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How The Flyers Continue To Progress (PST Episode 651) · The Philadelphia Sports Table | Philly Sports News & Views

• 0:41
  Speaker 1: Welcome to the Philadelphia Sports Table podcast show, the longest
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: running weekly Philly sports podcast show in the world, over
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: twelve and a half years strong. This coming April, it's
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: gonna be thirteen years. Holy freaking crap. I'm Jeff Warren.
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: I'm here at my good buddy Eric Leonard. If you're
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: watching on YouTube better known as edgecomb stand. I still
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: love how you're doing.
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: Man, I'm good. Uh not a good night for six
• 1:04
  Speaker 2: or sports or for Philly sports. Yeah. Yeah, fire Flyers
• 1:08
  Speaker 2: just lost five to two. Yep, we're hoping the dart
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: is still is healthy.
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: We need Dan Vladar to be healthy. My god.
• 1:17
  Speaker 2: Yeah, we're got a dar Sorry, yeah Ladar. And uh
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: then he was asking me today like when is forced
• 1:23
  Speaker 2: to coming back? I know the like we need him.
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: Yes, absolutely, What a great segue. Great segue, because that's
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: our interview this week is with Ryan Gilbert from Broadstreet
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: Hockey dot Com. And look at look at your Look
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: at your your your hoodie. You've got gritty on your hoodie. Man,
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: you are all in over here.
• 1:40
  Speaker 2: I know. I'm Oh my god, I was forced at first,
• 1:43
  Speaker 2: but out like I am fully enjoying.
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: This is fantastic. This is great.
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: We're going to Hershey Bears games my son and I Yeah, like,
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: I know, nice, nice.
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: You know what. We had Lynn on the show last week.
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: It was the first time he was on. I swear
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: to god, I think it was in like three or
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: four weeks. It be a while, Yeah, it was, it was.
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: It was nice to have them on. But this is
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: our first show here in twenty twenty six. So Happy
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: New Year, buddy, Happy New Year.
• 2:11
  Speaker 2: Happy New Year.
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: We've talked multiple times since we have exactly just for
• 2:18
  Speaker 2: the show. Thank you.
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: It's for the show. Thanks for the show.
• 2:23
  Speaker 2: It's it's like curbing through. Is there a limit on
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: when you can say Happy New Year?
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: Yes?
• 2:27
  Speaker 2: When does that end?
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: Exactly? See, I'm not I'm not a bit. I think
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: you could say it more than three days after. You
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: can do it more than three days after.
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: Like if you went back to work on the fifth,
• 2:37
  Speaker 2: I think right with the Yeah, a lot of Happy
• 2:40
  Speaker 2: New Year's floating around, absolutely, but the sixth or seventh
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: I think, get a little.
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: Yeah. I had somebody we're recording this on Wednesday, January fourteenth.
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: I had somebody actually say Happy New Year to me today,
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: and I was.
• 2:54
  Speaker 2: Like, I was like, I don't know, I just be
• 2:58
  Speaker 2: I own a calendar.
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm good.
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: Thank you.
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: If you're watching us on YouTube, make sure you're sharing
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: the podcast, if you're listening on whatever podcast platform, just
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: share us with your friends, your family, other Philly sports fans,
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: other sports fans in general. Trying to grow this YouTube
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: channel here and just continue to grow the show. Yes,
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: even after twelve and a half years, still growing various ways.
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: But we got a great show this week because we
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: are going to be getting into some Eagles season post mortem,
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: NFL playoff picture stuff as well. We know Kevin Patulo
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: is fired. What's gonna be happening with this team in
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: the offseason? Eric and I are going to dive into that. Now.
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: We're going to get into the Philadelphia seventy six ers,
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: not only where they are at during the course of
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: this season. Again Eric mentioned earlier they really took a
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: crap with the Cleveland Cavaliers this, you know, tonight this
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: Wednesday night, and against the Cavaliers team that's having some
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: issues themselves. But is it possible. Is it possible, folks,
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: that the Philadelphia seventy six ers could get to the
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: Eastern Conference Finals? Gonna reflect on a conversation we have
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: with our good friend Josh Rodriguez on our Opposition Territory pod.
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: He was very convinced that that actually could happen. Then
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: from there we're gonna dive into some Phillies talk. Phillies
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: met with Bobaschett this week. Is that going to be
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: a serious possibility to happen with this team in the offseason?
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: What does that mean for the Phillies in twenty twenty six.
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: Now we're gonna get in a ton of Flyers talk
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: as well. We got our friend Ryan Gilbert from Broadstreet
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: Hockey dot Com joining us. That's what we're throwing down
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: on the table this week. Let's get into some Eagles
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: talk here, Eric, Because the Philadelphia Eagles did what they
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: needed to do. The front office did what it needed
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: to do and firing Kevin Petullo after the most predictable
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: offense that has probably ever played in the NFL completely
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: fizzling out in the wild card round against the San
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: Francisco forty nine ers. I am very happy that it happened,
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: but just it really just kind of sucked how the
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: season came to an end, And I really don't know
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: in all the years that we have been Eagles fans
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: ever since we were kids. I can't remember a season
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: like this, a predictable season, an enraging season. Yet this
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: team was eleven and six. Yet this team had six
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: games during the regular season where they did not score
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: a touchdown in the second half of a game. Yet
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: they had a winning record, And it was a bizarre
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: feeling of Okay, this team is winning, but it's the
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: same predictable crap, and we knew it was gonna come
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: to an end. And I just I just feel it
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: was one of the most bizarre Eagle seasons that we've
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: ever had to go through as a fan base. I mean,
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: did you kind of did you kind of feel that too, Hugh.
• 5:48
  Speaker 2: I text my brother a bunch about it after the
• 5:51
  Speaker 2: uh they after they got beat by the forty nine ers,
• 5:55
  Speaker 2: and I was like, this kind of reminds me of
• 5:58
  Speaker 2: you know, the late eighties early nineties with Randall, when
• 6:02
  Speaker 2: Randall Cuningham was just bonkers, insane, great and could carry
• 6:08
  Speaker 2: a team on his back, right, we.
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: Were just that was kind of predictable. It was kind
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: of predictable back then when you were it was but.
• 6:15
  Speaker 2: Then but then my brother shot back with Yeah, but
• 6:17
  Speaker 2: they weren't as talented offensively, like you can see even
• 6:21
  Speaker 2: with Randall, because every time Randall went out with an injury,
• 6:24
  Speaker 2: that offense was it was like basically every game was
• 6:26
  Speaker 2: like ten to seven. Yeah, that killer defense had to
• 6:29
  Speaker 2: hold every like it was the only way they could
• 6:31
  Speaker 2: win games. But their offense wasn't even as close as
• 6:34
  Speaker 2: talented as this one. But it is one of those
• 6:37
  Speaker 2: seasons where you like, you come to the end and
• 6:38
  Speaker 2: you're like, oh, man, if we could have won that
• 6:41
  Speaker 2: one game, we could have beat the Niners if our
• 6:43
  Speaker 2: offense just but like by the end of the year,
• 6:45
  Speaker 2: you're like, no, they won some games they shouldn't have.
• 6:50
  Speaker 2: They lost some games they probably shouldn't have. But it
• 6:52
  Speaker 2: doesn't it doesn't speak to the fact that the offense
• 6:55
  Speaker 2: just completely shut down in the second half. Yeah, for
• 6:57
  Speaker 2: almost the entire year, And there was such a pattern
• 7:01
  Speaker 2: when it happened in the in the playoff game. I
• 7:04
  Speaker 2: remember at the end of the third quarter, I text
• 7:07
  Speaker 2: a bunch of Eagles buddies. I was just like, they're
• 7:09
  Speaker 2: gonna lose. You can just tell, Like it's just it's
• 7:12
  Speaker 2: so obvious.
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: Len said it on the postgame show. There were no
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: vibes at all, like they're you know, usually in the playoffs,
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: the teams that have those strong vibes that you see
• 7:22
  Speaker 1: whether it's coming out of the tunnel or you see
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: it before they even get to the tunnel, you can
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: tell that did not happen at all with this Eagles team.
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: The sideline body language was just horrible. It was flat,
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: and the vibes weren't there.
• 7:38
  Speaker 2: I mean, just remember they remember the Eagles team on
• 7:40
  Speaker 2: the sideline during the Super Bowl just looking confident as hell. Yeah,
• 7:45
  Speaker 2: every defensive player was like we're killing them. They're all
• 7:48
  Speaker 2: just like kind of full of themselves and smiling and
• 7:51
  Speaker 2: kind of laughing even by the end of the game.
• 7:53
  Speaker 2: And just none of that was happening, and that that
• 7:56
  Speaker 2: definitely comes from the top down. And I'm not talking
• 7:59
  Speaker 2: to GM or the own like, you know, Sirianni was
• 8:02
  Speaker 2: just not good this year. I brought it up on
• 8:04
  Speaker 2: the show a bunch this this year, just saying like
• 8:06
  Speaker 2: we were blaming poopoo holes for everything. But eventually I
• 8:09
  Speaker 2: was like, Okay, Sirihan's got to like take some some
• 8:13
  Speaker 2: some crap here. This is insane, Like, yeah, this is
• 8:15
  Speaker 2: his guy, He's still just not taking the offensive play
• 8:19
  Speaker 2: calling from him. And it's like, Siriannie did not have
• 8:22
  Speaker 2: a good year, but poopoo Holes had no vibe, no energy.
• 8:26
  Speaker 2: If you watch the footage on Instagram, there are a
• 8:28
  Speaker 2: couple of videos of like the Eagles QB room and
• 8:32
  Speaker 2: like there's times where Jalen Hurst is looking at him
• 8:34
  Speaker 2: like what the how was this guy? Like it just
• 8:38
  Speaker 2: almost like disrespect to you know, the coordinator and I'm
• 8:41
  Speaker 2: you know, well, that's probably the next topic, right is
• 8:44
  Speaker 2: like what the hell do they do there? Because there's
• 8:47
  Speaker 2: a long list of free agents we'll go through and
• 8:49
  Speaker 2: kind of see who we want to keep. It like
• 8:51
  Speaker 2: the big the big thing. I do think the offensive
• 8:55
  Speaker 2: coordinator thing was so bad and it was the one
• 8:59
  Speaker 2: part of the team that just couldn't perform. It just
• 9:02
  Speaker 2: fell apart every second half and it came directly from him,
• 9:06
  Speaker 2: but staring one should get a lot of blame.
