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11 Comments (7 conversations)
guadzilla
A bit of armchair QBing there, Charlie – if he had kept the lines umtouched and they didnt score, one could very easily have made the argument that he should have tried to shake things up, given how ineffective the lineup was.
That’s the problem with using the benefit of hindsight in these cases – it is easy to talk about “what ifs” when there is no way of determining whether they would have been successful.
Charlie O'Connor
AuthorNo, I thought it was a bad move the second it happened. If you’re trying to score a gamewinning goal on a PP, put your most talented offensive players out there. It’s really that simple.
Max
It’s not even close to that simple. You’re using a ridiculous metric “most talented offensive players” to determine who is best for a specific situation. Despite the fact its been demonstrated over and over that talent does not necessarily equal production (Yakupov, Drouin, etc…). If you want to argue that Michkov and Tippet are better on the PP than Brink and Cates, fine. But suggesting that Brink and Cates don’t bring a consistent enough production to at least compare to Michkov and Tippet (the two most fickle and inconsistent “talented player we have) who were playing awful on the PP that night is something I’d expect from a casual fan who doesn’t really watch Brink and Cates. Not you.
Matt
I would rather they play the young skill players and miss the playoffs then keep playing the safe players and squeak in, just to get smoked in the first round.
guadzilla
I think being competitive is a part of making sure the young skill players remain focused. If the team doesnt care about the results, it is very hard for the athletes – especially younger ones – to remain motivated and work very hard. As a famous Philly sage once said – “for whom, for what”.
TK himself made a telling comment after scoring his 500th point that he only cares about making the playoffs. Now imagine the team sending a message that they dont care about wins. What’s motivating him to bust his chops? And what ripple through effect does that have on the rest of the team?
As someone who played a racket sport at a very elite level, I can vouch for the fact that if you take away the outcome, the motivation to compete drops, no matter what you do.
guadzilla
Sorry, hit reply a bit too early.
I DO agree with you that they shouldn’t hinder the development of the core young players just to win. But they need to find a balance. Eg, earn that playing time in minutes 55-60 of the game by what you do in minutes 00-54, for example. Making a mistake that results in a L isn’t necessarily the best way to develop a player either.
Second part of that is – if you are building a culture of earning ice time, then it has to apply to everyone. You can’t have double standards: that’s the kiss of death for the locker room.
stoolsamplepresidente
Sadly the Flyers organization came across as out of touch bullies in the stands for this one -https://x.com/njdgritty/status/1999275056124559501
Michael Kulhowvick
Charlie with MM I’m less concerned with the not being in complete physical shape then I am in some of the passing and sloppy stick handling. There have been some turnovers but also a lot more near turnovers. The passes aren’t as crisp or accurate as they need to be. Especially when he is at the flank and passing back to the point – those passes are almost sending the D out of the zone. Thoughts?
Michael Curran
Coots also could have done a better job on Stone. He acted as if there was no one coming behind him.
Michael Sheahan
Veteran Flyers who have too many “Head up A**” moments for as long as they have been NHL’ers
TK
Coots
Brink
Tippett
The many moments of careless moves by this group more than others, but a few others as well is taking away from the start of what could be finally something special here with this team. That was really a great game to watch. The ending was truly a bummer. And just stupid. As you correctly pointed out though, it took three different thoughtless flyer moves to give up the winner.
David LaVeck
I couldn’t agree with you more that Tocchet and the vets, TK & Coots are to blame for this loss. Instead of feeling good for being able to hang with the Golden Knights this game was a series of mistakes by the aforementioned players and coach. For a staff that is trying to limit the communication with Michkov they sure don’t mind messing with his ice time. Any opportunity to limit him they will take, it really is mind boggling. I swear they would rather prevent a goal than score when trailing or tied. You can only win by scoring more. I am not sure if Matvei is ever going to find his scoring touch in this environment. How can you blame him at this point?