Flyers 2017 Training Camp Discussion Thread

[boxcar65]

Maybe Morin and Brennan are battling it out for the 7th spot on D

 

[Striiker]

Then what's your point if you weren't implying that anything that happens in a preseason practice is 100% meaningless?

Because my point was pretty simple: Norm MacDonald took a lot of heat for suggesting trying Giroux at wing. And lo and behold the Flyers are already giving it a look themselves. I'm not saying that means Giroux will be a full time wing this season. I'm saying the heat Norm took was way overboard for suggesting an idea the Flyers are apparently tinkering with, as well.

Norm took heat for suggesting it'll be done this year and that Filppula would be a better option.
Many stated we didn't think now was the right time, although we said it was worth considering in the future and may one day be the right choice.

My point is that them tossing combinations together at training camp doesn't increase the chances of it actually happening in real games yet. They're just looking at every possible combination of players for any possible situation and, like has been suggested by others on here, this is a combination that could be used late in games when trying to load up lines. It won't normally happen this season (if at all) because there's no reason to. He's still a center and he'll remain there until he proves he can't play center anymore. But they sure as hell aren't bumping him out of that spot this early and definitely not when he's primed for a bounce-back year.

So the whole vicarious victory lap you're taking is premature and unnecessary. Nothing has happened yet to legitimize the idea, preseason practice lines (this hasn't even been tried in a preseason game) mean nothing.

 

[Striiker]

Maybe Morin and Brennan are battling it out for the 7th spot on D

No they aren't.

There's exactly zero chance Morin is the 7th D. Hextall will have him playing every night in either the NHL or in the AHL, not on the bench like that trashbag Manning.

The defensive pairs in practice, just like the forward lines, are meaningless.

 

[Ghosts Beer]

C'mon, man. He was going on about how Filppula is a better center and better defensively than Giroux and that Giroux should be moved to the wing to accommodate him THIS year. I'm pretty sure 92% of people on this board agree that several years down the line Giroux to wing could be a thing and a good thing.

And he got way more flak for that suggestion than he deserved.

As I said in that thread, if Giroux struggles out of the gate this season, I think they should move him to wing. This year. Why not? He's not an asset as a center 5 on 5 if he's putting up 4th line points per 60 minutes. Filppula can't replace that? And maybe you get G's offense going in the process. And Filppula's no worse than Giroux at defense at this stage of G's career.

Frankly, I'd support a Giroux-Couturier-Voracek line right out of the gate.

 

[Ghosts Beer]

From Dave Isaac's article today:

“It was actually a lot of fun,” Giroux said. “It’s not like I’m against it or I’m not happy with it. If it makes the team better, we have a lot of centermen and I’m up for it for sure.”

It could be just a one-day experiment cooked up by Flyers coach Dave Hakstol.

Or it could stick for a while. Giroux said he “would not be surprised” if he was a winger when the Flyers start their season Oct. 4 in San Jose, but a lot would have to happen before then.
...
Yeah, but there's a 0% chance of Giroux playing wing this season and the idea is "crap."

 

[Striiker]

Yeah guys, this proves it. Since Giroux didn't shoot down the idea, demand to be a center, and complain about even being asked to try wing then there must be something going on!

Holy **** the reaching is amazing.

You want this to be true so bad just to finally legitimize one of the many nonsense arguments you guys like to make.

 

[Les Averman]

Are people seriously this mad that Brennan got to play with the NHL group today over Sanheim? I think Sanheim is going to be a good player, but he's looked really rough in the first two games, and unless he really starts lighting it up for the rest of the week, he's all but guaranteed to be back with the Phantoms on the first pairing. Brennan doesn't have a shot at making the team, but they need 8 guys in each group. If the feeling is that Sanheim will likely end up down with the Phantoms, they might as well give him some practice with guys he'll be playing with. He'll probably be back up with the first group on Thursday, but they're going to move him back and forth. This isn't to say he won't be up with the big club at all this season, but it's pointless to freak out over him not being in the top group after how he's performed thus far in camp.

