Philadelphia Flyers
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.
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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
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Sam…wishing you a speedy recovery, Sir. Take care.
I’m doing well. Thanks for the kind wishes!
I wish the Flyers would move up and get NJ’s #2 pick and draft the 6’4″ LW Slafkovsky
If you move up Cooley is the guy!
Primarily, thanks for the coverage this miserable year and organization. I hope you get well quickly.
If they dare to trade down, and then don’t get Savoie, then every single person in that organization should be fired.
Finally, if I hear the term “fan experience” uttered one more time by this Comcast mgt team, I will never attend another Flyers game until this franchise is sold. This is not the circus, but right now it is a clown show!!!
If Comcast wants to present a better fan experience, put a competitive team on the ice.
One with some size, speed and grit. Watch the playoffs. The winning teams have size and speed and are tough. And spare us the corporate crap, we have to hear that BS all day long at work. We just want to watch the best sport, and cheer for a Flyers team that cares as much as the fans do.
Good stuff, Mike. And thanks for the kind words!
Sorry for the dump. But very obviously I’ve had it with the Comcast running this team like it’s just another business division of theirs. I long for yet another owner that bleeds orange and black and cares about this team first and foremost. I don’t think they are capable of doing things right. And the last decade is the proof.
I have always enjoyed your coverage of the Flyers. Thanks again for your commitment to the fans and this great sport.
Very well said. Four things to end for a better fan experience:
1. Gritty
2. Ridiculously blaring music during stoppages.
3. The PECOOOOOOOOOO Power Play
4. The current goal song
I don’t understand, how Comcast can just keep this management group, in charge for another year, especially after the attendance and viewership is at an all time low!!! IT BAFFLES MY MIND
It wouldn’t surprise me, at all, if they do trade the pick, in a deal for another aging veteran. That seems to be Chuck’s MO….
If we sign Connor McLennon of the Winnipeg ice to an ELC then we need to stay at 5 overall to have the best chance to draft his prolific teammate Mathew Savoie
Get well soon! Wife is currently going through the same thing. Quarantine is boring.
Also, agree with you on almost all points. Flyers need to get faster. The 20-40 minute games is tied to the fact they spend most of the game chasing the other team and running out of gas. They simply cannot keep up. In that regard, hoping for Cooley or Savoie to bring that speed.
Rangers beat the Pens tonight. Their rebuild ran quicker and far more successful than the Flyers. You’re looking at the next 5-10 years to be dominated by the Hurricanes, Rangers, and likely Devils. Meanwhile, Dave Scott and Chuck Fletcher are trying to say they can fix this. It feels like a con.
I had high hopes for Harden. Not sure what the Sixers can do now. They don’t have many picks over the next few years and their cap space is pretty much gone.
The Flyers can forget about a ‘ Retool.’ This Team and. Organization needs a MAJOR Rebuild. Nothing else will do. Poor Drafts; Poor Trades; and not managing the Cap will do that to any Hockey Club. Plus; the Flyers are poor at evaluating talent.
Agreed. I think Flahr has done a better job than Pryor, but it’s too early to really judge. The number of misses make me wonder if a problem may be in how the Flyers develop players. Are they bad picks, or are the Flyers just bad at training and coaching?
In hindsight, one can say the Flyers should have taken DeBrincat over Allison, Laberge, or Rubtsov. I’m not convinced DeBrincat would have had much success with the Flyers based on how the organization prioritizes a type of player or performance. For another example, look at the two different Caufields the Habs had last year. There’s Caufield pre-Martin St. Louis, who was demoted to the AHL, and the Caufield who went on a tear. Likewise, I think Travis Konecny would be a 70-85 point player on a team that utilized him better.
You make some very valid points about the Flyers’ lack of player development, as opposed to the draft picks being off.
I think Isaac Ratcliffe’s development and Konecny’s decline are both wake-up calls. Ratcliffe is a 6’6″ guy who had two good seasons in the OHL now he’s struggling to be a 4th liner? It just doesn’t add up. True, talent in the juniors doesn’t necessarily carry over to the pros, but there was a good skillset there. I remember scouting reports saying he had nice hands and moved like a playmaking center, which was impressive for a guy his size. He then turned it up a notch to show he could shoot more and bam–suddenly the Flyers had a guy who could play center and power forward. Now? Who knows. Their inability to develop him well makes me pause if Juraj Slafkovsky fell to #5.
I think for player development we should hire TWO coaches if they are interested, Trotz for the Flyers and Jim Montgomery for the Phantoms. Lappy doesnt inspire a lot of confidence