Boy the Flyers sure could use a scoring threat down the middle!

SteelFlyers All Sports Network presents
Brought to you by steelflyers.com
The Hockey Writers Ink Eps. 185 "Boy the Flyers sure could use a scoring threat down the middle!!"


Relax the keyboard is off, the press box is closed, and the mic is just getting warmed up as the Guardian of the Blue paint turned writer is about to enlighten us!


The show where the writer is fresh off the presses and the ink is not dry.

Welcome to the Hockey Writers Ink, join Lance Green and Ron "SteelFlyers" as we bring you all the latest on the Philadelphia Flyers!

Article #1:
https://steelflyers.com/how-the-flyers-can-upgrade-the-center-position-without-breaking-the-bank-or-giving-up-the-farm/

This week's talking points:
1. INTRO & THANKS
2. Lance's Latest article about a Center Ryan McAllister 
3. Centers lack of production 
4. Flyers are on a 1-3 in last 4 
5. Goalies 
6. Defense letting team down lately 
7. Phantoms 
8. Wrap Up 

BIG THANKS to our friends Lower Case Blues for the awesome tunes:
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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:04):
Welcome to The Hockey Writers, Inc.

Speaker 2 (00:06):
The show where the writer is fresh off the presses
and the ink is not dry, relaxed, the keyboard is
off and the press boxes closed, with.

Speaker 1 (00:14):
The mic is just getting warmed up.

Speaker 2 (00:17):
Join your host, Lance Green, the guardian of the blue
paint turned writer, and your co host Ron Steel Flyers
as we bring you all the latest on the Philadelphia Flyers.

(00:39):
Ladies and gentlemen, Welcome to the next episode of The
Hockey Writers, Inc.

Speaker 1 (00:43):
With your host Lance Green.

Speaker 3 (00:46):
All right, guys, let's talk some Flyers hockey.

Speaker 2 (00:51):
I'll tell you what, man, There's been quite a few
games that have happened over the last few days here,
a week or so whatever, and where we're kind of
getting into.

Speaker 1 (00:59):
The meat of schedule here now you know what I mean, right, Lance?

Speaker 3 (01:03):
Yeah, I think we kind of know what we are
as far as a team. I expected a little bit more,
I gotta tell you, after you know, the strong showing
last season and the addition of mish Cough obviously, but
you know, we are what we are, and I think
you know, with my latest article, I kind of pointed

(01:25):
out maybe where we could get better.

Speaker 2 (01:29):
Maybe I'll tell you what we're gonna dive into Lance's
latest article on a lot of other things here in
this episode of The Hockey Writers, Inc. A Philadelphia Flyers
centric podcast. A ranked Philadelphia Flyers centric podcast in the
top ten of all Philadelphia Flyers podcasts, and that's because

(01:50):
of you folks out there.

Speaker 1 (01:51):
Thank you all very much.

Speaker 2 (01:52):
If you like what we do, please hit the like
and subscribe because it really helps it gets us noticed
and and helps it get you the latest episodes. So
please hit that like and subscribe button if you like
what we do. We're gonna dive right into it here,
folks with episode number one eighty four, and boy, the
flyers here could use some help down the middle, couldn't they.

Speaker 1 (02:14):
I mean, completely.

Speaker 2 (02:16):
Based off of Lance's latest article, and we're gonna talk
about that here too. So episode number one eighty five,
Boy the flyers here could use some help down the middle.
And I think Lance, you're way on board with that.

Speaker 1 (02:28):
What do you think?

Speaker 3 (02:29):
Yeah, I mean in the last couple of games, I
don't know. It's it's kind of like somebody read the
article and woke up because some of the centers actually
started playing some hockey over the past couple of games
since this article came out, but still I believe it's
needed for sure.

Speaker 1 (02:48):
Major lacking, major lacking, you know what I mean.

