Philadelphia Flyers getting healthier - where do Marc Staal & Co. fit in?

[Music] d hey everybody how you doing well that's good you're listening to phly Flyers that's right PHL my name is Bill matz I'm your director fun and games for the evening joining me as always Philadelphia's number one hockey beat reporter back from the West Coast Charlie o Conor Charlie how is Southern California this time of year it's very nice in fact didn't really have a chance to get too much Beach time I did run down to the um you hung out on the fake beach by the the fake beach in front in front of the Anaheim practice fac the Anaheim practice facility by the way gorgeous like props to the Ducks ownership that spent the money on that gorgeous facilities like four ranks really awesome but yeah I did briefly get to uh run down to the uh the Venice Beach pier so that was cool um but no gorgeous you know sunny skies no rain mid to high 70s temperatures just just overall a beautiful weather area of the country just weather for soft people people with no character who absolutely need to that's actually a very interesting question Dave PS maybe we'll get to that at the end because it's Tuesday I didn't ask yesterday we were off so I just treated it like the weekend right and didn't ask for mailbag questions because there was no Monday show and I was like [ __ ] I don't have that much mail I probably should have solicited mailbag questions but we actually have a funny one from Dave P maybe we'll get to at the end there uh so some interesting stuff going on with this hockey team on the road trip of course they lose to the San Jose Sharks I am apoplectic I uh decide it's all over time to start Cal Peterson every game for the rest of the year whether he's injured or not you throw him in there and just tank and so what do they do uh they go out and in back-to-back days defeat the surprisingly good Anaheim Duck proved Anaheim Ducks and then yes a surprisingly better Ducks team and then the legitimately good Angeles Peterson in yeah like a team the Kings who I think like I don't know their their cup odds are a little lower than they a little higher than they should be like they're looking like a real team Flyers go out and just spatch of both on a Friday Saturday back toback again with their fourth string in net on on Saturday against the Kings we're gonna get into the trip uh I want to lead off just with the the Roman Czech monik news he passed away uh I guess it was over the weekend uh just talk about a dude who he was only here three seasons but will always be remembered for better or worse by Flyers fans like a interesting personality I mean the cranium carum is I mean that's JJ gold right there that was a really good I mean that's that's great [ __ ] and just like he is a character in The Philly sports scene forever even though he only spent three years here I think he was like runner up for the VZ his first year got H got heart votes like he was phenomenal for this team for a short period of time uh then of course you know the all the stuff that goes down with the team and him it's just another chapter in the Ridiculousness of the Philadelphia Flyers that we've been chronicling over the past couple of days as you ridiculous things like losing to the o10 and one sharks happen you go this isn't new yeah this is like in all time and like it's just tragic to hear of a young man passing away like this 2 I think like that just sucks but I'm just trying to think of like he he provided us some great times in a short window of I don't know about forgotten era but it's like that team post lindross pre the 04 and then the lockout like post lockout teams it's that weird little window in there where they were really really good and not good in ways you think of the like they're good because of their golender and monik was the yeah CCH like Czech monik and the uh the defense was what put them in position they were a goal prevention squad for a few years and I think truthfully a lot of it probably came but it also like it stem from getting beaten by the devil so much and it's just like well okay if this is the way you got to do it we're going to go higher we're GNA play one zero games to honestly I really think that was a big drive over it was it was just getting frustrated with because who were what were were the teams they kept losing to the Devils mostly but then also the Sabers with Dominic hasik where it was like oh we have all this offensive talent but they have the best goalie maybe ever so we're going to lose to them most of the time and then of course the Devils had another one of the best goalies ever that also played one of the best defensive systems ever so the Flyers went out and they're like okay we can do that too we have the money to do that and Jak monik had some real good years with the Flyers obviously the the playoffs were were the issue there was that one um the one playoff series where he got no support whatsoever uh they set a record for fewest goals in a five-game series they actually won the first game won nothing and I think only scored four goals in the series yeah and then there were very strong reports at the time that he wasn't exactly the most popular in that room with his teamate can't imagine why he'd be upset by such a thing dude's getting [ __ ] heart votes and they're like we can't score a goal yeah a single goal so it's it's just another like a great character in the list of ridiculous a tremend you look at the numbers and go what was this like like dead P like how how is a Flyer's goalie getting VZ like 920 925 save percentage just an all-time great uh even in a short amount of time so we just had to mention roing Czech monik there because it's like one of the key members of our childhood in a very odd time in Flyers hockey and speaking of odd times in Flyers hockey they continue Charlie to this day uh it's only it's only been 20 years since the time period we're talking about the one thing that remains is the Ridiculousness of this organization uh of course as I said to start off the show they lose to o10 and won San Jose how do they follow it up they beat the Ducks and Kings in backto backs and like they just lost of course they did they had just lost to these two teams in the previous two weeks Yeah by a combined score of 12 to 4 so of course they go out on the road and like kind of take them apart a little bit and like they got some good goal tending and lost The Possession battle even though John Torell was a little skeptical of her I believe he called he literally called [ __ ] [ __ ] on the shot total which I just how do you not if nothing else you got to be entertained by the guy how do we explain this team though Charlie is it just like that's hockey like they're going to be in consistent like they've lost four straight at home allowing five goals a game only scoring two over that time they're three and one in the last four in the road scoring four a game only allowing two is it just like small sample they're going to be inconsistent like how do you how do you explain what this team is well I think all of that's true I do think it's a small sample I do think that this team is going to be inconsistent I also think that you can't especially with this road trip you can't can't you can't remove the human element out of this and look Bill going back to that San Jose game you came out of that San Jose game and you were living you went on a rant the basically the entire first 20 minutes of that show was a long extended Bill mat's rant and the players and coaches while they they did their best to keep it you know under the radar and behind closed doors they were probably really pissed off too you know they lost to the winless team they were the team that got embarrassed by ending the winless streak ending the losing streak from the Sharks and I do think that the the strong play that they delivered on Friday and Saturday probably had a little do to do with the fact that they were embarrassed a few nights before against San Jose and it just it serves as a wakeup call because I think if anything that game should have reminded the Flyers and I believe it did it reminded them that hey we ain't good enough not to work our asses off because if we try to Coast on our talent