Latest / The Philadelphia Sports Table | Philly Sports News & Views / TABLE TALK: Yes! The Flyers Are Fun!

Transcript

TABLE TALK: Yes! The Flyers Are Fun! · The Philadelphia Sports Table | Philly Sports News & Views

0:00
Hey there, everyone, it's Jeff. We wanted to let you know that
0:02
we're recording this podcast on Monday, December fourth, twenty twenty three, so
0:07
by the time you hear this, some things may have changed, but we
0:09
hope you enjoy the show. All right, everybody, you are listening to
0:34
Table Talk here at the Philadelphia Sports Table podcast show, the longest running weekly
0:38
Philly sports podcast show in the world. That's right over ten and a half
0:42
years strong. Love dishing out the content to you on a weekly basis,
0:47
and we got a great table Talk discussion coming your way because this Philadelphia Flyers
0:50
team still such an interesting team as we are heading into December. Here,
0:55
my goodness, it's not necessarily what us fans thought this team I think was
1:00
going to be at this particular point here in the twenty twenty three twenty twenty
1:04
four season. Not perfect by any stretch of the imagination. Why because they
1:08
are in a rebuild. But this rebuild isn't necessarily going as a lot of
1:14
us thought it would be. So we've got a great discussion about this team,
1:18
their forward momentum, and their direction. So let's get to it right
1:22
now, and you can find them on Twitter at our Gilbert Sop. We'd
1:26
love having him on. It has been a while. It has been a
1:29
minute since he has been on to talk about this Philadelphia Flyers scene. He's
1:33
the digital content producer over at Audacity Sports the Hockey Gambling podcast as well,
1:38
and he's one of our good friends from over at Broadstreet Hockey dot Com as
1:42
well, putting up some good content there. Ryan Gilbert, Man, how
1:46
you doing, buddy. Thanks for joining us this week. Yeah, anytime.
1:49
Thanks for having me back on here. I feel like it's been a
1:52
while, but it's also been a while since the Flyers have been good,
1:55
and I feel like that's when I want to come on and talk some Flyers
1:57
hockey. So I'm glad you're having me back on now. A fantastic time.
2:00
It is a good time to talk to you, man, because like
2:04
the like, I look at what this season has been thus far, and
2:07
it's just I kind of said it in the intro where it's like it's not
2:10
necessarily going how we thought it was gonna go. Like I'm actually watching these
2:15
games and I'm and there are many times where I'm sitting back after a game
2:19
and I'm like, you know what, I enjoyed that even if they didn't
2:22
necessarily win the game, I enjoyed it. And I think the one thing
2:25
that I have been enjoying this season too, like reflecting on you know,
2:29
these past how many games, a bit like fifteen games, I think at
2:32
this point in the season, is that the defensemen in general, Ryan have
2:38
been moving the puck up the ice quickly to the forwards in order, you
2:42
know, for this offense and a transition, you know, throughout these rush
2:47
plays, and it's really fun to watch. It's one of the biggest positives
2:52
that have really remained consistent, I think throughout this season. You know,
2:54
we've seen more aggressiveness on the ice than in previous seasons, which are really
2:59
nice. And we're gonna do some reflections on previous seasons as well, in
3:02
previous management as well, and a little bit here. But I'm wondering,
3:06
why do you think we're seeing this now with this Philadelphia Flyers team? You
3:09
know, this this just a completely surprising type of energy and aggressiveness here.
3:21
Why do you think we're seeing this now? And is this going to become
3:23
a staple of this Flyers team for years to come? Even though we know
3:25
this team is still in you know the rebuilding stages. What are you thinking.