Speaker 2 (02:50):
So all right, well let's let's let's do that. Let's
just dive right into Lance's latest article. By the way,
you have to go on over to steel flyers dot
com check out Lance's latest article that were going to
talk about here, and that's about a certain center, Ryan
McAllister from the Checkers that and it was actually a
player that prospect Watch interviewed two years ago. Right, So

(03:13):
I mean, you gotta go over to steel flyers dot
com check out the article, see what we're talking about,
and then you can hop on over to prospect Watch
and actually watch the interview that we did with with
with this player that we're gonna talk about here. And
and Lance in your article, you talked about Ryan McAllister. Okay, Now,
Ryan McAllister was an amazing talent in juniors playing for

(03:35):
the Brooks Bandits. He lit up all of the records
that you could possibly have their Brooks Bandits out shining
even Cal mccarr when he was there.

Speaker 1 (03:48):
So I mean, when you have.

Speaker 2 (03:49):
A player of that level, you know what I mean.
And and the fact that he wasn't drafted. I mean,
I'm scratching my dorm on net man with with with
the amount of points in scoring that this guy's been
able to do. I mean, talk to me about what
the inspiration was behind this article and why do you
zero in on such a talented player like Ryan Mcalliser.

Speaker 3 (04:12):
So a couple of things. Starting out, what the basis
of this article was the lack of production that I've
seen from the Flyers at the center position. And you
know this again, was I think written before the Red
Wings game. Yeah, so previously to that is where I

(04:35):
pulled some of these stats. But let's let's dive in
here to kind of get what I was saying now.
Sean Coutureer at that point he recorded fifteen points and
thirty games half a point per game player zero point
two zero goals per game. All right, that's pretty bad

(04:57):
considering he's getting paid over seven million dollars. Morgan Frost
before when at the time I wrote this, only had
four goals on the season and twelve points. That's an
average of zero point one four goals per game and
zero point four to four points per game. Scott Lawton,

(05:18):
he had seven goals when I wrote this article fourteen points,
which computed to zero point two two goals per game
and zero point four to five points per game. Noah
cats two goals seven points for a whopping zero point

(05:39):
zero seven goals per game and zero point two five
points per game. And then, to round it out, Ryan Paling,
who only had one goal before this article or when
this article was written in twenty eight games played, all right,
and that's his That's an average of zero point zero

(06:03):
three goals per game and zero point three three to
two points per game. All right, Still, that is seriously
lacking production.

Speaker 1 (06:12):
We don't even have. We don't even have.

Speaker 2 (06:17):
Combined four players combined, not even a point per game,
all four centers combined.

Speaker 1 (06:30):
Or not even a point per game.

Speaker 2 (06:31):
Now, I don't know about y'all, but you're not gonna
win a lot of games when the heart of your
offense down the middle is not really offense.

Speaker 1 (06:45):
I mean, oh my gosh, dude, those are paltry numbers.

Speaker 3 (06:49):
That that's some serious. When I started diving into this,
I I you know, as was blown away. Yeah, it
was blown away, especially when you consider Morgan, Frost and
Katre playing with the likes of Mishkov connect me, uh,
you know, and Tippet like, these guys are pretty darn

(07:11):
good wingers. I think the Flyers have, you know, especially
you know, some some of these top end guys. And
what really brought me to scratch my head is that
they the Flyer signed a guy in Anthony Richard Richard Rather,
who is putting up you know, basically almost a point

(07:36):
per game level because he's come in and out of
the lineup. But he's a firecracker, he's full of energy,
great four checker and all this, and they're not utilizing
him at all. And I don't know, I mean, he
had he has six points and seven games played. I
don't know why when you don't have the production from
these other guys that you then wouldn't you know, keep

(08:00):
him in the lineup. But anyway, somebody has been reading
this article because the Flyers have been stepping up, right,
but the last couple of games, some of the centers
have been stepping up. And but even still, I would
say the Flyers should pursue this. Now. I know they

(08:21):
went out and of course drafted you know, a great
player in jet Lichenko, but he's he's back with the
Storm and you know he's playing great this season with
a storm even got elected to be on Team Canada's
World Junior Championship team, which is an honor and he
will get to definitely showcase himself there with some pretty

(08:45):
amazing players. But you know, there is a need still,
I think for a center this year that can come in,
and like the article says, they have to do that
without breaking the bank and without giving up the entire

(09:05):
farm system, because you know every team they're going to
contact is gonna look at the fact that the Flyers
have three first round picks and potentially three second round
picks in this draft. So if you got anybody who
is in the NHL, you know they're going to they're
gonna be asking for some pretty pretty, you know, hefty