this is a reminder that we ain't that talented it's do you think John torella almost saw it coming like I'm sure I'm sure he was asked the question but when he goes this team better not be able to spell Trap game yeah like he's telling them I see what you're thinking [ __ ] don't stop thinking whatever you're thinking because it's incorrect and maybe he saw it coming a little bit they're like oh and we're going to we're doing well we're going to go play the Sharks it's like dude not going to get point get our goals everybody's numb going look better after this game and they go they score one one on a team that was getting 869 go tend Inc coming and listen the Sharks it was bound to bounce back a little like nobody has an 850 save percentage that doesn't like a team yeah like doesn't have an 870 save percentage and now we look at what has happened oh well yeah like McKenzie Blackwood on back-to-back games goes out and not only defeats the Flyers who he beats all the time apparently he's our he's the new hos whenever he sees the fers across they go and beat the Oilers who then go on to fire their coach and basically put Conor McDavid in charge I guess so like it's he already was now now you're just formalizing it yeah I mean the president was already his agent but now it's it's noblock who was his Junior coach yeah Junior coach like and we'll get into a little bit of that maybe the end of the show like and that's what happened yeah it was bound to happen there was bound to be a bounceback and it's like this is who it was against and I guess even though I'm still mad at like no excuse you should never lose to a team with no wins um they do bounce back and respond pretty well no you come back from that trip I think this is truly the funny part about that trip is that if you would have told me okay I'm going to be back in Philadelphia and the flyers I will just covered practice and the Flyers went 2 one and0 on that trip I would have been like yeah that makes sense okay like you know they kick the crap out of the Sharks you know maybe they maybe they beat the the Ducks and then lose to the better Kings or maybe they lose to the ducks in a tight one and then come out fire team wi against the Kings or something stupid exactly like that makes sense two and one yeah that that's a good trip I would never have projected that the one loss would have been to the Sharks and they sweep the the LA teams but hey in the end the record was about what we would have hoped it would have been going into that three- game Road Trip in California it's just in classic Flyers fashion they found a way to do it in the strangest way possible that's like I'm I'm like writing the description for this show so we have something for the podcast and YouTube and I'm like after a sucessful road kind of four out of six points like that's a successful road trip also they embarrassed themselves and me more than they have in I guess weeks like there will be something tomorrow I'm sure uh but it they're just like I I I need to open up my thesaurus and come up with something other than ridiculous but really is the word that just describes them and and everything and it's funny that this road like I always love okay they're on a West Coast road trip and then one in Carolina before they come home they're they're playing in Carolina tomorrow night they're finally gonna be back on home ICE Saturday one o00 start against the defending Champion Las Vegas golden knights and if you're looking for tickets to that one I got to tell you man the way to go is with game time because buying tickets to your favorite event shouldn't be stressful game time is the fast and easy way to buy tickets for all the sports music comedy 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use code phly for $20 off your first purchase terms apply again create an account redeem code phly for $20 off download game time today last minute tickets lowest price guaranteed um I guess we got to get into the uh all of the hundreds of Health updates got a lot we got we got today well yeah they've been they've been on the west coast trip so that this is like a nice little they get to come home before they go so they get to practice probably I believe the flight they because just some little inside baseball when we cover practices and they're about to go on a trip they they have the time of the flight on the dry race board in the practice room in the in the practice room in the locker room and the flight I believe was a 230 so your Flyers right now are probably in the air heading to R the Flyers are flying the Flyers are flying indeed but we got some uh we got some health updates we thought that would probably be the case earlier in the day we find out uh Cal Peterson and Victor Mee are both sent down that makes sense um but I want to start with some blue liners and I guess I guess we'll go with Mark stall first because this is the one honestly man it was a nice we we filled the time with Morgan Frost and the Morgan Frost discourse as I tweeted out the other night he scored two goals the Morgan Frost discourse will continue I don't make the rules I do write the show but the [ __ ] else you want me to talk about um Mark stall anyway it was a nice little vacation not having well is he going to play is going to be zamula like obviously Emil Andre has been sent down for weeks now but left-handed defenseman it's going to be someone we like probably Mark stall coming back in uh he confirmed it was a rib injury what did we learn about him today sure so uh so stall if you remember and it's been nearly a month now he uh he went he got injured it was in the Edmonton game uh it was in like the early second period he crashed into the boards with Warren Fogle of the Oilers uh stall basically revealed today that yeah pretty much fogle's knee just crashed into his rib and probably like crack one or whatever um had a four to six week timetable we are now about to hit the four-week portion of that timetable on Thursday and he's pretty much right on the the short end of that timetable because he confirmed he is not going to be playing in Carolina I believe he's going on the trip I think he's going to skate um but he's not playing he's definitely not cleared his expectation as long as there's no sort of setback or anything is that he'll be probably given like a day-to-day designation for the weekend games for for Saturday and Sunday unclear whether he'll actually get into one of them but presumably he'll be close he's obviously missed a month needs to get himself back in a game shape he did say that he has been skating so while the Flyers were out in Cali he skated about four or five times in Vorhees so it's not like he's coming in completely cold that said this is as he admitted today he's older he's going to need some time to kind of get his feet back under him so they're not just going to throw him back out there but it would not Shock me if he's back in the lineup for you know maybe Sunday's game possibly Saturday's game but but Sunday's game seems to me to be a a reasonable expectation for when Mark stall gets back in and look as you Hint it Mark stall particularly at the very start of the season I think it all I think there were a lot of people who were skeptical of the signing to begin with but then he had a really bad first game and that just brought back all of the why the hell did we sign this guy why is he how Gill it was it was bad and the fact that he is an older player who has now missed a month before he's going to play again it's very possible that he will start out and not be playing all the great again to start this and this this all this discourse May kick back up again um why is markol playing especially if eigor zamula is the one who sits for a little bit because stall comes back in now granted that's not necessar that doesn't necessarily have to be the case you know Louis bedo is still here and we'll get into the the details of the lineup at the defensive Corp in a few minutes but if ristan is not cleared but stall is they could theoretically basically just bump belpedio into the Press Box or even back down to the miners keeps them all in on a regular basis and movees stall in so they could find a way to make it work but look the precedent was