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: We had an email come in from one of our
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: longtime listeners, Francis, and he actually titled the subject fire
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: poopoo Holes tonight and then he wrote, don't even let
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: this son of a bitch leave the stadium with his job.
• 9:21
  Speaker 1: We need an offensive coordinator that's been coaching for more
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: than fifteen minutes, not some young know nothing that's just
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: trying to use this as a stepping stone to the
• 9:29
  Speaker 1: next level. The only upside is that we do not
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: have to watch this garbage offense anymore. This year, Mike
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: and Merrill were calling out our plays before we broke
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: the huddle, and we're getting them right most of the time.
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: Helen Keller could have fucking been the Niners defensive coordinator.
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: And then he ends thanks for doing the podcast, Go Flyers,
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: So thanks, Francis. Appreciate the email. I mean that sentiment
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: that he had, I mean, that's what we were all feeling.
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: That's what Eagles Nation was feeling after that game. And
• 9:58
  Speaker 1: now the sigh of relief that Kevin Patulo, this offensive
• 10:02
  Speaker 1: scheme is no longer going to be around. So where
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: do they go from here? And my opinion, based on
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: what has been reported, Mike McDaniel, former Dolphins head coach,
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: is at the top of the list. Former Giants head
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: coach Brian Dabele is at the top of the list
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: as well. I gotta be honest with you, I like
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: Mike McDaniel. If they can get Mike McDaniel in here
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: as the next Eagles offensive coordinator. It would be a
• 10:28
  Speaker 1: huge change for Jalen Hurts, and I think for the
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: better as well. I'm not a big fan of Elliott
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: shore Parks, but he put up a stat today on
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: Twitter that I thought was pretty interesting. The percentage of
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: throws that Tua Tagovailoa has had over the immediate center
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: of the field the past two seasons. That was fourteen percent.
• 10:51
  Speaker 1: Jalen Hurts has never been above seven point one percent
• 10:54
  Speaker 1: in his career. Two had three hundred and sixty seven
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: attempts from under center in his career. Under Mike McDaniels,
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: Jalen Hurts has only had one hundred and three attempts
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: under the immediate center of the field. I mean that's
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: something and it would be significant, I think for Jalen
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: Hurts and his continued development as a quarterback. Yeah, even
• 11:16
  Speaker 1: though he's won a Super Bowl, still has to develop
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: and he still has to get out from under what
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: this horrendous season was for him. I like Mike McDaniels
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: as the next offensive coordinator for the Eagles.
• 11:27
  Speaker 2: It's funny you and I talked a lot well for
• 11:29
  Speaker 2: a Whilely forty five minutes for the show, and we
• 11:33
  Speaker 2: both said Mike McDaniel without knowing what the other one
• 11:35
  Speaker 2: was going to say. Yeah, I just think I just
• 11:38
  Speaker 2: think we just talked about no vibes, poopol holes Wich
• 11:41
  Speaker 2: had no vibes, like no had no presence, no authoritarian
• 11:46
  Speaker 2: kind of thing. Like this guy comes in just full
• 11:50
  Speaker 2: of juice, and he's younger. I think he could relate
• 11:54
  Speaker 2: to the players a little more because I didn't see
• 11:56
  Speaker 2: any relating happening whatsoever. There's so much social media nowly
• 12:00
  Speaker 2: and actually get like like I said, like shots into
• 12:02
  Speaker 2: like like o c rooms, And every time I saw him,
• 12:06
  Speaker 2: I was like, does this guy ever coached before? Because
• 12:09
  Speaker 2: I ask you right now, he got fired, Where's what's
• 12:12
  Speaker 2: his next job?
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: Yeah, who knows where he's gonna go.
• 12:15
  Speaker 2: We're gonna hire, So I'm gonna hire him as an
• 12:17
  Speaker 2: offensive coda, of.
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: Course not I can't say it. Maybe he maybe he
• 12:20
  Speaker 1: becomes a quarterback coach again somewhere. I don't know, But
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: I'm just saying, like that isn't an obvious sign, Like, yeah,
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: if you fire a guy and you're just like, I
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: have no clue what that he's gonna do next?
• 12:31
  Speaker 2: Right, this is are right, No, but I think Mike
• 12:35
  Speaker 2: McDaniel could relate much better, and he runs a much
• 12:38
  Speaker 2: faster offense, and you cat and I you know, I
• 12:41
  Speaker 2: wasn't the biggest fan of him either. He made some
• 12:43
  Speaker 2: terrible decision I watched a bunch of Dolphins games over
• 12:45
  Speaker 2: the years and it was like, you know, not the
• 12:48
  Speaker 2: best great play caller. I'm not sure he's the best coach.
• 12:52
  Speaker 2: But the offense he ran with Tua at at QB,
• 12:59
  Speaker 2: he was a pro liftic offense for a couple of
• 13:01
  Speaker 2: years there. And to get that offense, he basically had
• 13:06
  Speaker 2: to take his offense, break it and put it back together.
• 13:09
  Speaker 2: So it fit to a Yeah, like who has to
• 13:12
  Speaker 2: throw the ball over the middle quick? Because he gets
• 13:14
  Speaker 2: he makes horrible decisions.
• 13:15
  Speaker 1: And the offensive line has been terrible down there for
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: a while.
• 13:18
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and he kind of he kind of created a
• 13:21
  Speaker 2: pretty much kind of the state of the art offense
• 13:23
  Speaker 2: that one year when Tyreek Kill went nuts and it
• 13:27
  Speaker 2: was just based on speed over the middle and everything.
• 13:29
  Speaker 2: It's like, if he could do that for a guy
• 13:32
  Speaker 2: who's probably going to be a starting quarterback next year
• 13:34
  Speaker 2: in the league, what could he do with Jalen Hurts?
• 13:37
  Speaker 2: And a good offensive line, two awesome weapons on the outside.
• 13:40
  Speaker 2: I would love to see it. Yeah, besides, besides, actually,
• 13:43
  Speaker 2: you know, having having like a vibe, I guess yeah,
• 13:48
  Speaker 2: like yeah, I just think immediately people will get excited,
• 13:51
  Speaker 2: they'll get past the sunglasses on like in the postgame shows.
• 13:55
  Speaker 2: But yeah, I think I think he's the perfect fit.
• 13:58
  Speaker 1: I think he is too. And look, their reality of
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: this Eagles team as we're looking already towards twenty twenty six,
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: is you know which free agent players should stay, which
• 14:09
  Speaker 1: players should go. I mean, there's a slew of unrestricted
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: free agents. I'm not gonna go through all of them,
• 14:15
  Speaker 1: but a lot of us have seen various lists of
• 14:18
  Speaker 1: players that we like, of course, players that we love,
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: players that we can't stand as well. I can tell
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: you for me, the few players that I'm hoping the
• 14:26
  Speaker 1: Eagles will be able to keep. One is read Blank
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: and Ship. I really hope they're gonna be able to
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: keep Nakobe Dean as well Jalen Phillips and believe it
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: or I have yes, punter Braiden Man as well. Hope
• 14:38
  Speaker 1: they can keep Dallas Goddard. I think that needs to
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: be a priority. However, it wouldn't surprise me if Dallas
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: Goddard does walk and they draft a tight end, perhaps
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: in the first or second round of the draft. But
• 14:48
  Speaker 1: that's where I'm hoping the Eagles concentrate their efforts in
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: terms of unrestricted free agents. I think Read Blankenship is
• 14:54
  Speaker 1: like a no brainer. Braid Man also is like a
• 14:57
  Speaker 1: no brainer. It's a strong linebacker corps, and Jihad Campbell's
• 15:02
  Speaker 1: only gonna continue to develop and get better. I can
• 15:04
  Speaker 1: see na Kobe Dean possibly walking as well, maybe even
• 15:07
  Speaker 1: Jalen Phillips. But they're gonna have some They're gonna have
• 15:10
  Speaker 1: some tough decisions to make for sure, because there are
• 15:12
  Speaker 1: real talented guys here that we all want to stay.
• 15:16
  Speaker 1: But they're not gonna have all the money in the
• 15:17
  Speaker 1: world to do it because the offense is so expensive.
• 15:20
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I agree, And I think your your top three
• 15:23
  Speaker 2: would be blank and Ship Dean Phillips. Yeah, I'm afraid
• 15:28
  Speaker 2: Phillips is gonna be expensive, like maybe too expensive for
• 15:31
  Speaker 2: the Eagles just because the open you know, the open
• 15:34
  Speaker 2: market for a twenty six year old defensive end. Yeah,
• 15:37
  Speaker 2: you know, it's got to be just it's astronomical.
• 15:40
  Speaker 1: In his prime in his prime.
• 15:42
  Speaker 2: Yeah, so we'll see what happens there, but he should
• 15:45
  Speaker 2: be on that list too. I definitely agree. I can't
• 15:48
  Speaker 2: see god he coming back. I hope he does, but
• 15:51
  Speaker 2: that almost feels like had a good year, but he's not.
• 15:56
  Speaker 2: He never reached that elite status. And there's so many
• 16:00
  Speaker 2: good tight ends that come out of the draft every
• 16:02
  Speaker 2: single year. Maybe take one in the first round and get,
• 16:04
  Speaker 2: you know, and kind of supplant some more energy into
• 16:08
  Speaker 2: that that that position, because he's been here a long
• 16:10
  Speaker 2: time and he'd probably be at the bottom of my
• 16:14
  Speaker 2: list of those the six that we talked about playing
• 16:17
  Speaker 2: ship deem. Yeah, yeah, yeah, braid Man's probably more important.
• 16:23
  Speaker 2: He doesn't want to come back.
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: Yeah, he was important in terms of field position this
• 16:26
  Speaker 1: year in a lot of games.
• 16:27
  Speaker 2: Can well considering your offense couldn't score the second half
• 16:30
  Speaker 2: for nineteen weeks. Yeah, that's that's a little play hunter. Yeah.
