After an exhilarating Flyers win in game 2, it looked like they could bounce back and make this a series. Coming home, the Flyers fans were more than excited to be hosting their cross-state rivals. With the home crowd hyped up, the Flyers scored 1 goal in the combined two games this past week; which is nothing short of completely and utterly embarrassing. It has gotten to the point where our rivalry with Pittsburgh has become an absolute joke. Yes, many Flyers players have had a good year, but it simply wasn’t enough. They have been exposed in all three facets of the game with lack of scoring, defense, and goaltending. We have game 5 tonight in Pittsburgh and barring any miracle, after a loss the Flyers organization will once again settle and act as if this has been a solid rebuilding year.
GM Ron Hextall was our last decent goalie, and many of our holes on the roster are because of the horrendous former GM Paul Holmgren. His terrible moves have us stuck between a rock and a hard place, despite some of the moves Hextall has made to acquire some solid young talent. Overall, the Flyers seem to lack a solid plan. Every other team in the city eventually figured out they needed to change something to win, when will the Flyers realize this? The last good goalie we had was our current GM, thirty years ago… Yes, finding an elite goalie is difficult, but we barely can find a starter year in and year out. The current plan clearly does not work, they need to put their focus on how to acquire a starting caliber goaltender, no matter what that takes.
We have a solid young forward core, yet some of them do not produce enough. Many of our players are very streaky, leading to confusion in the offseason when dealing with contracts. Our front office needs to take a different approach this season looking at all the possibilities to become a consistent contender. If that means terminating coach Dave Hakstol, then it needs to be done. The team doesn’t seem to have the energy and drive that the Broad Street Bullies should be known for.
No matter what GM Ron Hextall decides as his plan of action, one thing is for sure, it needs to be a different one. This team cannot continue to sit idle and act like we have the talent to compete in this league, let alone in possibly the hardest division in hockey. Change is needed in the front office, whether that’s a change of personnel or change of heart, something needs to be done. The most loyal fans in hockey deserve better than this. The constant idea that we can compete with the best in the NHL is just simply foolish. The talent just isn’t there to consistently win against good teams in the playoffs. It is Hextall’s job to figure out how to get there because we aren’t all that far off. He needs to look in the mirror and make some difficult, yet necessary decisions for the good of this franchise. Please Hextall, get this team in the right direction, and off this current path of mediocrity.