set early in the year that John tarella wants Mark stall in the lineup and if Mark stall is in the lineup could be zamula coming out and this could just be deja vu all over again in terms of people on Twitter very angry that Mark doall is being prioritized over one of the kids who they claim they are prioritizing Charlie it's just uh yeah uh spoiler alert if you're wondering who writes a lot uh most of the phly Flyers tweets it's me uh sure is good job Bill might have to take a couple days off yeah if Mar returns and just in case anyone was like oh well you know they they were depending on zamula for a little bit there they were like there was a stretch he was playing like 177 18 20 minutes tonight last three games um let's see he didn't play on Saturday but his his St time has definitely been dipping he he was moved because for a while he was in the set he was on the second pair with Walker I thought and I don't think this was I don't think this was an incorrect evaluation from the coaching step I think zam's play did dip it's not that he was bad every game it's that he would have a game where you thought to yourself that was mostly good and then he would have a game where you you'd be thinking about the game like that was mostly bad and it was very zigzag and as a result of that they bumped him down to the third pair they moved Nick seeler up to the second pair with Shawn Walker and since then as you're about to get into the ice time has been down yeah uh his last three games were the home game against the Kings and then at San Jose at Anaheim he averaged 1335 yeah that's that sounds about right for a third pair def that's a third pair defenseman right there exactly exactly uh so my guess is it's G to be him but I could always be wrong um well we'll see I mean Saul isn't going to play on on Wednesday but there's guantee is the I guess guess he has to because is down will be back in the lineup on Wednesday that's fair because they'll be rolling with six um but then when stall comes back does Zola check right back out again maybe it depends on how he plays against Carolina the discourse will once again continue Charlie I mean the discourse never stops it never really ends it truly never ends the lineup is the one thing that we can like really zero in on and just go well it should be this so he's wrong you know I mean we do have a Daily Show this is what happens we talk about what's going on on a daily basis the one thing that changes on a basically daily basis is the lineup it's something to discuss the coach the coach definitely doesn't just have a set it and forget it lineup and I guess you shouldn't no not with this team like and listen I wish it was a lot more zamas than stalls like if we were rotating these guys way it was oh yeah well simul is going to rotate but it's with Andre it's like okay I can live with that like this is just going to piss people off and I don't know that it necessarily should especially if we get to the point where they talked about early in the season like yeah stall ain't playing every game if it gets to there and it's like well one out of every three like zamula isn't GNA play that shouldn't make people if that's where it gets to like I don't I didn't get the sense that there was much in the way of anger for example when Bobby Brinks sat on Saturday because he played a bunch and it was the second game of a back to back I don't think he had been playing poorly recently but he wasn't playing as well as he had been playing you know a week and a half ago when people were discussing him as a potential cder Darkhorse uh so I don't think that got people angry because it's like yeah it makes sense he's a rookie he can get a get get a game up in the Press Box to watch maybe lets him reset a little bit it's when a guy is sitting for three four five games in a row like Morgan Frost was when people start thinking this is ridiculous uh Charlie another guy who was on the ice today in some capacity Rasmus RTO a risto sighting uh we have confirmation he's alive so that's a great that's a great first step uh what did we what did we learn about risto today yeah to me actually I thought this was the bigger piece of news today because with stall like I think people have just forgotten about him little bit but he was adhering to the timetable they gave us a four to six we timetable it's been about four weeks this is around the time you would expect Mark stall to be showing back up at practice in a non-c cont jersey with ristan we've been given no information they didn't even give us an upper body lower body designation of what the injury was they have been keeping their cards so close to the chest that it was starting to understandably remind people of the ainon situation from last year where you know going into the season it was it's not that serious maybe he'll miss a game or two no big deal and then suddenly a game or two turns into we didn't see him even once like he he was back in they were like oh well he's with the team right now it's like no they're in Columbus they're with him he is not with the team he's with his old team exactly so like just and this is is it getting to the point of their transparency thing was [ __ ] or do you think they don't know well I'm sure they know with risto like they know what it is but they're not like we're not going to give you a timetable cuz we just gave you one a couple weeks ago and look what happened I I do think there's something to be said about that that the lack of a time table probably was because they didn't know what the timetable was I'm sure they knew what the injury was or at least I would certainly hope they did but the the absence of a timetable probably wasn't part because of that I also have have learned I'm not sure if this is the case in this situation but one thing that the Flyers did struggle with during the let me put it this way I think the Flyers were deserving of some criticism about the lack of transparency without a doubt I also think in a lot of those situations they were in a little bit of a tough spot because the player was the one who was saying I don't want my injury to be out there and you're trying not to piss off the player so you don't reveal like Nolan Patrick did not want details out there Ryan Ellis did not want details out there I'm pretty sure cam aaz didn't want details out there so the Flyers kind of had to play the public facing bad guy because the player didn't want any of this stuff revealed I wouldn't be surprised if in this case risto who generally speaking doesn't like to reveal things to the media didn't want this stuff revealed and the Flyers had to kind of take the transparency hit when in reality they're trying real hard I think to be more transparent or at least as transparent as they can be the good news is is that risto was back on the ice he did skate he did actually finally to the media today reveal it is a lower body injury so at least now we have a location a general location of the injur oh was his wrist below his rist I'm telling you it's always a rist anytime they give you the designation they're lying and it's like well my wrist goes past my waist like I'm a tall guy oh my God but so he did admit it was a a lower body injury and he seemed relatively optimistic his quote was hopefully I'm going to be playing soon now granted we have heard optimism from players in the past and then they never play again but at the very least risk of L in himself seems to think that he won't be out too much longer still no timetable we still don't really know I would assume that stall comes back before ristan you would think especially because ristan the last time he was close to coming back he then suffered a setback and disappear for two and a half weeks so you would think they're going to play a little bit more careful with him as opposed to stall whose injury appears to be a little bit not that it wasn't serious but it just seems to be a little bit more concrete it's a rib injury it was hurt and now it's healed he is back exactly but it does seem like risto at least based on what we saw today and what he said to the media it seems like he's on the right track which is a good thing because I want to see if R can carry over the gains that he made last year however