Howie58

Greetings:

Seravalli's take is interesting: Has Berube effectively neutered the club's offense to be better defensively against the Rangers?  Playing not to lose may not be a winning strategy.  Akeson's penalty was an unfortunate swing, not some dumb penalty like Rinaldo.

Peace,

Howie

Greetings:

I am somewhere between mag and Doom.  I think this is where having four "balanced" lines is not as good as having 2-3 lines with a break-the-game type scorer. Having one Giroux and no alternative fear of God type is a problem .  The penalty was a hurt but the Rags were dominating the third period something fierce even without the dumb penalty.

Peace,

Howie

Hello:

I wonder if Homer sees a pick escalation with the salary cup in coming years. Or is he happy with the guy.  Carle may seem better in retrospect. But we can't always judge with hindsight.

Peace,

Howie

Which goal lacked lateral movement? He was square to the shooter on both of the last two goals. One bounced off his guy and he didn't track it and the one before he just didn't seem to be paying total attention.

 

If I had a replay I'd reassess. I just didn't think he moved to the puck quickly.

Howie

Howdy:

0-4 versus a non-playoff team; interesting. Thanks for news on a Sunday night...

Good to hear from you. I hope we stiffen resistance against the Rangers. Eddie Giacomin....yabba dabba doo.

Howie

Greetings:

I would love to see the Flyers win but I smell Rangers in 6.  This is a "developmental" series in terms of our future. 1) How does Mason look as a playoff goalie? If his "rehabilitation" is on track we need to see a good effort. 2) Does scoring balance translate into winning?  Everybody sees the Flyers as rolling four pretty competent lines. OK.  In playoff style hockey, which is defensive in nature, does the four line setup really pressure the opponent. Or would we be better served with less balance but more potent scorers?

One way or the other, our D will be challenged. And we know that is a work in progress.

Peace,

Howie

Canoli:

Good observation. My thought was his squaring was slow but that is my old set of eyes. Good to hear from you.. It is a long time since the strange days on Philly.com.  

Peace, and now we see if King Henrik can be tamed.

Howie

I've watched a bunch of Phantoms games lately and he's better than he's shown. Not saying he's an NHL goalie but he's looked really nervous today. Normally his technique and movement is not this bad.

I am happy we gave someone from our organization a shot. He may not have won the game but losing in a shootout shouldn't be too damaging for the psyche. It's ironic, I seem to recall the Neil Little lost his first start against Carolina...maybe they have some psychic anti-energy for our young netminders!

Best,

Howie

Yeah, Emery was bad. He absolutely should have had the Neal goal. The Letang goal was a little tougher, but he looks so slow in his lateral movement.

Bre:

I am beginning to wonder if the guy's lateral movement is impaired. He just can't seem to move fast enough. I think his days in the NHL will be numbered.  I can't see him being re-signed. The word has to be out.

Peace,

Howie

Sami:

Good post. I hope Berube makes it clear they cannot take them for granted.

Peace,

Howie

Sorry, Howie, but I am going to ask to substantiate your statement before accepting it at its face value. Please define skills to me...

 

As of today, they have five 20+ goal scorers. B Schenn and VLC each have 18 goals. Boston has four 20+ scorers. So does Chicago.  St Louis Blues (the second best team in the league) has TJ Oshie, Backes and Steen who score well, but are these players really what you call stars?

 

I didn't mean to single your post out, but people can't just make these blanket statements. I don't know exactly what more the Flyers fans can want from this roster skill-wise. If you tell me they have underachieved, sure... I won't disagree. It’s quite obvious from this regular season record.  But I disagree it's due to the lack of talent. The days of talent-packed Montreal Canadians and Edmonton Oilers are long gone. How much raw talent or skill did the Devils of the 2000's have?  How much talent the Dallas Stars have when they won the Cup? These days you win with great goaltending, solid defense, determination and commitment. It is debatable the Flyers have *that*.  But they do have skills.

MAD:

I am not saying we are unskilled. But it isn't clear to me that "balanced" scoring is the same as having three players who can break a game. I also said that our poor performance--well below the league average--in the shootout, makes me wonder about the "sniper" ability of our scorers I am not knocking Wayne Simmonds--he has a great work ethic and grit. But his goals are mostly "garbage."  Yes, they count as much as a laser from the point but yesterday's win was a reminder of how bang-bang skill over three minutes can break a game open. 

As for talent--let's see a goalie in the top 10 in save percentage. Let's see another player in the top 10 in scoring.  And let's see a team that is in the top 10 in goals against. 

I am not saying we are without talent. And I think there is grit.  But when I read the players' post mortems in Philly.com you would think this is simply a matter of not playing the system for 60 minutes. That may be true in part. But I think we have seen our team lose to teams that have higher overall levels of talent.  And that may start in goal--I think Emery and Mason had nothing to be ashamed of. But Miller and Rask may be elite, while MASEM may be above-average.

Peace,

Howie

Me too. See what this kid Heeter has while Stolarz grows his game in the AHL. 

 

Heeter has decent numbers (2.69, .911) on a bad Phantoms team. 

