Why did Stevens have these two out together during OT? They are our two worst defensive forwards.

From what I can gather, Stevens seems to put players out who are struggling in high pressure situations to let them prove themselves. I guess he likes the "do or die" scenario. He did that a few times with Briere last year, including that shootout against Buffalo that turned out to be a big turning point. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. That's just my guess.

Tonight, I would've wanted Stevens to be more conservative and play better two way forwards together.

Who knows what Stevens is thinking anymore.

this is building up to the fire stevens thread. Who will win the bet?

Completely agree. Stevens has an obsession of putting a screw up in high pressure situations instead of benching them a shift. It is just unbelievable how relaxed he is with this team. I think it is why this team fails at doing a lot of the fundamental things like breaking out of the defensive zone, and making simple passes on the tape. Hold your players accountable Stevens!

you

Not really a smart idea by Stevens especially in a OT. If Homer can get a good defensive forward like S.Pahlsson.

Finally. I´ve been missing that one!

I agree OT resembles playoff hockey to an extent...hardly a place for courageous Danny.

lupul has been on the PK fairly often this year and didnt look too bad

while that may be true, thats a mute point because niittymaki should have easily made that save

I don't understand that really, Danny Briere's history shows he is better in the playoffs then in the season. Without Briere the Flyers wouldn't have gotten passed the Capitals.

I also don't understand the defensive first forward method. The Flyers aren't a very good shootout team why would you play conservatively to get to the shootout? With Lupul and Briere they are both high offensive powers who very possibly could have scored first.

Lupul and Briere may not have been the best two to be together but the Flyers had some good chances to win it. I believe the Flyers had a better chance to win that game in OT then the Penguins did. It isn't like Briere and Lupul were carved up by the Penguins offense.

Definitely. I think the Pens had one shot in OT and that was the one they scored on

Briere is the kind of player that can create something out of nothing, but he was very quiet during large parts of the game last night and is inability to stay on his feet a few times really fustrated me.

Is that was lost the game for us? Come on, you're just reaching for something to complain about.

Yeah and if they would have scored there would be a post saying how brilliant it was of him to put them out. Anything can happen.

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Yes, they are offensive forwards, but I just don't think they should pair two defensive liabilities in a 4 on 4 situation. Briere is useless when he doesn't have the puck. Why not put Briere with Gagne and Lupul with Richards?

No one else has really looked any better...

Well they weren't the only line combo out there. Do you know what the other pairs were in OT? Maybe Stevens paid Gagne and Richards together because they are both our best two way forwards they play defense and offense as good as anyone on our team. Maybe he had them out there together hoping they could end it early.

Stevens had Timonen and Vaananen out there with Briere and Lupul so they had solid defenders. Stevens had them out there against Crosby and Dupuis two guys who were both shut down until that point (Actually Crosby was shut down all game he had nothing to do with that goal).

Really I don't think it was that bad a move by Stevens. Vaananen had shut down Crosby all game and Kimmo is always a threat. Briere may be useless without the puck but he is dangerous with it especially with open ice which they had with 4 on 4. That was a line up built to control the puck and they did control it. The Penguins got the puck and won off an icky shot.

I think Stevens coached it perfectly we should have won but fell on some bad luck. We outplayed Pittsburgh in the OT with Stevens lines and I think that is all we can judge Stevens for.

Well, Briere made the turn over and him and Lupes couldn't get back in time. And If Niitty would have stayed more in his crease, Dupis wouldn't have had more options to shoot it, and Timonen could have going back.
Just bad luck.

IMO, I don't think anyone is really to blame. Had the Flyers won in OT, I'm sure a lot of people would not be making the criticisms and assessments they are making now. Dupuis took a shot (which was actually pretty good, you can't deny that), and it went in. Simple as that. Was it Nitty's fault? Well, he probably could have and should have saved it, but recall that we probably made it to OT (and not lose) because of Nitty's great saves earlier in the game. The Pens got a break, and capitalized. Is that Stevens fault for putting Lupul and Briere out there? Who knows? Those two just as easily could have scored. There's no need to overanalyze what is simply the game of hockey in this case.

I will say that I am not really a fan of Briere.....like someone said, he doesn't stay on his feet, can't hit for crap, and CAN (not necessarily is) be pretty useless without the puck. That would be fine if he was living up to his goal-scoring reputation, but he's been falling short of that as well.

Just for the recored I am not blaming Stevens for the loss. I just don't understand the idea of having the 2 forwards that don't play well in their own zone out on a 4 on 4. We have very good scoring depth so they could have easily paired them with someone defensive minded and still had a great opportunity to score.

