The New Unending Flyers thread

[kmc1019]

Not sure to be sad or optimistic about this.........and posting the same for the Sixers!

[flyers19rw]

Ersson has shown that when he is asked to play a reasonable workload that he is a good #1 goalie. Maybe Makiniemi will end up being the backup? He’s been fine at LV this season.
Play in the KHL is different than in NA. One of the major differences is the action directly in the crease in front of the net. In Russia it’s not as intense as it is over here. We’ll see if Fedotov and Kosolov can adjust to that type of play.

[Austinfan]

Fedotov was playing at an elite level in the KHL before he was exiled to the Arctic circle for a year.
Carried his team through the KHL playoffs, 22g 16-6 .937 Sv%
Flyers gambled he could bounce back to that level.
Elite KHL goaltenders have a good NHL track record.

Zavragin and Bjarnason both playing well, Zavragin has 2 more years on his KHL contract, Bjarnason should be in the AHL next season.

So right now it's audition time, the next generation is already in line.

[el-pietro]

Michkov scratched tonight. Kolosov injured so Fedetov starts and they've signed the Tampa EBUG to be the backup for the day.
Could be a rough one.

[zambonir]

The EBUG is usually a fun story at least.

I don't currently have ESPN+ and I guess they have this one exclusively tonight.

[el-pietro]

Flyers have been really good tonight to my inexperinced eyes. They are creating a tonne of big chances but cannot finish, or they make a mistake right at the last second.
I think it's been their best performance in terms of chance creation since the 7-6 game vs the Wild a couple of weeks back, but they can't finish.
Fedetov has been solid. Don't think he could do much about the goal which was a bit of genius from Kucherov. Though he does seem to drift from his goal a bit.
Lots of positives through two periods including the Penalty Kill remaining very good.

[el-pietro]

Flyers win in the shootout. Fedotov had a really great game, allowing just the onr goal and making two stops from two shots in the shootout.
Flyers had the shot advantage for I think the first time this season. Was Michkov the problem!?

[Aquapong]

Flyers win a shootout!

[Aquapong]

The talking heads are making too much of this Michkov scratch. He seems lackadaisical at times and has had a good amount of bad turnovers. That’s gotta stop. The kid has got to recognize he’s not in the KHL anymore and turnovers will cost you.

[Austinfan]

Flyer fans going ballistic over the benching, b/c most of them are stupid.
Michkov is 19, rookie in the NHL, playing 17 minutes a night, and was awful at 5x5 the last half dozen games.
Watching him, he looked tired, a step slow.
TK and Farabee also played at 19, TK played 70 games at 14 minutes a night, Farabee also 14 minutes a night.

Doesn't take a genius to figure out that giving the kid a game off once a month is going to help his legs and give him a chance to step back and watch.

He's 19, people have to temper those expectations. In 3 years he may be a budding superstar, but it's not going to be an overnight thing.

[el-pietro]

Ersson back in goal tonight. Michkov scratched again.

[xogfog]

Flyers played a solid game taking the Panthers to overtime, had a lot of chances to win in overtime, went to a shootout and the Panthers won the shootout and the game 4-3. Good point on the road.

[el-pietro]

Overtime was wild. Just non stop attack. Flyers had more than enough chances to win it in OT but Bob came up big when it came down to it

[bkeich]

I understand Michkov sitting one game, in fact I even had a post suggesting it, but why 2 or more? Now it seems like punishment or a demotion (unjustified) or more of Tortorella’s bad personnel management.

Quietly healthy scratch him once, you don’t have to say anything about it, just keep it in the locker room. Just say it is to help him learn and load management, no comment needed on any issues in his game. By doing it this way you build up an antagonistic relationship with players.

[bkeich]

Overtime was wild. Just non stop attack. Flyers had more than enough chances to win it in OT but Bob came up big when it came down to it

Nice to see Tippett get shootout goals in 2 straight games.

Nice 3rd period comeback tonight to get a point against a superior )at least so far) team.

[Austinfan]

Michkov will be fine. People want to force feed him, but that won't help him develop.

Kucherov started at 20 years old, played 52 games at 14 minutes a night, Next three years they gradually increased his workload and responsibilities.

Watching Michkov, he doesn't know how to play 5x5, he's great in the O-zone, but free lances a bit, but lost in the neutral and D-zones. Which is not surprising, in the KHL at 18 he was playing on a bad team where he was the offense. Had he played on SKA, he'd been playing 12 minutes a night on the 3rd line and would have been benched if he didn't play defense. He learn. It'll take time.

Brink is 23, and you can see the improvement from last season, skating faster, working harder on defense and the back check, learning to use his body, etc. Still not great at even strength, but improving.

[el-pietro]

They've looked a lot better in the two games without Michkov, won the shot battle in both and just looked competitive.
I don't know if that's because they are better without him, or if his benching was a reminder for everyone that they weren't playing well enough or if it was just a coincidence in a small sample.

[Austinfan]

I think it's a coincidence to some extent, but he was playing too big a role for a kid who really doesn't understand 5x5 play right now.

I think Flyers are using Carolina as their template, and that means everyone has to play up tempo, forecheck, backcheck, win board battles, etc. Can't just cherry pick or wait for a pass.

[Aquapong]

Tight game here with the Sharks. Emil Andrae has been playing quite a bit the past few games. I was skeptical of him due to his size, but he seems pretty solid.

[xogfog]

Another shootout win, a bit disappointing that they had a 3-0 lead and couldn’t hold it, but, 2 points is never a bad thing.