and this is where we'll get into the lineup it does mean that suddenly they have a bit of a log Jam especially with as it relates to eag Mo so just before uh we do that which was it risto or stall who said said I want to get back in soon but obviously it's up to the trainers I think that was stall I think it was stall yeah it was stall uh that's a nice change to hear that they're not just leaving oh you feel good go ahead get back in there and like listen it's not as if stall is like the most important guy to this organization and he's probably smart enough to be like nah man I'm 36 I'm not gonna play hurt what for this team what you out of your mind yeah but but like we have seen it left up I believe to the players little too often and it's resulted in them coming back and reinjuring themselves I would agree I think that there were definitely situations where it felt like the inmates were running the asylum in terms of injury recovery and it led to guys getting reinjured much quicker than they would have been otherwise all right so now we get to how this defense actually fits once the uh two of the veterans are back and risto and stall you have a lefty and a righty there it looks like both are pretty much cemented in those spots we know they want York on the left they like sanheim on the right he has been fantastic more on the uh Norris Dark Horse a little later but how do you see this thing working out like who are the regular six GNA be is this going to be a game to game we'll see who deserves it we'll see who not like who is York sanheim Walker Walker and probably risto and honestly I'm not ready to say and look I personally would have him in the lineup every game I'm you still think y's not I'm not ready to say that that cam York would be immune to a potential scratching I think he's been inconsistent enough that it wouldn't blow me away if at some point in the next two or three weeks that torz doesn't think maybe I'll try to wake him up by scratching for a game I could definitely see a game I do not see him in any sort of rotation yeah I would agree with that I think sanheim is obviously your lock nightly he's in there no like he write his name in in pen and I think honestly Shawn Walker has played so well that to me his name's in the lineup in pen I think cam York's name is in the lineup in very hard pencil mechanical like you're gonna have to really erase that one with some serious Force to get him out but you could if you had to you could after that like ristan if he comes back and is the ristan from last year yeah he's a lineup block he's in there and then your your right-handed defenseman group is sanheim Walker rist Aline and that's locked in but if rist line comes back and struggles and they give him a week and he just doesn't look like he's he's all there then I could see him being in a rotation because they scratched him last year like they've shown they've shown that a poorly performing rist line and this coaching staff is willing to have him take a seat for a game or two so I don't think he's necessarily a lock unless he comes back and is the guy from last year and if he is then he would be okay so beyond those guys then you've got Nick sealer you've got Mark stall and you've got eigor Zola and to me like I would be fine if you start cycling those guys in in some sort of rotation where everybody's getting most of the games but no one's getting all of the games the question is would they be ready this early to have Mark stall in a rotation I mean the team is the team is right now at 500 I think for the most part they have exceeded external expectations I would agree Fair yeah they've done so without their veteran presence Mark stall like I don't see how you're not ready for it and I know like the coach is g to feel differently and he's got a relationship with Mark stall and he's gonna want games played a certain way and when they do throw in that clunker like guess who's definitely in the next day Mark stall but I I just don't see how you especially the way this defense has performed and we were joking or to start the season like is this the worst blue line ever assembled and it's not even close to that B it's pretty decent like yeah it's I'm not saying they're winning a cup any time with this blue line but like I don't know they're not giving up eight a game which I thought was a possibility so I I just don't see how they're not already at least like all right we're going to get stall back in and he deserves it veteran Etc but like zamula ain't sitting for a week yeah I don't know how they're not already in that mindset I think that's fair and you know where this looked like it was going and I think this guy has improved significantly he had he had a rough start kind of just like sted I think where this was going before the stall injury was Nick sealer being the guy who ends up being in the rotation well the thing is now Nick seeler is on the second pair so I'm not saying that he can't be pulled out of the lineup I don't think he's the kind of guy they look at as someone who has to play every night but I do think to look at him as a guy who's playing pretty well right now he has a good partnership with Shawn Walker who is playing really well right now so maybe he's not a guy who they are you know particularly inclined to yank out of the lineup right away to accommodate someone like zamula at the same time like you don't want zamula sitting for that long there's no point there's no point and and you can't you could send him down but he'd have to clear waivers so presumably you want him up this entire season you want and I want make something clear about my thoughts on eigor zamula I like e eigor Zam as a prospect I think there's potential there but I don't think that like eigor zamula has to be part of the long-term solution what I want though is I want him to get the bulk of the games this year to answer some questions on just how good he is and if at the end of the year you look at the the entirety of his season and you say he was eh you he was like he looks like he's a third pair guy then you know and then suddenly then maybe next year at Camp you maybe do wave him and you say hey we'd like to keep him but if somebody grabs him it's not the end of the world because he's just a guy but to me this year is essential for someone like him because give him as many opportunities to prove that he's more than just a guy that he's a guy that we want to be part of this and can maybe be a second pair defenseman long term so to me yes you could sit him for a game you could even sit him for two games if you want but he's got to be getting in regularly because you got to know what you have in this guy you got to make maybe not make a final decision on him but you got to have a good sample size of games in the NHL this year to really have a better understanding of whether he should be part of the future or not you know if you're if you're sitting through this show if you're all you know jazzed up to be talking Igor zamula Mark stall that means that means you're a DI hard my friends that means you're diard and what better way to show your di hard fandom than by becoming a Die Hard member at all phly.com exclusive content when you sign up you get a free shirt events uh discounts on it's it's truly a great value for the Die Hard fans out there and man if you're I mean you've probably been paying for Charlie's content all this time at his previous Venture why not pay for it now and our old pal Alex app Apple Yard is pitching in as well yeah he'll be uh he'll be right an article shortly he's in the process of working on it on I think as I've hinted on the show it may be on a certain Russian prospect that everyone wants to learn as much about as possible so keep an eye out for Alex Apple yourk content coming and I'm I'm very much now getting into the habit of one di hard article per week last week I did a piece on the power play uh more talking about what the issues were what changes they tried to make I spoke with John torella spoke with some players about the specifics of it and if you're Die Hard you could read it if you're not a Die Hard well become a die hard this week I think I'm going to do a longer piece more on you know where things stand after the first