With Giroux, who knows what they're going to do, but it's certainly conceivable that they'll try a few games with him at LW. If they're confident that Patrick, Couturier and Filppula are capable of splitting the top 9 minutes and they thing Giroux has lost a step at center, it could make some sense to be able to distribute the 3 lines a bit better. I don't think he needs a position change now but I don't think it'd be a grave mistake to give it a try and see how it goes. Hypothetically, something like this could be good:

Giroux---Couturier---Voracek
Lindblom---Patrick---Simmonds
Weal---Filppula--Konency
Raffl---Lehtera---Weise
Laughton
Read

Konecny and Simmonds could be switched because line 3 would be pretty small, but not sure they'd be willing to go with 2 rookies and a sophomore during the regular season, although I'd be all for it.

 

[Ghosts Beer]

Yeah guys, this proves it. Since Giroux didn't shoot down the idea, demand to be a center, and complain about even being asked to try wing then there must be something going on!

Holy **** the reaching is amazing.

You want this to be true so bad just to finally legitimize one of the many nonsense arguments you guys like to make.

You seem upset that the Flyers are toying with the idea of playing Giroux at wing.

Again, nowhere have I said Giroux is definitely playing wing or that anything at all is "proven." In fact, gun to my head, I'd say he probably starts the season at center.

My simple point is that Norm got too much flak for a concept that the Flyers are at the very least considering right now themselves.

 

[deadhead]

The 14 forwards we're going to carry is probably set in stone.

However, during the season dings and injuries happen, if a LW goes down, having the option of moving Giroux or Filppula or Lehtera just provides more flexibility. If Giroux struggles at center, it provides an option to "jump start" him. If Simmonds is traded . . .

That's what training camp is for, trying people at different spots and seeing their comfort zone.

 

[Les Averman]

Yeah guys, this proves it. Since Giroux didn't shoot down the idea, demand to be a center, and complain about even being asked to try wing then there must be something going on!

Holy **** the reaching is amazing.

You want this to be true so bad just to finally legitimize one of the many nonsense arguments you guys like to make.

I respect a lot of your opinions but you guys are coming off as extremely childish here. He's not saying that he's going to play there all season or that he can't play center anymore, but rather that it appears that it may happen sooner than we all expected. The groups are clearly split into an NHL and AHL group and the lines are starting to at least take some semblance of shape. I do agree that they're just experimenting, but that does suggest that they may be starting to consider it as an option, whether they'll act on it or not. However, there's no denying that the guy at question legitimately said today that he wouldn't be surprised if he starts the season at left wing, and it's just willful ignorance to disagree with that...

 

[Striiker]

Actually, upon further thought, I take back what I said.

There's absolutely a chance Giroux ends up on wing to start this year... because Hakstol is an idiot and doesn't know what the hell he's doing with the lineup. That much has been proven already.

I don't know how I forgot that we have this coach.

What I should have said was: Giroux SHOULD NOT be moved to wing this year (although it's a possibility because our coach is clueless), but it may be a good option in the future.

 

[JojoTheWhale]

My simple point is that Norm got too much flak for a concept that the Flyers are at the very least considering right now themselves.

Most of the people in that thread said something to the effect of "eventually, but not now" and/or it making no sense when your other options are Filppula/Laughton/Lehtera. A few people were harsher than needed, so I guess you could specifically be pointing that out, but that's how the internet works.

To be clear, if Giroux starts out on the Wing, that means it's a worthy idea?

 

[backburner]

and that button will make this thread nicer to read.

 

[FLYguy3911]

As someone who follows football, I do find it a little funny that someone can have two good practices and it can be considered having a good "camp".

 

[McNasty]

From Dave Isaac's article today:

“It was actually a lot of fun,†Giroux said. “It’s not like I’m against it or I’m not happy with it. If it makes the team better, we have a lot of centermen and I’m up for it for sure.â€Â

It could be just a one-day experiment cooked up by Flyers coach Dave Hakstol.

Or it could stick for a while. Giroux said he “would not be surprised†if he was a winger when the Flyers start their season Oct. 4 in San Jose, but a lot would have to happen before then.
...
Yeah, but there's a 0% chance of Giroux playing wing this season and the idea is "crap."

I mean it sounds like he was asked if it was possible, and that's how he answered. He also said "I don’t want to talk about it too much because I might not even see a game at the wing," among other mostly robotic quotes about feeling good, and it not being different.

