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Thumbs Down For The Sixers, Thumbs Up For The Flyers (PST Episode 597) · The Philadelphia Sports Table | Philly Sports News & Views

0:00
Speaker 1: What's going on everybody. Hope you're doing well during this
0:03
Speaker 1: holiday season. We wanted to let you know that we
0:05
Speaker 1: recorded this podcast episode on Wednesday, December eighteenth, twenty twenty four.
0:10
Speaker 1: By the time you hear this, some things may have
0:11
Speaker 1: changed here or there, but we hope you enjoy the show.
0:47
Speaker 1: Welcome to the Philadelphia Sports Table podcast show, the longest
0:50
Speaker 1: running weekly Philly sports podcast show in the world. That's
0:53
Speaker 1: right over eleven and a half years strong. We got
0:56
Speaker 1: a great, great show coming for you this week. We
1:00
Speaker 1: got two interviews. We're gonna be dealing with the Philadelphia
1:03
Speaker 1: seventy six ers and the Philadelphia Flyers on this particular episode.
1:08
Speaker 1: It is the holiday season, which means folks are busy.
1:11
Speaker 1: Folks are busy, including myself, Yet I am able to
1:14
Speaker 1: get these podcast shows uploaded for you folks. Eric and
1:18
Speaker 1: Lend they've off here this week as they are dealing
1:21
Speaker 1: with some work stuff, some family stuff. So we've got
1:25
Speaker 1: some great interviews for you. Just a few programming notes.
1:29
Speaker 1: I love how I how people always say that few
1:31
Speaker 1: programming notes. I should just call them some podcasting notes.
1:35
Speaker 1: For the future, we're gonna have a best of show
1:38
Speaker 1: towards the end of the year. Next week we are
1:41
Speaker 1: gonna be uploading. It's either gonna be Thursday or Friday.
1:45
Speaker 1: Next week it's gonna be Eric and our good friend
1:48
Speaker 1: Mark Lacasse, who has been on the show before, good
1:52
Speaker 1: friend of the pod. We're gonna be getting into the
1:56
Speaker 1: top five albums from two thousand and four. Yes, we're
2:00
Speaker 1: gonna go twenty years back and what were some of
2:02
Speaker 1: the best albums of that year. Again, as we're closing
2:06
Speaker 1: out this twenty twenty four year, I want to give
2:08
Speaker 1: you guys some really good content, some interesting content, and
2:12
Speaker 1: I want to make sure that you hopefully are entertained
2:15
Speaker 1: in terms of your Philly sports contact content here at
2:20
Speaker 1: the PST podcast show. So with that being said, we
2:23
Speaker 1: have got a great discussion coming your way with regard
2:26
Speaker 1: to the Philadelphia seventy six Ers. Let's get to that
2:30
Speaker 1: discussion right now. Joining us this week to get into
2:33
Speaker 1: this Philadelphia seventy six Ers season from Fox Sports Phillies.
2:37
Speaker 1: The Gambler. It's one of the insiders over there does great,
2:40
Speaker 1: great work and you can find them on the Twitter
2:42
Speaker 1: slash x at Sean Underscore Bernard one. We've got Sean Bernard,
2:47
Speaker 1: how you doing buddy.
2:48
Speaker 2: Yeah, doing well.
2:50
Speaker 3: You know, fresh off the NBA Cup being wrapped up,
2:52
Speaker 3: so through the first big landmark of the season. You
2:55
Speaker 3: know what's going on now. So a lot of NBA
2:58
Speaker 3: basketball st to be played and hopefully better times for
3:00
Speaker 3: this Philadelphia seventy six ers team. But personally can't complain
3:03
Speaker 3: the spirits are high.
3:04
Speaker 1: I always like looking at your Twitter feed and sometimes, honestly,
3:07
Speaker 1: I'll go to your Twitter account and you actually still
3:09
Speaker 1: have pinned the fact that it's still a long season,
3:12
Speaker 1: still long season for the Philadelphia seventy six ers. Do
3:16
Speaker 1: you still have that certain level of optimism before we
3:18
Speaker 1: start getting into the topics here, Buddy.
3:20
Speaker 3: Yeah, I will say I having far less confident in
3:23
Speaker 3: that little bet I made than I wasn't in time
3:25
Speaker 3: of course, being that ifty thinkers do not make the playoffs,
3:28
Speaker 3: I'll be recreating some Jad McCain tiktoks myself right there.
3:31
Speaker 3: So when I tweeted that was just following the loss
3:34
Speaker 3: of the magic I believe they were two and nine
3:35
Speaker 3: at the time, felt like there was a whole lot
3:37
Speaker 3: of season left.
3:38
Speaker 2: Well, there's still a lot of season left, but it certainly.
3:41
Speaker 3: Has not gone the direction I expected, So I didn't
3:43
Speaker 3: think the low of this team or the floor of
3:45
Speaker 3: this team was as low as it actually is, and
3:47
Speaker 3: what we've seen so far injury is obviously a story,
3:49
Speaker 3: but yeah, not quite as confident in that as I
3:51
Speaker 3: was at the time of clicking and send on that one.
3:53
Speaker 1: Honestly, that's a great sound bye. The floor of this team,
3:56
Speaker 1: not realizing that it would is as low as it is,
3:59
Speaker 1: Like I think we're that, I think all of us
4:01
Speaker 1: fans are doing it, and it's really truly astonishing what
4:05
Speaker 1: has happened with this Sixers team since the start of
4:07
Speaker 1: the season. Of course, Paul George's injured right out of
4:10
Speaker 1: the gate. Now, Jared McCain is out indefinitely with a
4:12
Speaker 1: miniscus injury and it's knee, and of course Joe El
4:16
Speaker 1: Embiid is once again facing injuries and hasn't been a
4:19
Speaker 1: steady presence on the court this season. Like Sean It
4:24
Speaker 1: may sound dramatic, but is the season lost at this
4:28
Speaker 1: point here as we are looking towards the end of December,
4:32
Speaker 1: and we're all just shaking our heads trying to, you know,
4:35
Speaker 1: figure out, holy crap, we were excited now it's it
4:39
Speaker 1: seems like a messy disaster here. Again, it might sound dramatic,
4:43
Speaker 1: but is the season lost here at this point?
4:45
Speaker 3: Yeah, we're certainly close to that conclusion than I imagine
4:47
Speaker 3: could possibly be the case now. Granted, like in fairness
4:50
Speaker 3: to this Sixers team, I guess if you're grading this,
4:52
Speaker 3: it's still kind of an incomplete that we've seen grand
4:55
Speaker 3: total of one game that has been started and finished
4:58
Speaker 3: by the trio of Tyrese, Maxi, Well Viid and Paul
5:01
Speaker 3: George there, and that's how this team is built. But
5:03
Speaker 3: the Mbied injury factors are kind of the most notable
5:05
Speaker 3: story here. We don't really know the full situation, and
5:08
Speaker 3: obviously the knee issue is gonna be something that continues
5:10
Speaker 3: even when he comes back from this sinus fracture.
5:13
Speaker 2: I feel bad from the dude on a human being level.
5:15
Speaker 3: I do think like his body's just straight up failing
5:17
Speaker 3: him and like stuff like that facial fracture.
5:19
Speaker 2: I'm not sure what you want him to do.
5:21
Speaker 3: He got hit with an elbow as a guy came
5:22
Speaker 3: running in Ben Mather and hit him going up for
5:25
Speaker 3: a rebound. There there's no amount of body preparation that
5:27
Speaker 3: can kind of, you know, prevent you from that happening,
5:30
Speaker 3: So I feel bad for him. It has been frustrating,
5:32
Speaker 3: there's no doubt about it, and I would say we're
5:34
Speaker 3: closer to that breaking point with Joelle specifically than ever before.
5:37
Speaker 3: But I think the reality is the only way through
5:39
Speaker 3: the season for this team is to keep that optimism
5:41
Speaker 3: that even as bad as things currently sit, they're a
5:44
Speaker 3: game and a half out of the playing tournament and
5:46
Speaker 3: if you can find a way in, who knows what
5:48
Speaker 3: can happen from there.
5:49
Speaker 2: So I think they're still in wait and simo they're gonna.