Overall I think it was a positive game for the team that just got away at the last second.

Right on! Let's trade the bum!!

Good post; couldn't agree more!

I would love to!

We can't. He has an NMC, & unless he waves that, we're stuck with him.

Yeah Briere is so terrible. 3 points in 3 games and not even a minus yet...AWFUL!!

Come on people, give it a rest.

Niitty's also the only reason the Flyers came out of that game with 1 point and not 0. Briere and Lupul's mistakes and non-production far surpass Niitty's over the course of the game.

All Briere and Lupul did that OT is fall down and cough the puck up which allowed chances the other way.. so it's not a mute point. Both are equally at fault for what happened in OT. The rest of the game, Niitty carried his weight and won the 1 point.

Quick question:
Would you rather this happen now when it doesn't hurt.. or in the playoff race (or even playoffs) when it could really hurt?
Experiment now you find things out later. Stevens is very smart and all you stevens-haters will be wanting to blow him later on in the season.
People need to get a grip its the 4th game coming up and they are doing fine. The schedules not too easy and the season isn't even a week old. 0-3 and getting blown out in the games would be a different story.

I'm still on the I hate Steven's Bandwagon... I never jumped off, even after last year's miracle. I don't like having 3 all-stars on one line...Too much of our resources. I think Danny should go back to Center. That's just me.

Works for Ottawa. Give it time.

Exactly, and the rest of our team can score goals.. The whole roster isn't going to score first three games. TIME TIME TIME

There is always a scapegoat at FMB. When he puts up another 70+ and wins some games for us, they all of a sudden love him. (Except PAT )

I'm going to agree with that. He's been good so far and the top line has been great.

Nitty has to make that save, that's been his problem since he came into the league. He'll play a great game and then let in a softy that really costs the team.

this thread is crap

constructive post brought to you by me.

When?

Ask John Paddock how well it works out long-term.

Agreed!

They had the 1 line and no real depth. We've got more than 1 dangerous scoring line.

Lupul should have gotten an assist on that turnover that lead to a goal for the Avs tonight. he's playing like dog crap.

Stevens is completely mishandling Lupul. Lupul needs to be on a scoring line to be effective, but he's been stuck on the 3rd line so far. He is not responsible enough to be the 3rd line center so I don't know what he was thinking of sticking him there. Lupul was also by far our worst PKer last season and yet he is back on the PK again this season. Why?

I think Lupul might be the worst choice on the whole team for a 3rd line center. I'd rather see even Kukkonen there.

Hahahaha. Post of the night. I don't mean to make it sound like I'm blaming Stevens for everything but it feels like he's grasping at straws here.

Lupul is horrible defensively, I wouldn't put him at center.

lups had his worst game in a flyers jersey tonight. absolutely pathetic.

thread has gained serious value following the colorado game

lupul was pretty brutal all game long

For like the past couple of seasons!? Lol.

After watching last night, I can't figure out why Stevens didn't make the third line Hartnell/Downie/Lupul. Downie has been playing the center position since before training camp even began, & I believe he played it in Junior, if I'm not mistaken... Therefore I think he should have just switched Downie & Metropolit if he wanted to "change up" the 3rd & 4th lines. (It was revealed in the Downie interview on the "On the Fly" yesterday that Stevens did it to give Downie more ice time. I'm not sure if he got it, or not, but that was apparently the reason he made the change.) Why move Lupul to center when he hasn't even had a good shot at practicing that position at all this season? I get he practiced it yesterday in practice, but compaired to how long Downie has been practicing it, one practice isn't enougn, IMO!

What happened to the Gagne/Briere magic that was so spectacular to watch at the beginning of last season? Not that they're not both doing their part in the points department right now, but definatly not in the same way they did last year.

Briere should be moved back to center for a game or two, to try and get that gel to resurface.

The Flyers lost the scoring depth that made them so productive by crunching the lines together, IMO. This time last year they were on fire, game after game, with every line getting on the score sheet pretty much.

Gagne - Briere - Knuble
Umberger - Richards - Lupul
Kapanen - Carter - Hartnell

So if it were me, I'd try giving it a whirl with..

Gagne - Briere - Knuble
Metro/Downie - Richards - Lupul
Upshall - Carter - Hartnell

Something's gotta' be done with Lupul. He's painful to watch play right now.

^^ Love that Idea

This. Something has to be down with the lines. Obviously Briere isn't clicking with Gagne and Richards.
I'd switch it up.
If that doesn't work., try to recreate the playoff lines.