• 16:34
  Speaker 1: Look, we weren't going to really get into it, but
• 16:37
  Speaker 1: really quick, you know, and before we get to you know,
• 16:39
  Speaker 1: who we think is going to make it to the
• 16:40
  Speaker 1: super Bowl here. I think the Eagles keep Aj Brown.
• 16:43
  Speaker 1: I think you have to. He is a generational talent,
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: and you just don't get rid of generational talents. Start
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: mending fences, start start creating a better relationship atmosphere and environment.
• 16:54
  Speaker 1: The season is done, I hope it has started already,
• 16:57
  Speaker 1: but you got to keep Aj Brown. I mean, you
• 17:00
  Speaker 1: just can't go into next year as wonderful and as
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: much as I love Devonte Smith, and yes, I do
• 17:05
  Speaker 1: believe he could be a number one receiver. You have
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: to have number one receiver a number one receiver b
• 17:11
  Speaker 1: and I think that's how it's got to be to
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: get this offense back on track. Keep Aj Brown in my.
• 17:17
  Speaker 2: Opinion, First of all, he has no leverage.
• 17:19
  Speaker 1: You know, that's a great point.
• 17:21
  Speaker 2: Yeah, he can wind. Yeah, that's one one reason to
• 17:25
  Speaker 2: keep him. And also, like, don't even start in like
• 17:30
  Speaker 2: with the trade rumor stuff, because it's my god, like
• 17:33
  Speaker 2: he's already a moody person apparently right. How much but
• 17:37
  Speaker 2: I'll put this to you, how much of that, though,
• 17:40
  Speaker 2: was was his relationship with the offensive coordinator who basically
• 17:45
  Speaker 2: like crushed his career in one one season.
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean at least the first five six games
• 17:51
  Speaker 1: of the season where he was Seriously, I'm trying to
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: go back and think how many yards I think A J.
• 17:58
  Speaker 1: Brown had something like I know, the first two games complete,
• 18:01
  Speaker 1: he had like thirty something yards, and I think he
• 18:03
  Speaker 1: only may have had like sixty something yards after the
• 18:06
  Speaker 1: first four games of the season. It's incredible, It's ridiculous.
• 18:11
  Speaker 1: I just you gotta keep aj Brown men those fences.
• 18:15
  Speaker 1: I think that's what needs to happen so really quick
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: before we get to first break here too. Super Bowl
• 18:20
  Speaker 1: prediction Buddy Len and I last week, it was fun.
• 18:23
  Speaker 1: We went through our division predictions. You know, we mentioned
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: your division predictions as well. We got a lot right,
• 18:29
  Speaker 1: we got we got some wrong here and there. But
• 18:32
  Speaker 1: I think I think a fantastic Super Bowl quite frankly,
• 18:35
  Speaker 1: would be the Denver Broncos against the Los Angeles Rams.
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: And I think that's what it's gonna end up being
• 18:40
  Speaker 1: right here as we're recording this mid January, in the
• 18:45
  Speaker 1: midst of you know, we're gonna be watching the divisional
• 18:47
  Speaker 1: round of the playoffs this weekend. I don't know what
• 18:49
  Speaker 1: do you think it's gonna be. I'm thinking I'm thinking
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: Broncos Rams.
• 18:54
  Speaker 2: The way things are lining up, I'm actually thinking Bill Seahawks.
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: Oh okay, all right, we're completely on different that's all.
• 19:01
  Speaker 2: Yeah. I don't know. I forget what podcast podcast I
• 19:05
  Speaker 2: was listening to, but they were talking about the potential
• 19:09
  Speaker 2: defensive lines as Seahawks would have to face because you're
• 19:11
  Speaker 2: your your scariest thing is Donald, right, Yeah, just turning
• 19:15
  Speaker 2: into a pumpkin, like becoming Sam Darnold. Yeah, basically, but
• 19:19
  Speaker 2: if he's facing like really weak defensive lines, I just
• 19:22
  Speaker 2: feel like, and they don't have to leave home once. Yeah,
• 19:25
  Speaker 2: I kind of it kind of gives them the Uh.
• 19:27
  Speaker 2: Did the Rams overly impress you.
• 19:31
  Speaker 1: At times during the season, like at times that Stafford
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: to DeVante Adams, the Stafford to Pooka Nakua. I mean,
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: Poka can basically catch anything at this point, He's ridiculous.
• 19:42
  Speaker 2: Yeah, but I but just defensively, nothing didn't stand defensively exactly.
• 19:47
  Speaker 1: Yeah, defensively.
• 19:48
  Speaker 2: No.
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: My hesitation with the Bills and you and I, I
• 19:50
  Speaker 1: believe we both picked the Bills initially with our season
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: predictions to go to the Super Bowl. My hesitation with
• 19:56
  Speaker 1: the Bills at this point is so much is on
• 19:58
  Speaker 1: Josh Allen's shoulders. So much is on his shoulders. Even
• 20:02
  Speaker 1: James Cook to a certain extent that I don't think
• 20:05
  Speaker 1: those two guys can get it done alone. From an
• 20:07
  Speaker 1: offensive perspective, I just don't think they can get it
• 20:09
  Speaker 1: done alone. The receiving course stinks for the Bills, and
• 20:13
  Speaker 1: they just don't have answers when they are in crunch
• 20:17
  Speaker 1: time other than Josh Allen trying to scramble for like
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: thirty yards. And I just don't know in the playoffs
• 20:22
  Speaker 1: if that's going to be feasible for them to get
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: to the super Bowl. That's where I'm at with them.
• 20:27
  Speaker 1: I hope it happens. I think it'd be great for
• 20:28
  Speaker 1: Buffalo in general because they've been waiting so long and
• 20:32
  Speaker 1: the window is here now. But I just don't know
• 20:34
  Speaker 1: if they're gonna be able to pull it off.
• 20:36
  Speaker 2: If you were in Buffalo, they would smack in the
• 20:39
  Speaker 2: face absolutely say Josh Allen, can you do anything? Jeff, Yes,
• 20:45
  Speaker 2: I've been up there multiple times in the past few years,
• 20:47
  Speaker 2: and like there's cardboard cutouts of the man in people's yards. Yes,
• 20:51
  Speaker 2: in the summertime like that.
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: Yeah, all right, Well let's take a break here, okay, folks,
• 20:59
  Speaker 1: and we come back. Got a ton of sixers talk
• 21:02
  Speaker 1: coming your way. We're gonna dive into the flyers as
• 21:04
  Speaker 1: well and some Phillies talk. Stick with us. We'll be
• 21:07
  Speaker 1: back in just a bit. All right, we are back
• 21:11
  Speaker 1: and we're gonna be diving into the Philadelphia seventy six
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: Ers right now because this past week on our Opposition
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: Territory podcast, our Friend of the Show was on Josh
• 21:19
  Speaker 1: Rodriguez from the Dime NBA podcast, and he was so
• 21:25
  Speaker 1: genuine eric in what he was saying that he could
• 21:28
  Speaker 1: actually see the Sixers going to the Eastern Conference Finals
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: this year if they stay healthy, and because of how
• 21:36
  Speaker 1: Maxi and VJ. Edgecomb and even Quentin Grimes have actually
• 21:40
  Speaker 1: been playing in Bad two, how he has been getting
• 21:43
  Speaker 1: back into the fold, and that they have each piece
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: of the offense. Nick Nurse has each piece of the
• 21:49
  Speaker 1: offense that he needs a from a pure offensive construction
• 21:54
  Speaker 1: standpoint to actually be very, very competitive in the East.
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: And he was convinced. He's like, it would not surprise
• 22:01
  Speaker 1: me at all if the Sixers actually got to the
• 22:03
  Speaker 1: Eastern Conference Finals and if they're healthy, he said they
• 22:06
  Speaker 1: can probably win the Eastern Conference Final. And I was
• 22:09
  Speaker 1: like WHOA. I was like you, I'm like Josh, and
• 22:12
  Speaker 1: Josh knows his stuff. He knows his stuff, big time,
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: So I don't know, I wanted to get your thoughts
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: on this. You're the basketball guy on this podcast, and
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: you are so in tune to what this Sixers team is,
• 22:24
  Speaker 1: what they are not, and just what the possibilities of
• 22:28
  Speaker 1: this could be. Because I was thinking about it more
• 22:30
  Speaker 1: and I listened to the show and I was like, man,
• 22:33
  Speaker 1: I was like, man, Josh has really got He's really
• 22:38
  Speaker 1: I don't know. Maybe it was the hope that I had,
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: but I was like, maybe he does have something here.
• 22:43
  Speaker 1: I don't know what are you're thinking about this.
• 22:45
  Speaker 2: That has a sizzling hot take it and he doesn't
• 22:50
  Speaker 2: see it.
• 22:51
  Speaker 1: He is a Knicks fan, true and true. Yeah, and
• 22:53
  Speaker 1: like he was just like the Sixers team, they've got
• 22:56
  Speaker 1: something special going on here. Not tonight against the Calves,
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: but still.
• 23:01
  Speaker 2: And you see, like and why I really hesitate to
• 23:03
  Speaker 2: go and you know Josh's direction there is because when
• 23:07
  Speaker 2: they have like when they have all their starters together Max,
• 23:11
  Speaker 2: like like tonight, MAXI Edgecombe, I think I forget who
• 23:15
  Speaker 2: else mb it in George and uh, what's his name
• 23:20
  Speaker 2: rhymes not crime whatever. I'm gonna move on.
• 23:23
  Speaker 1: Yeah, but.
• 23:27
  Speaker 2: You know they're playing a Cavs team that's been a
• 23:30
  Speaker 2: little shaky in the past few weeks and just tons
• 23:32
  Speaker 2: of injuries. Like you said, like weird feels like a
• 23:35
  Speaker 2: weird vibe. Yeah for that for that really good team,
• 23:40
  Speaker 2: and they lost by twenty almost twenty five points, and
• 23:42
  Speaker 2: they do this too much, you know, like that. There's
• 23:44
  Speaker 2: been certain games where they've just led teams back in.
