There are really no words to explain what has happened to this Flyers team except for pathetic. So who is to blame for this collapse?
First let me ask you this, what are the lines for the Philadelphia Flyers, excluding the Briere line….I bet you cannot think of any set lines now can you? That is because Coach Peter Laviolette never once had 4 set lines, he is continually switching up the lines every game causing too much confusion.
HOW DOES HE EXPECT PLAYERS TO BUILD CHEMISTRY WITH ONE ANOTHER!?
Seriously though, how can a coach do what he did all season long with rotating players in and out of lines and lineup and expect to win a Stanley Cup? And that’s not the half of it; he did the same thing all season long with the goaltenders!
I can count about 4 different times so far in these playoffs where Laviolette started Brian Boucher and continued to keep him in the game after letting in soft goals. Instead of pulling Boucher and giving the Kid Sergei Bobrovsky his job back, Laviolette continued to let the Flyers get into a deeper hole. Why Peter why?
Since I am on the goaltending, why did Laviolette keep Michael Leighton in the AHL all season long? Then put him into a playoff game against the Sabres? What did he really expect to happen, Leighton to save the day? I have been saying all season long on how the Flyers needed to get Leighton back into the lineup after he recovered from his surgery and get him ready for the playoffs. I mean after all he did get the Flyers to the Stanley Cup last season!
The Flyers depth, or as they call it, is no deeper than a puddle of water. The defense has looked like garbage so far in these playoffs and many will argue by saying it’s because Chris Pronger is out of the lineup. Ok that’s fine but what about guys like Kimmo Timonen, Andrej Meszaros, Braydon Couborn, and Matt Carle? Meszaros is looking like he did in Tampa Bay and Timonen is just showing his age finally. Come on Flyers it may be time free up some cap space and getting Timonen out of town and bringing up Danny Syvret.
Onto the offensive “depth”. First off, WHY DID THE FLYERS TRADE SIMON GAGNE!? It’s clear as day he is needed right now, but wait…you traded him. Traded him after he basically helped the Flyers offense get into the Stanley Cup finals! Oh that’s right, you wanted to build a deep depth in defense. Yeh seems to be working out good thus far.
Where has the captain Mike Richards been!? Is this guy even a true leader? I will be the first to defend Richards anytime someone tries to bash him, but since these playoffs I cannot defend him anymore. The lack of leadership is absolutely pathetic and should not be tolerated in the NHL if you wear the “C” on your jersey.
MIKE RICHARDS YOU SHOULD BE EMBARRASSED WITH YOURSELF!
Kris Versteeg, the “man” who won the Stanley Cup with the Chicago Blackhawks now plays for the Flyers. How many Flyers fans do you think got a hard on when they found out he was acquired?! I can guarantee everybody and their mother thought this guy was going to help the Flyers win a cup. There’s a reason why he was traded from the Blackhawks to the Maple Leafs, and there was even a bigger reason on why the Maple Leafs got rid of him!
WAKE THE PUCK UP FLYER FANS!
Villie Leino, after grabbing all the Flyers fans attention last year in the playoffs now is a distant memory compared to this playoff run. I will be the first to tell you that Villie Leino is not a good hockey player. He holds onto the puck way too much, only if he shot the puck more often, who knows what, would happen. Hey, it can’t be any worse then what he has down so far, NOTHING! Yeh, yeh, he had the OT goal for the Flyers back in the quarter finals, by being in the right place at the right time. But again just like with Versteeg, there is a reason on why the RED WINGS did not keep him around. The RED WINGS! Not an Islanders team, the RED WINGS!
I could go on and on by breaking down the entire Flyer players but there is no point. I felt it was best to point out the upsets that I knew would fail after all the Flyers fans jumped on the wagon.
The best part of this whole collapse is that Nikolay Zherdev was the ONLY Flyer player playing with any kind of heart in game 3 against the Bruins. You know the guy everybody wanted out of town for his “lack” of defensive play.
I have been watching this team since I was 10 years old, and what I witnessed in game 3 against the Bruins was the same Flyers team I watched while I was growing up. Same team, different era.
The series is not over yet, but it will be soon. You don’t win the lottery two years in a row. And if the Flyers do somehow pull another upset, I will be convinced they had this master plan from the start. But, the Bruins are way too physical for this soft “Broadstreet Bullies” team.
Last note, check out this interesting stat for Philly Sports. The Giants knocked out the Phillies and went on to win world series, the Packers knocked out the Eagles and went on to win the super bowl, if the Bruins knock out the Flyers will they win the Stanley cup?
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LOL right on George, right on. Laviolette to me is also the main problem here.
Flyers had their chance last year to win the cup after getting VERY lucky in the playoffs. That won’t happen again anytime soon for this team.
GO SHARKS GO!
If Thomas keeps playing the way he’s been playing and the Bruins keep up their forecheck, no team left in the playoffs will beat them in a series.
Well now NO one saw this sweep coming. Let’s NOT forget the Canadiens gave your Bruins a hard time and a 7 game series. The Flyers were just NOT the Flyers this year something was going on in that locker room and it took a tole on this Flyers team. (as it does every year)
I expect the Bruins to knock out the Lightning, but what’s up with Patrice Bergeron? Another concussion? If so this may hurt the Bruins, so until we find out what his deal is, the Lightning have the best chance of winning the Eastern Conference Finals. Thomas will see more lethal shooters then he did against the Flyers. Stamkos, Lecav, St. Louis, Gagne, Bughenhimer (sp)…
But I will say this, Bruins looked like a machine against the Flyers. And played with a chip on their shoulders from last year’s collapse.
The Bruins could definitely be in trouble without Bergy. Gonna be a good time for the #2 overall pick Tyler Seguin to show what he’s made of. But the Bruins are too strong in front of the net for the lightning, and all year they dominated Tampa’s 1-3-1 neutral zone with chip and chase entry. I’ll bump it to Bruins in 7.
Good insight.
I have been on board with Steve Yzerman and Guy Boucher since game 1 of the regular season, I cannot go against Guy Boucher, the guy is a genius. Your right about the Bruins dominating the 1-3-1 BUT you have got to think Boucher has something else up his sleeve. We all knew since game two that the Bruins were knocking out the Flyers, so Boucher has had time to come up with something here.
I personally believe this series comes down to a coaching duel, who ever gets the upper hand wins this series.
The only concern I have for the Bolts, is their physicality. Can they keep up with the Bruins and the hitting game? Also will the Bolts get Simon Gagne back in time? He is expect to be back, but they have been saying this since game 3 of the Capitals series. These are my two biggest and only concern for the Bolts, if they can overcome these, they should take this series.
Either way, this is going to be a great series to watch in my opinion.
Only time will tell…but I am also going to bump my prediction in favor of the Bolts in 7.
They should just put Tampa’s GM Steve Yzerman on the ice against Boston’s President Cam Neely. That pretty much sums up the nature of both teams. Yzerman’s incredible point numbers vs Neely’s incredible penalty numbers haha. Both legends in their own right.
I agree Bergeron would be a huge loss considering his dominance in the faceoff dot these playoffs.
Yes the Lightning have probably to top line of snipers out there. They will give Thomas a harder time than the Flyers did. But Lightning defense can match up against the Bruins hard-nosed offense. This is going to be a great series. Classic sniper offense vs classic beat-em-up offense. We can all agree this is going to be fun to watch. Bruins in 6.
I am still looming over this one, going to see what the deal is with Bergeron. As for the Bolts defense, yes a little shaky, but you have Dwayne Roloson in net to steal games for them as he has done all season long.
UPDATE: PATRICE BERGERON DID SUFFER A CONCUSSION..BOLTS IN 6