month not necessarily in terms of the team as a whole but more about the individual players and and where they stand in terms of their potential future fit with the organization what this first month has done for each and every guy on the team so keep an eye out for that and again if you're a die hard you'll be able to read it if you're not a Die Hard join the Die Hard membership and you'll be able to read all those stories once a week we got articles coming from think Bo wolf on the Eagles coverage is doing more and more Derek bodner's done a couple so they're going to be coming for all the uh for all the teams it's a good I personally think it's worth it I'm obviously biased I'm the one producing the content but we'd love to have you and join our Discord too I have basically nothing to do with it and I think it's worth it uh I I do hang out in the Discord uh I do I I'm actually really happy we've dragged you in I wasn't sure if you were were going to do it because I was so bad at slack bad at slack like what it's an all day conversation like I but the Discord it's it's a little more focused you know it's just a little bit more focused I don't need to know about what's going on in the world outside of hockey and the Discord kind of keeps it to the hockey team so I'm I'm much better at this also like what was I getting fired at Broad Street hockey that wasn't happening I could actually be fired here so I need to do my [ __ ] job uh so sign up so we can both keep our jobs all phly.com uh so that's that's the defense another uh piece of information we gained today Chuck Carter har had the poops yeah don't apparently be careful with the fish you eat in California he had bad fish fish in California he was supposed to come back from his uh midbody injury uh during the California trip either Friday or Saturday we thought and then suddenly it was like oh no he's not coming back we found out he has food poisoning and he should be good to go tomorrow I'm guessing it seems like it so he practicing full today and just to be clear because I did report some of this if you uh if you've been following us on our YouTube Channel please subscribe to that um but if you've been following our YouTube channel I've been posting post practice updates as much as I can really basically whenever something happens at practice that is newsworthy enough to justify me getting in front of a camera and talking about it for five minutes so so after practice on Thursday I had the sunglasses it was outside it was Anaheim you know trying to trying to you know keep the content light exactly but um we talked to Carter Hart at Thursday's practice in Anaheim and Carter Hart said I'm good to go I feel great well I guess on Thursday in Anaheim was when he ate theun ate the bad fish and then woke up the next morning and had the poops and possibly worse than the poops so we couldn't play on Friday then on Saturday we were told in the the morning that oh yeah he's fine he'll be able to play now and then when the team hits the ice for warm-ups Cal Peters is leading the team on the ice and Carter har is not out there and we later found out that no he maybe thought he was done with the poops but as happens sometimes with the poops they come back I just besides how we're describing this the funniest part of this is the timing we talked about everything that went on with Edmonton they fire their coach it's all after they lose to San Jose obviously ever since Danny Brier when he took the job said oh I'm listening on Carter Hart and if you just go to Old nhl.com and sort by save percentage Edmonton dead last uh they're behind like behind San Jose even before that game it was like Carolina and uh and Edmonton both were getting worse gold ending than San Jose who was getting the worst gold ending I've ever seen somehow that's possible uh so all the rumors obviously start to fly there's always kind of been a little bit of um connection with Carter har and Edmonton where he's from yeah of course and it just kind of like seems to fit and like the timing of it all was a little suspicious but you think there's any chance whatsoever I find it highly unlikely and I understand why people are going down that road I get it there were rumors flying around last week that Edmonton was going to do something big well the something big was firing their coach not trading for the winningest coach in franchise history by the way but I just think that number one I don't think the Flyers have made the decision one way or the other on Carter har in terms of whether they think he can be part of the future or not I don't think this is something they're willing to just you know oh you gave us a good offer so we're doing it done like I don't think they're there yet with hard he's young enough where he theoretically could be part of the solution and then I know we keep saying it there's the hockey C stuff I just find it highly unlikely that while all of that is unresolved that a team would be willing to make the kind of offer to the Flyers that would be overwhelming enough that they're like yeah we can't turn that down because then look I guess if there was a team that was going to get that desperate maybe it was Edmonton so I understand why people were thinking hey maybe they are that crazy they're trying to salvage their season they need a goalie but even with that I don't think that a team would be willing to take that risk today there was a new thing with the hockey Canada situation which more or less was just one of the reports like the internal Hockey Canada report is done but immediately after the report was done and they were told it was done the players immediately appealed and now it's locked up in another appeal so until that appeal now is resolved Hockey Canada will not make any adjustments to the player statuses or reveal any information or reveal any further punishments so this is just going to continue to be a thing for a while and I don't think that any team whether it be Edmonton or any other club that needs a goalie I just I just don't think any of them are going to be willing to make the kind of offer to the Flyers that would have the Flyers seriously think about it until they know for a fact that the guy that they're giving up the farm for isn't going to be suspended for a year and isn't going to be implicated in something really serious and awful it is like different circumstances but Edmonton is the team that took the chance on a Vander Kane after all of that and they are in a situation where uh it's not just necessarily about this season it's about getting dry cidal to resign a contract extension on July 1st that is true about getting Conor McDavid to sign a contract extension July 1st 2025 yeah like it is about the longterm viability of the you know best player in the league and another top five forward like whatever you want to call dral you're not wrong but I guess the flip side of that would be if they trade for a goal he give everything up and then he gets suspended well [ __ ] now we have nothing to improve the team ex exactly exactly so there there's a risk on both sides where yes you're trying to convince these guys to stay but you if if you if you flub a Carter heart trade and it turns out he never can play again also it's Ken Hollands last year so he doesn't care yeah but I very much doubt unless you the flyers and you're like yeah Chuck Fletcher hand out some hand out some contract extensions even though like we're gonna we brought in this coach to tell us who deserves an extension much like oh Paul hren we're replacing you in a month yeah sign Andrew McDonald first you know so I guess it's possible that they let the like let something dumb like that happened you would assume you wouldn't let that happen but you just look at the circumstances and think there's a possibility they're desperate enough but it's probably just not feasible on either side I I don't think it would happen now I really don't I think there are just too many things working against it and now the Oilers fired their coach and they won a game so maybe they're going to go on a 10 game winning streak and none of this will matter probably because they do have like I know we're this we're turning this into Oilers hour but like look Jack Campbell