Spinorama

dude, this thread NEEDED cold water, it's amazing to see everyone so divided on this issue now,.... where was the debate when he was playing horrible? I don't remember all that many threads asking board members to give the guy a break or stop being so hard on him. If anything WAS said it was merely a slight suggestion, but never an emphatic level of support. Maybe those who were willing to be patient sat silently in the wings out of fear of getting flamed but this thread in a way a disgrace. There is no denying his early performance (eh hem, read lack there of). There's no denying his pay. Fans had a right to be upset, they spend hard earned free time and hard earned money on supporting these guys to get paid enormous sums of money to play a kids game. If this was Billy from around the corner and he was struggling in his pee wee league, then yeah, the whole "these guys are human" argument holds up. But this isn't Billy from around the corner, this is a hired professional. Would the patience be there for a doctor that was supposed to be the best if he was screwing up a surgery on a loved one? Or what about a financial manager that you hired who's poor performance meant your financial portfolio just went right down the toilet? Of course not, but since this is just a game it's okay to suck for a while? I guess those aren't really $51mil real world dollars this guy was cashing in either right? And it wasn't some poor guys hard earned money and time off that he spent taking his son to a game? get real. He sucked, and thus he deserved all the criticism and boos he received. That said, the guy is playing great and thus deserves praise. It's O-KAY. People are allowed to say a player is sucking if he is sucking and then turn around and say "it's about time" when the player is living up to the expectations set by his contract. I've been in the camp of wondering when he was going to finally be good. I wasn't about to ignore is piss poor play, but at the same time I knew there had to be quality there. I speculated in the past that it would take him getting to the off season to digest the market, the expectations, the contract and not think about the WC or 24/7 and just play hockey. It looks like I might be wrong (might NOT because I don't have faith, but because I'd hate to jinx it). So yeah, I'm no nay sayer, and I'm not going to be running around saying "see guys, I told ya so" either. He gets the same treatment I give all the athletes I cheer for. When you suck, I boo you. When you play well, I cheer you. Does it really have to be any more complicated than this? really?

glad Jak's okay. Timmo should rest

and doing a better job at keeping that 5 hole closed amen!

haha, I decided to sing him a little praise in another thread during the game and wondered if it was too soon. Got the shut out AND shootout win though! keep it up Bryz.

absolutely! I've always stated that my REACTIONS to players are just that, reactions. The guy gave almost nothing to cheer for and was saddled with high expectations and the money. It wasn't like I wanted to dislike him, I and most likely everyone in Flyerdom just wanted him to be the goalie everyone thought the Flyers signed. A conversation here arose about whether or not to boo and honestly, why not? It's not like because you decided to boo a player that all of a sudden you hate the guy and aren't allowed to like him ever again moving forward. For me, I'm happy to cheer for him now that he is looking like the stellar goalie I was prepared to watch all season long. He sucked for so long this season that it was becoming difficult for any of us (or at least me) to actually imagine him righting the ship. I predicted that if it was going to happen it was most likely to occur next season, after this one, with all it's lofty expectations and repeated disappointments was behind him. I'm glad I was wrong. Thanks for finally showing up Bryz! I just cross my fingers and hope this stretch can at least persist into the POs. He's peaking at the right time though, something us Flyers fans haven't had the luxury of saying about this team for a couple of season now.

I can't stop looking at this... way too funny

on the comcast feed they just showed Hartnell score and then drop the gloves with Phaneuf from the last time they played. great stuff!

I saw it and I thought John did a good job finishing the interview. He didn't press and was respectful moving forward with the questions, unlike some other jack *** beat writers

excellent point. That said, there's more to this then the numbers if you ask me. The team looked phenomenal at the beginning of the season, exceeding almost everybody's expectations. Almost to a fault. If memory serves, people were calling this a rebuilding season due to the fact that the Flyers lost so much fire power. Well, the team proved the fire power was all well and good, if not better then it was the previous season so expectations began to soar. Then the D and G positions began to prove that they weren't going to perform up to off season expectations but it was okay, the offense was bailing them out time and again. Now here we are at a familiar junction and things look, well.... I have never lost the faith that this team is playoff bound. I also have never had the faith that they will go deep. Am I saying they won't? of course not, 2 seasons ago was proof enough that you can't use the regular season to prejudge PO performance.

