GDT: #38 | Flyers at Sharks | Friday, Dec. 30, 2016 | 10:00 p.m. ET |CSN-CA, CSN-PH

[Striiker]

The next time Hakstol sets up our all of our lines/d pairs perfectly based on player strengths, weaknesses, common knowledge/logic..will be the first time. Berube was actually better at this aspect of coaching..somehow.

mmmmmmwat?

 

[Curufinwe]

mmmmmmwat?

Berube's lineups were so good he missed the playoffs with a starting goalie who had a .928 SV%.

I think playing Umberger and at times Rinaldo on the 3rd line in 14-15 was his master stroke.

 

[Rebels57]

mmmmmmwat?

I don't recall us having completely useless 3rd and 4th lines for almost a 1 and 1/2 seasons under Berube, like we have under Hakstol. He also had worse players to work with.

Look, Berube was a total joke..don't get me wrong..but Hakstols managing of lines is just as bad.

 

[Rebels57]

Berube's lineups were so good he missed the playoffs with a starting goalie who had a .928 SV%.

I think playing Umberger and at times Rinaldo on the 3rd line in 14-15 was his master stroke.

Berube took us to Game 7 against a Rangers team that went to the Stanley Cup Finals, and we may have won that series had we had a healthy Steve Mason to start it.

Playing VandeVelde 3rd line minutes is worse than playing Umberger on the 3rd line. He was an established middle 6 forward coming off of an 18 goal season in Columbus. He was in his 1st season here and they were looking to find a way to get him going somehow.

Rinaldo saw very little 3rd line time that I can recall.

Berube was completely incompetent as a coach and Hakstol is much better on the whole. He just sucks ass at getting the most out of a lineup by forming the best possible lines.

 

[Striiker]

I don't recall us having completely useless 3rd and 4th lines for almost a 1 and 1/2 seasons under Berube, like we have under Hakstol. He also had worse players to work with.

Look, Berube was a total joke..don't get me wrong..but Hakstols managing of lines is just as bad.

At one point we had Lecavalier, Rinaldo, Umberger, White, Bellemare, and Vandevelde all on the roster, rotating in and out, at one time. Berube was on another level of stupid.

 

[Rebels57]

At one point we had Lecavalier, Rinaldo, Umberger, White, Bellemare, and Vandevelde all on the roster, rotating in and out, at one time. Berube was on another level of stupid.

Those are the guys he had to work with though. Hakstol has been given much better tools to put together a consistent lineup with, and hasn't.

 

[Random Forest]

Those are the guys he had to work with though. Hakstol has been given much better tools to put together a consistent lineup with, and hasn't.

Do you know who Zac Rinaldo's most common linemate was during his tenure on the Flyers? It was Couturier. Yeah, you might be forgetting how bad things were under Berube.


EDIT: Okay, this was misleading since much of that came in 11-12 when Couturier was a 4C rookie and Berube was AC, but still. Any minute they played together was too much, and Berube did it far more than can be justified with "those are the guys he had to work with".

 

[Curufinwe]

Hakstol got basically the same team that foundered under Berube to the playoffs.

Complaining about inconsistent lineups is stupid when we keep getting injuries to top 9 guys, (already up to 36 man games lost between Couturier, Read and Raffl) and then you have players like Schenn who Hak was forced to move from 1LW because he was having a terrible start to the season.

 

[YEM]

Those are the guys he had to work with though. Hakstol has been given much better tools to put together a consistent lineup with, and hasn't.

yep
was berube supposed to healthy scratch a half dozen guys and skate a lineup with 8 forwards?
VdV on the 3rd line, even with our various injuries, is silly

 

[Curufinwe]

Not as silly as Rinaldo on the 3rd line. And VdV has been relegated to a 4th line role this season except when Couturier was injured. He had 6 ES minutes last night.

I'd really love to hear which forwards on the team are getting too many/not enough minutes. The best eight guys are 1 thru 8 in ES TOI/GP.

http://www.nhl.com/stats/player?agg...lter=gamesPlayed,gte,&sort=evTimeOnIcePerGame

 

[Rebels57]

Hakstol got basically the same team that foundered under Berube to the playoffs.

Complaining about inconsistent lineups is stupid when we keep getting injuries to top 9 guys, (already up to 36 man games lost between Couturier, Read and Raffl) and then you have players like Schenn who Hak was forced to move from 1LW because he was having a terrible start to the season.

That's fair.