5:51
Speaker 3: Do everything possible to desperately get this team back healthy
5:53
Speaker 3: and see what they can actually look like.
5:55
Speaker 2: So I'm not.
5:56
Speaker 3: Ready to declare it dead. Yet we're far closer to
5:58
Speaker 3: it than I expected could be the case.
6:00
Speaker 1: Absolutely, And like you said, with Embiid's recent injury, this
6:03
Speaker 1: you know, you know, the sinus injury here, it's like
6:05
Speaker 1: it's not like it was some sort of muscle injury
6:08
Speaker 1: or tissue injury. This stuff happens. He actually said, like
6:11
Speaker 1: when I read his quote where he's like, yeah, it's
6:13
Speaker 1: the second time I've had a broken face, just those
6:16
Speaker 1: words that phrase, it's astonishing to me. But I mean
6:20
Speaker 1: there's an argument that Joel Embiid is now on the
6:23
Speaker 1: wrong side of thirty here. I mean you alluded to it, Sean,
6:26
Speaker 1: and it's what so many of us are now really
6:29
Speaker 1: talking about and talking about it, I think in a
6:31
Speaker 1: more serious faction, because over the years there has been
6:35
Speaker 1: that messaging of, oh my gosh, what's happening with Embiid?
6:38
Speaker 1: He can't stay healthy. It's been the theme of his
6:41
Speaker 1: entire career. That is the overall theme of Joel Embiid's
6:45
Speaker 1: career in Philadelphia, can't stay healthy, and as a result,
6:48
Speaker 1: they haven't gotten to the promised land. Sean, do you
6:51
Speaker 1: think that we need to start as a fan base
6:54
Speaker 1: prepping ourselves for what a Sixers team looks like without
6:58
Speaker 1: Joel Embiid in the New York And when I'm talking
7:01
Speaker 1: to near future, I mean I'm talking about this off season.
7:03
Speaker 1: I don't know, what are your thoughts here and the
7:05
Speaker 1: seriousness of us really starting to talk about it and
7:08
Speaker 1: examine it.
7:09
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think the I guess whispers have gotten louder
7:11
Speaker 3: and louder, and I do think that there's more friction
7:14
Speaker 3: between Joell and the organization than has ever been the
7:16
Speaker 3: case before, just sort of some of the behind the
7:18
Speaker 3: scenes stuff with his knee.
7:19
Speaker 2: I don't think has been as.
7:21
Speaker 3: Each party has hoped for the other direction for kind
7:24
Speaker 3: of the thoughts on things there, And I think there's
7:26
Speaker 3: certainly fair complaints in both directions for this here. So
7:29
Speaker 3: I feel like we're it's a more legitimate conversation than
7:32
Speaker 3: it ever has been at any point. But to kind
7:34
Speaker 3: of speak like logistically about it, for starters, he did
7:37
Speaker 3: sign the extension this offseason, so he's on the books
7:39
Speaker 3: for five more years. He cannot be traded this season
7:43
Speaker 3: because of that extension, So these conversations have to go
7:46
Speaker 3: until at least the off season. That's right, And every
7:48
Speaker 3: other team sees the exact same stuff that the Sixers.
7:51
Speaker 3: They see this guy not being able to suit up
7:53
Speaker 3: or having these injury issues. So when you think about
7:55
Speaker 3: getting fair value back or trying to make a trade
7:58
Speaker 3: that helps this organization, I don't really see a world
8:01
Speaker 3: where you can get a trade that Darryl Mory perceives
8:04
Speaker 3: he's winning by moving on from Joel Embiid. I think
8:06
Speaker 3: kind of the reality is your best chance is to
8:09
Speaker 3: hope that he can have a stretcher of health and
8:11
Speaker 3: really like one of is the is mbid Cooke?
8:13
Speaker 2: There is he washed up conversations? To me, it's very.
8:16
Speaker 3: Clearly not like his ability on the floor. There's still
8:19
Speaker 3: going to be many nights where he's head and shoulders
8:22
Speaker 3: the most talented basketball player on the floor. The question
8:24
Speaker 3: comes in is how does the body respond to that?
8:26
Speaker 3: And can he do that on back to back nights
8:29
Speaker 3: or three times in one week? And those are really
8:31
Speaker 3: the conversations that I'm less certain of, and I think
8:33
Speaker 3: like it's tough to any optimism of that being the case.
8:36
Speaker 3: But he still has flashes where you see the fastball
8:39
Speaker 3: that he's got as a talent. Again, the one game
8:41
Speaker 3: that we saw with the three of them, with Paul George,
8:43
Speaker 3: Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxi, he was actullently. He had
8:46
Speaker 3: thirty one points, twelve rebounds, four assists and look like
8:48
Speaker 3: a guy that could be competing for an MVP Trophy again,
8:51
Speaker 3: So I still think that version of him is in here.
8:53
Speaker 3: I think how the rest of this season goes is
8:55
Speaker 3: probably going to go far away and dictating a lot
8:57
Speaker 3: of these conversations, but definitely fair to assess that this
9:00
Speaker 3: is a more legitimate talking point than it ever has
9:02
Speaker 3: been before.
9:03
Speaker 1: Absolutely, Well, you know, to move away from the Embiid's
9:06
Speaker 1: storyline and then really the kind of the crap that
9:07
Speaker 1: we really have seen with regard to this team, wanted
9:11
Speaker 1: to kind of get into maybe a more positive type
9:14
Speaker 1: of development with this team. I don't even necessarily want
9:17
Speaker 1: to say development, but I mean Paul George in his presence,
9:20
Speaker 1: it's kind of been nice. I mean, Paul George's two
9:22
Speaker 1: way play has been somewhat of a stabilizing factor for
9:26
Speaker 1: the Sixers. I mean, the team really needs to lean
9:28
Speaker 1: on him as one of the top playmakers on this
9:30
Speaker 1: team given their situation with McCain and Embiid out of action.
9:34
Speaker 1: And it's really been good to see some chemistry develop
9:38
Speaker 1: between Paul George and some of the other players on
9:41
Speaker 1: this team, and we've been seeing some good stuff from
9:43
Speaker 1: him like as of late. So, Sean, what are your
9:45
Speaker 1: thoughts on what PG has brought to the court, to
9:49
Speaker 1: the team as this team just continues to face these challenges.
9:54
Speaker 3: Yeah, certainly at rockier start to his six Ers tenure
9:56
Speaker 3: that we hope that he had the two knee bone
9:58
Speaker 3: bruises there that obviouslykind of derailed him for a little
10:01
Speaker 3: bit kept him off the floor, and then he finally
10:02
Speaker 3: has been able to return and finally hit some sort
10:05
Speaker 3: of stride that there was the minutes limit that he
10:06
Speaker 3: battled when we first got back, and moments like him
10:09
Speaker 3: being held out of overtime because he did not have
10:11
Speaker 3: any time left on the minutes limits.
10:13
Speaker 2: Things like that that all looks to be in the
10:15
Speaker 2: rear view.
10:15
Speaker 3: The version of Paul George to the Sixers organization believe
10:18
Speaker 3: they signed has finally showed up there. And what I think,
10:20
Speaker 3: like for starters, what's been nice about Paul George is
10:24
Speaker 3: what I think is unique about him. When speaking about
10:26
Speaker 3: players of his price point or talent point here, you
10:28
Speaker 3: typically got a kind of cater to the way they
10:30
Speaker 3: want to play.
10:31
Speaker 2: Paul George is.
10:31
Speaker 3: Pretty unique in that you can plug and play him
10:33
Speaker 3: on any NBA team and he's going.
10:35
Speaker 2: To bring something there.
10:36
Speaker 3: He's pretty versatile and can kind of fill a variety
10:39
Speaker 3: of roles there, which I think is really nice. And
10:41
Speaker 3: also when you look at Paul George's career throughout there
10:43
Speaker 3: typically tends to be in an every season standpoint, like
10:46
Speaker 3: a ten to fifteen game stretch, where he looks like
10:49
Speaker 3: a legitimate borderline MVP candidate, one of the best players
10:52
Speaker 3: in the entire league. Would be really nice if this
10:54
Speaker 3: upcoming stretch is when he hits kind of keep this
10:56
Speaker 3: team afloat a little bit.
