Re: NHL 2011/2012 Thread
 

Has anyone ever been to Vancouver as a visiting team fan to watch a game? Is it safe to do so?

Re: NHL 2011/2012 Thread
 

I think you are correct but still could be a leader off the ice.

Re: NHL 2011/2012 Thread
 

Guessing June 15th last year it probably wasn't.

Re: NHL 2011/2012 Thread
 

Yeah, with SmoothG's 9 year-old cousins raising hell around town!

Re: NHL 2011/2012 Thread
 

:lol:lol

Re: NHL 2011/2012 Thread
 

I want to visit vancouver at some point. It would be fun to go when the Hawks are there. Ive always wanted to go to a game in Calgary as well.

Re: NHL 2011/2012 Thread
 

Who cares what was said before the season? The Flyers finished a whopping 6 points behind the #1 seed in the East, and then proceeded to eliminate the Cup favorites in the first round. Expectations change as the year progresses. Are we supposed to be satisfied with another early exit just because in fucking September they weren't a favorite?

Re: NHL 2011/2012 Thread
 

But they are going to have to beat douchebag Mike Smith

Re: NHL 2011/2012 Thread
 

Lets go and both wear Hawks gear....you will fight the fights though.

Re: NHL 2011/2012 Thread
 

Hey, that d-bag is a former Utah Grizzly (when they were Dallas's AHL club), so I feel a certain amount of loyalty. :lol

Re: NHL 2011/2012 Thread
 

I'm setting the O/U on # of goals Quick lets up in this series at 1.5.

Coyotes will never get it past him.

Re: NHL 2011/2012 Thread
 

Yes because you don't expect 12 rookies to win a fucking Cup.

Re: NHL 2011/2012 Thread
 

Those rookies earned 103 points during the regular season. They destroyed Pittsburgh in the first round. They were favored across the board to beat the Devils.

Expectations change based on performance. What was said before the season is completely irrelevant now.

Re: NHL 2011/2012 Thread
 

hmmm I dont know about that. :shrug

Re: NHL 2011/2012 Thread
 

Hope you're enjoying the Phil Kessel era in Toronto!

Re: NHL 2011/2012 Thread
 

Regular season is the regular season. We should be thankful it didn't take the rookies until round 2 of the playoffs to finally hit the wall.

And what was said before the season is very relevant. Look at Vancouver, Pittsburgh, and Chicago--they were all destined to be SCF material, and it just hasn't happened. Phoenix was supposed to be terrible with Mike Smith--you think if Phoenix doesn't win the Cup the organization is going to say "oh, this season was a complete failure"? No. They'll call it a good season knowing they have a core of players that can do wonders for them.

The Flyers are in the same boat. They weren't expected in the SCF, people thought they lost so much offense they wouldn't be able to bounce out--even if Bryz played out of his mind. No one accounted that Read would put up 25 goals, or Coots would become a shutdown 4th liner, or Schenn would be hurt, or Rinaldo be anything but Mr. Carcillo, and most importantly, Claude Giroux to be almost a Hart finalist.

To say that this team was a SCF contender in September would be laughable--to have people say they would lose Pronger for 2/3rds of the season and still get into the second round, people would laugh. The Flyers exceeded expectations this season, but now they have placed their team in contention for the next few seasons.

Re: NHL 2011/2012 Thread
 

So the "regular season is the regular season," but we can still use preseason expectations to judge a team at the end of the year? Do you realize how asinine that sounds?

Re: NHL 2011/2012 Thread
 

I don't think Chad knows what the fuck he's talking about and has yet to say anything to prove he does. Stick to baseball dude, please. You're a brilliant baseball fan.

Re: NHL 2011/2012 Thread
 

You took those words out of the context. I made no mention of regular season expectations. I said the "regular season is the regular season" in regards to the energy levels of the rookies, and how the playoffs it is more consuming, more defensive, and more along the boards.

Re: NHL 2011/2012 Thread
 

Any truth to the rumor that the Flyers are going to become the 75ers?