3:30
It definitely seems like it will be something to just keep doing. Fears
3:34
a com I mean Tortorella said last week. I think it was that they're
3:37
doing this in preparation for the mad Russian Mitchkoff to come over here, come
3:40
over in a few years. Yeah, they have Cutter Goldtier also a great
3:44
prospect, and like they have offensive talent, they have Connectne, they have
3:47
Forster now has been great. They have Atkinson. Like they're doing what you
3:52
know you have to do in today's nuntel. You have to get these defensemen
3:54
up in on the action. We saw the Panthers last year ak Blood and
3:58
Montor I think both had twenty goals. You see the guys like cal mccark,
4:00
when Hughes, even Victor Hedman is kind of like a two way defenseman
4:03
that can join the rush for Tampa. So you this is how teams are
4:06
built. It's not the nineties anymore. With with the Devil's Trap. You
4:10
need you need guys that can join the rush and also you need forwards that
4:14
are held accountable and you know, cover the point when when they're when the
4:16
defenseman pitches in and that's something port Pillaro preaches. And the conditioning too as
4:20
well. You have these guys that can skate up the ice, they can
4:24
skate back, and they can they can cover for each other, and also
4:26
of course having someone like Carter Harden that that can that can stop the occasional
4:30
odd man rushes. It's never a bad thing. That's never a bad thing
4:32
too. And I love the fact as well that offensively, Ryan this team
4:38
has really outshot the majority of the teams that they've played this season. You
4:42
know, they're taking chances, and this is a team that's leaving the arena
4:45
every night just carrying that. You know, they're quote they're huge set of
4:48
balls out of the Wells Fargo Center or whatever arena that they are in.
4:55
And it just goes to show a change in a shift in terms of philosophy
4:59
on the and I think behind the scenes as well, but in terms of
5:01
on the ice, you know, this is a trend here. I think
5:03
the bodes well for what this team is trying to do offensively for the future.
5:09
Again, the aggressiveness again out shooting other teams as well. So what
5:13
are your thoughts on this particular trend and whether or not you see it continuing
5:16
into the future. Yeah, I mean, I mean the front office,
5:20
Torderell is very transparent that this is a rebuild, but they're also very transparent.
5:24
We're not going to be a team that's easy to play against. You're
5:26
gonna have to fight to get a point or two points against us every single
5:29
night, and that's what they build their team around. Today. They have
5:31
that conditioning I mentioned towards does hold players accountable, sometimes frustratingly too much,
5:36
like with Joe Ferraby playing down down without halfway the other night. But yeah,
5:42
this is these are like the teams you see, like you look down
5:45
in Carolina with our good friend, uh Eric Tolski down there. This is
5:48
how they're built. They have team just go in, grind them down in
5:51
the fore check, and you know, hopefully in a few years the Flyers
5:55
can have that, but also have the top skill talent to put the buck
5:59
on the net that Carolina is lacking there with with Gotier and with Forrester and
6:01
with all these prospects coming up. So I think this is something you're definitely
6:05
going to see. Maybe it's maybe a little bit inflated too much from the
6:09
shots from the outside, but Hey, get pups on net and good bodies
6:12
to the net and see what happens. Absolutely, it's been fun to watch.
6:15
But I also Ryan have been taking a step back and saying to myself,
6:18
you know, I want to see some balance in terms of this rebuild
6:23
as well, because we're currently looking at a Flyers team who isn't you know,
6:27
bottom of the barrel by any stretch of the imagination. In fact,
6:30
this team is a winning record on the road of seven four and one as
6:33
of us recording this and the majority of US fans, you know, we
6:36
want to see this organization come away with some significant draft assets and some you
6:42
know, possibly top five draft talent for the future, especially as the you
6:46
know, as we look to the twenty twenty four draft, it's not looking
6:50
like that may necessarily happen here at this point is where in the early part
6:56
of December. But as a fan again, you know, I've been trying
6:59
to keep that balance, and I've been wondering how you're trying to keep that
7:01
balance of you know, I want my team to win games, I want
7:05
them to do well, but I also want them building responsibly for the future
7:11
as well. That's not to say they're not building responsibly right now, but
7:14
just kind of keeping that balance, Like how do you see that playing out?