10:57
Speaker 1: Let's give us a gift during this holiday season, right exactly.
11:01
Speaker 3: Yeah, So, I don't think we've seen the best basketball
11:03
Speaker 3: from Paul Geordan in the six Ers uniform just yet.
11:05
Speaker 3: I think he's finally started to settle in. But you
11:07
Speaker 3: can see just how like, just what a solid, excellent
11:10
Speaker 3: two way basketball player that he is, a guy that
11:12
Speaker 3: is never gonna hurt you being out on the floor
11:14
Speaker 3: and constantly brings something. So I think you've always been.
11:16
Speaker 1: Good, absolutely, And look, you know, I'm actually glad Darryl
11:19
Speaker 1: Moury brought him in. I mean, Daryl Morey has been
11:21
Speaker 1: getting a ton of crap, you know, some of it,
11:22
Speaker 1: you know, some of it I can understand to an extent,
11:26
Speaker 1: and other aspects of what Daryl Mory has done with
11:28
Speaker 1: this team over the years. I wasn't necessarily planning on
11:31
Speaker 1: talking about Maury with you, Sean, but sometimes the hindsight
11:36
Speaker 1: twenty twenty fans out there kind of drive me crazy
11:39
Speaker 1: at times. Really, yeah, it really just does you know
11:43
Speaker 1: and how it translates even to other gms with other
11:45
Speaker 1: Philly sports teams. It's just the Hindsight twenty twenty crap
11:49
Speaker 1: in garbage really just annoys me and it seems like
11:53
Speaker 1: just cheap Philly sports talk in a way. If I
11:56
Speaker 1: was Daryl Mory, I absolutely would have made the decisions
11:59
Speaker 1: that I have made over the past year, especially with
12:02
Speaker 1: Paul George, and I'm glad he's here and the people
12:04
Speaker 1: who are really coming down on Maury for this, I
12:07
Speaker 1: really think, just in terms of where the team is
12:10
Speaker 1: at right now, they need to re examine their fandom.
12:13
Speaker 1: In my opinion, they really do. I don't know what
12:15
Speaker 1: are your thoughts.
12:16
Speaker 3: Yeah, I agree with that there, and I think everyone
12:18
Speaker 3: loves to jump on the hindsight conversation, like I think,
12:21
Speaker 3: the reality is like he threaded the needle very excellently
12:24
Speaker 3: this offseason and gave this team the best direction or
12:27
Speaker 3: best path they possibly possibly could have.
12:29
Speaker 2: Now.
12:29
Speaker 3: I guess my comparison that I'll make here is this
12:31
Speaker 3: is all built on the foundation of Joel Embiid, and
12:33
Speaker 3: the real thing that you can put his feet to
12:36
Speaker 3: the fire on is whether it was the right decision
12:38
Speaker 3: to give them that give him that extension. There, I
12:40
Speaker 3: frankly view it is that's the cost of business with
12:43
Speaker 3: Joel embiid that yes, we just kind of see that
12:46
Speaker 3: stars get these extensions, and Joel has earned that from
12:49
Speaker 3: kind of what has been the.
12:49
Speaker 1: Track exactly thank you really quick, really quick. He absolutely has.
12:54
Speaker 1: The guy was an MVP in this league just a
12:56
Speaker 1: couple of years ago. The fact that you always always say, yeah,
13:01
Speaker 1: but what happens when he is healthy as well is
13:04
Speaker 1: also an important aspect of the equation as well. Darryl
13:07
Speaker 1: Moore is not just going to give hundreds of millions
13:10
Speaker 1: of dollars to somebody who who he knows, is just
13:13
Speaker 1: gonna be out and you know, indefinitely and getting injured constantly.
13:17
Speaker 1: It's just it's it's incredible to me, the lack of
13:20
Speaker 1: perception that some folks have.
13:23
Speaker 3: Yeah, no, it is crazy there. And I ultimately, like,
13:26
Speaker 3: I think Daryl did all the right things, and sometimes
13:28
Speaker 3: things don't work out. So I do think this season
13:30
Speaker 3: could be resolved here. But like with Joel being the foundation,
13:34
Speaker 3: you know, you can get the nicest front door you
13:36
Speaker 3: want or building the nicest windows in your house that
13:38
Speaker 3: you have, that foundation is not laid correctly, you're gonna
13:41
Speaker 3: run into some issues and that's kind of how I
13:42
Speaker 3: feel things are with the Sixers team.
13:44
Speaker 2: So we'll see.
13:45
Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely, dude, you win some and you lose some.
13:48
Speaker 1: You know, Look, the folks who listen to this podcast
13:50
Speaker 1: and on our podcast platform know that I'm in public
13:53
Speaker 1: service of an elected official. I support other folks who
13:56
Speaker 1: are running for public office. Guess what, sometimes it works out,
13:59
Speaker 1: sometimes it doesn't work out. I've been doing this a
14:02
Speaker 1: long time. You can have the perfect plan of action
14:04
Speaker 1: in front of you, everything outlined, where you need to be,
14:08
Speaker 1: where you need to win on election day, and guess what,
14:10
Speaker 1: sometimes it just doesn't work out because you're not going
14:13
Speaker 1: to have all the cards falling in your favor. So anyway,
14:18
Speaker 1: I could just keep on pontificating. But we got to
14:20
Speaker 1: talk about Tyrese Maxi Sean because we've seen tyra Reech Maxi,
14:25
Speaker 1: you know, struggle here and there as of ladies had
14:28
Speaker 1: some recent games. He had a very nice game against
14:30
Speaker 1: the Hornets recently, and I have to say, like it's
14:33
Speaker 1: been bizarre seeing him struggling and having the challenges from
14:37
Speaker 1: shooting beyond the arc. We had hoped that he would
14:42
Speaker 1: you know, really just be on fire from three point
14:44
Speaker 1: range throughout this season? Haven't necessarily seen that. Is he
14:48
Speaker 1: just really trying to put the weight of this team
14:50
Speaker 1: on his shoulders at this point given the team's overall challenges.
14:53
Speaker 1: What are you seeing from Maxie that's possibly hindering his
14:56
Speaker 1: game this season?
14:58
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think that's fair to assess there.
14:59
Speaker 3: I think he got a little bit in his own
15:01
Speaker 3: head at the start of the season, but obviously were
15:03
Speaker 3: a ton of changes with this roster and role shift
15:06
Speaker 3: accordingly because of that, when a guy like Paul George
15:08
Speaker 3: is brought in and Joelle being the focal point, and
15:10
Speaker 3: I think max he kind of entered the season with
15:12
Speaker 3: the standpoint of, like, I do have to be a
15:14
Speaker 3: little bit more playmaking friendly or be more of a
15:16
Speaker 3: true point guard and kind of settle into that role.
15:18
Speaker 3: And then when the season actually took off, turns out
15:20
Speaker 3: there is no Joel inbet and Paul George also out,
15:22
Speaker 3: and all of a sudden, you're the guy, and he
15:24
Speaker 3: kind of took that on. I think a little bit
15:26
Speaker 3: too much for trying to be Okay, I gotta lead
15:28
Speaker 3: this offense. I got to throw up forty shots and
15:30
Speaker 3: he was leading the NBA in shout attempts per game
15:32
Speaker 3: for a notable part of the start of the season.
15:35
Speaker 3: There I don't think for the most part, he's been
15:36
Speaker 3: playing bad basketball. I think he's just kind of been
15:38
Speaker 3: missing shots. I mean, his three one percentage has finally
15:41
Speaker 3: eclipsed thirty percent again, and that's a scary thought that
15:45
Speaker 3: it was down there for as long as it has.