I'd say it's fairly reasonable actually. It's not like it's November. The team is trending in the wrong direction at the wrong time.... sigh.... again. However, no one is calling for a fire sale except maybe Bak "FIRE ALL THINGS!!!!" ;p

mmm hmmm, protect yourself at all times! and c'mon NHL, where's the consistency?

the one thing that has driven me the most nuts this entire season.... early goals and/or goals that occur within the opening and closing moments of periods.

I haven't seen the movie yet but I'm pretty sure I heard in the trailer: "pick number 69... it's funny" uhh, yeah I guess. If you're old enough to get into the theater, chances are at this point, that joke is way old...

just goes to show how much turnover the Flyers have experienced recently. He's been here exactly 5 years to the day? That isn't a really long time to me.

you could be right! what ever it is I really hope he keeps it up. I was excited by his play in the playoffs and I really thought that between his new contract and knowing that he and Giroux were going to be the new young leaders on the team with Richards and Carter being traded that we'd be watching a player possessed. Maybe this year's trade rumors helped light a fire under his arse and woke up up to the realization that he can't coast and get away with it, not even for just half a season because it will be noticed (as it should, these guys are paid athletes, not Billy from around the corner).

and oh how many of "those" that we've seen this season.

I agree. Maybe a depth move here or there, but not a game changer

@mojo1917 I've heard the reports of minor injuries but back then I was proclaiming that the staff should sit him and let him heal. If it wasn't bad enough for him to sit, then it should be assumed he's healthy enough to perform at a reasonable expectation. I also found it funny how he comes back from concussion with 2 of his better efforts of the year (coinciding with all the trade rumors). All of a sudden he has the strength to play past all the pain in his body and appear as though he has little to no concern about possibly another concussion? Too convenient to me. Hey, I like the guy though and don't really want to trade him. But if this "coasting" JVR is all we get until he deems the situation to be important, then I'd rather move this valuable asset for another team's valuable asset that could stand to improve our team. I don't want him gone though, especially not for the sake of just removing him from the team and honestly, I'd rather he'd stay in Philly and just playing the game we all are confident he can play.

the Richards and Carter trades should be adequate evidence of addition by subtraction. With both deals, I didn't think the players coming over were anywhere near as good as the ones being jettisoned. However, keeping those two pieces didn't make anymore sense moving forward. The chemistry was shot and the energy level was going in the wrong direction. The players we got back are young and hungry and playing above people's expectations. One reason could be they were excited to be in a real organization. Or they wanted to prove themselves to be worthy replacements of the once faces of the franchise. Regardless, I agree with you and that's been it for me with JVR. I totally acknowledge he has the tools, but the hammer doesn't swing itself. I, like you, would rather hungry players who put forth effort then someone who appears to have found complacency and really only turn it on when he needs to (playoffs, trade deadline rumors). I'm anxious to see what he does this year in the playoffs actually because up until now, that's been the only acceptable defense of his passionless play this season. If we don't trade him this season, hopefully he does turn it on in the playoffs... give the Flyers a return on the investment and keep his market value high.

Is Stevens still with the organization? If he is, I'd like to think he'd suggest they did otherwise. Hell, if I'm Mike Richards, I suggest they do otherwise.

I haven't watched much Kings so I'll take your word for it. Yikes

me either 'till I just read this

it's worth noting, that when he plays hungry, I really enjoy his game, I really do. I think it's misunderstood when someone says they are willing to trade JVR that it means they don't like him or think he's a bust. Personally I've been trumpeting my willingness to see him traded but that's only because I believe he's an expendable piece on a team that has needs and could use him as avaluable bargaining chip. The way I see it though, unless the Flyers were getting some serious value in return, I'd just hold onto JVR.

after today (trade deadline) he'll go back to coasting until the playoffs

The only thing Bryz has done better than Bob since he got here is he got a shut out at the beginning of the season.... 1