• 23:47
  Speaker 2: They should have they should have swept the Raptors. But
• 23:51
  Speaker 2: it's the inconsistency for me right now. If I could
• 23:54
  Speaker 2: see you know, a couple like string like six seven
• 23:58
  Speaker 2: wins in a row, yeah here, like before the All
• 24:01
  Speaker 2: Star Break or like right after, I might start to
• 24:05
  Speaker 2: get a little more on board. At the same time,
• 24:07
  Speaker 2: you know, the East is weaker, but a team like
• 24:11
  Speaker 2: the Cavs can beat you by twenty five points. The
• 24:14
  Speaker 2: Raptors kind of owned them this year, so the teams
• 24:17
  Speaker 2: above them be really difficult to get the Eastern Conference finals,
• 24:21
  Speaker 2: basically what I'm saying. Yeah, Josh wasn't too Honestly, he
• 24:25
  Speaker 2: was not too keen on the Pistons, you know, really
• 24:29
  Speaker 2: being able to he goes. It wouldn't surprise me if
• 24:31
  Speaker 2: the Pistons are out in the first round of the playoffs.
• 24:35
  Speaker 1: I thought that was interesting. I thought that I thought
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: that was interesting.
• 24:38
  Speaker 2: That'd be tough. I mean, they'd have to have some
• 24:40
  Speaker 2: injuries or something like that. I actually think the Knicks
• 24:42
  Speaker 2: are probably the favorite to get to get to the
• 24:47
  Speaker 2: to get to the finals. Yeah, he would say the
• 24:49
  Speaker 2: Eastern Conference Finals. Yea.
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: He was saying high ceiling, very high ceiling for the
• 24:53
  Speaker 1: Knicks at this point, but a very low floor. He's like,
• 24:56
  Speaker 1: I'm just being realistic with you. He said, a very
• 24:59
  Speaker 1: very low floor for this team, just because they are
• 25:03
  Speaker 1: the Knicks are so aggressive, they are so physical, but
• 25:07
  Speaker 1: they have their inconsistencies from an offensive perspective. Yeah, we've
• 25:10
  Speaker 1: been seeing that time and time again, game after game
• 25:13
  Speaker 1: this year as well.
• 25:15
  Speaker 2: And that's where you have a shred of hope that
• 25:17
  Speaker 2: the Sixers could actually get there to the ECF because then,
• 25:20
  Speaker 2: you know, because these teams are kind of like Boston's
• 25:24
  Speaker 2: number three, and I know they beat us twice this year,
• 25:26
  Speaker 2: but like they're a third seed. Yeah, I'm not like,
• 25:29
  Speaker 2: who's if you take Jalen Brown out of a game defensively, like,
• 25:32
  Speaker 2: then who the hell's scoring? Like right, there's just so
• 25:34
  Speaker 2: many teams that this is not like the Western Conference
• 25:37
  Speaker 2: is going to kill whoever they play in the finals, probably, yeah,
• 25:40
  Speaker 2: because just have a I mean, there's top five is
• 25:43
  Speaker 2: just ridiculous. The East is so weak. You just wish
• 25:46
  Speaker 2: this team would like start to like beat the teams
• 25:48
  Speaker 2: that are right around them at the four, five, and six,
• 25:51
  Speaker 2: you know, playoff spot. Yeah, but they keep getting they
• 25:54
  Speaker 2: keep having games like tonight, which really like bring me,
• 25:58
  Speaker 2: I'll go up to here for a little bit. Then
• 25:59
  Speaker 2: I'll be like, oh, yeah, DeAndre Hunter just hit another
• 26:03
  Speaker 2: three pointer. Yeah, just yeah, So.
• 26:06
  Speaker 1: Dude, Joelle embiid was just I the guy just pulls
• 26:11
  Speaker 1: me in. The guy just pulls me in. He's average
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: was he averaging like close to twenty seven points per
• 26:16
  Speaker 1: game over the last eight games or so, like close
• 26:19
  Speaker 1: to eight rebounds per game as well, And like, the
• 26:23
  Speaker 1: guy just pulls me in. And I think to myself,
• 26:27
  Speaker 1: are we are we not going to truly like appreciate
• 26:30
  Speaker 1: him when until he's gone, you know what I mean,
• 26:32
  Speaker 1: I'm in that mode right now, You're in mid January.
• 26:35
  Speaker 1: The guy's just pulling me in. Dude, He's really just
• 26:38
  Speaker 1: doing it. And it's uh, I want to slap myself
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: in the face. And I was just like.
• 26:43
  Speaker 2: Listen, it's really nice to see because he's been here
• 26:46
  Speaker 2: so long, and he did come into the season like,
• 26:50
  Speaker 2: is this guy even going to play? I think I've
• 26:52
  Speaker 2: said it on the show multiply. He's done, he's cooked. Yeah,
• 26:54
  Speaker 2: he can never do this again. It's awesome. We should
• 26:57
  Speaker 2: probably have like an entire segment on it soon, yeah,
• 26:59
  Speaker 2: before it ends. But yeah, it's and he's actually been
• 27:04
  Speaker 2: like we've needed him to win some of these games,
• 27:08
  Speaker 2: which we did not need him at all. Yeah, like
• 27:10
  Speaker 2: the first fifteen to twenty games.
• 27:12
  Speaker 1: So it's a testament to Nick Nurse too, to be
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: honest with you. Yeah, say what you want about Nick Nurse, folks,
• 27:19
  Speaker 1: And there have been ups and downs with him, but
• 27:22
  Speaker 1: I think where the Sixers team is at right now.
• 27:24
  Speaker 1: They are they they are, they are one of the
• 27:27
  Speaker 1: top teams in the East. Say what you want. I
• 27:30
  Speaker 1: give him a ton of credit because boy, we were
• 27:32
  Speaker 1: crapping on him last year, rightfully so at times, and
• 27:35
  Speaker 1: of course there was a slew of injuries and what
• 27:37
  Speaker 1: the hell was he going to do in this spot
• 27:40
  Speaker 1: that spot? But I give him all the credit in
• 27:42
  Speaker 1: the world for what he's done with this team this year.
• 27:45
  Speaker 2: I thought he was done too.
• 27:46
  Speaker 1: Yes, indeed, yeah, absolutely, all right, well let's move on here, buddy.
• 27:53
  Speaker 1: Let's move on to the Philadelphia Phillies here, because the
• 27:56
  Speaker 1: Phillies met with Bobashet this week and it seems like
• 27:59
  Speaker 1: it's a real possibility that this could actually happen. I mean,
• 28:03
  Speaker 1: he's not going to take a meeting with the Phillies
• 28:05
  Speaker 1: front office if he's really not interested. He's not going
• 28:07
  Speaker 1: to do that. If the Phillies do end up acquiring him.
• 28:12
  Speaker 1: We basically know as Phillies fans that JT. Real Muto
• 28:15
  Speaker 1: is almost certainly not coming back. Alec Balum almost certainly
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: not coming back as well, probably trade for him. Is
• 28:25
  Speaker 1: this what we want?
• 28:25
  Speaker 3: Though?
• 28:26
  Speaker 1: Like, is this what we want as fans of this team.
• 28:30
  Speaker 1: I do think changes need to be made. We've seen
• 28:32
  Speaker 1: some acquisitions this offseason, Eric, but I hate to lose JT.
• 28:39
  Speaker 2: Real Muto.
• 28:39
  Speaker 1: I was talking to Liz Roscher from the Hitting Season
• 28:42
  Speaker 1: podcast on the Table Talk show this week and I
• 28:46
  Speaker 1: said that, you know, we've been so spoiled with the
• 28:48
  Speaker 1: catcher position over the years, you know, going back to
• 28:50
  Speaker 1: Carlos Ruiz, And yes, there was a time from the
• 28:53
  Speaker 1: end of Ruiz's career in Philly to when real Muto
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: was acquired by the mar from the Marlins. There were
• 29:00
  Speaker 1: a time when when the catcher position was just not
• 29:02
  Speaker 1: not great. But I think we've gotten spoiled with it
• 29:05
  Speaker 1: so much that if we are left with Raphael Marshawn
• 29:08
  Speaker 1: or Garrett Stubbs as a starting catcher, not good. Not good,
• 29:13
  Speaker 1: folks at all. I'm gonna miss JT. Real Muto if
• 29:17
  Speaker 1: he is not on this team. And I wonder if
• 29:19
  Speaker 1: Boba Shitt would be I don't know, a suitable replacement
• 29:25
  Speaker 1: in various ways. Of course, in the batting order, yes,
• 29:28
  Speaker 1: he absolutely would. But what real Muto is in the clubhouse,
• 29:33
  Speaker 1: the team leader that he is, I don't know. I
• 29:36
  Speaker 1: just have this hesitation. I don't know what are your
• 29:38
  Speaker 1: thoughts here?
• 29:40
  Speaker 2: Well, you read the alternatives and we even talked about
• 29:43
  Speaker 2: me for the show.
• 29:44
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 29:45
  Speaker 2: I think my reaction was like, oh, then, h not good,
• 29:48
  Speaker 2: not good at all. No, And I don't know if
• 29:53
  Speaker 2: we said yet the Ranger Suarez signed with the Red
• 29:55
  Speaker 2: Sox today.
• 29:55
  Speaker 1: Yes, oh that's right, thanks for bringing that up. I mean,
• 29:58
  Speaker 1: I wish him all the best in the world. He
• 30:00
  Speaker 1: got paid what was one hundred and thirty million with
• 30:02
  Speaker 1: this like five years. Yeah, not bad, not bad. I
• 30:05
  Speaker 1: wish him all the bad. I'm glad it wasn't the Mets. Dude, really,
• 30:08
  Speaker 1: oh my god, yeah, terrible.
• 30:10
  Speaker 2: The Astros would have kicked me off too, because we
• 30:13
  Speaker 2: got the Japanese pitcher and they would. Yeah, but I
• 30:17
  Speaker 2: bring up him signing the Red Sox because I'm like,
• 30:20
  Speaker 2: at this point, like why not just bring back bobashett
• 30:24
  Speaker 2: and or sign if signing Boba sheet now is like
• 30:27
  Speaker 2: the top priority, right because Suarrez is gone? Where's that?
• 30:31
  Speaker 2: You know where You're gonna put that money elsewhere? Get
• 30:35
  Speaker 2: the shit and then take swore as his money whatever
• 30:38
  Speaker 2: you might have paid him and just give bring that JT. Yeah,
• 30:41
  Speaker 2: but like you said for in the clubhouse, catching is bad.