7:18
Yeah, Like I know every game is equal, the games in October
7:20
equal to the games in March and April, but like, just I'm trying
7:24
to enjoy the Flyers games while they're still competitive, while they're still either in
7:28
a playoff spot or right a lout of a playoffs by and they're like,
7:30
if they keep this up, great, see what happens. And you know
7:32
what, looking at those draft picks, they already have two for this upcoming
7:36
draft. They have the Florida pick, they have two second round picks,
7:40
they have the Columbus pick, and they have guys as they can trade for
7:43
more picks. Sean Walker has looked great. He's been one of those defensemen
7:46
stepping up in the rush. Nick Steeler could potentially be traded for you know,
7:49
maybe package jump together, get a better better return there. And also
7:54
like this team is too good to bottom out. They lost to the Sharks,
7:58
but they're better than the Sharks. Look at the dock, you look
8:00
at the black Hawks, you look at the Blue Jackets. Like the Flyers,
8:03
they're they're they're a decent team and they're getting great goaltending, So like,
8:05
if you have that, you're going to be in the hunt. And
8:09
like, I know, you want to have to win Cups and you want
8:11
to get that top level talent. But if Mitch Goff is as good as
8:13
he can as he's advertised, if Cutter got can transform this to the NHL
8:20
level, like they have the top level talent, it's just a matter of,
8:22
you know, putting it together. And sometimes you don't need like the
8:26
top five picks. Sometimes you can get a better or similar player at pick
8:31
ten or pick twelve, Like as long as you have a lottery pick or
8:35
in the teens, I think, I think you're fine. And then you
8:37
know what, they have two picks. They might the two first round picks.
8:41
They make another third for Walker, you know, package them together like
8:43
we saw almost ten years ago now with connecting. Yeah, it's such an
8:48
interesting feeling. I'm gonna go back to the Penguins game from this past week
8:52
that they won, and I'm thinking to myself as you're going through that game,
8:56
and I'm like, man, I just I just love it when they
8:58
beat the Penguins. I love it. It's in my heart, It's in
9:01
my soul. Those wins for me, I love them so much more.
9:05
But then you get the win and you're like, yes, yes, they
9:09
did it, they pulled it out, and then I kind of like sit
9:11
back on my couch and I think, Okay, they're winning these games or
9:15
winning these close games at times here, and it's like, is that going
9:18
to be good for again the draft that you were just talking about, And
9:22
yes, there is talent going to be coming up within the next couple of
9:26
years, two to three years that we're going to be seeing with this team
9:28
too. But I just again talking about that balance. I think from a
9:31
fandom standpoint, I haven't felt like this in quite some time, specifically with
9:35
this Flyers organization, where really, for ten seconds I am gleeful and then
9:41
the next ten seconds I'm like, oh man, should I be feeling like
9:43
this? You know what I mean? Do you have those feelings too?
9:50
I mean, yeah, it's like, Okay, I want to enjoy this.
9:52
And I think it's different this year though, because, as we talked
9:54
about, they are out shooting teams. Yeah, and it's not like they're
9:58
lucking into wins. They're the better team most nights and they're they're getting getting
10:01
the points and like going back to the point of not needing too much top
10:05
level talent, Like you look at the lightning they got Stamco's first overall had
10:09
been second overall, Britt Connolly sticks overall like everything else to got domesterkof twenty
10:15
seventh, Vasilevski nineteenth, Like they don't. They didn't have a bunch of
10:18
top top picks. The same thing with like Chicago too, I mean,
10:20
like they have Patrick Kay and they stole him from us. But like it's
10:24
it's a matter of you know, getting more lottery tickets as so to speak.
10:28
So yeah, for this season, I'm make the playoffs. Let's let's
10:33
have some fun, all right, Let's get crazy, Let's have some chaos.
10:35
Let's let's see what happens here, Let's see what let's see what Danny
10:37
Bee can do. Absolutely, I tell you, though, Ryan, there's
10:39
a lot of reflection going on too, and it's interesting, like for me,
10:43
and there's no other Flyers fans too that you see online, you know,
10:46
reflecting on what was just a terrible idea to not only bring Chuck Fletcher
10:52
in this organization but then allow him to stay as long as the organization did
10:58
and it's not to not to bring up you know, awful history again or
11:03
anything. And you look at what Danny Briere has done. And while Danny
11:07
Brier hasn't been the GM for this team for you know, even a year,
11:11
I think at this point here, you know, there's this new sense
11:13
of optimism that's not only translated to the fans, but I think we can
11:18
see it on the ice from this crew of players as well. And that's
11:24
what's heartening as a fan. What are your thoughts on the direction and the
11:28
front office management and the changes that have really impacted this team, like over
11:33
the years, as you can see where I mean, going from Ron Hextall
11:35
to Chuck Fletcher now to Danny Brier, it really has been an emotional rollercoaster
11:41
for US fans. What are your thoughts on the direction that they're currently in
11:46
from where they were at it's absolutely a breath refresh air with Danny Brier and
11:52
with with Keith Jones up there and even even Torderella having some say there.