maybe that was just a bust of a signing but I don't think he's a cal Peterson and steuart Skinner was pretty good last year like all they need is one of their goalies not to even be great but just to be pass and then wait for McDavid to get just a bit more healthy because he's clearly batt something like and they really should be able to at the very least squeak into the playoffs that's like when you look at the like amount of time there's okay well in the last like what 65 games we have to they have to play like at 110 Point Pace to get to 100 points and it's like all right they should yeah yeah like they should they have the ability that's easily what they should be at so we'll see how it all works out maybe down the line whether it's a goalie or another piece maybe they come calling for Shawn Walker or something we will see um like I said I promised you all I know you're dying for it and Morgan Frost scored a couple of goals the other night so the discourse continues damn it uh Morgan Frost he scores two goals um first one he got the bounce but I will give him credit because the last time I think it was the last time we were in studio together just describing what kind of player he is is versus maybe what torella is looking for I said maybe he's the gains the entry pulls up and waits for something at the top of the circle rather than seeing the rush through and saying I'm making something happen now and I'll give him the credit gains the entry on that first goal takes a look nothing there and instead of waiting for reinforcements circles behind the net and then tries to Center the puck what happens when you put Pucks in dangerous areas sometimes good things happen and he gets the goal and then second goal net front presence Morgan Frost exactly gets the tip in front of the net and that is something that is something John toell as you pointed out in your article not just Morgan Frost he's been begging the entire team to do yeah like I complained after the San Jose games after the San Jose game they could have had a hundred shots on net none of them were going in because they were all from the top of the circle like when you're that far away you need something lucky to happen and if there's no traffic it's probably not going to happen he's doing what the coach is asking and it is resulted in a couple of goals against a very good team he's got to stay in now right you would think I mean look he scored two goals in the last game he's not coming out now the question of how much lineup security did he buy himself with that game I'm not sure but this is exactly as you said this is exactly what torella wanted to see from him number one torch just wants to see offense from him I think and and honestly I'm in agreement with torella I don't know if I've ever seen a coach so explicitly just say about a guy like it's always oh you know points aren't the most important thing it's the little things how you play away all the you know cliches and nonsense I don't know if I've ever heard a coach just be like he has to put up [ __ ] points yeah I don't know if I've ever heard that yeah and there's look we made the argument I made the argument last week that I didn't think it was necessarily fair that Frost was getting dinged because he was on a line with the snake bitten dude Tyson Forest who he was setting up for chances and Tyson just couldn't finish but there is something to be said about like look if your job is to produce points find a way to produce points and if you don't produce points if that's your one job like you had one job and you didn't do it then maybe don't be surprised if you get pulled out of the lineup on Saturday he produced points he had two goals yes the first one was a bit lucky but hey did good things he did good things to create that luck the second goal that's not luck like this is actually some some inside information for people who are not die hards yet are not in our Discord there was a debate in the Discord about well like you know Frost has been playing well and then he gets two lucky goals and then someone was like well the second goal if you're going to call that goal lucky then every goal that John mcir scored in his entire career was lucky and they obviously weren't given how many he scored no like getting goals from tips in front and from rebounds in front and things like that that's a skill now there's a reason the Flyers power play after Wayne Simmons left took a nose dive like and Claude jaru like he had 100 Point season in there and they were at like 20% 15th in the league like there's a reason that is a very valuable skill like Mike Canal had played a long time in this league because he could do that one thing yeah yeah and I'm not expecting Morgan Frost be I'm you look at him he's a skinny guy he's a playmaker but what I thought was important about it and I I hope this is the way Torell looks at it is I'm challenging the entire team to go to the net to to create goals in the dirty areas to be in the paint and Morgan Frost maybe the guy in my for cor who is the least comfortable going in front of the net and getting goals that way he gets a goal there number one it shows that he's listening to me clearly because he's doing something that's way out of his comfort zone number two it sets an example for everybody else because then Torell in his next video session can be can say to you know I don't know Noah Kates or he can say Owen tippet like guys who are who are bigger particularly somebody like Owen tippet and he's like or Forester and be like look if you're not if you're playing too much of a perimeter game look even Morgan's going to the front of the net like what the hell are you doing out there it's going to be great when and like this is just a hypothetical conversation but even when he does something right he's going to catch STK even this [ __ ] guy is doing the like that is just very funny to me but yeah like there's something to be said about you know you want to impress the coach so much that you're so bought in because I think that was the word he used buying he's buying in he's buying in that you're so bought in that you're willing to do something that is very much not you it sends a message to the coach and I really hope that that toell takes it to heart because I very much got the sense this season that Morgan Frost is really trying that he is he's trying to you know maybe maybe they weren't super satisfied with what he was doing on the ice at times but off the ice I think he is trying really hard to be a good teammate and I think he showed on Saturday he's trying really hard to do what the coaches are telling him to do even if it's something that doesn't necessarily come naturally to him now this isn't a perfect comparison but just thinking about like what Morgan Frost brings the team and okay he absolutely has to produce points if he's going to be in the lineup because that's his only like NHL level skill production right uh just thinking about and it's not a perfect comparison because like TK Scrappy as hell cam ainson kind of that yeah he's got skill and he scores but more of a not allergic to contact as you've kind of described Morgan Frost as in the past yeah but should Morgan Frost be killing penalties that's a fascinating question something and it's it's something your buddy Apple Yard put on Twitter a couple of days ago that he was very good at it in the minors he was very good at it in juniors so what I'll say I he did he was he was good at it in the in juniors with the in the sense of he got a lot of short-handed points I don't know if he was actually good at the art of killing penalties he was good at creating offense during the penalty kill and listen I'm just like they've turned Travis kky now into to a penalty kill weapon yes Cam ainson especially when he was younger but still to this day a penalty kill weapon like Morgan Frost could be that he's fast he's got creativity if he could just withstand a little bit of the punishment that comes with yeah when you're on that half wall looking for that outlet pass you're going to get hit when the point man has the puck at those mesh points you're going to have to hit him and that's going to have to be an adjustment he makes but it doesn't seem like it's out of the realm