aziz Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 (edited) This team has individual talent, but no collective presence. There is no "core" to the team. Part of that is that they have changed 18 of 23 roster spots in the past two years. it's true. even when winning, the team has no particular..flavor. for good or ill, that was lost when richards and carter left, and any remaining semblance when pronger went down. there is something antiseptic about the team. i don't know if it is really the source of problems. burke built the leafs almost exclusively for flavor, and they're terrible. vancouver and increasingly san jose have the personality of milquetoast, and they manage to win a lot of games. it does give a team something to fall back on, a fundamental -ness that they can rally around. still have to have a solid 20 man roster, though. Edited January 24, 2014 by aziz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murraycraven Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 Minimize the mistakes and this team can win on any given night. Sorry hf but I respectfully disagree w/ that statement. Sooner or later a Team will only go as far as talent. This Team is not anywhere near competing w/ the likes of the Pens, Ducks, etc... The defense is incapable of winning a series in the playoffs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radoran Posted January 24, 2014 Author Share Posted January 24, 2014 I really don't see Rad how having an "identity" helps this team or any team for that matter. How does slapping a label on them render success for the team? The team has leadership, they are able to come from behind and win games. They do believe in themselves. They however are not able to play mistake free or play desperate every shift. Sometimes a team is only as good as your worst player. Minimize the mistakes and this team can win on any given night. I don't know that I agree with that, but I respect that you do. I see a team that can't play with a lead, fights when they are (frequently) behind and is, basically, the average, flawed, middle of the road, playoff pretender that they are. I'm not looking for a "label" - I'll let @aziz handle this it's true. even when winning, the team has no particular..flavor. for good or ill, that was lost when richards and carter left, and any remaining semblance when pronger went down. there is something antiseptic about the team. i don't know if it is really the source of problems. burke built the leafs almost exclusively for flavor, and they're terrible. vancouver and increasingly san jose have the personality of milquetoast, and they manage to win a lot of games. it does give a team something to fall back on, a fundamental -ness that they can rally around. still have to have a solid 20 man roster, though. I really , really don't think you're going to want to build your model of success on the Sharks or Canucks... In the end it does come down to the roster - and allowing that roster to compete. Again, they have FIVE GUYS from two seasons ago. For all the "can't change the players" bluster - they've changed the players. They've changed the coach. They've changed the goalie. And the coach. And the goalie... Again, not looking for a "label" - looking for an indication that this team is more than the sum of its parts. And at this point, frankly, it's less than the sum of its parts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hf101 Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 Sorry hf but I respectfully disagree w/ that statement. Sooner or later a Team will only go as far as talent. This Team is not anywhere near competing w/ the likes of the Pens, Ducks, etc... The defense is incapable of winning a series in the playoffs. ok, My statement by itself is too general. If we are speaking forwards -- I do think this team is talented enough to compete with the Ducks and the Pens given Rinaldo and Downie play on the fourth line. In order to win a series though we need an upgrade on defense. I agree we are not talented enough in on D lacking a true #1 pair, and the #3 pair needs to make less mistakes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murraycraven Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 ok, My statement by itself is too general. If we are speaking forwards -- I do think this team is talented enough to compete with the Ducks and the Pens given Rinaldo and Downie play on the fourth line. In order to win a series though we need an upgrade on defense. I agree we are not talented enough in on D lacking a true #1 pair, and the #3 pair needs to make less mistakes. All good points but I will take Getzlaf and Perry over anyone on the Flyers roster... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brelic Posted January 25, 2014 Share Posted January 25, 2014 I'm wondering if it has to do with a shift in focus after they hit rock bottom. So, under Laviolette, they tried to be a run and gun team. It worked sporadically... we scored a lot of goals in a few of those seasons, but we were never good enough on the backend to make up for the inherent high-risk nature of run and gun. Some would argue that we just didn't (and still don't) have the personnel for that type of game. Lavi gets fired, then Berube comes in. Ok, we still suck terribly for a month or so, are worst in the league, but Mason is making the team look better than it really is. Then we start winning games.... we can't score very much, but we are solid defensively. Then something changed to get the offense unstuck. And the defense tanked along with it. For those of you who are well-versed in coaching strategies, what happened? Did Berube really change the approach? Why were the Flyers able to play solid defense at that point, and then not be able to clear a freakin puck even if their life depended on it? Or are we just imagining things? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JackStraw Posted January 25, 2014 Share Posted January 25, 2014 @brelic - read Meltzer's blog from today. I think he pretty much nails it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doom88 Posted January 25, 2014 Share Posted January 25, 2014 @brelic, bad habits. They aren't gone yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.