It would be nice to see what he does when the entire forward group is healthy for a stretch. Maybe he will finally get them rolling.

 

[Angry Hockey Dad]

Tough schedule following the win streak. I think this is another loss. I'd like to see some better line's out of Hakstol for this game at least.

 

[yukumia]

Let's mix it up, for a little balance (and just for fun):

Konecny - Giroux - Lyubimov
Voracek - Cousins - Simmonds
Schenn - Couturier - Weise
Leier - Bellemare - VandeVelde

Provorov - Gostisbehere
MacDonald - Gudas
Del Zotto - Manning

Stolarz

Or just play Stolarz. I love Mason, but it's time for Stolarz to have a stand-on-his-head game tomorrow.

 

[Rebels57]

Let's mix it up, for a little balance (and just for fun):

Konecny - Giroux - Lyubimov
Voracek - Cousins - Simmonds
Schenn - Couturier - Weise
Leier - Bellemare - VandeVelde

Provorov - Gostisbehere
MacDonald - Gudas
Del Zotto - Manning

Stolarz

Or just play Stolarz. I love Mason, but it's time for Stolarz to have a stand-on-his-head game tomorrow.

Swap Coots and Cousins and those are forward lines I would be interested in seeing.

 

[FatTugboatFlahr]

What is the infatuation with Luby? I understand he has potential and it's accentuated by the fact PEB & VDV are devoid of skill, but why the hell is he playing on the 1st line ?

 

[yukumia]

What is the infatuation with Luby? I understand he has potential and it's accentuated by the fact PEB & VDV are devoid of skill, but why the hell is he playing on the 1st line ?

I wasn't actually serious, but was trying to come up with three lines that were kinda good vs. our normal two good two bad.

I agree that Luby is not a first liner. But neither is Raffl, really.

 

[Magua]

Incredibly courteous to schedule the Flyers game on a night with no WJC games of note

 

[Random Forest]

What is the infatuation with Luby? I understand he has potential and it's accentuated by the fact PEB & VDV are devoid of skill, but why the hell is he playing on the 1st line ?

Not every player on the first line needs to be a first line caliber player on his own merit. We just had Leier there. IDK if Lyubimov would work, but I'm willing to try anybody who isn't 76 or 78.

 

[Magua]

Not every player on the first line needs to be a first line caliber player on his own merit. We just had Leier there

Yes. Raffl is not a 1st line player on skill....he's not a 1st line scorer (though he IS a solid 2nd line ES scorer)....but his fit is outstanding there and always has been because Michael Raffl has a 1st line IMPACT on the game. He drives play like an elite 1st liner. Stick him with some actual bona fide 1st liners, and it works. It's no different than Gudas being a top pair defenseman with a good partner *ahem Provy*.

All of this neglects that Raffl, despite missing 10 games now, is tied with Simmer for team lead in 5v5 goals with 7. The incessant need to diminish how well that line works with Raffl and how well he actually does on that line is something I will never get.

And I thought the line actually worked well with Leier's speed and smarts there in place of Raffl. The weak link last game on the top line was Jake who had an uncharacteristically poor performance. But the Leier dynamic worked. I hope we see it again, with Hakstol realizing that was 1 line that actually performed.

 

[TCTC]

Raffl's s% is at 20%. Talk about unsustainable. He's having the same kind of freak year he had 2 seasons ago. Many goals, almost no assists.

 

[Magua]

Both assists are primary....but he plays with 2 of the best playmakers in the league. It's not really a bad thing that they're the ones passing him the puck. His job is to be a 2-way beast and drive play and work down low and try to score.

He could be in for one of his off year high shooting %s, or it could stabilize and his assists jump up a bit to stabilize themselves, but you know what is sustainable? Raffl being an elite play driver every single season. He should NOT be leading the team in 5v5 goals. That's not the only barometer of whether he is doing well or not. He just so happens to be leading them now and people still clamor to drop him, despite being a necessary part in changing the complexion of that top line after it was dead in the water most of the year.

 

[Curufinwe]

Raffl is good for around 30 points per 82 games with with very little PP time.

 

[MacDonald4MVP]

Are we going to see Gordon draw back into line up? Poor pk and all?

 

[bennysflyers16]

The wild card cushion is quickly disappearing, need some points here and end this mini slump.

 

[Adam Warlock]

The wild card cushion is quickly disappearing, need some points here and end this mini slump.

It is crazy how this league is. One loss seems to be way more costly than one win is rewarding.