11:54
And also like from from the very top you see Dan Hailferty, like going
11:58
down the locker room, like seeing these guys you didn't see their old ownership
12:01
group proly doing that too much. So you see like they're trying to bring
12:03
back like the Flyers family, like under Snyder, where you know, if
12:07
you're a Flyer, you're a Flyer for life, and you know what,
12:09
maybe sometimes the business decisions come into that. But and yeah, this team
12:11
on the ice, I was thinking about the other other week, like they
12:15
don't have a captain, But it's not because they don't have anyone worth being
12:18
a captain. They have like so many great options and connect mee Owen Tippett's
12:22
becoming a great guy. Joe Ferrabye, I know Claude dru said he was
12:26
gonna be a captain some day. Like they have so many guys that I'm
12:28
sure in that locker room rally around each other and just play for each other,
12:33
and that's what they need. But at that same time, and I
12:35
don't think this is going to happen. But we all loved Ron Hextall the
12:39
first few years. I loved Ron Extall. I loved how he was building
12:41
the cupboard. But I think now the Flyers will not let that happen.
12:45
They have the checks and balances with Brier and with Keith Jones, and like,
12:48
yeah, Danner Beer is even like offseason moves. The profer Off trade.
12:52
He got back Sean Walker, he got back a first and second round
12:56
pick, and we'll probably flip Shawn Walker for a second round picker better.
13:00
So that's three draft picks for Provaroff, which was audition by substraction there.
13:03
And then someone that I don't think has talked about nearly enough is Ryan Palet.
13:07
I mean, twenty four years old. They plucked him off off free
13:11
agency for a one year deal, and he's been playing tremendously. Like even
13:16
in that game when they were down to ten forwards, he was out there.
13:18
He's one of the fastest guys in the league. So yeah, I
13:20
think Dani Brier has has been fantastic so far. It's really interesting to take
13:24
a look at where this organization has come. It's been an emotional rollercoaster.
13:28
Like I said, gosh, and again, folks, we're talking to Ryan
13:31
Gilbert. He put up a great article just today actually as we're recording this
13:37
December fourth, on Broadstreet Hockey dot Com. Check out that content there where
13:43
else can they find you online? Buddy? Yeah, I work for Odyssey's
13:46
Sports, so much to some of my articles up there on the WIP website.
13:50
I co host the Hockey Gambling Podcast on the Sports Coming podcast Network.
13:54
If you're into the betting side of things, make sure you check that out.
13:56
That's always a fun time. And yeah, I'm I'm on Twitter of
14:00
course, as you mentioned that our Gilbert Sop a bunch of different places.
14:03
You can always find me there though. All right, very good. Couple
14:05
more topics I wanted to dive into with you, Ryan, and the first
14:09
is, you know, as we're kind of closing things up here, you
14:11
know, I wanted to get your take on what we've been seeing this season
14:15
with special teams. I mean, every single year we're talking about special teams,
14:18
we're talking about the power play, talking about the penalty kill, and
14:22
I mean the power plays we know is still absolutely terrible. It is terrible.
14:26
They are continually struggling with it. I think they're one of the worst
14:30
in the league at this point on the power play. Yet the penalty kill
14:33
so very strong. Considering you know who who and what this team is.
14:39
I think they have the eighth best penalty kill percentage in the league at this
14:43
point, which is eighty four point eight percent. I mean, it's such
14:46
a bizarre thing to watch night in and night out with this team. What
14:50
are your thoughts on this special team's disparity that we're seeing with the Flyers this
14:54
year. Yeah, I mean it's a huge disparity. But watch out.
14:58
The power is red hot three for their last ten. I think a big
15:05
part of that. I think I like Kyson Forster there in the old jeruspower.
