Monday Morning Fly By: Prospect Losses, Leino Trade, and Subtle Stabs

by Geoff Detweiler on Feb 8, 2010 9:45 AM EST in Morning Fly By

Today's open discussion thread, including your daily dose of Philadelphia Flyers news and notes...

Last night's NHL scores... WAS 5 - PIT 4 (OT); BOS 3 - MON 0
The Flyers are now in a three-way tie for the 8th and final playoff spot. [NHL]
The Capitals have now won 14 games in a row. FOURTEEN. But at least the folks over at Japers' know what matters: "That's why today's game meant more than most of the ones in the streak. It's only February, but a come from behind win against last year Cup champs at least means a little something." [Japers' Rink]
Jacob De Serres took the loss as Brandon's win streak came to an end, 4-3 (OT). He made 36 saves. [Luber's Lounge]
Jakub Kovar made 40 saves, plus 5 of 10 in a 4-3 shootout loss. [euroflyers]
Jonathan Willis breaks down the Leino trade. [Hockey or Die]
The Flyers are looking for the Leino trade to... help each other out? What?? [Inquirer]
What would solve the Flyers woes? Going to the net? What a novel concept. [Daily News]
The week in review. [CSNPhilly]
A pretty nice collection of some Super Bowl ads. You know, in case you missed them. [The700Level]
What's the worst hockey trade ever? Actually Lindros to Flyers isn't on the list. [Jewels From the Crown]
Lastly, a fantastic piece entitled "Coaches convenient cover for G.M.s" No, it's not that subtle. [DelcoTimes]

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Comments

Well that write up on Leino certainly doesn’t get me all warm and tingly inside.

by EREX21 on Feb 8, 2010 10:35 AM EST reply actions

so is Yann Danis starting for the devils tonight? After all, this team makes backup goalies look like friggin all stars.

Managing Editor - HockeyOutsiders.com

by HockeyOutsiders on Feb 8, 2010 11:17 AM EST reply actions

Lou’s not taking any chances.

He called up a kid from the ECHL to start.

by MarioD on Feb 8, 2010 11:26 AM EST up reply actions

it would not surprise me. We’ll have 40 shots on him and 30 will hit the guy in the chest.

Managing Editor - HockeyOutsiders.com

by HockeyOutsiders on Feb 8, 2010 12:13 PM EST up reply actions

I said it the other night — there’s pretty much no doubt Kovalchuk scores his first Devils’ goal against us.

Woo freakin hoo.

Broad Street Hockey - SB Nation's Philadelphia Flyers Blog. Makin' it look mean since 1967.

by Travis Hughes on Feb 8, 2010 11:28 AM EST reply actions

Boo!

/throws stink bomb on ice

"Tortorella’s got it all wrong ... Gaborik shouldn’t be messing with our skilled player." -Peter Luuko

by doubleh on Feb 8, 2010 11:49 AM EST up reply actions

Bob Gainey is about to step down in Montreal.

There’s another team that may get a nice facelift before the trade deadline. They have $2m in cap space right now.

by MarioD on Feb 8, 2010 12:14 PM EST reply actions

Pierre Gauthier confirmed to be taking over as GM today.

by MarioD on Feb 8, 2010 12:41 PM EST up reply actions

I would just like to take this moment to point out that Dan Carcillo has more goals then Simon Gagne.

I’ll repeat that.
Dan Carcillo. Has more goals. Then Simon Gagne.

I’m thinking this might just be part of our problem.

by StarbladeMKIII on Feb 8, 2010 12:25 PM EST reply actions

And he’s played 20 more games than Simon Gagne so your statement is ridiculous.

by MarioD on Feb 8, 2010 12:38 PM EST up reply actions

Gagne has one goal in his last 17 games. While Mario is correct, it’s not at all a stretch to say Simon Gagne’s scoring drought is part of the Flyers’ problem.

Gagne’s goals/game is the worst of his career and just barely below his injury-shortened 02-03 campaign of 9 goals in 48 games.

Broad Street Hockey - Makin' it look mean since 1967.

by Geoff Detweiler on Feb 8, 2010 12:45 PM EST up reply actions

Gagne’s goals per game is higher than Carcillo’s, Mario is correct there, but it should be a much bigger margin. It’s not a stretch at all to say that it’s part of the problem, this bad streak is hurting us. But it’s exacerbated by the fact that all the players on the top lines are having problems. It’s harder to break out of a rut when your entire line is in a rut rather than just one player having trouble surrounded by two guys doing fine. Carcillo in this case has the advantage, his line isn’t struggling. That doesn’t eliminate Gagne from his share of the blame, it just means he’s part of the problem and shouldn’t get all of the blame himself.

by DragonGirl0583 on Feb 8, 2010 1:11 PM EST up reply actions

But we saw this coming.