15:46
Speaker 3: This is a dude that we've seen be top five
15:48
Speaker 3: and three point percentage in two seasons of his career already,
15:51
Speaker 3: that we know who he is as a shooter, and
15:52
Speaker 3: that has not played itself out. So I think Nick
15:55
Speaker 3: Nurse could have done a little bit of a better
15:56
Speaker 3: job putting him off ball or creating looks for him
15:59
Speaker 3: rather than so much being self generated. But I think
16:01
Speaker 3: he is playing with a little more freedom in recent
16:03
Speaker 3: games and has settled in. So I'm not worried about
16:05
Speaker 3: Tyrese MAXI certainly a frustrating stretch, and I would guess
16:08
Speaker 3: probably say if I do have a concern, it's that
16:11
Speaker 3: maybe he's not a guy capable of raising the floor
16:13
Speaker 3: of a team and you know, keeping them afloat when
16:16
Speaker 3: there are those injuries. That's sort of a larger conversation
16:19
Speaker 3: we could have about him, but I think he's settling
16:21
Speaker 3: in and it's gonna be just fine with every being
16:22
Speaker 3: said and done on the.
16:23
Speaker 1: Air, all right, very good again, folks were talking to
16:24
Speaker 1: Sean Bernard from Fox Sports Phillies The Gambler. He's an
16:29
Speaker 1: insider and contributor over there. Check out his Twitter feed
16:33
Speaker 1: and it's a great great follow at Sean Underscore Bernard
16:37
Speaker 1: one give him a follow if you are not already.
16:41
Speaker 1: I guess we're already looking towards the trade deadline here.
16:43
Speaker 1: I don't know some folks are. I know, I'm kind
16:45
Speaker 1: of like thinking about it. It's in the back of
16:47
Speaker 1: my mind. Trade deadline is February sixth, Sean, and I
16:50
Speaker 1: wonder if the front office and Darryl Moury may look
16:53
Speaker 1: to possibly move some players, possibly gain some assets. Again,
16:58
Speaker 1: it's such a bizarre state of affairs for the team
17:00
Speaker 1: and for this front office at this point. Who I think,
17:03
Speaker 1: like we said earlier, made some pretty good decisions in
17:06
Speaker 1: the offseason about how this team should look, should be
17:09
Speaker 1: constructed if they were going to compete in the postseason.
17:12
Speaker 1: Where do you see the direction of the team going
17:15
Speaker 1: as this trade deadline approaches.
17:17
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's gonna be really interesting to say, really interesting
17:20
Speaker 3: to see because I would say coming into the season,
17:22
Speaker 3: absolutely and the intention was that part of the appeal
17:24
Speaker 3: to bringing in Paul George through the through free agency
17:27
Speaker 3: and just having cap space to sign them is you
17:29
Speaker 3: kept these assets, those draft picks that you could potentially trade,
17:31
Speaker 3: these other player contracts that you could flip into something.
17:34
Speaker 3: And I think the mindset was absolutely the beat, see
17:36
Speaker 3: what you have through the first half of the season,
17:38
Speaker 3: and then get that missing piece of the deadline. It's
17:40
Speaker 3: really love to identify what that missing piece could be
17:43
Speaker 3: when we have not seen this team consistently constructed. So
17:46
Speaker 3: I think this next month will really tell the story
17:48
Speaker 3: for what their outlook is. I still kind of very
17:51
Speaker 3: heavily lean towards the thought process of they're going to
17:54
Speaker 3: try and compete and win this year. That I think
17:56
Speaker 3: knowing that their pick is top six protected and that
17:59
Speaker 3: you have to be in the first six picks in
18:01
Speaker 3: order for you to get it back, really handcuffs your
18:03
Speaker 3: opportunity to tank this season and try and get a
18:06
Speaker 3: draft pick. Because as bad as the Sixers have been,
18:08
Speaker 3: they're not gonna be worse than teams like the Utah Jazz,
18:11
Speaker 3: the Washington Wizards, the New Orleans Pelicant, Like, there's a
18:14
Speaker 3: lot of bad basketball teams that I don't think they
18:16
Speaker 3: can sync to that depth of So with that in mind,
18:18
Speaker 3: like you kind of have to go to go for
18:20
Speaker 3: it and have your best chance of it.
18:22
Speaker 2: So I don't think they're.
18:23
Speaker 3: Gonna make really any sort of needle moving move in
18:25
Speaker 3: either direction here that I think it's probably just let's
18:27
Speaker 3: get healthy and see what we got with this roster.
18:29
Speaker 3: But if the right opportunity presents itself, they absolutely would
18:33
Speaker 3: jump on it. And if things do go to full
18:34
Speaker 3: disaster and they decide to sell the farm and move
18:37
Speaker 3: Kelly Ubray and KYLEB. Martin and guys like that also
18:39
Speaker 3: a possibility if things go real south over this next month,
18:42
Speaker 3: but I think that'll be a relatively quiet deadline.
18:45
Speaker 4: Yeah.
18:45
Speaker 1: I tend to agree with you, specifically with Kelly Oubray Junior.
18:49
Speaker 1: I think he could be a piece they could move
18:51
Speaker 1: and actually get some assets back for him. But like
18:54
Speaker 1: you said, this month is going to be very important
18:56
Speaker 1: for the Sixers team and where they move in the
18:58
Speaker 1: future in terms of this particular season. But Sean before buddy,
19:02
Speaker 1: I let you go. Wanted to get your thoughts on
19:06
Speaker 1: the NBA All Star Game, or I should say All
19:10
Speaker 1: Star just Fiesta. Basically, here, the NBA has announced a
19:14
Speaker 1: new game format for the NBA All Star Game. We're
19:17
Speaker 1: gonna see a mini tournament with four teams and three games.
19:21
Speaker 1: The general managers for the teams are gonna be Shaq Barkley,
19:25
Speaker 1: Kenny Smith, and Candas Parker. It's gonna be twenty four
19:28
Speaker 1: NBA Stars divided into three teams. The four team is
19:32
Speaker 1: gonna be the Rising Stars Champion. So a lot of
19:36
Speaker 1: different gimmicks have been used over the years to try
19:39
Speaker 1: to enhance the experience of watching the All Star Game.
19:42
Speaker 1: Sometimes it's fun. Sometimes I'll sit back on my couch
19:44
Speaker 1: and I'll watch for ten minutes and then I'm like, oh, jeez,
19:47
Speaker 1: all right, this is what it is. I still don't
19:50
Speaker 1: think we've seen much I still don't think we'll see
19:53
Speaker 1: much defense being played, even with this new format, with
19:57
Speaker 1: this mini tournament. Here, Sean, I don't know what do
20:00
Speaker 1: you think of this new format? Again, I'm kind of
20:02
Speaker 1: like another gimmick here. I don't know what are your thoughts?
20:05
Speaker 3: Yeah, I give the NBA credit for trying things because
20:07
Speaker 3: I think in general, like sports leagues are pretty not
20:10
Speaker 3: a lot of innovation and kind of their thought process
20:13
Speaker 3: for this, so at least they're attempting things.
20:15
Speaker 2: I kind of like how this could play out.
20:16
Speaker 3: And to me, what they're really trying to replicate is
20:18
Speaker 3: like when you're running pick up late night in the
20:20
Speaker 3: gym that sounds five is there's a team sitting on
20:22
Speaker 3: the sideline that is called Next, that's waiting to get on,
20:25
Speaker 3: and that does get the competitive juices flowing.
20:27
Speaker 2: So I don't necessarily think it'll work.
20:28
Speaker 3: I think that it probably will be kind of the
20:30
Speaker 3: same level of effort, but it does feel like that's
20:32
Speaker 3: the vibe they're trying to replicate it, you know, like
20:34
Speaker 3: it is Lebron James sitting on the sideline saying, I
20:37
Speaker 3: got Next ready to step in and play this team there.
20:39
Speaker 3: So I'm hoping to give it a chance. I'll approach
20:41
Speaker 3: you to open minded when it happens. But I think
20:43
Speaker 3: we can acknowledge like the All Star Game is the
20:45
Speaker 3: All Star Game at this point.
20:47
Speaker 1: Absolutely, let's keep an open mind. Like Sean said, folks again, folks.
20:50
Speaker 1: Sean Bernard from Fox Sports Phillies the Gambler. Great great
20:54
Speaker 1: stuff that you're doing, my friend. Honestly, have a great,
20:57
Speaker 1: great holiday season with you and yours and to come
21:00
Speaker 1: back and join us down the road. Always love having
21:02
Speaker 1: you on, my friend.