Not saying there's 0 chance, but I don't buy that these quotes are really telling us anything.

 

[Striiker]

I mean it sounds like he was asked if it was possible, and that's how he answered. He also said "I don't want to talk about it too much because I might not even see a game at the wing," among other mostly robotic quotes about feeling good, and it not being different.

Not saying there's 0 chance, but I don't buy that these quotes are really telling us anything.

Hmmm Ghosts Beer, you seem to have forgotten to include this quote in your post. I'm sure that was an honest mistake.

 

[LegionOfDoom91]

As someone who follows football, I do find it a little funny that someone can have two good practices and it can be considered having a good "camp".

Maybe they've been reading Dave Isaac's articles on the matter?

 

[MillerTime2181]

I mean it sounds like he was asked if it was possible, and that's how he answered. He also said "I don’t want to talk about it too much because I might not even see a game at the wing," among other mostly robotic quotes about feeling good, and it not being different.

Not saying there's 0 chance, but I don't buy that these quotes are really telling us anything.

Exactly. In the very same article Giroux himself essentially said he didn't want to discuss it because there was no guarantee they would even try it in a preseason game, let alone a regular season game. I like the idea of the line at least being used in certain situations though. And, as said it may be a move we see down the line.

 

[Striiker]

I respect a lot of your opinions but you guys are coming off as extremely childish here. He's not saying that he's going to play there all season or that he can't play center anymore, but rather that it appears that it may happen sooner than we all expected. The groups are clearly split into an NHL and AHL group and the lines are starting to at least take some semblance of shape. I do agree that they're just experimenting, but that does suggest that they may be starting to consider it as an option, whether they'll act on it or not. However, there's no denying that the guy at question legitimately said today that he wouldn't be surprised if he starts the season at left wing, and it's just willful ignorance to disagree with that...

I'm just pointing out how ridiculous it is that people keep reading too much into preseason games and practices. Quotes to the media are also less than useless.


And I'm in a cranky mood, cut me some slack.

 

[Ghosts Beer]

Hmmm Ghosts Beer, you seem to have forgotten to include this quote in your post. I'm sure that was an honest mistake.

He very well might not. Doesn't change my point at all. I even said if I had to bet I'd say he starts the season at center and that I'm surprised the Flyers are already toying with the wing idea.

And yes, I'm involved in an underhanded conspiracy of trying to hide information from the article I cited. I think the government is onto me, though. I suspect wiretaps.

 

[Striiker]

He very well might not. Doesn't change my point at all. I even said if I had to bet I'd say he starts the season at center and that I'm surprised the Flyers are already toying with the wing idea.

And yes, I'm involved in an underhanded conspiracy of trying to hide information from the article I cited. I think the government is onto me, though. I suspect wiretaps.

I'm just messing with you dude.

I understand what you're saying, you understand what I'm saying, we disagree... no big deal.

 

[Stizzle]

As someone who follows football, I do find it a little funny that someone can have two good practices and it can be considered having a good "camp".

Clearly those 2 practices trumps the data gleaned over tons of actual games played. Just like a couple slip ups in a cluster**** of a rookie game and a players 1st preseason game of the year trumps a 50+ game span of excellent play in the AHL.

It all makes sense! It all makes sense!

 

[Curufinwe]

As someone who follows football, I do find it a little funny that someone can have two good practices and it can be considered having a good "camp".

Sanheim got demoted from group 1 on Monday to group 2 on Tuesday. In my view, making it about Brennan is just a way to not pile on the kid in public.

 

[deadhead]

The biggest reason to doubt Giroux moving to LW on Couts line THIS year is you'd have your two best faceoff guys on the same line. Now once Patrick has some experience, Laughton shows he can win faceoffs and Vorobyev works on his skills in the AHL, that may change in a year.

 

[hatcher]

You seem upset that the Flyers are toying with the idea of playing Giroux at wing.

Again, nowhere have I said Giroux is definitely playing wing or that anything at all is "proven." In fact, gun to my head, I'd say he probably starts the season at center.

My simple point is that Norm got too much flak for a concept that the Flyers are at the very least considering right now themselves.[/QUO G should play wing no matter what and take the good with the bad.