Re: NHL 2011/2012 Thread
 

I don't think anything I've said is that obtuse. In all sports, preseason expectations go out the window based on in-season performance. The Flyers were a solid team all year, finished just 6 points out of first in the east, and romped all over the Cup favorites in the first round. If they lost to the Devils in a hard fought seven game series, fine, but to completely roll over and get dominated in every aspect of the game was utterly pathetic.

And yeah, the history of failure in this organization plays a role in my opinion. No one has denied that it's the same shit every year. We were supposed to win a bunch of Cups with Lindros, LeClair, etc. We were supposed to win under the Richards regime. Now it's back to having a "good young core that will compete for years to come." Until they get another title, it all just the same bullshit rhetoric that we've been hearing as long as I've been alive.

And those rookies proved they could do what had to be done in the first round, and then got completely schooled in the second. Part of it can obviously be attributed to the Devils' style of play, but you're kidding yourself if you think the Flyers worked as hard as they did against the Pens. They basically gave up after game three.

Re: NHL 2011/2012 Thread
 

Flyers fans...feel free to make the thread for next year...you have earned it.

Have to agree that expectations change btw. NY Rangers fans would have been happy with a first round win and then be done at season start. But as a #1 seed our expectations have risen to meet the success of the season. For me personally ECF were my minimum when the playoffs started....though now I want to beat NJ badly, if we make it past the Caps that is.

Re: NHL 2011/2012 Thread
 

So, if a Cinderella story advances to the final four, then to the Championship, their expectation should be to win the trophy, and if they don't, the season is deemed a failure because of the changed expectations through their tournament run? I would deem that season a success regardless of the outcome.

Re: NHL 2011/2012 Thread
 

Cinderella story means they had a less then stellar season, so expectations would not be high in playoffs. But a top seeded team with a solid season record should rise their expectations come post season no matter what the pre-season rankings were.

Re: NHL 2011/2012 Thread
 

I understand that as well. But someone above mentioned that as the season (so as post-season goes on, too), your expectations would increase as well. I only drew that example to compare. That being said....

You guys knocked off the supposed "favorite" in the first round, but you got beat by a veteran team, IMO. You guys have a shitty goalie and have known how hit or miss he is all season. Sure, your rookies have proved themselves, so the season for you guys is a successs. Not sure why people are looking at it as a failure.

Re: NHL 2011/2012 Thread
 

First, I am a Rangers fan haha. Second, I agree the Flyers were a little overrated, but they were by far the favorites against NJ so their expectations should be to win that series. Not sure about expecting to win a cup though.

Re: NHL 2011/2012 Thread
 

As far as the Cinderella thing, I think you kind of answered your own question here but there's a big difference between a team making a run and a team that proved throughout an 82 game season that they can compete, and backed that notion up by beating the Pens. The Flyers were not a Cinderella team, but rather a very good, young team that fell apart in the second round.

And it's a failure because it's just another year in the playoffs with nothing to show for it. I can't think of a single other team that competes each and every year the way the Flyers do and hasn't won a Cup. It's fucking sad.

That's just it. If the Flyers played the Rangers in the ECF and lost in 6 or 7 hard fought games, fine, I tip my cap and get ready for next year. But to lose to a team they absolutely were supposed to beat, and in the utterly embarrassing fashion that they did, is sickening.

Re: NHL 2011/2012 Thread
 

Easy, the Vancouver Canucks, the San Jose Sharks and to a lesser extent the Nashville Predators.

Re: NHL 2011/2012 Thread
 

I am not nervous about tonights game at all. Not sure if that is a good or bad thing.

And yes, Flyers fans PLEASE feel free to make the new thread to dispute your teams failures/accomplishments.

edit: :) :hug

Re: NHL 2011/2012 Thread
 

Vancouver and San Jose sucked for most of the 90's. The Canucks have missed the playoffs twice in the past decade. Nashville isn't even in the discussion -- since 2001 they've missed the playoffs three times and finished 7th or below thrice.

The Flyers have been a top tier team for the better part of the last 16 years. They've been a 5th seed or higher 14 times since 1994-95, and have missed the playoffs just once in that stretch.