21:03
Speaker 2: Yeah, absolutely, we love to and appreciate you having me on, Jeff.
21:06
Speaker 1: It's always great talking to Sean. And now at this
21:10
Speaker 1: point in this podcast episode, we are gonna need to
21:13
Speaker 1: take a break to pay some bills. We're gonna be
21:15
Speaker 1: back in just a bit and we're gonna get into
21:17
Speaker 1: the Philadelphia Flyers and what has been happening with this
21:20
Speaker 1: team this season. Stick around. We're gonna be right back
21:23
Speaker 1: after the break. All right, we are back, and now
21:28
Speaker 1: we're gonna dive into some Philadelphia Flyers talk. We have
21:31
Speaker 1: got a great guest this week. Let's get right to it,
21:35
Speaker 1: joining us this week to get into this Philadelphia Flyers team,
21:38
Speaker 1: the rebuild, what we're seeing on offense, what we're seeing
21:41
Speaker 1: on defense. We have from the Locked On Flyers podcast.
21:45
Speaker 1: We absolutely love talking to her. Whenever she has some
21:47
Speaker 1: time to jump on the pod. We've got the one
21:50
Speaker 1: and only Rachel Donner. Rachel, how you doing?
21:52
Speaker 4: H I am good? How are you?
21:54
Speaker 1: I'm doing all right? Looking forward to this holiday season.
21:57
Speaker 1: And you know what else I look forward to is
21:59
Speaker 1: actually going on Blue Sky every now and again, and
22:01
Speaker 1: I want to I want to give folks your Blue
22:03
Speaker 1: Sky accounts so that they can find you out there
22:06
Speaker 1: at our Miriam out on Blue Sky. Give her a follow.
22:10
Speaker 1: I'm on Blue Sky as well. You can follow me, dude,
22:14
Speaker 1: really quick. We were talking about it before we hit
22:17
Speaker 1: the record button. Blue Sky so much better than Twitter,
22:19
Speaker 1: it really.
22:19
Speaker 5: Is, and honestly, it's a great place for Philadelphia sports.
22:23
Speaker 4: It is.
22:23
Speaker 5: I think like Eagles fans were the first group of
22:27
Speaker 5: people to like on mass move over and have a
22:31
Speaker 5: big presence, and you see people from other fan bases
22:33
Speaker 5: complaining about all the Eagle content, which that cannot make
22:37
Speaker 5: anybody more happy than a.
22:39
Speaker 1: Philadelphia exactly, yes, exactly.
22:43
Speaker 4: Love to see that again.
22:44
Speaker 1: Folks at our Miriam over on Blue Sky. Give her
22:49
Speaker 1: a follow, and listen to the Locked On Flyers podcast.
22:52
Speaker 1: I subscribe on Apple Podcasts. You should subscribe on whatever
22:55
Speaker 1: podcast platform you're listening to us on. Let's get into
22:59
Speaker 1: this Flyers team this season here, Rachel, look, John Tortorella.
23:03
Speaker 1: We gotta start off talking about Matt Fae Mitchikov. John
23:06
Speaker 1: Tortorella very happy with Mitchkov how he's progressing this season.
23:10
Speaker 1: I love I love how he actually used the phrase
23:13
Speaker 1: I couldn't be happier, which we don't often hear towards
23:17
Speaker 1: say during his scrums with the media during the course
23:21
Speaker 1: of his tenure as Flyers head coach. But I gotta say,
23:24
Speaker 1: as a fan, I mean, it has been so fun
23:27
Speaker 1: to watch Matt fa Mitchikov on the ice. He's such
23:30
Speaker 1: an active offensive player and he's always trying to create
23:33
Speaker 1: opportunities from from just about anywhere. So to get us
23:37
Speaker 1: started here, we're gonna talk positive here about this team
23:40
Speaker 1: in terms of what we're seeing this season. I guess
23:43
Speaker 1: two part question with regard to Mitchkov, And like you said,
23:45
Speaker 1: we're gonna start positive here. From what you have seen
23:48
Speaker 1: this season, what's the best part of his game? We'll
23:51
Speaker 1: get into the to the more you know, worst parts
23:53
Speaker 1: of his game, not that there are too too many,
23:55
Speaker 1: but from what you have seen, what are the best
23:57
Speaker 1: parts of his game that you have loved so far?
24:00
Speaker 5: Yeah, I think obviously his vision is extraordinary. We've seen
24:04
Speaker 5: it in his passes and you know, just his thought
24:08
Speaker 5: process you can see the way he delays before he'll pass,
24:11
Speaker 5: and then just extraordinary to watch. He is great behind
24:15
Speaker 5: the net. I swear to God he'll get that Michigan someday.
24:18
Speaker 5: I know, but he keeps trying. God bless him, and honestly,
24:23
Speaker 5: thank you Towards for finally caving on that. He's like,
24:26
Speaker 5: I'm just going to let the kid go. And I
24:27
Speaker 5: think that's what's been so good is the relationship with
24:32
Speaker 5: Tortorella right now seems to be He's just going to
24:36
Speaker 5: let him go and do what he wants to offensively
24:38
Speaker 5: and just incrementally build other aspects of his game. And
24:42
Speaker 5: that is exactly how you want to develop a kid
24:45
Speaker 5: who is now he's twenty, but started at age nineteen
24:49
Speaker 5: coming into the NHL, you know, so young, has you know,
24:53
Speaker 5: growth to do that other guys do in junior or
24:55
Speaker 5: in college, and he has to do it in the
24:58
Speaker 5: pro game. And so to only ormentally incorporate other aspects
25:02
Speaker 5: of his game. I think Mitchcof is getting incrementally better
25:05
Speaker 5: at five on five. I know he still shines on
25:08
Speaker 5: the power play and you know, in the overtime obviously,
25:11
Speaker 5: but I think his five on five game is getting
25:14
Speaker 5: a little bit better, and we saw it at the
25:16
Speaker 5: beginning of the season. He had too many minutes at
25:19
Speaker 5: the beginning of the season, and I think Tortorella has
25:22
Speaker 5: cut his minutes down to the right level for now.
25:25
Speaker 5: I think they're going to need to go back up
25:27
Speaker 5: again and get him more five on five time, but
25:30
Speaker 5: I think for now, like cutting his minutes and then
25:32
Speaker 5: slowly building back in the five on five time is
25:35
Speaker 5: the right approach. And I love that that's what Towarts
25:38
Speaker 5: is doing and it's been successful so far.
25:40
Speaker 1: I am so happy. I'm so glad you mentioned how
25:43
Speaker 1: you just that that foundation that Towarts is really helping
25:48
Speaker 1: to give him and that torts hasn't like stunted any
25:51
Speaker 1: sort of growth, because honestly, I was kind of concerned
25:53
Speaker 1: about that at the beginning of the season. I'm like,
25:56
Speaker 1: we know who John Tortorella is, and at times he doesn't.
26:00
Speaker 1: There are times when he does not do well for
26:01
Speaker 1: certain players, and I was very concerned about that. But
26:05
Speaker 1: like he's not.
26:06
Speaker 4: Really a development guy, oh not.
26:08
Speaker 1: At all, not at all. So I'm so glad to
26:13
Speaker 1: see and witness and I think the fan base is too.
26:15
Speaker 1: The fact that he's letting Mitchkov basically like, I'm going
26:19
Speaker 1: to give you the opportunities do what you need to
26:20
Speaker 1: do here and I'm not going to hold you back.
26:22
Speaker 1: But on the flip side of things, in terms of
26:25
Speaker 1: where's game can improve, like the worst the quote worst
26:27
Speaker 1: parts of metve Mitchikov's game, what do you think that is? What?
26:31
Speaker 1: What do you really want to see him improve on?
26:34
Speaker 5: Yeah, I think he's again a young player that has
26:37
Speaker 5: to adjust to the NHL game, and I think that
26:41
Speaker 5: he has a little bit of a temper on him
26:43
Speaker 5: and honestly, he needs to figure out how.
26:45
Speaker 4: To not get baited.
