[blueandwhite]

The Flyers found out about it during warmup pre vs. the Leafs last night. That could not have been a good thing.
Hey forsberg's going to nashville - another rat's left the ship - play well!
So they lost, and played very uninspired, but I think this has been a season long malady, not just a post forsberg trade problem. 4-2 final.
The numbers for Philly are horrible. They've got one of the worst power plays, goals against, goals for - their plus minuses are disgusting (captain hatcher has the second worst on the team and it's something like minus 26!) - then they have one of the best penalty kills and something like 11 shorthanded goals.
Gagne, good. Niittymaki, so -so - but better than a guy named Leighton who, after being scored on 3 times in the first period, was pulled at 14:11 and replaced by the Finnish goalie.
Esche is rotten these days too.
We used to have some Philly fans on this board - I wonder what they're thinking now?

[ThePundit]

They made the right move. If you're going to re-build, do it all the way. But they never should have gotten Mike York and Alexi Zhitnick from the Islanders. They added 5 million in salary and Randy Robataille and Freddy Meyer having been as effective as these two guys.

[Phils20]

They are thinking, #$% happens. A team that has been pretty strong for about 12 seasons is having an terrible year! I'm a big Flyers fan, and it is sad that no one talks about them when they lose.

Local sports radio isn't talking about them either, but I am and always will be a diehard hockey fan.

They shall be back, sooner than some think. They had been playing better hockey, not that they could get much worse. It's hard to complain as a fan, but I still do!!!

[americanwit]

They need to revamp their whole team, long gone are the days of the big bruisers, this league is all about speed and the flyers have non. If they can get some quicker guys then they can start to compete again.

[soriano33]

I think this is a move towards rebuilding, a move that they desperately need to make. THey have not adjusted to the new era of the NHl. Philly is slow and needs to revamp speed and youth. Out with the old in with the new, Philly is a great hockey town and team, so lets get'em back on track!

[Gotham Dark Knight]

Originally Posted by americanwit

They need to revamp their whole team, long gone are the days of the big bruisers, this league is all about speed and the flyers have non. If they can get some quicker guys then they can start to compete again.

You can always shorten the size of the rink to make it a bit more physical...I believe the old Boston Garden was a few feet more narrow...which lend itself well to bruisers like Terry O'Reilly...perhaps if they compact the rink they can compete...

[ThePundit]

Originally Posted by Phils20

They are thinking, #$% happens. A team that has been pretty strong for about 12 seasons is having an terrible year! I'm a big Flyers fan, and it is sad that no one talks about them when they lose.

Local sports radio isn't talking about them either, but I am and always will be a diehard hockey fan.

They shall be back, sooner than some think. They had been playing better hockey, not that they could get much worse. It's hard to complain as a fan, but I still do!!!

Am I right about York and Zhitnick? The Flyers took on about 5 million more dollars in payroll for their mediocre play. Also, what do you think about their coach, Stevens? Do the players play hard for him? Or are they going to have to go in a different direction?

[blueandwhite]

I'm waiting for Steven to get the hook - but I think they want to maintain some kind of consistency. Is it his fault? the coach usually gets the first nod.
I thought Zhitnik was a great buy- 23 points a minus one ona team where the average plus/minus is closer to -10. I think he's one bright spot - him and Gagne.