I was thinking over dinner that if this team doesn't wake up against Buffalo I would be tempted to start a youngin to fire a shot over the bow with this gang. 

Peace,

Howie

Big problem as I see it is the Flyers have ONE star surrounded by a group of supporting actors. Good players, but not stars. Just comparing them to teams like Boston and St. Louis.

PuckMeister:

I concur with your assessment. And I am beginning to wonder if your poor shootout record reflects the type of players we recruit/draft/trade-for. Yes, they may have grit. And yes, we have balanced scoring.  But deep down this is just your Grandfather's Flyers squad--tough but relatively under-skilled. The defense today reminded me of our victory at Midway over the Japanese. Five minutes made the difference. Our D was too slow.  The third broke our back. Rosehill scoring seemed strange but the guy showed more skill than Vinny does most of the time.

Peace, and I hope the season isn't unraveling before our eyes.

Howie

Fanatic:

One thing I don't worry about with Mason is his willingness to accept responsibility for his work and performance. That is important. 

He is worth investing in.  I suspect the next question for goal is backup. If Ray is gone, whom do we turn to? A vet? A kid?  I would like to see us groom our own for a change.

Peace,

Howie

Internet comments can be punishing, can't they? Scares me sometimes.

 

Mason is only 25, and goalies typically need more time before they hit their peak, so there's definitely room for growth. It sounds like you are not sold on Mason either, but understand that more time is needed to make a true assessment. What other goalie comparables are out there in terms of career trajectory? Do you think Mason is on a typical growth curve? How much of his 'bad' years can be attributed to coaching or the poor team in front of him? How much of an effect do you think Hitchcock had while he was coach during Mason's rookie year?

Bre:

I hope that Mason is a little like Craig Anderson.  He took some time to blossom, and if he isn't elite he is certainly damn good.  For the team, my concern is more generic. Is this really the beginning of a new era in which we are a year or two from elite status challenging for Cup? Or is this another head fake like 2010 where we think it's a new era and an in reality we just wallow in mediocrity?  I am hopeful but skeptical.

Peace,

Howie

Howdy:

I read this piece on BR and the comments posted afterwards were viciously negative, basically contending the author was an idiot. 

Mason, like the rest of this team, is an experiment. It will be game 20 of the 14-15 Season before we can answer the question. But that applies to the whole team. We would like to think that the addition of a sniper + some other defenders will bring us to elite status.  I would like to see Mason grow with the team. He is a work in progress. 

Howie

In a shootout I think he meant.  In a shootout.

Greetings:

Let's hope the cadre isn't parsed!

LGF,

Howie

Greetings:

We played well but an elite goaltender outperformed an excellent goalie. We also need another marksman. Oshie is amazing.

But we can't complain about this performance. We were competitive and minimized dumb penalties. The team showed mobility that would not have been feasible in October. 

Best,

Howie

Greetings:

I agree that Mase was not in Rask's league today. I think was Mase was very good despite a softee. But Rask was elite. 

I also think we need a sniper. That's for SO as well. Giroux may be our sole "Putting the Fear of God" in the opposition player. We need another.

But the O and B showed grit. Berube is putting his mark on the team.  O

One other observation: I am almost fearful of Kimmo retiring. He is a glue back there. Who will take his place?

Considering where we started, the team has made progress. But playing the likes of San Jose or Boston reminds you we need some work. But there is a foundation. I didn't feel that way last year.

Best,

Howie

We have to hope that nucleus gets kept and the D is rebuilt with youngsters. Agreed that a sniper and puck-mover D would help the puzzle. Meanwhile, even the players comment that they know each other after three years together--Simmonds has said that twice in recent weeks on TV.

Best,

Howie

Howdy:

My big fear is more global. Are we getting a head fake or is this team beginning to gel? Is this another Homer Fluke? Or is the collection of forwards coming of age?  If it is the latter, and the D improves and Mason is for real, we have a lot to look forward to over the next few years.  This is a balanced attack.  Heck, maybe the D is even improving.  It may be the first 15-20 games of next year before we know if this is a new era or just another blip?

Howie

Greetings:

I hate to say it but we probably have a back up problem. I can't see Emery staying on next year due to injury or cost. I hope we figure this out sooner or later. Per earlier posts, it may be time to give one of the youngins a shot.

Best,

Howie

Agreed with all that is said above. We need a porch clearer but why gut our roster?  The question we have to ask if the window (age + cap considerations) that we have to work with our nucleus of forwards?  I suspect 2-4 years. So...can we develop our D in that frame?   

Howie

Sir Bre:

I agree 100%. It's time we let one of our youngins attempt to make it in the NHL.  I think Nitty was our last to be brought into the fold. 

I forgot about Stolarz.

Right now I hope today's Inquirer article is right and that Mason isn't going to be worn out.

Howie

Greetings:

The question we need to answer is backup, short- and long-term. Razor is apparently OK now, but until he gets back we have an untested AHLer. Longer-term, I have to wonder if Razor comes back next year? I say no.  What then?  Do we go with an ancient Clemmenson type or go with a youngster?

Best,

Howie