15:09
He's able to let his let his shot. Shane, he has a
15:11
great shot. We saw that on the go ahead goal in Pittsburgh there.
15:15
But but the they just look lost at times. They look like that.
15:18
They get into the zone, they passed the puck around the outside, there's
15:22
no one in the middle. Just I don't know, Fangiel shoot and they
15:24
don't see that. There's no shooting lanes. But shoot the puck. Get
15:28
people, Get two guys in front of the net. Put the puck on
15:31
that. See if you can get a few bounces, See if you can
15:33
find somebody out man, you're out man in the opposition by one, like
15:37
go down their battle and battle in front of the net. Isn't that hard
15:39
you have to do? Is it that hard to coach that? I don't
15:41
know, it's it's even like even the even the late Drew years, the
15:48
power player was off. What hasn't been great since they had like Yoger and
15:52
Hartnell back exactly probably ten years ago by this point. But but at that
15:56
same time, like they are battling on the penalty goill and it's it's that
15:58
conditioning. It's having guys that you know, Vittria Atkinson, Lawdon Paling connect
16:03
me. I think Farraby got out there like these guys push. Hathaway has
16:07
been great. Like these guys push the play forward and they're not afraid to
16:11
take chances. And also obviously your best penalty killer has to be your goalie.
16:15
And Carter Hart and both and sam Erson have both come up huge recently.
16:18
So I think the penalty kill they can definitely keep this up. And
16:22
I could see the power play improving because I don't think they can. There's
16:26
nowhere else to go for the power play but up exactly exactly. You can't
16:29
fall out of a basement window, you know what I mean, you just
16:30
get you can't do it. So all right, power play gonna be looking
16:34
good. Like you said, I mean, they are a thirty percent right
16:37
now. It's unbelievable. So you mentioned the goalies, and that's how I'd
16:42
like to really close out our conversation here, Ryan, because sam Erson,
16:47
you know, has been very, very good in terms of that backup goalie
16:51
for Carter Hart. We've seen him with some really nice performances in front of
16:55
the net this season. So I think what's interesting is that we know so
17:00
that it's a contract year for Carter Hart, and yes, he's playing really
17:03
well this season, but I do wonder if the Flyers front office may look
17:07
to get some assets for Heart before the trade deadline, and also due to
17:11
how Sam Rison's been playing this season, or if they think maybe Carter Hart
17:15
is going to be that long term goalie for the future, you know,
17:19
as this rebuild is going on. What are your thoughts in terms of where
17:23
this goalie situation is going to go with two very very talented goalies in front
17:27
of the net. Yeah, it's kind of been a roller coaster there in
17:30
the net because last year sam ar Arson was playing great in like December January,
17:33
people are like, all right, trade Hart, now we've got our
17:36
goalie of the future. But then the start of this year Arsten wasn't looking
17:38
great. But over the past few games against the Islanders that shut out Big
17:42
Win in Pittsburgh got surprised they started him in Pittsburgh. He came up huge
17:45
there. But also looking at it, Carter Hart's twenty five and Sam Urson's
17:49
twenty four, so like their primes are very much connected. So if you
17:56
can trade Hart for like, if some team overpays form, like if Edmund
18:00
comes out, like we need a goalie, We're gonna give you this for
18:03
him, Sure you take it. But this is Philadelphia. We might have
18:06
a franchise goalie, Like, let's try to keep them, especially if we're
18:10
going to be competitive suoner then we think, yep, he is still a
18:12
RFA. Give him, give him a you know, give him a solid
18:15
deal. You know, we'll see what he also does have the off the
18:18
ice investigation, you know, kind of hanging over him a little bit.
18:21
So I'm not sure if trading him is a possibility. But yeah, you
18:25
have Heart. But if you trade him, you have Erson who's twenty four.
