With the events leading up to the Simon Gagne trade and the actual trade itself, talks have begun about deserting Flyers fandom. Homer is an incompetent moron, yes, but his incompetence is causing people to want to leave Flyers Fandom, desert the team, boycott the team until Homer is fired, etc. As you may remember, such talks revolved around the Eagles when they did not re-sign Dawkins last off-season, when the Eagles signed Michael Vick last pre-season, and as mentioned, Homer has driven some people to that edge with this off-season.
And once again I find myself needing to re-iterate I do not think completely deserting a team over off-season moves is ever justified. That’s not to suggest that some people won’t get away from the sport and the team over time, that happens, but to go from completely supporting the team to no longer supporting the team over 1 move and/or a string of moves in a single off-season is ridiculous for me. When the Eagles signed Vick, James Craven decided to “boycott” the Eagles over it, did not watch a single Eagles game last year, and will not watch one until Vick is off the team. To me, something like that is completely ridiculous. Not every move a team we support makes is going to be a good move, but when the bad ones or the controversial ones come along, that does not mean one should forget about them completely.
Another thing about boycotting and/or deserting the Flyers is that it takes you away from the other players on the team that you love. Now whether or not the Flyers are a better team now than they were in June can be a point of great contention, but this still is a talented team with Pronger, Timonen, Richards, Giroux, Leino, JVR, Lappy, Betts, Briere, Carbomb, etc. Just because Homer backed himself into a corner and traded Gagne to get himself out of it, does not mean you should give a big “fuck you” to the entire organization, which would extend to the above players who at some point or another last year we grew to really love watching.
That being said, I think there is room for 2nd team fandom. I know that not every sports fan believes in this, but personally I always find room for 2nd teams, especially when Philly teams are out of it. That is not to say it can or has to take anything away from one’s Flyers fandom, but supporting an additional team, especially one like Tampa Bay (though the cities have had pretty interesting relationships in sports this past decade) where there aren’t any harsh feelings, isn’t out of bounds. The Hurricanes were my 2nd team in the Eastern Conference for the past decade or so (Brindy FTW!), and now that team is Tampa Bay. It does not take away from my Flyers support, it does not take away from reveling in the Flyers achievements past and present and future, it does not take away the pain of being so close in 2004, but it gives me another team to be happy for when they succeed. And I truly believe this Tampa team will be a force to be reckoned with this coming season.
Showing posts with label Fire Paul Holmgren. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fire Paul Holmgren. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Simon Gagne Traded
Coming into today, Simon Gagne had the distinction of being the longest current tenured athlete in Philadelphia sports. That distinction currently belongs to Philadelphia Eagles kicker David Akers. An era has officially come to an end today with the announcement that the Philadelphia Flyers had traded Simon Gagne. The return is not exactly one that we should be jumping up and down about, though it is one we all could have and should have expected. For Simon Gagne, the Flyers received from Tampa Bay defender Mike Walker (and his $1.7M cap hit) and a 4th round draft pick. Yep. That's it. Why? Were you expecting something else? Bernier? Quick? Simmonds? Some other young stud?
To expect that at the start of the off-season the Flyers would be in line for one of the above players was certainly not unreasonable. The Flyers had some cap room, they had Mike Rathje FINALLY coming off the books after spending most of his time in Philadephia on long-term injury reserve, and let's face it, they had money to play with. But let's see where all of that went.
Overpaying Andrej Meszaros.
Overpaying Braydon Coburn.
Overpaying Jody Shelley.
Signing Nikolai Zherdev.
The signing of Zherdev was a good signing and not an overpay, but the timing of it was terrible and the signing is only good in a vaccum, something I will examine a little later. Paul Holmgren managed to create a situation where he had absolutely zero leverage and traded away the face of a franchise, a phenomenal 2-way forward, and a great guy off the ice for a hill of beans. That is not an indictment on what Homer did today, but the position he put himself in where he was literally backed into a salary cap corner and got out of it by bullying Simon Gagne into giving in into waiving his no-trade clause. The return is a complete joke. In addition to the draft pick, they managed to come up with their 8th defenseman. Matt Walker now joins Chris Pronger, Kimmo Timonen, Matt Carle, Braydon Coburn, Andrej Meszaros, Sean O'Donnell, and Oskars Bartulis. Homer now has 2 more D-men than the number that regularly appear in games. Now I understand the concept of keeping a 7th defender, but Homer has once again create himself another unnecessary hole in who is he going to cut? Carle? The recently signed O'Donnell? Bartulis? It is a never ending chain of stupidity and self-made holes. The Flyers and Homer had 10 million dollars to re-sign Carcillo and Powe, get a 3rd line winger, upgrade the 5th and 6th defenseman spot, and get a goalie. Let's analyze what Homer did and how this mess could have been avoided.
He needed a 3rd line winger: He massively overpaid Jody Shelley at 1.1M per year for 3 years and in addition signed Zherdev for 2M.
Upgrade the defense: He traded a 2nd round draft pick for Andrej Meszaros with a huge $4 million cap hit (when perhaps better free agent options were settling for that much or less), signed gritty veteran Sean O'Donnell, and re-signed Braydon Coburn at an expensive price.
Goalie: Re-signed Michael Leighton for 2 years at $1.55MM per year when better and cheaper options were going for less than Leighton (I am looking at you, Ellis and Mason).
