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6 Comments (5 conversations)
Jonathan Riendeau
any bird that can’t fly isn’t any bird of mine
Brandon P.
Good stuff Charlie.
Wanted to give props for an excellent point you made on the postgame show last night regarding the ‘25 Draft. I never considered the fact that the Flyers may have finally gotten some lottery “luck” in that entry draft, but in the form of actually losing the lottery. Had Philly retained its position at No. 4 and not dropped down to the sixth spot, where the club would ultimately select Martone, the Flyers may have gone after a center – or screwed up the process in some form or fashion to the effect that Martone would be wearing another organization’s colors.
Desnoyers and Martin, the two centers selected in front of Martone, may turn out to be great players, but neither player would be having the impact on this playoff run as No. 94 has — as well giving Flyers fans enormous optimism for the future. The fact that this team finally used a top-10 pick to land what appears to be a franchise-shifting player (well, one who actually wants to play in Philadelphia) has injected the Briere rebuild and the Flyers faithful with a massive shot of adrenaline.
The draft has been a nightmare for this team and there is no need to mention names like Makar, Caufield or Gauthier – where bad decisions were made in some form that has these players in other cities. The ping pong balls, along with a sound decision by the GM, finally aligned in 2025 to get that superstar we all desperately coveted.
David LaVeck
Yes, Thanks for bringing this up here! Charlie is right, the Flyers draft luck has really turned around since the Quitter fiasco. Give me the Michkovs and Martones all day, players who genuinely want to be a Flyer over a me-first player who might possess comparable skill. A player like that will never amount to anything more than a numbers guy. The Flyers getting Michkov, who dropped to 7 for them was fortunate as was Martone dropping to 6 based mostly on his position. Don’t be surprised that the Flyers might have taken Martone @ 4, if they had picked there. Their current regime seems to want the best players regardless of position. The Flyers are now loaded at wing esp on the right side. Good call, Charlie!
Michael Curran
Marty Party! What’s that guy’s name in Anaheim?
David LaVeck
You cannot really play much better than that especially against a team you just beat in their home arena. To shut them out is just a testament to the Flyers players fully buying-in to their coach’s system. Even Michkov with his limited minutes had a couple of blocks & shots. The 4th line remains relevant and we are seeing the emergence of a genuine superstar in Martone. He is a home run, rather a grand slam prospect who will remain on the top line for the duration of his Flyers’ career! You summed up the Flyers’ key to victory here: “the Flyers forced the Penguins to play a dump-and-chase heavy style, holding the high-powered Pittsburgh offense to a comically-low 31.48 percent controlled entry rate.” Go Flyers!!
Hughbert Green
Good stuff Charlie. You stats kind of confirms what my eyes are seeing. The Flyers seem to be applying a 1-3-1 neutral zone trap that is forcing the Pens out of their comfort zone and into a dump and chase game that they really aren’t built for.