• 30:45
  Speaker 2: It's gonna it's gonna like it's gonna, you know, precipitously
• 30:50
  Speaker 2: drop over the next couple of years. But you know,
• 30:53
  Speaker 2: you you just read about it or just said all
• 30:55
  Speaker 2: the positives about him. But at that point, why don't
• 30:59
  Speaker 2: you know, bring him back and they get the shit
• 31:01
  Speaker 2: and then crush your fingers for the pitching.
• 31:04
  Speaker 1: Yeah, so yeah, absolutely absolutely, all right, Well, before I
• 31:09
  Speaker 1: let you go buddy again. We started the show off
• 31:13
  Speaker 1: talking about your your your new love, your new obsession
• 31:18
  Speaker 1: with the Philadelphia Flyers, and we received we received some
• 31:23
  Speaker 1: listener feedback from our good friend down south, April Hershey,
• 31:29
  Speaker 1: and she wrote, I got a question for Eric, Eric
• 31:33
  Speaker 1: with the good hair, how do you handle your new
• 31:36
  Speaker 1: found love of the Flyers with these PST start time
• 31:40
  Speaker 1: with Pacific Standard times, start times with games like She's like,
• 31:45
  Speaker 1: how are you handling this here? How are you handling this? Eric,
• 31:48
  Speaker 1: because boy, you've got you've really got thrown into this.
• 31:51
  Speaker 1: And and now, I mean, my god, you have a
• 31:54
  Speaker 1: hoodie on where you've got gritty on the front of it.
• 31:56
  Speaker 1: For God's sake, there's a flyer's pillow behind you. If
• 31:59
  Speaker 1: you're watching on YouTube, folks, you can see it right there.
• 32:02
  Speaker 1: My gosh, I mean you've done a one eighty.
• 32:04
  Speaker 2: Got a flyer's flag over here. Yes, you do anything
• 32:07
  Speaker 2: for your kids, Jeff, there you go, so, yes you do, Yes,
• 32:10
  Speaker 2: you do. Yeah, he got He got into it pretty
• 32:13
  Speaker 2: heavy with her. She buries her locally, then branched out
• 32:16
  Speaker 2: to the Flyers and yeah, so I'm all about it.
• 32:19
  Speaker 2: I watched tonight's game. It was dreadful To answer your question,
• 32:23
  Speaker 2: April things again for reaching out the PST games you
• 32:29
  Speaker 2: talk about. If we're doing the show, I have a
• 32:31
  Speaker 2: humongous TV here on the wall now. My son and
• 32:33
  Speaker 2: I decided to make a man cave space down here,
• 32:37
  Speaker 2: which explains all this over here. So if I if
• 32:42
  Speaker 2: I'm down here for the show, I can actually watch
• 32:45
  Speaker 2: the game. So that works out well. But the opposite
• 32:48
  Speaker 2: when it's a what ten o'clock starting game.
• 32:52
  Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, they're playing Seattle or something. Yeah.
• 32:54
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm turning fifty this year, I'm probably gonna check
• 32:59
  Speaker 2: the highlight it's the next one. Yeah, So I'm and
• 33:02
  Speaker 2: the Sixers are my team. Right. I won't even like
• 33:04
  Speaker 2: stay up for a porling game, right, I just the
• 33:08
  Speaker 2: box scores and highlights are so great now and don't have
• 33:11
  Speaker 2: to like watch the game.
• 33:11
  Speaker 1: But yes, it's it's hard. Yes, I gotta be honest.
• 33:16
  Speaker 1: You are coming into this at the right time. The
• 33:19
  Speaker 1: Flyers have been just fun to watch. They're in the
• 33:22
  Speaker 1: middle of a reb I'm not even a middle necessarily.
• 33:25
  Speaker 1: I mean we're we're coming up to the tail end
• 33:27
  Speaker 1: of this rebuild. I mean you're in a good spot here,
• 33:30
  Speaker 1: you know, with brand new coach Rick Tockett, who we're
• 33:33
  Speaker 1: going to get into with our friend Ryan Gilbert a
• 33:35
  Speaker 1: little bit here, you know, just being able to watch
• 33:38
  Speaker 1: Trevor Zegris and Travis connect me them posting a lot
• 33:42
  Speaker 1: of really strong assist totals here and doing some good
• 33:45
  Speaker 1: stuff in terms of scoring, getting to see Matt ve Mitchkoff.
• 33:48
  Speaker 1: Just you're gonna see his development now over the years.
• 33:52
  Speaker 1: It's been a quote disappointing season for him based on
• 33:56
  Speaker 1: I think some unrealistic expectations from the fan base. But
• 33:59
  Speaker 1: you've gotten into this dude from a real like from
• 34:01
  Speaker 1: a timing standpoint, it's you're you're really hit on it.
• 34:06
  Speaker 2: It really did well, and you guys would try and
• 34:09
  Speaker 2: get me back into it Flyers wise, and when the
• 34:13
  Speaker 2: when the seasons were bad there was that much direction
• 34:15
  Speaker 2: going on, I would try tune in for a game
• 34:17
  Speaker 2: or two.
• 34:18
  Speaker 1: I'm like, you'll Chuck Fletcher years, yeah.
• 34:20
  Speaker 2: I'm watching this, yes, but yeah, you're right, like they
• 34:25
  Speaker 2: I'm a bandwagon jumper. Sure I'm not not like the
• 34:28
  Speaker 2: what millions of Flyers fans would care, right, But yeah,
• 34:32
  Speaker 2: I picked a great time to do this because man,
• 34:37
  Speaker 2: really good fun young players even with a couple of
• 34:40
  Speaker 2: veterans kind of sprinkled in, it does feel like there's
• 34:44
  Speaker 2: there's definitely more of a culture, that kind of thing.
• 34:46
  Speaker 2: You talked about it earlier with Rick talk. Yeah, yeah,
• 34:49
  Speaker 2: it feels like a thing kind of it's moving in
• 34:52
  Speaker 2: the same direction, whereas like it's been a disaster and
• 34:56
  Speaker 2: really hard to get into, like if if you're like
• 34:59
  Speaker 2: just kind of a yeahah yeah.
• 35:02
  Speaker 1: Look, there are times when Rick Tockett what he's what
• 35:04
  Speaker 1: he's having his players doing. The ice isn't necessarily the
• 35:06
  Speaker 1: most exciting offensive hockey in the world, but it's still
• 35:10
  Speaker 1: extremely interesting to watch game after game seeing what the
• 35:14
  Speaker 1: pairings are gonna be and just you know, I mean,
• 35:16
  Speaker 1: defensively this team is no is absolutely surprising everybody. I mean,
• 35:22
  Speaker 1: they are doing some really good stuff. We're gonna get
• 35:25
  Speaker 1: into it a little bit again with Ryan Gilbert from
• 35:27
  Speaker 1: Broadstreet Hockey dot Com. But man, you got into it
• 35:30
  Speaker 1: at a good time, So I'm gonna let you go, buddy,
• 35:32
  Speaker 1: you got anything else before before? A head out here?
• 35:35
  Speaker 2: No, Like I said, I'll be fifty this year and
• 35:37
  Speaker 2: it's eleven o'lucky.
• 35:38
  Speaker 1: All right, There you go, there you go, and really quick, folks,
• 35:42
  Speaker 1: if you're watching on YouTube, you can like and subscribe
• 35:44
  Speaker 1: to the Philadelphia Sports Table podcast show here. Share our
• 35:47
  Speaker 1: podcast with your friends and family who are Philly sports
• 35:50
  Speaker 1: fans sports fans in general. We'd uh, you know, we'd
• 35:53
  Speaker 1: love to have more listeners for sure, and more subscribers
• 35:57
  Speaker 1: as well. Boy, I gotta tell you, it's a it's
• 35:59
  Speaker 1: kind of tough. It's kind of tough being over here
• 36:02
  Speaker 1: on YouTube after a little while. Look, it's a slow build.
• 36:05
  Speaker 1: It's a slow build, so we need your help, folks.
• 36:07
  Speaker 1: We need your help doing well on the audio side
• 36:09
  Speaker 1: of things for sure. But uh, man tell you YouTube, I
• 36:13
  Speaker 1: gotta I gotta figure out the algorithm here.
• 36:17
  Speaker 2: Dence what my son watches. I appreciate that every show.
• 36:21
  Speaker 2: I appreciate that. Not for nothing.
• 36:22
  Speaker 1: I had a political meeting today with somebody and they
• 36:26
  Speaker 1: were like, I listened to it. He's like, he's like,
• 36:27
  Speaker 1: I Don'm like, are you serious? I go are you serious?
• 36:31
  Speaker 1: He's like, yeah, I can't listen to Wyp's like I
• 36:33
  Speaker 1: can't do it. He's like, you you guys? Are you guys?
• 36:35
  Speaker 1: Are my go to for Philly sports? And I was
• 36:37
  Speaker 1: I was like, can I hug you? Said that to him, Yeah,
• 36:43
  Speaker 1: you want to give me money. All right, folks, we're
• 36:48
  Speaker 1: gonna head out and uh, when we come back from break,
• 36:51
  Speaker 1: I'm gonna be talking to Ryan Gilbert from Broadstreet Hockey
• 36:53
  Speaker 1: dot Com. We're gonna be talking a ton more Flyers
• 36:56
  Speaker 1: and uh what their season is looking like and what
• 36:58
  Speaker 1: we can expect from them in the future. Sure, take
• 37:00
  Speaker 1: care and we'll be back in just a bit.
• 37:04
  Speaker 2: And now on the table.
• 37:09
  Speaker 1: All right, let's get into some Philadelphia Flyers talk here
• 37:12
  Speaker 1: with our guests this week to talk about this team.
• 37:14
  Speaker 1: It's been really fun to watch this team in general. Yes,
• 37:16
  Speaker 1: I mean, we've certainly seen some games that haven't been good,
• 37:20
  Speaker 1: especially in recent days from this Philadelphia Flyers team, But
• 37:24
  Speaker 1: overall this season, I have been enjoying it from an
• 37:28
  Speaker 1: overall perspective. But to dive into it with us from
• 37:30
  Speaker 1: Broadstreet Hockey dot Com. We love having him on and
• 37:34
  Speaker 1: have for some time. Mister Ryan Gilbert, my friend, thank
• 37:37
  Speaker 1: you so much for taking the time to join us
• 37:38
  Speaker 1: this week.
