NHL 2019-2020 Season

[Arfguy]

Last night, my Flyers were deadlocked with Toronto with the score tied 1-1 halfway through the third period in a white knuckle affair, then....BOOM went the dynamite! The Flyers went berserk, scoring five goals in the last half of the period in what ended up being a 6-1 curbstomp of the Leafs. After notching a franchise tying 24 points in November, the Orange and Black continue being hot as December begins.

They laid a beating on the Eichel-less Buffalo Sabres tonight.

[Arfguy]

I am watching the Minnesota Wild vs. Arizona Coyotes game and it is a free-for-all! It is now 7-5 Minnesota.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

They laid a beating on the Eichel-less Buffalo Sabres tonight.

Yeah, three power play goals which was pretty impressive. The only negative from last night was that goalie Carter Hart failed to keep a clean sheet (shutout). Oh, well, them’s the breaks.

[Arfguy]

Yeah, three power play goals which was pretty impressive. The only negative from last night was that goalie Carter Hart failed to keep a clean sheet (shutout). Oh, well, them’s the breaks.

Flyers are playing well. Looks like all they needed was some confidence in their goaltender.

[Arfguy]

Merry Christmas to all the hockey fans.

[Arfguy]

Looks like it was finally time, but Peter Laviolette was relieved of his duties as the head coach of the Nashville Predators.

It does beg the question...what went wrong? Not just with Nashville, but also with a few teams that looked to have made all kinds of right moves, but hasn't paid off. I look at the following teams:

Nashville Predators
San Jose Sharks
New Jersey Devils
Florida Panthers

I would have to say that all of the above mentioned teams had their respective GMs make pretty good moves to increase their chances of making the playoffs. San Jose basically brought back the exact same team, gave Karlsson an extended contract, made some really smart moves with Timo Meier and Kevin Labanc and brought back fan-favourite Patrick Marleau. So what happened?

Some will say that both Nashville and Florida got exactly what they were missing the last few years to ensure they would be all but a guarantee to make the playoffs: Nashville got their man in Matt Duchene and Florida got two-time Vezina trophy winner Sergei Bobrovsky. Yet, here they both stand outside, looking in.

I can see that it was too early to assume New Jersey was going to be a playoff contender, as they had a lot of young and inexperienced pieces, mixed with uncertainty in net and a very injury-plagued former MVP in Taylor Hall. In the end, Hall got trade because New Jersey was nowhere close to competing.

So what went wrong?

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Clearly, Nashville underachieved. I don't follow them (my Flyers give me headaches enough), so I don't know if injuries hit the Preds at key positions, resulting in their slide. Something else to consider, I think I've heard that Laviolette has a shelf life and that his intense coaching style eventually leads to burnout....for the players that is and his message falls on deaf ears.

[Arfguy]

Clearly, Nashville underachieved. I don't follow them (my Flyers give me headaches enough), so I don't know if injuries hit the Preds at key positions, resulting in their slide. Something else to consider, I think I've heard that Laviolette has a shelf life and that his intense coaching style eventually leads to burnout....for the players that is and his message falls on deaf ears.

I can see that happening. The thing about Laviolette is...he had a pretty stacked Carolina Hurricanes team when he won the Stanley Cup. Eric Staal hit 100 points that one season and never again. Rod Brind'amour playing some of his best hockey as the captain and once, like Staal, the best year from Cam Ward the goalie, who got a Conn Smythe as the playoff MVP, if I'm not mistaken.

The year Laviolette went to the Finals against Pittsburgh, it was clear that his team ran into a much superior Penguins team. That Penguins team was just too much. Crosby, Malkin, Letang and newly acquired Kessel providing a ton of firepower, while we saw the emergence of Matt Murray.

I honestly don't think there were many teams that could have beat Pittsburgh that year and I think Nashville tried to put together a team that could score, since their defence has been amazing for a lot of years. Problem is, they couldn't get scoring and they still continue to struggle with scoring now. I don't know how you have a team with Filip Forsberg, Viktor Arvidsson, Matt Duchene, Ryan Johansen playing in front of Roman Josi has trouble scoring.

I don't know what John Hynes will be able to achieve with the Predators, but you are right WPP. The Nashville Predators of this season are severe under-achievers. I don't know if the GM made any false moves in putting this team together, but it seems they are missing a pulse.

[Arfguy]

There goes Ray Shero. I don't know what else he could have done to make the team better, but he is no longer the GM of the New Jersey Devils.

[Arfguy]

My boy Ovi got a hat trick on the 15th anniversary of the amazing goal that he scored against the Phoenix Coyotes. He is now one goal away from tying Mario Lemieux for 10th all time in goals scored in the NHL.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Flyers head coach Alain Vigneault after a 4-1 loss to Montreal Thursday night when a reporter asked if the team had an emotional letdown after beating Stanley Cup champ St. Louis the night before:

"You know that word that starts with B?"

Talk about telling it like it is! HA!

[Arfguy]

Flyers head coach Alain Vigneault after a 4-1 loss to Montreal Thursday night when a reporter asked if the team had an emotional letdown after beating Stanley Cup champ St. Louis the night before:

"You know that word that starts with B?"

Talk about telling it like it is! HA!

I can't decide where the Flyers will fall this year, as far as the playoffs are concerned. Some nights, they look like world beaters. Other nights? Not so much.

In other news...my boy Ovi got 8 goals this week, including another hat trick today, to put himself 2 goals shy of 8th place in all time NHL goal leaders. We are witnessing history.

[Arfguy]

Man, this place is a ghost house. No chatter.

There's so much great stuff going on in hockey. Ovi is now just 2 goals away from 700. The man loves scoring. My Oilers won their game against the Predators in come from behind fashion, with a two goal performance from Legendary Leon Draisaitl.

The Columbus Blue Jackets somehow found another incredible goalie in Elvis Merzlikins, who has 5 shutouts since entering the League. Elvis is a big part of the reason why Columbus is in the playoff picture. We are about to hit Trade Deadline in about two weeks, so who knows what kind of players are going to be moved around.

Ilya Kovalchuk has found a home with Montreal, winning the game with an OT winner against Toronto. So much good stuff.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Well, Ovi didn’t score any goals last night as his Caps were blitzed by my Flyers 7-2. A most satisfying win for the Orange and Black.

[Jackmando7]

Zucker to Pens, thoughts?

I think it was a steep price to pay by the Pens, but the Wild had no motivation to move him otherwise.