26:46
Speaker 5: I think other teams are really gonna start exploiting that
26:49
Speaker 5: a lot more. And we were talking about it un
26:52
Speaker 5: Lockdown Flyers that there's this delicate balance between figuring out
26:56
Speaker 5: when to have other guys step in for him versus
26:59
Speaker 5: when he needs to step up for himself. And I
27:02
Speaker 5: think that's a learning process on both sides of the
27:05
Speaker 5: coin there, because you know, at a certain point you
27:08
Speaker 5: want other teams to not go after him because they
27:11
Speaker 5: know that they'll get retaliation in return, or that Mitchkoff
27:15
Speaker 5: will be able to avoid those hits better. Right, So
27:18
Speaker 5: he needs to learn to avoid the hits better not
27:20
Speaker 5: get baited and get thrown in the penalty box at
27:24
Speaker 5: you know as often. Right and then and then also
27:27
Speaker 5: you know, they they have to figure out how to
27:29
Speaker 5: defend him and who needs to do that work. And
27:32
Speaker 5: you know, with his linemates being who they are, those
27:36
Speaker 5: guys are not fighters.
27:38
Speaker 1: Exactly exactly, well, that's yeah, they.
27:40
Speaker 4: Got to figure it out.
27:41
Speaker 5: They do.
27:42
Speaker 4: They have to figure that out.
27:43
Speaker 1: Absolutely. It's a great segue into the next topic because
27:46
Speaker 1: speaking of Meachkov, you know, towards his indicated that you know,
27:50
Speaker 1: Morgan Frost has been you know, way too up and
27:52
Speaker 1: down with Mitchkov this season when they've been playing together,
27:56
Speaker 1: and the Flyers really need to find that center to
27:58
Speaker 1: compliment Mitchkov, you know, and like we all know this,
28:01
Speaker 1: we see this on the ice, but as we know,
28:05
Speaker 1: they don't have a lot of center depth on this
28:07
Speaker 1: team and getting it right may actually really take some
28:11
Speaker 1: time for this organization to find that compliment for Mitchkov.
28:14
Speaker 1: What are your thoughts on how the Flyers should really
28:17
Speaker 1: obtain that next center to play alongside Mitch Coov, you know,
28:21
Speaker 1: in terms of the long term, the long game here, Yeah, well,
28:25
Speaker 1: I one.
28:25
Speaker 5: Hundred percent agree that Morgan Frost is the best option
28:28
Speaker 5: as it currently stands in terms of the right center
28:32
Speaker 5: for Matt Vey Mitchcoff, in terms of being able to
28:34
Speaker 5: handle the creativity, being able to adjust on the fly.
28:37
Speaker 5: And Morgan Frost has a similar kind of brain, but
28:40
Speaker 5: he also has a little bit more of a conservative mindset. Yeah,
28:43
Speaker 5: and we'll get back and all that. So that's why
28:45
Speaker 5: Morgan Frost is the right center for Matt Ve Mitchkoff
28:49
Speaker 5: right now. But you're right, I think patience is the
28:52
Speaker 5: watchword here because you know, I was talking about it
28:55
Speaker 5: the other day where I'm like, I can't believe jet
28:58
Speaker 5: Luchenko played NH games this season.
29:00
Speaker 4: It seems like years ago.
29:03
Speaker 2: It does.
29:03
Speaker 1: It does that he was.
29:05
Speaker 5: In the lineup and he literally and toward said it.
29:08
Speaker 5: Luchenko might be that guy, But it also might be
29:11
Speaker 5: a year and a half before Luchenko is solidly an
29:14
Speaker 5: NHL player, And we just have to be patient for that.
29:17
Speaker 5: And then in the meantime, we got to draft and
29:19
Speaker 5: develop more centers, more potential top centers. There is no
29:23
Speaker 5: other way in the NHL unless you give up your
29:27
Speaker 5: entire franchise future and we saw. I mean, it even
29:31
Speaker 5: goes back to getting Eric Lindross. What did we have
29:34
Speaker 5: to give up in order to get Eric Lindross back
29:36
Speaker 5: in the day, The same holds true. I don't think
29:38
Speaker 5: it would be that crazy of a deal these days,
29:40
Speaker 5: but still it's pretty close. Right in terms of getting
29:44
Speaker 5: an elite franchise top line center, you have to draft
29:48
Speaker 5: and develop. And you know, the Flyers have a ton
29:50
Speaker 5: of draft assets this year, and I think based on
29:54
Speaker 5: where they end up and who's available at the time
29:56
Speaker 5: of their picks, they're going to go for the best
30:00
Speaker 5: defensemen available or the best center available. And I do
30:03
Speaker 5: not see any other option at this point, like with
30:05
Speaker 5: their top pick, and they're going to have to just
30:08
Speaker 5: draft and develop.
30:09
Speaker 4: And that's kind of what it is right now.
30:12
Speaker 1: Absolutely absolutely. As we head into twenty twenty five, folks,
30:16
Speaker 1: we're going to be getting into some more draft talk
30:18
Speaker 1: with regard to the Philadelphia Flyers. So stay tuned.
30:21
Speaker 4: One of my favorite things.
30:22
Speaker 1: I know you love it, and we're going to have
30:24
Speaker 1: you on hopefully to talk about about the draft and
30:26
Speaker 1: some prospects in the future. But like it's been a
30:31
Speaker 1: fun season overall, you know, kind of like last year was.
30:35
Speaker 1: You know, everybody talks about that word rebuild. I certainly
30:38
Speaker 1: do it, fans do who know. I don't know if
30:42
Speaker 1: they'd necessarily say rebuild in the locker room. But there
30:46
Speaker 1: are some under the radar parts of this season that
30:49
Speaker 1: have been really great to watch. And there have been some,
30:53
Speaker 1: I think, under the radar storylines that haven't been as
30:56
Speaker 1: good for this team as well. But I like the
30:59
Speaker 1: growth that we are inevitably seeing at the end of
31:01
Speaker 1: the day. The foundational growth for the Philadelphia Flyers, I
31:04
Speaker 1: think has been pretty remarkable in a lot of ways.
31:06
Speaker 1: So two part question for you here, Rachel, outside of
31:10
Speaker 1: Matt ved Mitchkov, what has been the under the radar
31:14
Speaker 1: best part of this season so far that we should
31:18
Speaker 1: really be concentrating on as we're looking to the future.
31:21
Speaker 2: Yeah.
31:22
Speaker 5: I think for me personally, and I've probably said this
31:25
Speaker 5: on your show before because I love talking about this guy.
31:29
Speaker 5: But Noah Kates, Oh yeah, No Kates is one of
31:32
Speaker 5: my favorite players, and I think that he has become
31:36
Speaker 5: a reliable depth center. Like we just talked about centers,
31:38
Speaker 5: we know there's an issue at the top six in
31:41
Speaker 5: the centers right now, like even Katurier. We understand what
31:44
Speaker 5: his struggles are right now in terms of just being
31:48
Speaker 5: worn down and defensive reliability and towards us talked about it,
31:52
Speaker 5: But Noah Kates is a reliable third line center for
31:56
Speaker 5: this team and provides solid defensive play. I want him
32:01
Speaker 5: to get more activated offensively, and I think that line
32:04
Speaker 5: he is going with Brink and Forrester is really good. Yeah,
32:07
Speaker 5: they don't get quite as much ice time as I
32:10
Speaker 5: would like in order to have more opportunities, but they
32:12
Speaker 5: get and they get a lot of defensive zone starts.
32:15
Speaker 5: Want to see them get a little bit more offensive
32:17
Speaker 5: zone starts to maybe get that going. But I feel
32:20
Speaker 5: like Towartz is relying on him too and has mentioned
32:23
Speaker 5: him specifically in the past. Towarts has kind of dogged
32:26
Speaker 5: on Noah Kates before, but.
32:27
Speaker 4: Not this year.
32:28
Speaker 1: Yeah, not this year. Not this year.
32:31
Speaker 5: I think it's really good. So I think, you know,
32:34
Speaker 5: Noah Kate's plus that line he's working with or my
32:37
Speaker 5: definite right spot.
32:39
Speaker 1: I love it. I love it. On the flip side
32:41
Speaker 1: of the coin, though, Rachel, what is a negative under
32:45
Speaker 1: the radar storyline that we really should be honing in
32:48
Speaker 1: on and following more as this season goes on again.