• 37:39
  Speaker 3: No, thanks for having me on. I always love I
• 37:41
  Speaker 3: always love coming on to talk to you.
• 37:43
  Speaker 2: I appreciate it.
• 37:43
  Speaker 3: We always call a little bit off the path. Still
• 37:45
  Speaker 3: on topic, it's always always a great conversation with you.
• 37:48
  Speaker 3: So when you reached out to have me on, of
• 37:50
  Speaker 3: course I have to come back.
• 37:51
  Speaker 1: I appreciate it. I do, because you know, the one
• 37:54
  Speaker 1: thing about this Flyers team that never disappoints is that
• 37:57
  Speaker 1: there's always storylines going on, and you know, there's fresh,
• 38:00
  Speaker 1: straighting aspects of this team. There are fun aspects of
• 38:03
  Speaker 1: this team, interesting aspects of this team, and I think
• 38:05
  Speaker 1: we're seeing a lot of interesting things going on this
• 38:09
  Speaker 1: particular season. But I wanted to start the conversation off
• 38:12
  Speaker 1: with you Ryan talking about one gentleman in particular, because
• 38:16
  Speaker 1: it's his first year as the head coach of the
• 38:18
  Speaker 1: Philadelphia Flyers, and that's Rick Tockett, and I want to
• 38:22
  Speaker 1: talk about what type of coach he has actually been
• 38:24
  Speaker 1: here as we are heading into mid January. I am grateful,
• 38:28
  Speaker 1: and I've said many times this season thus far that
• 38:31
  Speaker 1: John Tortorella is no longer the head coach of this team.
• 38:34
  Speaker 1: But when it comes to Ric Tocket, there have certainly
• 38:36
  Speaker 1: been some ups and downs for sure since the season started,
• 38:39
  Speaker 1: and we're gonna kind of get into that a little
• 38:41
  Speaker 1: bit more in the conversation as well. But I'm wondering.
• 38:43
  Speaker 1: I guess from a general overall perspective, what are your
• 38:46
  Speaker 1: thoughts about his approach, his approach to how he coaches,
• 38:51
  Speaker 1: decisions in game, decisions that he is making, how it
• 38:55
  Speaker 1: has affected a team, both for a positive and negative standpoint.
• 38:58
  Speaker 1: What are your thoughts here when it comes to Ric Tacket.
• 39:00
  Speaker 3: Yeah, overall, I have gone back and forth on him.
• 39:03
  Speaker 3: I wasn't sure at first, and he had to open
• 39:05
  Speaker 3: him press conference. He sounded great, and that's one of
• 39:08
  Speaker 3: the main things is like it's refreshing to hear him talk,
• 39:11
  Speaker 3: like even in like the press conferences, Like you're not
• 39:14
  Speaker 3: getting an exasperated John Tortorella, right, You're getting Rick Cockett
• 39:17
  Speaker 3: out there. He's like, he talks calmly, He's like, you know,
• 39:20
  Speaker 3: we've got to be better. We had some good plays.
• 39:22
  Speaker 3: And one of the most important things is he's not
• 39:24
  Speaker 3: healthy scratching young players. Of course we're talking right now
• 39:27
  Speaker 3: on Wednesday, right before Denver Barky got healthy scratched. But
• 39:31
  Speaker 3: I thought Denver Barkie, no, he's slowed down past. Yes,
• 39:34
  Speaker 3: mitchkov has only missed the one game due to injury.
• 39:37
  Speaker 3: He is very upfront about things. He's very transparent and
• 39:41
  Speaker 3: he's not going to call out players in the media.
• 39:43
  Speaker 3: You can kind of read between the lines and see
• 39:45
  Speaker 3: like some players need to pick it up. But it's
• 39:48
  Speaker 3: been refreshing to have him there. And yeah, it's his
• 39:51
  Speaker 3: systems can be boring at times, right, they're not very
• 39:54
  Speaker 3: high octane offenses. But and you can disagree with with
• 39:58
  Speaker 3: the Flyers plan, but he was brought in to bring
• 40:02
  Speaker 3: this team to the next level and start winning games.
• 40:05
  Speaker 1: And I think maybe, yeah, I was gonna say, and
• 40:06
  Speaker 1: I think to provide a certain level of stability within
• 40:09
  Speaker 1: the locker room and from a pure coach to player
• 40:12
  Speaker 1: relationship type of thing, I think that stability has been
• 40:15
  Speaker 1: a really important part of this job. This I'm sorry
• 40:17
  Speaker 1: I almost said John Torrell Jesus, this Rick Tocket narrative
• 40:21
  Speaker 1: that we really didn't see with John Tortorella here.
• 40:25
  Speaker 3: Yeah, you can tell he's well liked. You can tell
• 40:27
  Speaker 3: why he's well liked, and he's respected around the league,
• 40:29
  Speaker 3: like Sidney Crosby speaks highly of him. He was a
• 40:32
  Speaker 3: phil Castle whisperer in Pittsburgh. Like people like him, and
• 40:36
  Speaker 3: it's easy to see why. It's easy to like him.
• 40:39
  Speaker 3: It's easy to dislike him when he's you know, possibly
• 40:42
  Speaker 3: not doing what you want him to do with your
• 40:44
  Speaker 3: young players, But overall, he was brought in to make
• 40:47
  Speaker 3: this team competitive and right now they're in a playoff spot.
• 40:50
  Speaker 3: They've been around a playoff spot for a while, and
• 40:53
  Speaker 3: if they can get back things back on track, I
• 40:55
  Speaker 3: don't see why they're not one of the top three
• 40:57
  Speaker 3: teams in the division. And Rick Tockett has a lot
• 41:00
  Speaker 3: to do with that, because, yeah, they do have stability.
• 41:02
  Speaker 3: They have a guy in the room that they know
• 41:05
  Speaker 3: is going to be here, they know is in lockstep
• 41:07
  Speaker 3: with them and with the front.
• 41:08
  Speaker 1: Office absolutely, and I think is this season moves along
• 41:13
  Speaker 1: here and when we look at Ryan the five on
• 41:17
  Speaker 1: five play evolution this season with this Flyers team, you know,
• 41:20
  Speaker 1: early season analytics really shows us a lot of defensive improvements,
• 41:25
  Speaker 1: for sure. We've talked about that on this podcast platform
• 41:27
  Speaker 1: as well, and hell, I mean, even those improvements, we
• 41:30
  Speaker 1: continue to see them with our own eyes. It's not
• 41:32
  Speaker 1: just the analytics that are showing us that. I mean,
• 41:35
  Speaker 1: we've seen better penalty kills as well this season, which
• 41:38
  Speaker 1: has been great, but we're still seeing from time to
• 41:42
  Speaker 1: time offensive generation that still lags and like you mentioned,
• 41:46
  Speaker 1: with Rick Tocket and his system, not the most high
• 41:48
  Speaker 1: octane type of system that we're seeing from an offensive standpoint.
• 41:51
  Speaker 1: So I'm wondering what should all of this be telling
• 41:55
  Speaker 1: us about this team's identity at this point in the season.
• 41:58
  Speaker 3: Here, Yeah, this team's identity here with Rick Tocket is
• 42:02
  Speaker 3: basically like, do you want fun hockey or do you
• 42:04
  Speaker 3: want to win hockey games? You can't. You can rarely
• 42:07
  Speaker 3: have both unless you have great point or Kakutrov like,
• 42:11
  Speaker 3: and the Flyers are Rick or almost said Rick Torderella,
• 42:15
  Speaker 3: Rick Cockett. Rick Cockett is trying to win hockey games,
• 42:19
  Speaker 3: and that's coming at the effect of your having less offense.
• 42:25
  Speaker 3: They're building the defense first, as you said, we're seeing that,
• 42:29
  Speaker 3: and they have an offense that you know, they can
• 42:32
  Speaker 3: grind it out, they can cycle and draw penalties. And
• 42:35
  Speaker 3: that's one of the main issues is the power play
• 42:37
  Speaker 3: is once again one of the worst in the league.
• 42:39
  Speaker 3: Like if this team, this team is drawing penalties, they're
• 42:41
  Speaker 3: just not converting on them. If the power play was
• 42:44
  Speaker 3: once again league average power play, this team is a
• 42:47
  Speaker 3: lot better. A lot of these players have more points,
• 42:49
  Speaker 3: were less upset with the lack of scoring. But right
• 42:53
  Speaker 3: now there's really not a lot of offense, even off
• 42:56
  Speaker 3: the rush, like the Vorax scored off the rush the
• 42:58
  Speaker 3: other night. But there's not a lot of excitement in
• 43:02
  Speaker 3: the game. But that comes at this team learning, these
• 43:06
  Speaker 3: players taking a step forward, learning their overall rounded game,
• 43:10
  Speaker 3: because you see players like Clayton Keller in Utah, he's like, yeah,
• 43:15
  Speaker 3: I wasn't great under Tocket, but I'm a better player
• 43:17
  Speaker 3: now for that So getting that here now, it's frustrating
• 43:21
  Speaker 3: to see a lack of offense. Hopefully, hopefully that comes
• 43:25
  Speaker 3: through for a handful of these players. And Tyson Forster
• 43:29
  Speaker 3: I think is a big loss for this team. Yes,
• 43:31
  Speaker 3: he is incredibly undervalued. He's one of the best wingers
• 43:35
  Speaker 3: on this team, especially when driving play. So this is
• 43:39
  Speaker 3: a team where if you miss one, two or three players,
• 43:42
  Speaker 3: they don't have the depth ready yet to fill them in.
• 43:47
  Speaker 3: So that's kind of been I think five Forrester's absence
• 43:50
  Speaker 3: has been huge in that aspect as well.
• 43:52
  Speaker 1: Absolutely, Look, the Flyers' power play has been consistently bad,
• 43:57
  Speaker 1: and it's not just just that. We're at a point here,
• 44:00
  Speaker 1: Ryan where it's not just bad luck. You know, it's
• 44:02
  Speaker 1: a mix of structural issues. It appears, you know, personnel mismatches,
• 44:08
  Speaker 1: predictable habits. I think as well, that really compound each other.
• 44:12
  Speaker 1: I mean, a good power play starts before set up,
• 44:15
  Speaker 1: and the and the Flyers really struggle there as well.
