Problem solving, angry blogger style.
by JpH89 on Feb 5, 2010 10:48 AM EST
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PrintYes, the team has been better lately, but still they are playing nowhere near the level that they should be at. So my simple request is this: list the main reason you believe the team is having such an off year. Is it the players, coaches? Does the team play with heart or for a paycheck? Maybe the players you though were going to be stars turned out to be average at best? Is it all JVR and Powes fault? who knows, but I kind of want to know what all of you out there think the biggest concern is.
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Hartnell and Carter
productivity dropped from a combined 72 goals to a combined 50 and that level is pretty optimistic assuming Carter gets 35 and Hartnell 15.
Perhaps its a lack of stability. Lots of people said in the the last half of the year, that it was inevitable that Lupul be traded, and that he wasn’t really that good a player. Anyone want to retract that statement now? There are intangibles that make good lines great. After the Flyers moved Lupul, they did nothing to try and reestablish the chemistry that line had. They never found a good replacement for him, and were tinkering from day one. I talked about this more in Shaker’s :“Lines” fanpost thread. Whereas most teams make sure to orient things around their top goal scorer, the Flyers have implemented a 3 ring circus of player juggling that would make PT Barnum envious.
Line Up
1. Paul Holmgren for getting us to this place.
2. This line up is misaligned. Two many centers playing out of position on the first two lines.
3. Pronger hasn’t proven to be the most intimidating player in the NHL. He is not playing horribly but I guess I expected more for what we gave up . Not to mention I don’t believe he is going to get any faster as time passes.
4. And although not a pin point problem, goaltending hasn’t won us a few games that we have had no business winning otherwise.
Pronger really 38 points (7th ranked points from a D man) and a +18 (also ranked 7th, 3rd if you ignore WSH and CHI) what to you want him to do, okay so he hasn’t got suspended or killed anyone but he has been unreal beside a few bad games here and there he turned Carle into a stud if anyone one defense can be blamed how about Coburn he was supposed to be our legit #4 and is now playing on the 3rd pair is a -6 and only has 14 points
Our top lines are not producing. Individuals are playing well, but there is no chemistry there. The 3rd anf 4th lines consistently out play them. Could it be too many centers play off positions? Maybe. Could it be some players are just invisible for most games? Yes.
"In fact, it is probably safe to say, the statement "I am a hockey fan" is the same as "I hate gary bettman."- bfrank27
Captain
We need a true captain, take that god damn “C” off of Richards chest. He is a great player don’t get me wrong, but he doesn’t deserve it. As soon as we drafted him the media started saying he is our captain in waiting. Well he is now the captain and we are the ones still waiting.
True Captain?
He’s been a captain on every team he’s ever played for and he’s won. Calder cups, world junior championships, etc. He is a true captain, I hate how everyone puts the blame all on him for leadership.
by orangeandblack20 on Feb 6, 2010 4:45 PM EST up reply actions
Communication
I think there’s some breakdowns at every level here… I don’t think the players are successfully communicating with each other out on the ice, I don’t think the slew of alternate captains are communicating well with Richards, I don’t think the appointed leaders are communicating well with the rest of the players, and possibly most important, I just don’t think they’re listening to each other. It just all seems so disjointed sometimes, there are definitely times they’re not all on the same page.
Players/System
I think too many players were brought in without thought to fitting into Stevens’ system—now you have guys who definitely don’t seem to fit Lavvy’s system (Hartnell is one who comes to mind), and players playing out of position all year/switching around too much.
This has caused players to play well below expectations or get stuck in prolonged slumps and lead to inconsistent play.
"Tortorella’s got it all wrong ... Gaborik shouldn’t be messing with our skilled player." -Peter Luuko
Injuries???
The month and a half we sucked we were missing:
1. Simone Gagne
2. Danny Briere (for about half the time)
In addition to two top six players…
3. Ray Emery- starting goalie
4. Darrol Powe- The key to giving this team its 4th strong line
5. Blair Betts- Were like 70% winners with him and %20 with out him
When everyone’s been healthy were fine.
by orangeandblack20 on Feb 6, 2010 4:47 PM EST reply actions
This is such apologistic propaganda bullshit.
Simon Gagne was out from October 25 to December 19th. They played just fine when he left the lineup and continued playing like crap when he returned to the lineup. He had nothing to do with it.
Danny Briere missed time in late October and early November. He’s played in 48/55 games. His injury had nothing to do with the team’s collapse.
The team’s goaltending improved, dramatically, when Emery was out of the lineup, so that wasn’t a problem.
If this team can’t survive without its 12:30 minutes of TOI from a fourth line player (he’s 18th amongst skaters on the team in minutes/game, by the way) then that’s indicative of a much larger problem than his mere injury.
First, I’ll say you’re correct – the team hasn’t had the injury excuse most teams have. They just don’t have that many man-games lost.
However, I think you’re underestimating Betts’ impact. Yes, the "win when he’s in, lost when he’s out" argument is just as bad as "the Phillies win when Jimmy Rollins scores", but look at Betts’ 4-on-5 numbers:
GAON/60: 5.48 (best on the team)
GAOFF/60: 8.26 (highest on the team)
He’s the team’s best penalty killer by far (believe it or not, Darroll Powe is second, just ahead of Lappy, in GAON/60) so he has a rather important role.
Broad Street Hockey - Makin' it look mean since 1967.
by Geoff Detweiler on Feb 6, 2010 6:56 PM EST up reply actions
Sorry for the confusion.
I didn’t address the Betts comment at all, though I think its more circumstantial than indicative.
That paragraph about a fourth line player (and the accompanying stats) are all Darryl Powe.
Motherfuck… the hotlink on “proof” vanished…
http://www.nhl.com/ice/playerstats.htm?fetchKey=20102PHISASAll&sort=avgTOIPerGame&viewName=timeOnIce
Ah, I didn’t even check TOI, I just figured Betts was low enough to be that.
No worries.
Broad Street Hockey - Makin' it look mean since 1967.
by Geoff Detweiler on Feb 6, 2010 10:36 PM EST up reply actions
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