Fan Confidence Holds Steady, Sits At 70.8 Percent

by Travis Hughes on Feb 24, 2010 10:57 PM EST in Features

The Broad Street Hockey Fan Confidence Rating is a measurement of how confident fans are in the current direction of the organization as a whole. Voters take into account the team's on-ice performance, management and coaching decisions, and the overall status of prospects and the farm system.

If there's one thing we've learned in our fan confidence polling this season, it's that there's a direct correlation between the Flyers winning hockey games and confidence going up, going down, or holding steady. Of course, that's a pretty damn obvious statement and by saying it I feel a little like John Madden calling a football game. But I say it because it's a little deeper than the seemingly obvious statement is on the surface.

You see, this polling is based on, as mentioned above, the on-ice performance of the club, the farm system, management, etc. It's not just the on-ice performance that sways fan confidence. With this Flyers club, however, the management has thrown all of its eggs into one basket. If that's not clear by the moves Paul Holmgren has made over the last year, then nothing is clear.

With that being so, having a dearth of prospects at the AHL level doesn't sway our confidence as much as a winning or a losing streak does. Neither does a terrible move or two by our general manager. No, because we've been convinced that -- for better or worse -- this team is built to win this season, we're most swayed by how the Flyers are playing right now. In other cities where a Cup isn't expected, a few losses by the NHL club might not be a huge detriment to the confidence of fans like it is here. In Philadelphia, especially with this team right now, it's different.

It's not surprising then, that as the Flyers have held steady in the standings, our confidence has held steady, rising just two points from our last poll. It's now at 70.8 percent, up from 68.8 percent last time. 339 people responded to the poll, which is completely unscientific but a pretty solid barometer nonetheless.

After the jump, take a look at the graph of the results over the course of the season and let us know how you voted.

Fcr22410_medium

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Comments

I was not a fan of how we handled Scottie Upshall, Randy Jones nor was I real happy with giving away the package for Pronger. This organization will never take a step backwards to move forward which is sometimes better. With a new coach I am willing to see how he can effect this team, it has been positive to this point I think. But signings of Briere and the cap hit to temporarily fix the team have actually hurt us. Nobody liked having the worst record and still not getting the 1st pick(Patrick Kane), think of the money spent on Briere and the type of goalie we could have with that cash.

by Crosby sucks on Feb 24, 2010 11:12 PM EST reply actions

we could have Marty Biron at 5 million or Manny Fernandez or even Tim Thomas there was not or has been a FA goalie we could have thrown cash since the Briere signing I know the goalie talk is never ending but there was never a choice between Danny Briere and Henrick Lunquist the choice Danny Briere or Scott Gomez or just do nothing a continue to lose.

by chrislanci on Feb 25, 2010 10:46 AM EST up reply actions

Just a question. At the time they signed Briere the team was in a reorganization mode of sorts. Was it wise to sign a center knowing the future of this team was Carter and Richards who both play center? And no you don’t want to keep losing, but where was the planning. Hindsight is always 20/20 but this is why there should be people running your multi-million dollar franchise with credentials other than leading the league in penalty minutes.

by MJDII on Feb 25, 2010 12:03 PM EST up reply actions

I think part of the problem was that they perceived Richie and Carter would take a little longer to be real stars at the NHL level. The other problem from my POV is I never saw the Briere signing as a center of the future to overshadow Richie and Carter, but rather a direct replacement for Forsberg. I thought their goal with signing Briere was that they saw Briere as a way to recapture the magic that was the Forsberg/Gagne dynamic, and they didn’t expect Richie or Carter to generate that same line chemistry.

by DragonGirl0583 on Feb 25, 2010 12:18 PM EST up reply actions