Dabura

Put it this way: it's no coincidence that the Flyers would have three guys like that on their roster.

Not necessarily, but point taken. I don't think, though, that he should necessarily be held to the goal-scoring standard you're talking about. Ideally, if he's playing on one of the top lines, he's the muscle, the energy guy, the spark plug, the guy who does the hard things -- not unlike Homer. Given the right linemates, I believe he could really excel at the role on the second line, maybe even the first.

I'm a bit easier on Flip because he's clearly a playmaker first and a goal-scorer second, very much like Datsyuk (who, by no coincidence, isn't exactly blowing away goalies left and right this season). Hudler, on the other hand, is on the team because of his goal-scoring touch. If he's not lighting the lamp, he's essentially useless, whereas Flip has some value even if he isn't scoring. Additionally, he made a big statement last season by showing he's capable of being a top-6 guy when the going gets rough and everything is on the line. And not just capable years from now -- capable now. So he has a few things going for him. The same really can't be said of Hudler because, again, he's a pretty one-dimensional package. Certainly he's far from reaching his full potential, but even at his zenith, I don't see him being terribly special. A big part of that obviously has to do with his size. If you're smallish and you want to be a scoring line staple in today's NHL, you need to have a really special quality or two, be it ridiculous wheels or even just consistent goal-scoring. From what I've seen of Hudler, he doesn't show signs of having something like that. I could be wrong, and believe me, that would be a welcome surprise. But I don't think I am.

I feel like in the span of just a few posts we've solved all of the NHL's problems. :beerbuddy: But seriously, something needs to be done about this organization. And I don't mean that in the common knee-jerk "Well that was just plain rude! Harumph!" sense. There is clearly something wrong with the Flyers' culture, and it's a bona fide threat to people's well-being. Almost kill me once, shame on me. Almost kill me twice, somethingsomething slap on the wrist. Almost kill me thrice....

That's why Burke is using Skittles, not dollars. As in, a trail of Skittles leading directly to the Honda Center.

I'm not overly concerned about Franzen; he's had some bad luck with injuries, which has made it hard for him to get a rhythm going, let alone gel with players he wouldn't even necessarily gel with in the first place. Stick a healthy Franzenstein on a line with Hank or Dats and Hossa and I guarantee you that line would eat fools for breakfast.

"The Phoenix Mummies," anyone?

And my point is these aren't the guys you should be pointing your finger at -- especially in light of your implication that a forward needs to score or fight or else he's useless. Which is just wack. Knocking guys in the bottom six for not contributing enough offensively is like knocking guys in the top six for not grinding and fighting enough; yeah, you can make that argument, but it would make a whole lot more sense to get down on the people who are supposed to be serving those roles in the first place. For example, Hudler is on this team to score goals. His output thus far is inadequate. Do you ***** out Maltby for this? No, you ride Hudler. Conversely, let's say Maltby's not meeting expectations as an energy line anchor. Do you then ***** out Hudler for not grinding and agitating enough? No, you ride Maltby. As a coach, you want to avoid cutting players slack and swapping responsibilities (and, by extension, accountability), as all that will ultimately give you is half-assed performance. The rules change when your roster is injury-riddled, but that's not the case with this team right now. But getting back to Draper and Maltby.... Could they stand to contribute more offensively? Sure, but so could everyone else -- especially the guys on the secondary scoring line, who aren't exactly living up to their line's title. If you're going to point your finger, aim it at those guys. And while you're at it, get off this silly point about Draper and Maltby being on the team for phantom reasons and worthless intangibles. I played hockey most of my life and enjoyed a high level of success, so believe me when I say what a guy like Draper brings to the table is extremely valuable and entails more than "giving rah rah speeches" and "showing you how to work out." I'm not exactly the classiest guy in the world, but pissing on a player like Draper like you're doing is not cool.

That entire organization needs to be buried in a landfill in the middle of a desert. And can I just say, THANK YOU, Versus, for broadcasting this game. Nothing like a little nationally televised headshot to help the NHL's image.

No surprise.

Apparently you guys missed the part about chocolate and puppies. A puppy's smile is worth 10 grand, easily.

Seriously? Draper is a top-notch two-way grinder who can always be counted on in the faceoff circle, on the penalty kill, on the backcheck, along the boards in the offensive zone, and in the locker room. Maltby's a savvy agitator who does his job as well as anyone in the league and plays a solid two-way game. They're not here to score or fight, and they shouldn't be expected to pick up the second line's slack in the scoring department, nor should someone like Kopecky or Drake. Hey, Kenny, guess what: You're a general manager, not a masochist. No one's impressed by this oh-so-valiant attempt to "stick with the young guys" and "tough it out." There's this thing called a trade. Do it.

This idea seems to be lost on a lot of people. It's great having Downey on the roster, no doubt. But a lot of teams have three or four Downey types. He just seems so special to us because we are -- and have been for some time -- lacking the kind of presence he brings to the fold.

He's trying to bleed a stone; our forward unit lacks the kind of offensive potential he's looking for, and no amount of moving Hank and Dats around is going to change that. Help needs to be brought in from outside. They're playing their respective roles just fine, and neither of those roles entails much goal-scoring. Honestly, if it's gotten to the point where people are looking to Draper and Maltby for numbers, you know there's a problem with the forward corps.

Hasek will (or at least should) move on after this season, opening up a spot for Howard -- and thus, an Ozzie-Howard tandem. Howard is being groomed for the #1 role, so, barring a complete meltdown between the pipes on the part of both Ozzie and Howard next season, we won't be seeing an outside goalie (e.g. Bryzgalov) joining the ranks. Especially when this team's biggest holes are in the top 6 and top 4. It's becoming more and more obvious -- win or lose -- how badly this team needs a big-name scoring winger and a smart, safe, big-bodied top-4 guy on the blue line. I'd say looking at the team right now, the former hole is bigger than the latter. If management doesn't plug it at the trade deadline and Hank doesn't ask for too much, I'd say give Hossa a call. Maybe send him some chocolate too. And a box of puppies.

I hope Holland's sitting on a couple real good trade deadline ideas.

: l

Because it's too much for him. It's a moot point, though, because everyone gets more than they deserve nowadays.

Burke overpaid.

Atta boy, Drake.

I think he's the kind of guy you hate playing against, but would love toplay with. .... In retrospect, I didn't word that too well.

Was that deflected? Could've been delay-o-game.

It only seems blurry to me from the standard horizontal angle. The colors seem too bright. Could just be a saturation problem.

Refs are raping them tonight.

Huds?