• 44:19
  Speaker 1: And I just don't know what it's going to take
• 44:21
  Speaker 1: for this team to get out of that consistently bad
• 44:24
  Speaker 1: power play. I mean, I mean, what are your thoughts
• 44:26
  Speaker 1: on that.
• 44:27
  Speaker 3: It's it's been years, it's been it's a decade, decades.
• 44:31
  Speaker 3: It's just it's just been. It's it's it's the same
• 44:34
  Speaker 3: thing over and over. And they're, like you said, you
• 44:37
  Speaker 3: don't know where to start, Like do you start with?
• 44:39
  Speaker 3: They can't get it set up, they can't enter the zone,
• 44:42
  Speaker 3: the sling, the slink, sling, shot pass. I'm sick of it.
• 44:45
  Speaker 3: The units, they're not keeping them together, and I don't
• 44:48
  Speaker 3: think they have the right players on the unit. I
• 44:50
  Speaker 3: want I want meatch Coffin Zegres together on that top unit.
• 44:53
  Speaker 3: Let them figure it out, let them cook there, get
• 44:55
  Speaker 3: your five best players on the top unit and let
• 44:58
  Speaker 3: them run out there for a minute, a minute and
• 45:00
  Speaker 3: a half, and have the second unit be a true
• 45:02
  Speaker 3: second unit and see if you can make something happen there.
• 45:05
  Speaker 3: But we fired Rocky Thompson. That didn't fix things. You
• 45:09
  Speaker 3: got to get at least three or four guys consistently
• 45:12
  Speaker 3: on that same unit to gain some chemistry. And yeah,
• 45:15
  Speaker 3: it hasn't looked good. It hasn't been good, and they
• 45:18
  Speaker 3: don't really look like they have a plan out there,
• 45:20
  Speaker 3: which is that's concerning. That's the problem. That's the problem.
• 45:24
  Speaker 3: Like sometimes sometimes they look better, they have some chances,
• 45:28
  Speaker 3: but I think the other game against Tampa, they didn't
• 45:31
  Speaker 3: have a shot on goal on their first two power plays,
• 45:33
  Speaker 3: and that's just you know, you don't want them shooting
• 45:35
  Speaker 3: just to shoot. But that is that is very.
• 45:37
  Speaker 1: Talent exactly, it absolutely is. Look, you mentioned one particular
• 45:41
  Speaker 1: player on this team, and we got to get into him,
• 45:42
  Speaker 1: Matt ve Mitchkoff, and man, this is a player with
• 45:46
  Speaker 1: so much promise, so much potential as we all know,
• 45:48
  Speaker 1: and he has just one goal since the beginning of
• 45:51
  Speaker 1: December and it was a freaking empty netter. I would
• 45:54
  Speaker 1: just love to hear your thoughts on how this very
• 45:57
  Speaker 1: young and talented hockey player, the guy who's really supposed
• 46:00
  Speaker 1: to take this Flyers team to the next level offensively
• 46:04
  Speaker 1: and within this rebuild here, how he's kind of just
• 46:07
  Speaker 1: languished this season away in a variety of ways here,
• 46:11
  Speaker 1: And part of that's Rick Tacket as well. We know
• 46:12
  Speaker 1: the ice time for a significant length of time was
• 46:17
  Speaker 1: what twelve minutes or so and now just recently getting
• 46:20
  Speaker 1: up to about maybe sixteen minutes per game. But like,
• 46:22
  Speaker 1: what are your thoughts here on metbe Mitchcalff and his
• 46:24
  Speaker 1: overall season thus far. Should we be concerned too?
• 46:27
  Speaker 3: Yeah, but like you said, he is young. He's finally
• 46:31
  Speaker 3: twenty years old now, and he wasn't even supposed to
• 46:33
  Speaker 3: be over here. That's true here yet until after next season,
• 46:36
  Speaker 3: I think. So he's making the transition to a new
• 46:39
  Speaker 3: style of hockey, a smaller rink, the language difference, the
• 46:44
  Speaker 3: cultural difference, culture shocking year, and all young players go
• 46:48
  Speaker 3: through sophomore slung like even Connor Bernard, who is generational,
• 46:51
  Speaker 3: had a worse sophomore year than a rookie year. Yeah,
• 46:54
  Speaker 3: not seeing that with Celebrini, he's a special case there
• 46:57
  Speaker 3: in San Jose. And like you said, take it is
• 47:00
  Speaker 3: a little bit to blame for it. But I do
• 47:02
  Speaker 3: think some of the discourse around Metchkoff is just getting
• 47:04
  Speaker 3: toxic out there because Meetskoff has done this to himself too.
• 47:08
  Speaker 3: He no longer leads to flyers in penalty minutes because
• 47:11
  Speaker 3: Connectne had that come minu of his conduct. But he
• 47:15
  Speaker 3: has thirty eight penalty minutes and I think that's nineteen minors.
• 47:18
  Speaker 3: I don't think he's taken a major yet this season,
• 47:20
  Speaker 3: but it's always lazy penalties. And if you're not making
• 47:23
  Speaker 3: the right play, you're not going to play in the
• 47:25
  Speaker 3: important moments. And at the same time, you do want
• 47:28
  Speaker 3: to see him get more, get less of a leash.
• 47:31
  Speaker 3: You want to see him, let him do what he
• 47:33
  Speaker 3: can do. But he even admitted it, like he didn't
• 47:36
  Speaker 3: have good conditioning over the summer. He came into camp,
• 47:39
  Speaker 3: you know kind of you know, kind of not ready
• 47:41
  Speaker 3: to play, and that's on him, and it's also on
• 47:44
  Speaker 3: the team for making sure that he's doing the right
• 47:47
  Speaker 3: things in the off season. So I think with Meetchkoff,
• 47:50
  Speaker 3: we given a month, we give the Olympic breaks, see
• 47:52
  Speaker 3: how he comes back from those three weeks off, and
• 47:55
  Speaker 3: if if it's late March and he's still looking like this,
• 47:59
  Speaker 3: maybe you can start to panic. But like panic is
• 48:02
  Speaker 3: the wrong word because he's twenty years old, it's his
• 48:05
  Speaker 3: second year, he doesn't have consistent line mates. He'll be fine.
• 48:09
  Speaker 3: Not may Mitchkoff is going to be an All Star.
• 48:12
  Speaker 3: He will be fine.
• 48:13
  Speaker 1: Thank you for saying that. My heart is now not
• 48:16
  Speaker 1: beating as fast. Of course, really it's it's something where Yeah,
• 48:20
  Speaker 1: there is a certain sector of Flyers nation that really
• 48:23
  Speaker 1: does need to calm down with him. And I specifically
• 48:25
  Speaker 1: asked you that question about Mitchkoff because of that. There
• 48:29
  Speaker 1: are certain sectors of this Flyers community to listen to
• 48:31
  Speaker 1: this podcast. And I just want folks to know you said.
• 48:34
  Speaker 1: I mean, he's twenty years old. For God's sake, let him.
• 48:37
  Speaker 1: He need to develop.
• 48:38
  Speaker 3: He's the storyline this season. The Flyers are winning, Zegras
• 48:41
  Speaker 3: has been great. Oh what's Meetchkoff doing?
• 48:43
  Speaker 2: Right?
• 48:43
  Speaker 3: No, no one cares what's happening with the team. It's
• 48:45
  Speaker 3: just all on him, right, just all on it. Right.
• 48:47
  Speaker 1: Yeah, Well, folks, we're gonna take a quick break and
• 48:49
  Speaker 1: when we come back, we got a lot more Flyers talk.
• 48:51
  Speaker 1: But Ryan, aside from a Broadstreet Hockey dot com, where
• 48:54
  Speaker 1: can folks find you out there on the interwebs.
• 48:57
  Speaker 3: You can find me on Twitter, at our Gilbert sop.
• 49:00
  Speaker 3: I am on a blue sky at Ryangilbert dot bsky
• 49:04
  Speaker 3: dot social and if you're into betting betting hockey, you
• 49:07
  Speaker 3: can check out the Hockey Gambling podcast. I record that
• 49:09
  Speaker 3: a few times a week.
• 49:10
  Speaker 1: Awesome, Awesome, All right, folks, We're gonna take another break
• 49:13
  Speaker 1: real quick, but when we come back, we're gonna have
• 49:15
  Speaker 1: more Flyers talk coming your way. Stick with us. All right,
• 49:24
  Speaker 1: we are back and again we are with Ryan Gilbert
• 49:27
  Speaker 1: from Broadstreet Hockey dot Com. Does a lot of great
• 49:30
  Speaker 1: podcasting out there himself. Feel free to follow him on
• 49:33
  Speaker 1: the socials out there and definitely give him some love online.
• 49:38
  Speaker 1: Let's talk now about the fact that Trevor Ziegris Travis
• 49:42
  Speaker 1: Konnecty are posting some very strong assist totals here this season, Ryan,
• 49:48
  Speaker 1: but the scoring depth behind them remains somewhat of an
• 49:53
  Speaker 1: open question. I think at this point, how are you
• 49:55
  Speaker 1: seeing the Flyers attack stacking up in high leverage score
• 50:00
  Speaker 1: ring zones and and what adjustments are you seeing them
• 50:03
  Speaker 1: make to maybe redistrict excuse me, excuse me, redistribute scoring
• 50:09
  Speaker 1: responsibility and critical situations.
• 50:12
  Speaker 3: It's really tough. When I was going over the topics
• 50:14
  Speaker 3: for the show. Yes, this is the one I struggled
• 50:17
  Speaker 3: with the most. Sorry, there's it's a great question. That's
• 50:21
  Speaker 3: why it's a great question, Like there's no clear answer,
• 50:24
  Speaker 3: like yeah, next, Me and Ziegres have been great. That
• 50:26
  Speaker 3: line with d Voriak has been one of their best
• 50:28
  Speaker 3: lines since being put together. But like I said, Forster
• 50:31
  Speaker 3: is not there to play with Kates and Brink. Brink
• 50:33
  Speaker 3: has missed some time now as well. Tippett, we know,
• 50:37
  Speaker 3: is very inconsistent. He's been good at that line with
• 50:39
  Speaker 3: Vittoria and Barkie has been fantastic at drive and play,
• 50:43
  Speaker 3: but they haven't been able to score. I don't know
• 50:45
  Speaker 3: if it's bad luck. I don't know, if it's just
• 50:47
  Speaker 3: the system. I don't I don't know how they're attacking
• 50:51
  Speaker 3: to try to stack up against those highest scoring teams,
• 50:54
  Speaker 3: like you saw it against Tampa Bay. Rick Taka talked
• 50:57
  Speaker 3: about it after the first game. He was like yeah,
• 50:59
  Speaker 3: he was like, yeah, we we we grinded the game down,
• 51:01
  Speaker 3: we slowed it down. But if you give Tampa chances,
• 51:04
  Speaker 3: they're going to convert, and we didn't convert on ours.