of what he could do I would agree with that I think the biggest thing that probably stops them from even seriously considering it at this point is that they just have so many guys who I think they view as potential Penal killers in the future like Joel far they view as a penalty killer he's been kind of off and on like Nick delore now I know I bring up Nick delore people are going to roll their eyes but like Nick delorier one of one of his skills is he's a decent penalty killer like they have a lot of guy you know paling kills penalties couturier lton you know now you got TK aon's back they have so many forwards on this team like Noah Kates is a penalty killer that can kill penalties and that they feel like should be in the penalty kill rotation that I just don't know if there's any room for Morgan Frost to be in it that said I don't think you're wrong in that I wouldn't mind them trying trying to add that element to his I would not mind them trying it I will say something that could hold him back and it's something we've discussed in the past he doesn't win faceoffs yeah he's at 45% last season into this season man that's going to be even worse with fewer guys on the ice and you're in the defensive Zone like he's gonna it's not going to go well you would presumably pair him with a Winger the and so Frost is taking the face off that said like a lot you put him out there with cout no rule against not even that though a lot of penalty killing is rotational like you know you know yeah the first guy has to take that face off but then once that first clear happens you know the the the four pairing goes off the ice while the other team is retrieving the puck and then those guys come back in you could very easily do it where Frost is killing penalties and never once has to take a penalty kill face off because when there's if he's on the ice and there's a stoppage you take them off and you send out one of the guys who can so you could make it work it's just that they have so many forwards that I think are above him on the penalty kill depth chart that I think that's what probably prevents them from trying it but it it kind of becomes a little bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy where you say well Frost doesn't kill penalties he doesn't do anything other than score so if he's not scoring he can't be in the lineup but then it's like well maybe if you gave him a shot to kill penalties you'd be good at it and then you'd have another reason not to take him out of the lineup so I understand the argument I don't think it is a I don't think it's a ridiculous argument I just don't think that he's a guy at this stage that they I don't think they look at him and they see a penalty kill guy I wouldn't mind them giving him a chance to prove them wrong but there are so many other guys that they think do look like penalty kill guys that are above him that I just don't see how he really gets into the rotation unless a bunch of guys get hurt and maybe that's what it's going to take we always talk about the uh the injuries being opportunities for guys I just think it's if they're looking to develop him that might be something extra they could throw in I'm just trying to just trying to figure out how to make Morgan Frost look the absolute best whether it's to be here or be traded at some point but all you have to do to look your absolute best it's shop with FCO because FCO has the absolute best officially licensed gear for All Sports and fandoms whether you're looking for team apparel for the season ahead they've got overalls hoodies hats sunglasses bags anything you need for game day maybe you need some accessories toys collectibles or novelty items for your man cave sh get or podcast set you've got to use folco for all your team gear needs FCO always has our back for Philly sports and they have yours too get the best gear round by using the link in the description of the show for all non pre-sale items use code phly that's promo code PHL for 10% off at FCO they still have the overalls still have the overalls it's going to be really hard to top how cool the overalls are uh just one more thing on Morgan Frost because I don't think we've discussed him enough in the first two months um I'm listening to I'm listening to nasty Knuckles today okay uh cuz I really I wanted the full context did you see the story of hexall was mad I think at like rookie TK for like giving away a couple sticks at practice or something you're talking about the Dale whis yeah the D Dale whis story so I wanted to get like the full context of that and I didn't listen to the whole show but they are talking about torella in the beginning and Dale whis spent like 10 games in the NHL under John torella with the Rangers and then he played with him he played with him in Vancouver as well so he's had the John torella experience May didn't have the best of John Turell in Vancouver but he it turns out he's a big fan like he really likes him he says we had a lot of [ __ ] you meetings where it's just me and him screaming Fu at each other but he likes him as a coach and everything we've heard about TS is that that he wants guys to come to him and kind of be that yes like I always think of um and we me and you reference Major League all the time actually did another show last night and someone referenced have you ever seen the scene in Money Ball I'm like me and Charlie just did this like last week uh but the scene where Dorne is messing with vaugh and puts the pink slip in his locker and he goes into Lou Brown's office starts losing his [ __ ] and he goes I love that kind I like that only problem is I didn't cut it like torella seems like a guy who would want that like come into his office and turn his table over he's like now you're in the lineup yeah absolutely I do not have the relationship with the players that you do you're there every day is Morgan Frost that kind like he seems reserved to me is torella trying to maybe bring that out of him like I want you to come and basically fight me for your spot in the lineup if you punch me in the face you're the captain of the team like that's what like that's what I'm maybe seeing you know I do do think that maybe there is something to be said about that Frost personality doesn't necessarily fit like John turella's ideal hockey player person because I think this is something that he's running into with Cam York right now whereas cam York has that California cool and I don't think there's anything inherently wrong with that personality but it is not the kind of personality that John torella is going to naturally gravitate towards like he is going to more be into the guys who are I'm going to run through a [ __ ] and that's not camk that's also I don't think Morgan Frost I do think though thatn torella can adapt and I think a classic example of this is Travis sanheim because Travis sanheim to me was last year granted sanheim played poorly and I think that was the driving force behind it but I also think that they struggled to connect as people because sanheim is more of a not laidback because that's not a right way to put it but he is more reserved he's honestly a little shy and and I think that sanheim at times would feel uncomfortable challenging John torella because this is John torella and I'm just a player and I'm a player who honestly is really hard on myself and I know I'm playing like crap so I don't feel good yelling back at John tarella because on some level I know he's right and I think torella kind of wants that he wants to go a little bit too far in his criticism to give the player an opportunity to scream back at him and then he's like yeah you care you give a [ __ ] you care enough to yell back at me that shows me you're engaged and that shows me that you want to work through this with me you're not just going to let me rip you and just sit there and take it and maybe there is an element to that with Morgan Frost but let me put it this way if that's the case and frost hasn't yet blown up on on torella behind closed doors like I don't know if it's ever going to happen because torz is really pushing this guy's buttons he's doing it like every other week that's when I see like this torz quote from uh I think it was your story uh we need his offense