Carchidi (coherent?) COVID column: 10 random Flyers thoughts

While isolated in my bedroom with COVID and watching a lot of TV — mostly The Flight Attendant (very good), Bosch: Legacy (superb), and the Stanley Cup playoffs (outstanding) — I was thankful the Philadelphia Flyers’ sorry season was over, and these thoughts popped into my head:

1. The Flyers, even when mostly healthy, don’t come close to matching the speed of the playoff teams.

2. Philly needs more players with Harry Bosch’s attitude. Tough. Demanding. Never takes a day (shift) off. More players, as wordsmith Cam Atkinson said, with an “F-you” demeanor on the ice.

3. The more I think of it, the more I‘m convinced Barry Trotz is the coach GM Chuck Fletcher needs to hire. He would bring defensive responsibility to the team. Remember how the Islanders allowed the most goals per game (3.57) in the NHL the season before he arrived, and then surrendered the least amount of goals per game (2.33) in his first year with the team?

4. Claude Giroux is playing like the weight of the world has been lifted off his shoulders. While with the Flyers, Giroux led by his relentless on-ice example, but I never got the impression he liked being the captain.  Since being traded to Florida, all he does is play loose and make plays — and allows the leadership to fall to the guys who have been there a long time (Aleksander Barkov, Jonathan Huberdeau, Aaron Ekblad, etc.), It’s been a great fit.

Terrific setup by @28CGiroux, and great finish by the sizzling Verhaeghe. #Flyers https://t.co/t9wzOIxq4d

— Sam Carchidi (@BroadStBull) May 14, 2022

5. Barry Trotz needs to be hired by Chuck Fletcher. Oh, I said that. I think the cough medication has gone to my head.

PHN story: For Flyers, under-the-radar signing could be a big deal

6. Away from hockey for a second…. As an objective observer, I cannot understand why the Sixers brought back Doc Rivers. He made no worthwhile adjustments in the series loss to Miami, and the team played the last two games with all the intensity of mannequins at Macy’s. Teamwork? It was non-existent. You say Joel Embiid’s injury played a part? I say having Embiid on the court late in the game (when he got injured) with a 29-point lead was enough to get a CYO coach fired.

7. Bring back Joey Mullen to coach the Flyers’ power play.

8. I would have liked hearing what Dave Scott, chairman of the Philadelphia Flyers’ parent company, Comcast Spectacor, had to say about the team’s season and what’s ahead, but he declined an interview request. The late, great Ed Snider once told me you can’t be accessible to the media only in good times.

9. I miss the days when the Flyers’ goal was “Stanley Cup or bust,” and not just qualifying for the playoffs because “anything can happen.” SMH.

10. If the Flyers traded down from No. 5 to No,. 7 and could still draft dynamic center Matthew Savoie — as my hard-working colleague, Marco D’Amico of Montreal Hockey Now, suggests — maybe they should consider a trade with Ottawa? Here’s Marco’s mock draft.

MHN 2022 NHL Mock Draft: Post-Lottery Edition — #Flyers pick winger Joakim Kemell in this one. https://t.co/H3qCnJPFcK

— Sam Carchidi (@BroadStBull) May 14, 2022