We had a discussion here about how Gagne NEVER returns from injury and plays well.

It was one of the many reasons I was saying back in November that Holmgren needed to make moves.

by MarioD on Feb 8, 2010 1:20 PM EST up reply actions

If history repeats itself, Gagne will be just fine for the next 3 seasons.

Do you see what happens when you find a stranger in the Alps?

by mikefive on Feb 8, 2010 3:17 PM EST up reply actions

I have no problem with Gagne. Its the expectations people have for Gagne that are silly.

by MarioD on Feb 8, 2010 4:05 PM EST up reply actions

Anybody read SanFilippo’s story? I hoped that would generate conversation…

Broad Street Hockey - Makin' it look mean since 1967.

by Geoff Detweiler on Feb 8, 2010 3:26 PM EST reply actions

it’s definitely an issue, but just my two cents, usually when you fire someone, you are confident that there is somebody better out there to do the job for equal pay etc. Maybe there isn’t a lot of good hockey GM talent out there?

It’s easy to say that the GM’s are at fault, but if you can’t upgrade the GM position, what is the point of firing the guy you know?

Managing Editor - HockeyOutsiders.com

by HockeyOutsiders on Feb 8, 2010 4:14 PM EST up reply actions

And that’s a very good question. But why are GMs an incestuous breed? There have to be smart and capable GMs just waiting to be discovered.

How does Glen Sather still have a job? What about Don Waddell? There have to be more than 30 (being generous now) competent people capable of running an NHL team successfully. Just because we don’t know who they are doesn’t mean someone does/should.

Broad Street Hockey - Makin' it look mean since 1967.

by Geoff Detweiler on Feb 8, 2010 4:17 PM EST up reply actions

Possibly, but what if there aren’t? Do you really want to jeopardize your organization by taking a chance on somebody that is an unknown? It’s one thing to hire a coach and give them a shot (after all, it’s easy to fire them as SanFilippo points out). It’s not as easy to just undo/find another GM.

Managing Editor - HockeyOutsiders.com

by HockeyOutsiders on Feb 8, 2010 4:26 PM EST up reply actions

I’m not disagreeing with you, since this is the typical “Dance with the devil you know” problem, but is that always the preferred option? I’m not sure.

Broad Street Hockey - Makin' it look mean since 1967.

by Geoff Detweiler on Feb 8, 2010 4:39 PM EST up reply actions

I did, and props to him for saying what a lot of people were thinking.

But how long would it really take Snider to get fed up with Holmgren? I feel like the crap that went down between Clarke and Lindros by itself went on for longer than Homer’s current tenure as GM.

by DragonGirl0583 on Feb 8, 2010 3:48 PM EST reply actions

Oops, that was supposed to reply to Geoff.

by DragonGirl0583 on Feb 8, 2010 3:49 PM EST up reply actions

And that’s a very good point. Plus, the way the organization is run, it will take a LOT to fire a guy. And that isn’t always a bad thing.

Broad Street Hockey - Makin' it look mean since 1967.

by Geoff Detweiler on Feb 8, 2010 4:18 PM EST up reply actions

It isn’t always a bad thing, but in this case it’s hard to tell.

I understand where SanFilippo was going, and it needed to be said. But I’ll play Devil’s Advocate for a second; if GMs turned over as fast as coaches, GMs would be gone before half the kids drafted under their tenure even got to NHL. If your team-building philosophy is changing so often, the players you draft may not fit into the new “plan” by the time they reach the NHL. So the GM changing as fast is a little more complicated.

Back to my own perspective, I think we’re basically in a similar situation as 3 years ago; I think Homer may have the same shortfall Clarke did, where Clarke just wasn’t the right mindset for the post-lockout/salary cap/new NHL era. There are differences, but in my personal opinion I think that’s a factor. But I think in order to hire a new GM you have to find somebody qualified, with some level of vision, before you decide to fire the old one. Then once you find that person, you may have to stick with them a while so you don’t change the plan every 5 minutes.

by DragonGirl0583 on Feb 8, 2010 4:44 PM EST up reply actions