• 51:06
  Speaker 3: So it's just a matter of waiting it out. Grinding
• 51:10
  Speaker 3: out those shifts, getting the power play going, and that's
• 51:14
  Speaker 3: what you're going to do, win those three two games.
• 51:16
  Speaker 3: That's how this team is going to win hockey games.
• 51:19
  Speaker 3: It's not gonna be a five to four win. It's
• 51:20
  Speaker 3: going to be because when this team scores three goals,
• 51:23
  Speaker 3: I think they're almost undefeated this season.
• 51:26
  Speaker 1: So are they at this point? I didn't even know that.
• 51:28
  Speaker 3: I don't know if they're close close to being. Yeah,
• 51:31
  Speaker 3: they have two or three losses here I'm looking, and
• 51:35
  Speaker 3: two of them weren't overtime when they score three goals.
• 51:37
  Speaker 3: So when they score three, when they score four goals,
• 51:39
  Speaker 3: they're they're going to win. Like, it's just getting that
• 51:42
  Speaker 3: four goals. It's getting that three goals. And there's no
• 51:46
  Speaker 3: good answer on where to find it. Get you. I
• 51:51
  Speaker 3: get meat Gooff going somehow, you know, maybe putting if
• 51:56
  Speaker 3: you have an offense, Zonne draw put out, Zegris meets
• 51:58
  Speaker 3: gooff and connect me to some sort of offensive line there.
• 52:01
  Speaker 3: But yeah, it's not an easy answer. And that's because
• 52:05
  Speaker 3: Tockett is coaching a defensive style, right It's that's kind
• 52:09
  Speaker 3: of how they're playing by design right now. But next
• 52:12
  Speaker 3: year you get Forester healthy, you get portomartne In here,
• 52:15
  Speaker 3: who I am really excited about. I feel like next year,
• 52:19
  Speaker 3: if they're not scoring as much, then it's more of
• 52:21
  Speaker 3: an issue.
• 52:22
  Speaker 1: Yeah, And look, in the world of sports, as those
• 52:25
  Speaker 1: of us who follow whether it's hockey, baseball, football, soccer,
• 52:30
  Speaker 1: or whatever, we follow it closely. Hindsight is twenty twenty
• 52:33
  Speaker 1: all the time, and we always love doing the Monday
• 52:35
  Speaker 1: morning quarterback type of stuff. But I'm wondering, and I
• 52:38
  Speaker 1: think it's an I think this is an interesting topic
• 52:40
  Speaker 1: for us to dive into now that if you could
• 52:44
  Speaker 1: change one strategic decision from early this season that has
• 52:48
  Speaker 1: adversely affected this team here in mid January, whether it's
• 52:53
  Speaker 1: from a lineup perspective, deployment, a system perspective here, what
• 52:58
  Speaker 1: would that one change be in one Yeah.
• 53:01
  Speaker 3: I feel like it's kind of a broken record here,
• 53:03
  Speaker 3: But it's just like putting Mitchkoff on the same line
• 53:07
  Speaker 3: with at least one player, like like Tocket preaches having
• 53:10
  Speaker 3: these duos playing together. And in training camp it looked
• 53:13
  Speaker 3: like it was going to be Zegras and Mitchkoff with
• 53:15
  Speaker 3: the center, and I would love to see that. Mitchkoff
• 53:18
  Speaker 3: has played very well with Sean Katorier. Mitchkoff slows the
• 53:22
  Speaker 3: game down. Sean Katoier is a bit slower now after
• 53:25
  Speaker 3: his injuries, so I like he's back together tonight on
• 53:30
  Speaker 3: Wednesday Night in Buffalo, Mitchkoff with Katoria. But it's it's
• 53:34
  Speaker 3: you know, not fully focusing. You still have to focus
• 53:37
  Speaker 3: on winning games. But at the same time, put Mitchkoff
• 53:40
  Speaker 3: in a position to succeed, put right with two linemates
• 53:44
  Speaker 3: that can keep up with him offensively and Katoria I
• 53:47
  Speaker 3: can do that. He's a smart player. And then maybe
• 53:49
  Speaker 3: like a Tippet type to bring the speed or a
• 53:51
  Speaker 3: connect me we saw that together or Brink even. I
• 53:54
  Speaker 3: feel like it could be a small line, but he's
• 53:57
  Speaker 3: a good guy along the boards. I think it's getting
• 54:00
  Speaker 3: Meechcoff consistent line mates at five on five and more importantly,
• 54:04
  Speaker 3: Meetchcoff and Segrets should always be together on the power play.
• 54:07
  Speaker 2: Absolutely. Yeah.
• 54:09
  Speaker 3: I know people say that they're kind of do the
• 54:11
  Speaker 3: same thing, but I feel like you can work together,
• 54:14
  Speaker 3: like you don't see McDavid and drysitle on different units, right,
• 54:17
  Speaker 3: see other star players on different units, and Meetchcoff's not
• 54:21
  Speaker 3: a star yet. But he has the high end skill
• 54:24
  Speaker 3: to be that, and the power play is where you
• 54:27
  Speaker 3: have to have your best skilled players together.
• 54:29
  Speaker 1: Yeah, well, Ryan, before I let you go, I'd be
• 54:32
  Speaker 1: remiss if we didn't talk about something positive when it
• 54:36
  Speaker 1: comes to this Flyers team. And there's a lot to
• 54:38
  Speaker 1: talk about in terms of the positivity and the hope
• 54:41
  Speaker 1: that we have that this team is going to continue
• 54:44
  Speaker 1: to build upon this foundation that they're laying right now
• 54:47
  Speaker 1: to inevitably get to something special. So as we close
• 54:51
  Speaker 1: things out here, I'm wondering what gives you hope and
• 54:54
  Speaker 1: positivity when it comes to this rebuild with this team
• 54:58
  Speaker 1: right now as we look towards the remainder of the
• 55:01
  Speaker 1: season here, what's that one thing that's really giving you
• 55:03
  Speaker 1: that hope and positivity.
• 55:05
  Speaker 3: I mean, it's there's a few things there. It's that
• 55:07
  Speaker 3: the Flyers are in as good of a spot as
• 55:10
  Speaker 3: they are without Meetchkoff playing well, Like we're all we're
• 55:12
  Speaker 3: all talking about how Metchcoff's an issue, and they're still
• 55:15
  Speaker 3: in a playoff spot. There's still you know, around fifty
• 55:17
  Speaker 3: percent to make the playoffs. Had public models out there
• 55:20
  Speaker 3: like if and this is this is a low point
• 55:22
  Speaker 3: for meach Gooff. It has to be like he's not
• 55:24
  Speaker 3: going to let himself over the Olympic break, especially over
• 55:27
  Speaker 3: the summer, have a bad summer where he's not working
• 55:30
  Speaker 3: out and making sure he's ready for the season. Do
• 55:32
  Speaker 3: you got Meetchkoff? You got Portmartone. He should be turning
• 55:35
  Speaker 3: pro at the end of his college season in early April.
• 55:38
  Speaker 3: And you have Danny Breer showing yet again. He got Zegris,
• 55:43
  Speaker 3: he got Vadar. What a signing that he got the Vorak? Yeah,
• 55:46
  Speaker 3: that was I was a good find there as well.
• 55:48
  Speaker 3: Even guys like Carl GRUNSTROMP you got for nothing, came
• 55:51
  Speaker 3: out of nowhere, scores seven goals, right Like, this team
• 55:54
  Speaker 3: is still heading in the right direction and hopefully they
• 55:58
  Speaker 3: make the playoffs. I do think that make the playoffs
• 56:01
  Speaker 3: and depending on the matchup, depending how this season finishes out,
• 56:05
  Speaker 3: I don't think it's too crazy to think they might
• 56:07
  Speaker 3: might win around and danl r Could steal could steal
• 56:11
  Speaker 3: a playoff round.
• 56:12
  Speaker 1: Yes, oh my gosh, would love to see that. Seriously,
• 56:15
  Speaker 1: we need some flyers playoff hockey very much so. Again, folks,
• 56:19
  Speaker 1: Ryan Gilbert from Broadstreet Hockey dot Com Again, let folks
• 56:24
  Speaker 1: know where they can also follow you out there again
• 56:26
  Speaker 1: before we let you go, Ryan.
• 56:27
  Speaker 3: Yeah, follow me on Twitter at our Gilbert s o
• 56:30
  Speaker 3: pay and on blue Sky at Ryan Gilbert dot bluesky Social.
• 56:35
  Speaker 3: Got all my links and stuff on there. Jeff, once again,
• 56:37
  Speaker 3: thanks for having me on here. Always a blast to
• 56:39
  Speaker 3: talk with you.
• 56:40
  Speaker 1: But it's great to talk with you folks. We are
• 56:42
  Speaker 1: going to be heading out here and again, Ryan, thanks
• 56:45
  Speaker 1: so much. I'd love to have you on down the
• 56:47
  Speaker 1: road my friend. Yes, sir, and that's going to do
• 56:50
  Speaker 1: it for us this week. Make sure to share the
• 56:53
  Speaker 1: Philadelphia Sports Table podcast show with your friends and family
• 56:56
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• 56:58
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• 57:01
  Speaker 1: all of our podcasts or any major podcast platform on
• 57:05
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• 57:08
  Speaker 1: join us every week to help make this podcast happen
• 57:11
  Speaker 1: and to give us great content, and ultimately we appreciate you.
• 57:15
  Speaker 1: Take care and have a great week, and we'll catch
• 57:18
  Speaker 1: you next time.