, the skaters are not having the shakes wondering what kind of goalie is going to be in net that night. Mind you, there will be clunkers, but I want them to offset the the steals. So, if he steals 4, then he can clunk 4. In between all that, I want consistency. Your points are all valid and I actually am thinking the same way. Yet, its not going to happen and he is such a flake between the ears, that any muster of some semblance of support (should he be able to play to his career average), will go much further than a continual barrage of this guy sucks (which he does) banter. Truthfully, I would have rather had Vokoun here and let Bobs screw the pooch than to have this albatross. Bobs is 23 and has a tremendous work ethic and while he has deficiencies, the team embraces him. That goes a long way. I know it speaks to the "boucher" / "nitty" type goaltender scheme of years gone by, but its also 7 years and 4m dollars less until you find "the one". Effing senile Snider!

Well there is no Richards or Carter to complain about (and both of them are well poised to raise the cup), so what else do you expect people to do?? He is the pre-emminent whipping boy. If he was not signed for 9 years AND to a 51m contract AND with a NMC AND was not so much a locker room lightning rod, then people would not complain as much. All he really has to do is show up next year, put up 2.45 gaa / 9.10 sv pctga and have a couple of hot streaks and steal maybe 2-4 games and people will be quiet.

But that impedence has been creeping back into the game for a long time and as the SC playoffs have progressed, it has been let go more and more, for the most part.

Good points. It always makes me chuckle a bit to see those 70's and even 80's games as compared to now- not only size of player, but equipment (particularly for goalies).

@flyercanuck- Good points on Bernie. I unfortunately did not get to witness him. My inauguration to the Flyers was 1979. The one thing I would ponder in this hypothetical is the speed of the game, strength of the players and power / force of the shots (not just slap shots).

@mojo1917 The thing with Brodeur is how much of his success can be attributed to the trap era style of play that the devils played for so long? That is not to discredit him in anyway, but Patrick Roy singlehandedly won not one, but three cups (and corresponding the Conn Smythe award to go along with each of those cup victories). For the one game, I take the Roy. Hate his personality and character, but he is money when it comes to big games and can win a game all by himself.

@flyercanuck "What kind of idiot would pay Ilya Bryzgalov $10 million, $6.5 million, $8 million, $6 million, then $6 million??? Seriously, you'd have to be an idiot. He may not have been for a long time. But now it's official...IDIOT!!!" Ummmmm.....Snider!!!! Bryz is Sniders boy and the contract is his as well. Maybe next year Bryz will be everything that we wanted him to be and the squawking about the contract will be diminished, but as it stands now, this was one of the worse signings the Flyers have ever made.

@ good catch. I was originally speaking to the point of him waiving his NMC to go to a team at the cap floor. His remaining salary averages to 4.4 (not the 4.2 I had stated) for the remainder of the contract. I can see how that would be far less palatable, then say two or three years at 4.4.

@flyercanuck Yeah, me too. Yet you would astonished at how many people I have seen on various forums saying quick is a by-product of the kings d / system and not only in the Playoffs, but in the regular season. This could possibly be the first time in the history of the award that two goalies from different championship teams won the award in consecutive years. Neimi / Leighton, where are you now? :-)

@all Tried to edit my original post, but it's been one of the things I have never been able to do here. Here is my addendum to my original post: You have got to be kidding me!!! What has he done really? Points, sure. But really, what has he done to elevate him as the best player in the playoffs. He was injured for the first series and a non-factor for the most part. I just don't get it versus some other candidates I would consider that are mentioned in the article. He has had some good games against Philly and Jersey. But 8 of his 18 points have come on the PP. Everyone knows he is a PP specialist. What has he done outside of that to deserve best player in the playoffs? He is a -4, 14 hits and 6 blocked shots. No short handed goals / assists. Then you look at Brown, who singled handedly took the reigns by the horn against Vancouver. 3 critical game winning goals. 2 short handed goals along with 3 shorthanded assists. A whopping 67 hits along with 10 blocked shots. It just baffles me. I would put Bryce Salvodor (D) ahead of the Devils for Conn Smythe as he has had just as much, if not more, impact on the Devils success than Kovy.

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=396913 You have got to be kidding me!!! What has he done really? Points, sure. But really, what has he done to elevate him as the best player in the playoffs. He was injured for the first series and a non-factor for the most part. I just don't get it versus some other candidates I would consider that are mentioned in the article.

@radoran "Neither Richards or Crater had an active NTC. They were both dealt right before they were about to go into effect. I have never expected Bryz to finish out this contract. I expect him back in Russia before the end of it. That said, if he is willing to waive the NMC a team needing to hit the cap floor might very well pick up Bryz for a high cap hit/low(er) actualy salary. Despite his struggles this season and the opinions of players who have never been around winners, I have a feeling Bryzgalov's stock isn't as low around the league as it is in Philly sports fans. Goalies can have bad years, especially in new situations. If he doesn't pick up, the Flyers will buy him out if nothing else. There are two "bad" salary years in a buyout situation and with an increasing cap they should be able to weather them adequately. I could see 2014 being the decision time. Even year." On Richards and Carter, I think I was alluding to the fact that if they are traded, their NTC / NMC was null and void (regardless that neither were enacted). There now is an * on cap geek alluding to many of the NMC / NTC are only in affect for the originating team. To me, that means they are saying "we won't pull the carpet out from underneath you and trade you wimsy flimsy, however, if things should not work out a solution needs to be found". I agree with his stock not being as low around the league and was kind of my point. He is a 2.45 / .910 goalie for the right style team who can get hot time to time. After his third year here, his salary drops to LESS than what he was earning in Phoenix. For some teams, particularly those on the cap basement, that could be very palatable. Agree year 2014 is the year.