32:52
Speaker 1: In terms of the long term, what's that storyline for you?
32:56
Speaker 5: Well, I don't know if this is under the radar,
32:58
Speaker 5: per se. I have one that's definitely more under the radar,
33:00
Speaker 5: So I'm going to cheat and have two answers. Okay, sound,
33:03
Speaker 5: But the not really under the radar answer is the
33:06
Speaker 5: three goaltender situation.
33:08
Speaker 4: Something has to have, something has to give, and really.
33:13
Speaker 5: You know, we've talked about this on Lockdown Flyers and
33:16
Speaker 5: it's not the popular answer. Most people have really like
33:19
Speaker 5: disagreed with us on this answer, but we think that
33:23
Speaker 5: the correct answers to send Kolosoff down to the Phantoms
33:27
Speaker 5: and keep a Fido tap with the Flyers, And that's
33:30
Speaker 5: for contract reasons mostly, and the fact that Kolosoft can
33:34
Speaker 5: go through without having to pass through waivers, right, So
33:39
Speaker 5: it's it's really that alone. We understand that Kolosoft might
33:43
Speaker 5: be better on paper, but he does have some maturity
33:46
Speaker 5: problems and I like the controlled chaos of i'van Fodotop's planet.
33:51
Speaker 5: And the problem is neither of them are getting starts.
33:54
Speaker 5: Goaltenders need to play, and so they just need to
33:57
Speaker 5: take care of this situation. So that's kind of like
34:00
Speaker 5: my big picture issue, yeah yeah, and the Kolosoft thing.
34:05
Speaker 5: Then you know filters down to my other under the rate,
34:09
Speaker 5: actually under the radar situation is the Lehigh Valley Fandoms.
34:12
Speaker 5: They do not have a good goaltender at all right now.
34:15
Speaker 5: Cal Peterson is a like, I wouldn't say a disaster,
34:19
Speaker 5: but it's not great. He's not great, He's not consistent.
34:24
Speaker 5: And you know, Parker Gahagen is doing his best in
34:28
Speaker 5: the starts that he gets, but is definitely not a
34:31
Speaker 5: full time Agel goaltender at all. And because of Maciniami's injury,
34:38
Speaker 5: they have nothing down there right now that is stable,
34:42
Speaker 5: and they could use Alexey Colasoft. It would give him
34:45
Speaker 5: more starts, it would give the do top more starts,
34:48
Speaker 5: and I think that would be a solution there, especially
34:52
Speaker 5: because the Phantoms are on the struggle bus real big
34:56
Speaker 5: time right now, and that is a huge part of
35:00
Speaker 5: the development side of drafting and developing, and they are
35:04
Speaker 5: not developing players. They're successfully at all. Samuy tou Amala
35:08
Speaker 5: is a wreck and that should never have happened never,
35:13
Speaker 5: And I really blame the Phantoms and they're coaching and
35:17
Speaker 5: developing down there for that.
35:19
Speaker 1: Before we get into any draft talk down the road, Rachel,
35:22
Speaker 1: I gotta have you on to talk about the development
35:24
Speaker 1: and in the Ahl Ranks Lehigh Valley phantoms, because look,
35:28
Speaker 1: this is not every.
35:29
Speaker 5: Single fantasy game. Plus you're to tell you what's going.
35:32
Speaker 1: On, plus your soul because they are about fifteen twenty
35:35
Speaker 1: minutes away from my house the arena, and honestly, I'm
35:38
Speaker 1: not sure. I mean, I'm probably gonna go to some
35:40
Speaker 1: games this year, but I don't know how many I'm
35:42
Speaker 1: gonna truly want to go to see these games with
35:45
Speaker 1: some of the talent that they're with the way that
35:47
Speaker 1: these guys are developing, We're gonna have to get into
35:49
Speaker 1: that at some point road.
35:51
Speaker 5: Anthony Richard just got hurt, so ye'll see if he
35:54
Speaker 5: comes back.
35:54
Speaker 4: So that's horrible for him, But.
35:56
Speaker 5: Yeah, it's it's I would say there could be some
36:01
Speaker 5: changes happening there soon.
36:03
Speaker 1: Well, yeah, we need to we need to talk about
36:06
Speaker 1: it more in twenty twenty five for sure. Early part
36:09
Speaker 1: of twenty twenty five. My friend again, folks, Rachel Donner
36:12
Speaker 1: from the Locked On Flyers podcast. Subscribe listen to them fantastic,
36:17
Speaker 1: fantastic content always and as we're moving along with a
36:20
Speaker 1: conversation here, Rachel, so many Flyers fans are saying that,
36:25
Speaker 1: you know, the Flyer's penalty kill is completely in the
36:27
Speaker 1: tank and just spiraling around the toilet at this point.
36:31
Speaker 1: I wouldn't necessarily say that because there hasn't been, at
36:35
Speaker 1: least in my mind, a total collapse. I mean, we
36:37
Speaker 1: know that there are certain segments of Flyers Nation where
36:40
Speaker 1: one little negative thing happens and it's the biggest disaster
36:43
Speaker 1: in the world. But a stat that stands out from
36:46
Speaker 1: our friend of the pod here, Charlie O'Connor over at
36:49
Speaker 1: phl Y, is that, you know, the goalies went from
36:53
Speaker 1: stopping ninety five point zero eight percent of the shots
36:56
Speaker 1: at four on five to just seventy five percent of
37:00
Speaker 1: them in recent games. So they're basically getting back down
37:03
Speaker 1: to the mean. They're still blocking fewer shots here and there.
37:08
Speaker 1: But I'm wondering, you know, what do you think this
37:10
Speaker 1: team needs to do in terms of cleaning up some
37:14
Speaker 1: of the issues that seem to be persisting, specifically with
37:16
Speaker 1: the penalty kill. And you know, just because from the
37:19
Speaker 1: eye test, you know, Charlie had some good numbers he
37:21
Speaker 1: put out there, but from the eye test too. They
37:24
Speaker 1: still need to clean up some stuff. I'm correct in that, right, yeah.
37:28
Speaker 5: And I think you know, Cam Yorke gets a lot
37:31
Speaker 5: of PK time. He needs to improve his work on
37:34
Speaker 5: the penalty kill, and I think that will come with
37:37
Speaker 5: time and more experience, but right now he does not
37:41
Speaker 5: look great the penalty kill. The other thing is also
37:45
Speaker 5: kind of unpopular in some ways. But Eric Johnson is
37:49
Speaker 5: a great penalty killer and he was in the lineup
37:52
Speaker 5: for that stretch when the penalty kill is doing well. Yeah,
37:55
Speaker 5: I don't think putting Eric Johnson back in the lineup
37:59
Speaker 5: is the solution because of everything.
38:01
Speaker 4: Else, right, Right, So it's a tough.
38:04
Speaker 5: It's a dilemma, right because if your penalty kill is suffering,
38:07
Speaker 5: one of your best penalty killers is sitting in the
38:10
Speaker 5: press box, what.
38:11
Speaker 4: Are you gonna do? And Ryan Paling is also.
38:13
Speaker 1: Not a good penalty yeah, he does.
38:16
Speaker 5: Right, And so you have Cam York who's still developing
38:20
Speaker 5: on that front. You have Ryan Paling, who's honestly been
38:22
Speaker 5: a disaster across the board this season, who has been
38:27
Speaker 5: a big part in terms of you know, average time
38:30
Speaker 5: on ice on the penalty kill. Like that's where I
38:33
Speaker 5: think the suffering is happening relative to last year, and
38:37
Speaker 5: there's not really a good solution for that right now
38:40
Speaker 5: unless you want to put Johnson back in the lineup,
38:42
Speaker 5: which other ways exactly, So what are you gonna do exactly?
38:48
Speaker 1: It's a tough one to figure out for sure. But Rachel,
38:51
Speaker 1: before I let you leave and move along here with
38:55
Speaker 1: your day, I think it's safe to say that we're
38:58
Speaker 1: that we've seen the most progress from this Flyers team
39:02
Speaker 1: this year. I think personally on the defensive side of things.