18:27
He I'd like to see him in a starting role to see if you
18:30
can handle the bulk of that before they potentially trade Heart after that, like
18:34
you have Alexei Kolosov, he's twenty one fetatop twenty seven. Now he's probably
18:40
he's probably NHL hopes are done. But yeah, I mean, we have
18:42
we have a goalie. You see teams needing goalies, don't overpay Carter Heart
18:47
but keep them unless you can get multiple top assets for him. I think
18:51
that's interesting too. And I wonder also, I mean, you don't you
18:55
don't really see this very often, but I do wonder if the Flyers might
18:57
want to trade sam Erson. I honestly wonder if they would possibly want to
19:03
see if they could get anything for him, or make any phone calls or
19:06
anything. Do you think that would be a possibility, I mean that that
19:10
could be a possible. I don't know if any teams would would buy in
19:12
on him just based off his lack of experience, But but you bringing that
19:15
up make swith feel like think like you think about the best teams in the
19:18
league. Look at Boston, they have all Mark and swaymen. They are
19:21
a great tandem. I mean Tampa Bay, we saw what happened to them
19:25
without Vassilevski, with with Johansson and whoever else they had Florida last year.
19:29
I mean, Bob's hooked the reins in the playoffs, but they had Alex
19:32
Lion that Anthony stolar Is to three former flyersas there carrying them. So I
19:37
mean, and today'st that day and age. I think, you know,
19:38
having two good goalies is the way to go, but don't put too much
19:42
salary into them. So I'll be interested to see what Heart gets next off
19:47
season. But I think as long as the Flyers are competitive and looking like
19:49
they're going to be competitive, which it looks like right now, I think
19:52
you have to keep your franchise goalie. Yeah, that's what I'm thinking as
19:56
well. I don't want them getting rid of him. I remember there were
19:59
contingencies within Flyers Nation this past year. That'said all right, like you mentioned,
20:03
got to get rid of them, got to get those assets for him.
20:04
But when you have a franchise goalie, no, no, you gotta
20:07
keep them. You have to keep them. So Ryan, Man, it
20:11
was great talking to you folks again at our Gilbert Sop on Twitter. If
20:15
you'd like to give Brian a follow, he's a great, great follow and
20:18
man, it was great talking to you. Great catching up talking Flyers with
20:22
you. Ryan. Let's talk at some point down the road. I'd love
20:25
to have you back on, my friend. Yeah, I love to come
20:26
back on and talk to somebout positive Flyers hockey. So thanks for having me
20:30
on and looking forward to the next time. It's definitely an exciting time within
20:34
Flyers Nation and what we're seeing from this team. Talking with Ryan about where
20:40
the direction is going at this point, there really is no other word to
20:45
use but hopeful. We have to be hopeful here because we're actually seeing good
20:51
productive hockey play coming from this team. You look at the front office.
20:56
We talked about Danny Brier, we talked about John Tortorella. Ryan offered his
21:00
thoughts and just hit them, hit the nail right on the head in terms
21:06
of where the front office has taken this crew. And I think Ryan really
21:10
also hit the nail in the head in terms of let's enjoy this. Let's
21:14
not just say this team needs to bottom out so that they can get draft
21:18
assets for the future, that they can trade this talent away, so that
21:22
they can get this and this this is part of a rebuild that is looking
21:26
really good at this point. Let's embrace it, folks. This rebuild is
21:30
looking good. Let's just try to enjoy it as much as we can so
21:37
that being said, I'm Jeff Warren. You are listening to the Philadelphia Sports
21:41
Table podcast and we got some I got a little bit of a programming note
21:45
for you next week. Next week, we're not gonna be uploading as much
21:51
content because I am gonna be on vacation with my family. There will not
21:55
be an Eagles postgame podcast show coming this Sunday. I know it stinks.
22:00
It's the Dallas game, and especially after the Eagles had that horrific, horrific
22:06
game against San Francisco forty nine ers at the link. I really want to
22:11
get into what that Dallas game is going to be. Unfortunately, not gonna
22:12
be able to do it next week because I'm gonna be on vacation. But
22:15
we are going to have a podcasts that will be uploaded next week. We're
22:21
gonna be scheduling something really good for you out there. So that being said,
22:25
everybody follow me on threads at mister Jeff Warren. You can also find
22:30
all of our podcasts at Philadelphia Sports Table dot com. We'd love for you
22:34
to get on the site and check out some of our PST special podcasts as
22:38
well. We think you'll enjoy them. So with that being said, take
22:41
care, we'll catch you next time.