Of these moves, the ones that stick out as the huge missteps are trading for a 2nd round draft pick for a 5th defender with a $4M cap hit when cheaper (and even better options) were available, signing Jody Shelley to a $1.1M cap hit (for my Shelley vs. Carcillo breakdown, see here), signing Zherdev when Homer did, and signing Michael Leigthon at a $1.55M cap hit when options like Ellis and Mason are better and were going for cheaper amounts.
The Flyers have young talent that will be a year older and (hopefully) a year better come this coming season (Giroux, JVR, Leino, etc.). Skill-wise, the 5th-6th defense pairing (however grossly overpaid Meszaros is) is improved from the disaster that was Krajicek/Parent. Nikolai Zherdev may be a bit of a head case, but his offensive potential is great, though his defense is a huge question mark. Are the Flyers a better now than they were in June during the Stanley Cup Finals? It is not a clear cut answer. Maybe they are, maybe they are not. Their goaltending (as always) is a major weakness. Chris Pronger may be great, but he can't cover Leighton's 5-hole, nor can he be a GM with a fucking clue on how to handle the NHL's salary cap. The Flyers paid the price for Homer's miscalculations when Gagne was traded. Everyone saw it coming, but it all could have been avoided.
We will never forget you, Simon.
To expect that at the start of the off-season the Flyers would be in line for one of the above players was certainly not unreasonable. The Flyers had some cap room, they had Mike Rathje FINALLY coming off the books after spending most of his time in Philadephia on long-term injury reserve, and let's face it, they had money to play with. But let's see where all of that went.
Overpaying Andrej Meszaros.
Overpaying Braydon Coburn.
Overpaying Jody Shelley.
Signing Nikolai Zherdev.
The signing of Zherdev was a good signing and not an overpay, but the timing of it was terrible and the signing is only good in a vaccum, something I will examine a little later. Paul Holmgren managed to create a situation where he had absolutely zero leverage and traded away the face of a franchise, a phenomenal 2-way forward, and a great guy off the ice for a hill of beans. That is not an indictment on what Homer did today, but the position he put himself in where he was literally backed into a salary cap corner and got out of it by bullying Simon Gagne into giving in into waiving his no-trade clause. The return is a complete joke. In addition to the draft pick, they managed to come up with their 8th defenseman. Matt Walker now joins Chris Pronger, Kimmo Timonen, Matt Carle, Braydon Coburn, Andrej Meszaros, Sean O'Donnell, and Oskars Bartulis. Homer now has 2 more D-men than the number that regularly appear in games. Now I understand the concept of keeping a 7th defender, but Homer has once again create himself another unnecessary hole in who is he going to cut? Carle? The recently signed O'Donnell? Bartulis? It is a never ending chain of stupidity and self-made holes. The Flyers and Homer had 10 million dollars to re-sign Carcillo and Powe, get a 3rd line winger, upgrade the 5th and 6th defenseman spot, and get a goalie. Let's analyze what Homer did and how this mess could have been avoided.
He needed a 3rd line winger: He massively overpaid Jody Shelley at 1.1M per year for 3 years and in addition signed Zherdev for 2M.
Upgrade the defense: He traded a 2nd round draft pick for Andrej Meszaros with a huge $4 million cap hit (when perhaps better free agent options were settling for that much or less), signed gritty veteran Sean O'Donnell, and re-signed Braydon Coburn at an expensive price.
Goalie: Re-signed Michael Leighton for 2 years at $1.55MM per year when better and cheaper options were going for less than Leighton (I am looking at you, Ellis and Mason).
Of these moves, the ones that stick out as the huge missteps are trading for a 2nd round draft pick for a 5th defender with a $4M cap hit when cheaper (and even better options) were available, signing Jody Shelley to a $1.1M cap hit (for my Shelley vs. Carcillo breakdown, see here), signing Zherdev when Homer did, and signing Michael Leigthon at a $1.55M cap hit when options like Ellis and Mason are better and were going for cheaper amounts.
The Flyers have young talent that will be a year older and (hopefully) a year better come this coming season (Giroux, JVR, Leino, etc.). Skill-wise, the 5th-6th defense pairing (however grossly overpaid Meszaros is) is improved from the disaster that was Krajicek/Parent. Nikolai Zherdev may be a bit of a head case, but his offensive potential is great, though his defense is a huge question mark. Are the Flyers a better now than they were in June during the Stanley Cup Finals? It is not a clear cut answer. Maybe they are, maybe they are not. Their goaltending (as always) is a major weakness. Chris Pronger may be great, but he can't cover Leighton's 5-hole, nor can he be a GM with a fucking clue on how to handle the NHL's salary cap. The Flyers paid the price for Homer's miscalculations when Gagne was traded. Everyone saw it coming, but it all could have been avoided.
We will never forget you, Simon.
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Your Philadelphia "What The Fuck" Moment Du Jour?
How? Why? The Flyers have practically no cap room, and in order to make room, they would have to likely trade Gagne and Carter just to clear cap space. The problem with this is Gagne and Carter can play defense. Granted Kovalchuk can skate through a defense like no one else out there, but he is terrible defensively. He is an asset just as much as he is a liability and for the Flyers to trade away 2 very solid 2-way forwards for just to clear the cap space to sign Ilya Kovalchuk would be absolute madness. This is a guy who wants mega millions over mega years. Just last night it was reported the Islanders would be willing to give sign him for 10 years at 10 million dollars per year. One. Hundred. Million. Dollars. That is the money Kovalchuk commands. Why would the Flyers want to do this? Why? Why? Why?
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