that's that's the only way he can stick he's beginning to show us that like bro he last season doesn't count he's beginning to show us that like it's just he really seems to be pushing the buttons and yeah that's I'm just could be maybe that's just what he wants that could be part of it and I I do think you're right though in that torz while he will say he's trying to evaluate these guys as un bias as possible he definitely has a bias toward towards the traditional you know Blood and Guts run through a wall type guys he does not a ton of time left in the show just want to say so last week we talked about Owen tippet carrying the puck to the net Moore and uh he has sure did now one is a breakaway so like what are you gonna do pull up from the circle on a breakaway like that would be weird uh but I mean he's not Fon reev uh but like that the play he made I think it was the first goal against Anaheim the takeaway in the neutral zone and then he just absolutely shows off the skill puts the puck through the defender Ducks around them and then Dees the goalie that was fantastic that's show us a little bit of don't you have a great shot use that you know power play rip some one-timers but we need to see your strength and skill and he's displaying that hopefully we see a lot more of that Owen tippet talk about guys who are making things happen but not scoring Tyson forer is like making [ __ ] happen and it's just just not going in it's a bummer he's just he's got three assists I thought he had like 10 I actually asked towards this after Saturday's game and this is something honestly has really impressed me about Forester and it it a away it gets me even more excited about his upside because I do think that he's going to score goals in this leag I am looking at a good hockey player it's going to come and I think a lot of times if you're a young guy who's trying to stick in the NHL and You' scored goals your entire life and the goals just aren't coming most guys I think would start cheating for offense they would start blasting the Zone early they would start you know neglecting some of the details because they're like man I need to start scoring goals if I want to stay in this league if I want to impress the coach I need these goals and the other details starts slipping with Forester if anything his other details are getting better like as this goist drought goes on longer he's making more and more good little plays he's points to win the S theend of this season uh we're like running out of time but again go back for for a second like I look at him and I say to myself like man it's coming the way his details are getting better if the goals do start coming and he keeps those details like [ __ ] we could have a really good player he just has to start scoring some freaking goals I really do like him with couto with Couture though I'm I've really that's been going very well I think he's been making plays even though he's not getting the goals they're going to come just just have to mention Travis sanheim while we have a couple scored in in Anaheim man dude that that's incredible uh so 12 assists and 14 points both lead the team when I checked on Sunday morning sanheim had 11 even strength points tied for second in the league with Quinn Hughes behind only Victor Hedman who has 12 now I can't imagine the Norse actually goes to a player on like a non-playoff team like unless he has the historic season that Carlson did last year something like that is he actually a contender right now though cuz listen listen fourth and average fourth in average time on Ice fifth in scoring same number of shots on goal as H Carlson morresy and Ma 56.7% expected goals for if he produced a little bit on the F on the power play and his five on five numbers stayed the same like he'd have to at least get some courtesy fourth or F fifth place votes no yeah I mean it's fair look if if Travis sanheim is a point per game player at the end of the season and it's almost entirely via even strength yeah he should get some I think I don't think that's going to happen like I think the offense is going to settle down a bit surprising but hey if he's finishing the year with 76 points with like six of them being on the power play yeah he's going to get some Norris votes that said like you just look around like Ma Fox hkin and Hughes Dalene not to mention the Vets hedmond Hamilton Carlson it's not hard to see how sanheim even if he has a very good season could get lost in the shuffle and Hugh is having an incredible start Mar is mar it's insane to me that we started out the season being like three-time Lindberg Award winner and I'm even hinting at Norris he's not going to win the Norris I'm just saying the numbers are in line with the guys who will win through 14 15 games and that's kind of crazy I would agree and and I think like this just going into the piece that I'm going to be working on this week that's going to be for for our diard members about you know what does this first month of the Season mean for you know maybe the fits with these guy with certain guys long term like to me I don't this has been an awesome start for Travis Santa I think he has looked like a at at even strength looked like a legitimate number one defenseman I am not expecting him to continue to look this good I'm not expecting him to continue to score at a point per game Pace continue to drive play this degree of Awesomeness I think he's going to drop off a bit because that's generally what I expect when guys play a little bit over their heads for a bit they drop off and then they come back to reality un unless they're kns unless they're KN then they're gonna get better then they just keep doing it but what I do think is that what this month has gotten me more of a being a believer of is that like I don't think Travis sanheim is a number one defenseman on the next great Flyers team but I look at him now and I'm like you know what I think he could be like the Braden Coburn or Matt Carl on that Cup team like I could see him being in that role where he is a 25 minute he can take 25 minutes A Night in the playoffs on a top four with another really good defenseman by his side I look at him like yeah yeah that could be Travis sanheim on the next great Flyers team and that's something that this summer I would have laughed at you if you would have said that no it would have been surprising uh that is pretty much all the time we have for you on PHL Flyers we didn't get to this but I just have to because um we talked last week so much about like we just listed the ridiculous things that this organization has done uh Dave haxall in looking up stuff about uh about Chris noblock now that he's the coach of Edmonton and Chuck noblock did I call him that no I I called him Chuck knock uh just looking up just looking up stuff about noblock now that he you know he spent two years on the bench with hack stall now he's the head coach of Edmonton in one of the stories I read it was at when Dave haxall was let go and it remains true he is third alltime in regular season games coached for the Philadelphia Flyers behind only Fred shirou Legend yeah and Mike Keenan Legend this organization has always been insane well I was seeing people in the comment section up here on our on our screen just like ranning in railing on Ron hexall like there is nothing that is more like a better like more emblematic of the Ron hexall era than the fact that Dave haxall has the third most games coached in Flyers hisory like over the entirety of the time Ed Snyder was the owner and man basically manager of the team like at the first sign of trouble he was firing a coach and and the fact that Dave hexa was at best a mediocre coach under under Ron hexall and Ron hex was like nah that's fine keep this team except for a few anomaly years regular cup Contender from like 1970 3 to 2012 yeah and Dave haxall third just insane all right that is all the time we have for you on PHL Flyers thank you all for listening thank you for hanging out if you haven't already hit that subscribe button make sure you're subscribed here on YouTube Follow the Twitter _ Flyers uh podcasts you know how to find those my name is Bill matz for Charlie o Conor have a great week Philly we all sitting like the mayor sh