Recently I witnessed a discussion in which two people were arguing whether or not Luke Schenn had a good season. Broad Street Hockey had a great article breaking down his season recently. The individual who was stating that he had a poor season was arguing that his high number of hits mean next to nothing (perhaps true), and that his plus-minus was poor; therefore he is not a good defenseman. That is funny in itself because Schenn was a plus-three, good for third on the team in plus-minus among players playing 10 or more games, and second among defenseman. The …
Flyers face decisions with crowded blueline…again
So I sit down to begin this article, and I write the headline “Flyers face decisions with crowded blueline” and then I think to myself… “wait, didn’t I write something similar last summer”. Of course I go take a look and, sure enough, I did. I wrote almost the same exact article last summer that I am about to begin now. It’s the same story, with different players, and some slightly different circumstances. The major difference is timing. Last summer I wrote the article after the Flyers had made their defensive acquisitions. They knew who they had and it was just …
It pains me to say it…but Ilya Bryzgalov’s comments are hypocritical
Yesterday, Dmitry Chesnokov of Puck Daddy published the transcript of a video interview done by SovSport’s Pavel Lysenkov and KHL.RU‘s Alexander Shevchenko with Philadelphia Flyers goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov. It pains me a little bit to be writing this because I really like Bryzgalov. All hockey related items aside, I think he is a very intelligent, likable guy, and I genuinely feel bad for the hoopla that has gone on around him in the past two years. In fact, I tweeted this yesterday and truly mean it. I kind of want to just hang out with @bryzgoalie30 really badly. He’s a cool dude. …
Poll: Which series has been your favorite to watch so far?
It’s been an exciting start to the Stanley Cup Playoffs so far. It’s been a while since Flyers fans haven’t had a personal investment to start the playoffs, so most are getting to watch as just a fan of the game. There have been a number of very exciting series, but which has been your favorite?
Offseason salary cap woes, Flyers currently sit over $64.3 million limit
On this week’s CBA Explained I didn’t want to just explain how the salary cap functions in the offseason, I wanted to illustrate the current state of the Flyers. It’s no secret that the Flyers have salary cap problems, but I wanted to see just how limited they would be this offseason. The salary cap is calculated slightly differently during the offseason than it is during the regular season. For one, teams are temporarily allowed to exceed the upper-limit by 10% during the offseason for the sake of maneuverability. (The new CBA Summary of Terms does not indicate any change in …
Poll: Who do you want to win the Stanley Cup?
With the Flyers opting (yes…opting…that was it) not to participate in this year’s playoffs, and after a great first night of playoff hockey last night, there are a lot of great storylines. Do you root for a team out West? A former Flyer? An underdog? Who do you want to win the Stanley Cup this year?
Flyers Faithful Staff Playoff Predictions
Whelp, it’s playoff time and unfortunately the Flyers are not participating this year. While some people may be able to temporarily adopt a team during the playoffs, others need more useless methods of fabricating fandom…such as predictions. So here we go! Marcello De Feo This is a weird season and I expect the topsy turvy nature of the season to continue throughout the playoffs. Western Conference Chicago 3 Minnesota 4 Predators fans further lament the loss of Ryan Suter, who helps lead the Wild over the Blackhawks in a stunning upset until the draft comes around, the Preds draft a …
NHL Fandom Survey: Flyers/Penguins best rivalry in the league; Penguins the most loved and hated franchise
A friend recently pointed out an extremely interesting survey he discovered on Reddit. The survey asked for feedback from NHL fans on how they felt about all of the other franchises throughout the league. For every franchise you could choose love, like, indifferent, dislike, or hate. This information was then aggregated in a number of interesting ways. The original survey can be found here; credit to reddit poster WoundedLeprechaun. The analysis was then provided by another poster TeroTheTerror. For anyone that wants the cliff notes version; with respect to the Flyers: 9th most “Loved” team 12th most “Loved” or “Liked” team …
Trenton Titans to cease operations in 2013-2014
As first reported by Mike Ashmore of The Trentonian on Monday night, then confirmed via release on Tuesday afternoon, the Trenton Titans will be ceasing operations for the 2013-2014 season. After five seasons as the Trenton Devils, the team reverted back to their original name of the Trenton Titans for the 2011-12 season and once again became the ECHL affiliate for the Philadelphia Flyers. It’s been a tough two seasons for the Titans as they managed a combined record of 53-73-18, while finishing dead last in their conference last season and 11th this past season. Ashmore conveys that financial struggles …
CBA Explained: the cap; 35-plus contracts; free agency; re-entry waivers; LTIR; NHL Entry Draft
While I believe I’ve covered most of the major changes in the new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) in CBA Explained throughout this season, there are a few other points I wanted to touch on. Some of them are unchanged from the previous CBA, but are worth pointing out. They are all critical details in understanding how the league and its teams function. Wherever possible, I will link to my old CBA 101 articles for more detailed explanations of some of the old CBA’s stipulations that remain in place. From the CBA Summary of terms: The salary cap The 2013-2014 cap …