Flyers' History: When Is The Last Time You Felt Good About This Team?

[MJL66]

There is no way you actually believe that. Filppula getting caved in doesn't help the top line score on the PP. That line was still playing the most so it's not exactly like they were being sheltered at ES. They were still seeing top lines. And as always QoT > QoC.

Do you know who averaged the second most TOI for that team? Andrew MacDonald who was out of the league entirely shortly after that. Fourth? Brandon Manning who was also out of the league shortly after that. Fifth? Robert Hagg who hung around a little longer because he was younger but no one else gave him the minutes Hakstol gave him.

Radko Gudas, who was and still is good, was 5/6 for D minutes that year and may have been lower if Hakstol gave Sanheim any rope. Sanheim exploding shortly after Hakstol got fired is a whole other topic.

It wasn't an all-time roster or anything but he certainly had a hand in how the talent on that roster was viewed.

They were having to play less against top lines when the Flyers were able to get the matchups they wanted. That's a fact. You make the points you add here and then realize that Hakstol got that team into the playoffs with the roster he had. With McDonald getting top minutes. It was a solid coaching job that season. No doubt.

 

[ponder719]

Setting aside anything Michkov related?

Couturier winning the Selke.

 

[FLYguy3911]

They were having to play less against top lines when the Flyers were able to get the matchups they wanted. That's a fact. You make the points you add here and then realize that Hakstol got that team into the playoffs with the roster he had. With McDonald getting top minutes. It was a solid coaching job that season. No doubt.

Let me introduce you to a guy. @deadhead

 

[LegionOfDoom91]

The most joy I have gotten in recent years is watching the Flyers media defending AV willingly chasing a Barzal matchup with Thompson in the playoffs during the COVID year.

Another one was that one game Hakstol chased McDavid with Bellemare & VV lol.

 

[MJL66]

Let me introduce you to a guy. @deadhead

LMAO, you don't know me very well.

 

[Shrike]

Yeah the last time I was excited about this team was absolutely before that Devils series. I just remember watching those games feeling like the team was so lifeless and there was no chance they were winning that series.

Everything since has either been a general malaise or outright anger at the team's stupidity, with small peaks of serotonin sprinkled in like Ghost's rookie season or winning the lottery in 2017.

This the exact same moment for me as well. Maybe going into game 2. But nothing has been the same for this organization after the game two loss in that series. It’s a turning point in our history just like the Scott Steven’s hit on Lindros was. Like the game Pronger took Grabovski’s stick to his eye. Like the night Pelle died.

 

[BiggE]

With the writing on the wall basically about who the next coach will be I figured I’d make this.

The title is pretty much self explanatory with what I’m looking for here but it can be both in a micro or macro way.

I’m looking for single moves that you could point to that made you think positively or just all encompassing time and date.

I know everyone’s general sense will probably say 2010 or so.

I’m thinking back myself about micro things and they’re all fleeting moments that have big gaps in between.

Semi in chronological order with what first pops into my head:

Michkov coming over
Drafting Michkov
Ryan Ellis trade
Stadium Series OT Winner
“Winning” the draft lottery for Patrick
Giroux’s MVP season
Ghost’s rookie season
The OT against the Jets

That’s basically all I’ve got off the top of my head but I have a ton of kicks in the balls during that time period.

Little reward to this whole thing.

So let’s hear some highlights that others may have over the last few years that I and others may have forgotten about as we all traverse this shit mountain.

The last time I truly felt good about the Flyers was when they beat Pittsburgh in 2012.

The years of Hextall, Hak, Cuckles, Gordon, AV, Yeo, Torts, Jonesy and Briere have beaten me down to the point where it’s just hard to give a f*** anymore.

 

[Curufinwe]

LOL, yes that was the entire strategy. It's what you have to do when you have a flawed lineup. Filppula got caved in so Couturier and Giroux didn't have to play against top lines as much and were put in better situations. See the big picture. He made the most of what he had.

Well he didn't, cause he played Manning over Sanheim. Riding elite seasons from the 1st line and Ghost doesn't make Hak a good coach, anymore than his one year in Seattle where the team had a crazy shooting percentage.

They got to the 2018 playoffs and got smoked.

 

[Beef Invictus]

I was happy when Hakstok was fired. Then they signed Chuckles and AV and I knew there is no hope.

