The Philadelphia Flyers Have Thoroughly Embarrassed The Shit Out Themselves, And That Happens Way Too Frequently
The Flyers played like total dog shit on Sunday night in Brooklyn against the Islanders. But that was fine because they had won their previous 3 games, they were on the 2nd half of a back-to-back, and it's an 82 game season so you're allowed to have a shitty game here and there. What you're absolutely not allowed to do is follow up a shitty performance against a division rival with an even shittier performance against an even bigger division rival.
I've been on this earth for 27 years. Which means that I have been embarrassed thoroughly by this organization time and time again throughout my 27 years of existence. But out of all the Flyers hockey that I have suffered through, I don't think I've ever been this embarrassed to be a Flyers fan. I mean the performance last night in Pittsburgh was the most disgusting display of horse shit I've ever witnessed. And there are a lot of guys on this team who are technically considered a part of the "core" who are aren't doing much to dispel the idea that they're wearing out their welcome here.
Starting with Shayne Gostisbehere. Step into my office.
Shayne Gostisbehere has, unfortunately, Markelle Fultz'd himself. And I say unfortunately because at the bottom of my heart, I still love Ghost and I want him to be great again. But the guy has simply forgotten how to play hockey and after a while you have to start thinking that maybe there's just no saving him here in Philly. Maybe he's the type of guy who needs a change of scenery. Just look at this play right here. Look at how soft and lazy he is with the puck. It's like he is so afraid to make a mistake with the puck that a mistake is the only possible outcome. If he had any confidence to ring this one back around the boards, the puck gets to Michael Raffl at least a second earlier which then gives Raffl an extra second to compose himself and make an actual play up the boards instead of just blindly sending it up to Schultz. Don't get me wrong, it's still a shit play from Raffl but it all starts with an awful first touch from Ghost. And this is maybe the least egregious of his errors so far this season. A shitty first touch from Ghost leads to Hagg getting bodied by the Penguins' forecheck which leads to Raffl turning the puck over which leads to the puck in the back of the net. But that goal looks like incredible hockey compared to the 2nd goal for Pittsburgh, which happened to come just 2 minutes later.
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Does this sequence look familiar to you? Because anybody who has ever played beer league before in their life has seen this countless times before. Just a bunch of jackasses out there swiping their sticks around because it's just beer league and nobody cares enough to get greasy in front of their own net and put somebody on their ass. Look at the end of that GIF. You have 5 Flyers (6 if we're including Elliott) in the frame and only 3 Penguins. The Penguins outworked the Flyers in this clip. They bullied the Flyers in this clip. They wanted it more than the Flyers in this clip. Just 5 Flyers players all swiping their stick at the puck, losing the battle because they're soft as shit, and Pittsburgh quickly gets on the board again. Disgusting.
Justin Braun. Step into my office.
Justin...buddy,,,,where in the actual shit are you going here, guy? Somebody unplugged your controller? You just get mesmerized by Sid? And you know what? I knew that this game was going to be a total disaster when this pass from Justin Braun was one of the first "breakout" passes of the night.
The Flyers can't breakout for shit, and most of the time it's because the defensemen just throw the puck out into space and it ends up getting jammed right back down their throats. Snap a puck tape-to-tape for me one time. There's just nothing crisp about this team.
And the pairing of Sanheim and Braun together has been god awful. You'd like to break it up but it's not like there are many better options available. But every time they're out on the ice, it seems like something horrible is about to happen so you need to do something to get them off the ice together. I don't know what has happened to Travis Sanheim this season but it's starting to look like a familiar story. Which means...
Travis Sanheim. Step into my office.
Credit where credit is due; that is a ridiculous snipe from Crosby. The patience, the angle, the everything. That right there is Sidney Crosby doing what Sidney Crosby does best--own the ever living shit out of the Philadelphia Flyers organization. I'd also like to institute a new rule right now that you are no longer allowed to be a Flyers fan if you go to a game and chant "Crosby Sucks'. Because Crosby has owned this team his entire career so far and if we've learned anything during his team in this league, it's that Sidney Crosby 100% certainly does not suck.
But Travis Sanheim, that's just embarrassing. I get that it's just a blunder and it has nothing to do with actual play. But it's just been that type of year for Sanheim. I don't think that Travis Sanheim is beyond repair at this point and he showed moments last year where he could be the best player on this blueline. But it's been an abysmal start to the year for him and you really just hope that he snaps out of it soon before his confidence goes to total shit. And Justin Braun, again, what the fuck? Way to set a perfect screen on Elliott against one of the best snipers in the league. Real great work. Way to stand your ground there. You let little Jake Guentzel just bully you all the way down into your own crease. Yuck. (I started out 3 sentences in that paragraph with "but". I am so sick of saying "but" about the Flyers. Let me have confidence in this team one time).
The final score was 7-1. I could keep going here but I'm sick of thinking about it. Those are two disgusting performances in a row and right now there are a lot of guys in that locker room who are really proving that their days here should be numbered. And I should mention that it's not just the defensemen, even though they are the biggest glaring issue on this team right now. But the forwards aren't doing their job on defense and they're not doing nearly enough in the offensive zone to make up for the fact that they're not doing shit in the defensive zone. So it's a whole team issue right now. But to come out and put on that performance after getting smacked by the Islanders? Maybe that's a leadership issue. Whatever it is, the Flyers need to figure it out and they need to figure it out fast. Embarrassing.