DarthEbriate

Flyers announcers impressed with Bryson. As are we. Oddly, they haven't mentioned that RaKru will ruin him.

Angri Henri?

Do you go with the rookie #78 or wait until he gets his chosen number next season?

We scored three 5 on 5 goals that period. And not a "their guy got out of the box and is trying to get back into the play" 5 on 5, either.

Well... Eichel's season-long injur(ies) are all the more apparent with Cozens' speed and board-battling. It looks like healthy-Eichel. But Hall as the primary puck carrier. That said: the Flyers are not good defensively this season, so it's not like this is the Isles. Yeah... Asplund should be in his spot. Unless Asplund can take faceoffs, in which case, take a seat Eakin. You know, to see the game from above and get a breather, like Skinner. Good period?

Samson!

If that had happened to Eichel, Reino, Staal... anyone, we'd be livid at this team's lack of pushback and addressing another team's strength/aggression.

Riley!

No response against Lazar. Edit: on faceoff after goal at center. Ah.. there it is, after the second faceoff, their guy tried to pitchfork him. But nothing comes of it. Edit: 2nd faceoff in Flyers zone. Still... no response from the Flyers of any note.

Reino! From Cozens and Hall, easy.

Whoa... Lazar... that's a... interference? Tripping? What was that?

I wanted Cozens to start getting time at center... but marching into the detention area replacing Eichel is not what I had in mind.

Listen, we've got to stop with the swims with the fishes, moves upstairs, apologizes to Vader stuff. 🍺 Just fire him and let him go enjoy life again.

MoJo has only played 11 games this season and has 3 points (injury). But that trade was for two vets with one year remaining on their deal. Rental of soon-to-retire Staal for the playoffs? 2nd round pick. Maybe we could also get an O'Regan-type AHLer who might do something with a change of scenery.

More perimeter skating. I guess Cozens would have to go stand in front of the net on the PP. I'd love to see Reinhart in the playoffs. He hasn't been pushed yet since being in the NHL, but historically he's our only guy who goes after people when Eichel gets roughed up, and although he consistently scores 20 goals, he's also a streaky scorer. Get Reino going in the playoffs and he can be a hero. I think if a team were fired up and gritty, he'd definitely rise up and get grittier. He's also our best trade asset not named healthy-Eichel and the team is losing leverage on him.

Could I do the job completely remotely, using mostly quotes from a film franchise, and only work about... say... 4-12 hours/week including the watching of games? I think I could manage that and my day job, and posting here, if the salary was competitive with whatever the current coach is making.

Always two seven Pu there are.

So in true ROR-JBot fashion, on 6/30 the owners give GM Sheevyn a "trade Eichwalker to LA by tonight" and our return is: Jeff Carter -- veteran leader, Cup-winner, can play 1C - 1 year remaining Jonathan Quick -- veteran goalie, Cup-winner, can totally handle top-goalie role - 2 years remaining Arthur Kaliyev -- 2019 33rd overall 2021 lottery-protected 1st (2022)

Yeah, but we haven't had any center depth since Jack's rookie season when he was still learning to play any NHL defense (ROR, Eichel, Larsson, Legwand). And Angry Larry didn't take over for Girgs at center until the second half of the season. So this is nothing new.

It's time for the Krueger to end....

Precisely. I'm good with a new coach giving some vets the chance to prove themselves for a few games. But Asplund would take over for Okposo for me as soon as that window was pass, even if just to evaluate the youngster. And maybe Asplund can still play center, in which case he's in for Eakin. And I'd remove the captain. The remaining season is a trial for my new captain.

Well, no. But would KA have a job if JBot hadn't refused to cut folks/payroll including CT and the Rochester staff? It's a box we can only speculate so much upon opening.

If Bryson continues to play well, Borgen comes back and settles Dahlin into a second pair, and Ristolainen starts looking like pre-COVID Risto by the end of March... we'll feel better about the defense going into next season. That should put Davidson and Irwin back on the Taxi Squad where they belong. Sadly, McCabe may never don a Sabres sweater again. Joker is the wild card, as always. The problems remain no goalie until Ullmark returns, and a stagnant-by-design offense that relies on a power play but draws no penalties.

I think if it's a real tried-and-true, respected NHL hockey coach (not a Rolston or an Appert or Matt Ellis) that the players know is there to evaluate them through the end of the season, we'll get a vast improvement in effort level and goal-scoring 5 on 5. And by vast I mean trending back toward average/middle-of-the-pack. That'd be great. We won't see a dramatic change in the aggressiveness/hard-to-play/grit of this team. The players we've assembled are not those players. And the ones that are are either hurt, a 4C, or still recovering from the COVID virus. Also, what we won't see are a spike in victories UNLESS we also get an NHL-caliber goalie to hold down the fort until Ullmark returns. JJ has been destroyed by Ullmark's injuries and this season's taxi squad setup. He was coming around -- highly unlikely he was going to be an NHL starter, but an NHL backup potential. He got the AHL All-Star last year, then got called up when Ullmark was hurt. But the kid wasn't ready. He should've gone back down and had Hammond come up or gotten a rental goalie to close out the season because Hutton was so awful last year. Fast forward to this year, JJ wasn't ready, hasn't gotten additional playing time, languished on the practice squad, and still isn't ready. He and UPL should be battling in the AHL with Tokarski on the practice squad. Or Hutton in the AHL as a veteran for UPL. Regardless, Krueger is the main problem. But so is Hutton. A goalie must be part of the solution.

GH-7 Medical Droid: Medically, the players are completely healthy. For reasons we can't explain, we are losing games. Okiposo: We're losing... GH-7 Medical Droid: We don't know why. We've lost the will to play. We need to operate quickly if we are to save the babies franchise.