They looked directly at the 2010s Wild. And they said "Wow. That can be us"

 

[JojoTheWhale]

LOL, yes that was the entire strategy. It's what you have to do when you have a flawed lineup. Filppula got caved in so Couturier and Giroux didn't have to play against top lines as much and were put in better situations. See the big picture. He made the most of what he had.

We do have data on this. Couturier faced opposing top lines moderately more often than league average. So did Giroux.

Filppula played roughly league average opposing Forward strength.

It’s a similar story if you look at opposing D Pairs, but it’s clearly less of a difference.

 

[MJL66]

Well he didn't, cause he played Manning over Sanheim. Riding elite seasons from the 1st line and Ghost doesn't make Hak a good coach, anymore than his one year in Seattle where the team had a crazy shooting percentage.

They got to the 2018 playoffs and got smoked.

Of course they got smoked. They were an average team. Sanheim was a rookie.

 

[MJL66]

We do have data on this. Couturier faced opposing top lines moderately more often than league average. So did Giroux.

Filppula played roughly league average opposing Forward strength.

It’s a similar story if you look at opposing D Pairs, but it’s clearly less of a difference.

My comment was not that Filppula played all of the minutes. It was that he took minutes against top lines when they could get the matchups the Flyers wanted.

 

[CerpinTaxt]

Never thought I'd see a defense of Dink Hlorkbork but I guess when subsequent coaches shit the bed much harder he actually doesn't look that bad in hindsight.

 

[Rebels57]

LOL, yes that was the entire strategy. It's what you have to do when you have a flawed lineup. Filppula got caved in so Couturier and Giroux didn't have to play against top lines as much and were put in better situations. See the big picture. He made the most of what he had.

Did you eat a lot of paint chips as a kid?

 

[Ironmanrulez]

I loved the team for my half life. Couldnt watch the team in Germany till i was 20 years old, cause of problems with availability in TV and Internet. It started with playing EA NHL Games and Lindros, Leclair, Desjardins my most loved players in this game.
I love the team with Carter, Captain Mike, Giroux, Pronger, Timonen etc.
I really only slept 3 hours on some nights or watched the games till the end an walk to work after that without sleep. Nothing couldnt stop me from watching this team. I would say nothing in my life was more important than watching Flyers hockey for years!
When they traded Carter and Richards i truly died a bit inside. But i was hopefull that they will get good players through the draft picks they acquired. And i loved Voracek more than Carter and i really valued Couts. Schenn was a another good piece. Wayne Simmonds i loved also, but he wasnt Richards.

If they wouldnt have traded for Bryzgalov i maybe would have loved the team like before. But Bryzgalov was my 2nd death inside moment. I hated him from the beginning. The contract never make sense. His personality is unbearable.

I lost the faith in the front office and watched with a lot more skepticism on every move.
I was hopefull nevertheless. But the coaches hires, the trades and signings were mostly very bad and predictable bad.

Since then i have had moments of hope like other have said. But never love the team or players like i have loved the old team and players!


Iam confident that Richards and Giroux were traded because of the ego of Bobby Clarke, cause every time the media and the fans talk more about a franchise player of the Flyers than Bobby they have traded him.

Mike Richards (ice hockey) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

However, they then embarked on a remarkable run to the 2010 Stanley Cup Finals, a run in which Richards cemented his captaincy and scored some important goals, which led to renewed comparisons to Bobby Clarke.

Claude Giroux - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

On March 17, 2022, Giroux played in his 1,000th NHL game, a 5–4 home victory over the Nashville Predators. Mere days before the trade deadline, it was widely assumed that this would be his final game with the team. He was presented with a silver stick at a pre-game ceremony by Bobby Clarke, and named the first star of the game despite not registering a point. He became the 40th NHL player to play 1,000 games with a single team, and only the second Flyer, after Clarke

 

[Ironmanrulez]

Is this a little bit of hindsight bias? I thought that when the draft happened most on here thought they had a pretty good crop. I don't remember any egregious picks left on the table ala Buium/Luchanko. Maybe Rubtsov and Laberge still don't amount to much but injuries I think played a pretty big part in that.

It is a shame Wade Allison didn't turn out to be much cause he also looked promising.

If i remember correct, Rubstov was a pick a lot on here were skeptical about cause of the small sample he showed elite production and the russian factor (rightfully or not). Laberge and Allison was viewed as solid picks in my memory