Former Flyers analyst Chris Therien sounds off on team, the Curse of Kate Smith, and more (+)

Chris Therien, the former Philadelphia Flyers defenseman and analyst, was in a playful mood on Twitter the other day.

The man affectionately known as “Bundy” said he would have loved being the moderator at a recent town hall meeting, where fans discussed things with management.

Well, since this space already gave fans a chance to air their gripes during this lost season — you can read it here — we figured we’d give Therien an opportunity to speak his mind.

He did not hold back, saying the Flyers: .

• Need to tear down the team and do a total rebuild.
• May be under the Curse of Kate Smith.
• Should trade captain and franchise icon Claude Giroux, though he believes that should have happened a few years ago.

Therien, free from alcohol for 11 years, purchased the Limitless Recovery Center in Philadelphia last year. He focuses his attention on helping others.

But he still follows the Flyers closely because of his sometimes-controversial podcast, Snow the Goalie. Here are his Flyers views, unplugged.

What would he do with Giroux, a pending UFA who has a no-movement clause but seems willing to waive it?

“It’s funny, a few years ago, I thought there was always going to be a separation gap between Giroux’s age group and those guys who were really good at the time, and a young group of kids — like (Travis) Konecny and (Ivan) Provorov — and I always felt there was nothing in the middle between those guys. There was a gap.”

Therien said the Flyers should have attempted to get Giroux to waive his no-movement clause “three or four years ago and tried to retool,” and get a great return in a trade. “And maybe at that