39:05
Speaker 1: This really comes into my thought processes this season of
39:11
Speaker 1: being an optimist, being a pessimist at times, and where
39:14
Speaker 1: things kind of fall on both sides of the coin.
39:17
Speaker 1: For me, Emil Andre's a surprise emergence as a play driving,
39:23
Speaker 1: puck moving second pair defenseman is enormous for this team's future.
39:27
Speaker 1: Cam York has never been better than how he's been playing.
39:31
Speaker 1: Travis Sandheim, as you mentioned earlier, I guess it's taken
39:34
Speaker 1: him some time, for sure years to get where he's
39:37
Speaker 1: at looks like a clearcut top pair, which means you
39:41
Speaker 1: know it's likely his deal is going to age pretty well.
39:44
Speaker 1: Are you seeing the same things with some more clear
39:48
Speaker 1: answers as it pertains to the Flyers defense here in
39:51
Speaker 1: the future or am I being a little too optimistic here?
39:54
Speaker 4: No, I think it's fair to a large degree.
39:57
Speaker 5: I will say, like Emil, Andre out of the lineup
40:01
Speaker 5: for this long is a little bit concerning to me.
40:04
Speaker 5: I understand he's got some issues when it comes to
40:08
Speaker 5: some of his defensive play and physical battles, but I'm
40:12
Speaker 5: sure think the Flyers are missing his breakout skills right
40:16
Speaker 5: about now. They get hemmed in their own zone a
40:18
Speaker 5: lot more without him out there as an option, and
40:22
Speaker 5: I think that is a thing that the Flyers need
40:25
Speaker 5: to take into consideration, because I mean, I like Samula,
40:29
Speaker 5: I've been a fan of his since day one. Story Yeah,
40:33
Speaker 5: but he's not it right now, and so it's like
40:37
Speaker 5: I think, you know, again, it's a calculated risk what
40:41
Speaker 5: the Flyers are doing with the defensive lineup currently. But
40:44
Speaker 5: I do think Andre can and should be a part
40:46
Speaker 5: of the Flyer's future given that puck moving skills. He
40:49
Speaker 5: just needs to build a strength up and you know,
40:52
Speaker 5: and get better at some other aspects of his game,
40:54
Speaker 5: which he can do. And you know, I we talked
40:57
Speaker 5: about earlier. Travis Sandheim took it like three years to
41:00
Speaker 5: get to be an actual top pairing defenseman in the league,
41:05
Speaker 5: and I think he's there.
41:06
Speaker 4: But it took a while.
41:08
Speaker 5: It took a lot of ups and downs, and he
41:10
Speaker 5: was playing above his pay grade. And you know, I
41:14
Speaker 5: think we saw that, We've seen that in a cycle
41:16
Speaker 5: with the Flyers. Ivan Provarov did the same thing, played
41:19
Speaker 5: above his pay grade for three years and then finally
41:23
Speaker 5: became an actual top pairing defenseman.
41:25
Speaker 4: Then they traded him.
41:26
Speaker 5: So you know, hopefully, like Travis Sandheims sticks around, I
41:30
Speaker 5: think he will. You know, making Team Canada for the
41:33
Speaker 5: Four Nations is such a huge accomplishment for him, so proud.
41:37
Speaker 5: But then I also see that there's like two solid
41:40
Speaker 5: defensemen in the prospect pipeline that make me excited, and
41:44
Speaker 5: Oliver Bonk and Spencer Gilles. I think that, you know,
41:48
Speaker 5: Gill especially, I think has a lot of potential that
41:51
Speaker 5: maybe it's going to take him longer to get there
41:53
Speaker 5: and we have to be patient, but I do think
41:55
Speaker 5: Bank and Gil are going to bring a little bit
41:58
Speaker 5: of fresh air to this Flyer's blue line. And again
42:03
Speaker 5: we'll take a while, but I think that it'll be
42:05
Speaker 5: worth it in the long when.
42:07
Speaker 1: You say a while with Bonk because I can't wait
42:09
Speaker 1: to see him at the NHL level, What do you
42:12
Speaker 1: think and in terms of, you know, before I let
42:15
Speaker 1: you go here, like, what do you think in terms
42:16
Speaker 1: of time frame, just from what you're seeing, what you're
42:19
Speaker 1: analyzing at this point with his game where it's at
42:21
Speaker 1: right now, how long do you think it might be?
42:24
Speaker 1: I won't hold you to it, but how long do
42:26
Speaker 1: you think? Maybe?
42:28
Speaker 5: I think that depending on how London does in their
42:34
Speaker 5: season in terms of you know, the OHL playoffs or
42:38
Speaker 5: if they make it to a Memorial Cup again, all
42:40
Speaker 5: of those things, and depending on how the Phantoms do,
42:43
Speaker 5: there could be an opportunity for him to get a
42:46
Speaker 5: few games in for the Fantoms at the end of
42:48
Speaker 5: this season, and would I would surmise that he plays
42:52
Speaker 5: most of next season with the Fantoms.
42:54
Speaker 1: Okay, all right?
42:55
Speaker 5: And I think that if there's a call up opportunity
43:00
Speaker 5: in this season for him in twenty five twenty six, I.
43:03
Speaker 4: Think that's the best thing.
43:05
Speaker 5: But he is going to really need to adjust his physicality,
43:10
Speaker 5: especially to the pro game. And I think, you know, again,
43:13
Speaker 5: depending on how the Fantoms are doing and what the
43:15
Speaker 5: development situation is. I think playing in the AHL next
43:18
Speaker 5: season is the best thing for him.
43:20
Speaker 1: Well, if he's going to be in the fan, if
43:21
Speaker 1: he's going to be in the Fantoms next year, Like
43:23
Speaker 1: I said, it's right down the street from me. I'm
43:24
Speaker 1: gonna be at more games off Oliver Bock. It is
43:26
Speaker 1: gonna be there, and that's it's gonna be interesting watching
43:29
Speaker 1: him play on the ice here here in a Lei Valley.
43:32
Speaker 1: But I'll let you go right now. It was great
43:36
Speaker 1: talking to you again, folks. Rachel Donner from the Locked
43:39
Speaker 1: On Flyers podcast at our Miriam over on Blue Sky,
43:44
Speaker 1: my friend, having great, great holiday. It was great talking
43:47
Speaker 1: flyers with you. Come back join us down the road.
43:49
Speaker 1: I'd love to have you back on the show.
43:51
Speaker 4: Excellent, looking forward to it.
43:55
Speaker 1: As always, it's great talking to Rachel, and I very
43:57
Speaker 1: much appreciate Sean also coming on to die into the
44:00
Speaker 1: Philadelphia seventy six ers and what their season has been.
44:04
Speaker 1: I hope that you all have a great, great holiday season.
44:07
Speaker 1: Be safe out there, folks, and we've got a great
44:10
Speaker 1: twenty twenty five coming your way. We've got some great
44:13
Speaker 1: podcasts coming your way over these next couple weeks. As
44:16
Speaker 1: we celebrate the holidays with our family and as we
44:19
Speaker 1: get together with our friends as well during this time
44:22
Speaker 1: of year. Hope you're enjoying the PST content here. Let
44:26
Speaker 1: folks know in your network know about the Philadelphia Sports
44:28
Speaker 1: Table podcast show Philadelphia Sportstable dot com. That's where you
44:31
Speaker 1: can get all of our podcast shows. I'm over on
44:34
Speaker 1: Blue Sky if you all want to head on over there.
44:37
Speaker 1: If you're getting on Blue Sky at all, it's a
44:39
Speaker 1: great experience, it really is in a lot of different ways,
44:43
Speaker 1: So just search out Jeff Warren over there. The show
44:47
Speaker 1: itself is on the Twitter dot com still at Philadelphia PST.
44:52
Speaker 1: I am still on the Twitter dot com at Jeffrey
44:54
Speaker 1: Underscore Warren. Haven't had too too much activity over there,
44:57
Speaker 1: to be honest with you, but still still have the
45:01
Speaker 1: accounts up amazingly enough. So again, folks, have a great
45:05
Speaker 1: holiday season with you and yours. We will catch you
45:09
Speaker 1: next time.
45:11
Speaker 2: H