(09:30):
returns for this. I get you, and and and Also
behind that is I think that we've seen Mitchkoff come
in and he was on fire to begin with, but
now everybody's targeting him. He's leading the league. You know
where he was at this time in rookie points and

(09:50):
everything like that. You need somebody that he can play
off of and play with h that's gonna take the
pressure off of him, and uh and and and all
so help him out a little bit because of this
lack of production. As far as the centers go, I
think he's having he thinks he has to do it all,
and sometimes he does when we'd like these things with

(10:11):
the Michigan goals and everything else behind the net, because
who's going to pass it to in front of the net.
Nobody a goal of season, Like, you know, this is crap.
But the Flyers can't go out and get like a
Shane Pinto or Josh Norris from Ottawa. They're overrated in

(10:33):
my book. You look around the league, you see a
Peyton Cribs that's struggling. That was a former first round
pick in Buffalo. He's got speed he'd be enticing to
bring in. But I think Buffalo is all but broke
him down as they do most players. Ze Grass from Anaheim.
But I think, you know.

Speaker 1 (10:54):
I think that I think that ship has sailed.

Speaker 3 (10:57):
He's he's constantly hurt his way well, uh, show boating
attitude just kind of. I think I think he would
send John Tortorella to an early grave because that ship
has sailed, honest, as much as much as uh, you know,
Tortorello hates Mishkov doing that type of stuff. Uh, Trevor

(11:19):
ze Grass does that all the time, So I think
he's gonna have a coronary, if you know. You know,
if ze Grass was brought in, I got to looking
around them. I got to I got to looking around
the league and decided that maybe the Flyers could look
for a player that isn't quite there yet, kind of

(11:43):
like they did with Owen Tippett, where maybe they touched
a little bit in the NHL and and kind of
brought up, but they were put back down in the
minors and kind of just buried in the depth chart,
if you will. And and when I started look at that,
one name popped out to me, and that was Ryan McAllister,

(12:04):
Like you said, Steele a player that we interviewed on
our other podcast, Prospect Watch, a couple of years back,
and he is with the Florida Panthers organization who signed
him after an amazing, amazing season at Western Michigan University, which,

(12:24):
mind you, is Keith Jones' album Mater. So and you know,
if you ever listened to Keith Jones when he was
doing telecasts and everything like that, he loves Western Michigan
and he had an amazing time there, and he still
thinks they produce amazing talents, as they do, and you

(12:46):
know the but the Panthers thought, you know, wisely, and
they signed McAllister after his freshman year where he led
most of the year in points in the NCAA and
finished with thirteen goals, thirty six assists and forty nine
points and thirty nine games played for an average in

(13:07):
college in his freshman year of one point twenty five
points per game.

Speaker 2 (13:12):
Now, if the Flyers were to see that kind of production, yeah,
I mean.

Speaker 3 (13:21):
So Ryan's been playing for the Checkers, like you said,
down in Charlotte and the AHL's you know, team affiliation
for the Panthers some of their players anyway. And you know,
at this point he scored seven goals and eight assists
or fifteen points and sixteen games played down in the AHL,

(13:42):
all right, And at the point of this article was written,
he was on pace to finish the season with twenty
eight goals thirty three assists for sixty one points in
the AHL if he's just stayed down there all year long.
But he very well could be, because the Panthers are
kind of loaded down the middle and they need help

(14:04):
on the wings. Or or potentially on the back end,
which Florida.

Speaker 2 (14:12):
Florida's looking really really strong this year as well.

Speaker 3 (14:17):
You know, that's that's the team that's gonna want that
one extra piece, right, Yeah, one extra piece to kind
of solidify them for the playoff run. Maybe a veteran defenseman,
maybe an uh you know, a certain one on the
Flyers roster that uh you know, certain jump pedigree or something,

(14:39):
you know whatever, Uh, you know, maybe a veteran defender
or a third or fourth line winger that could kind
of bolster that up. And then I offered a couple
of names up in the article as well. But also
in the article, I showed some stats on some players
that were spectacular when they played with Ryan and how

(15:03):
they're doing now since you know, they went to different
teams and such, and it's a drastic difference steal and
you know, some of these players are great players in
their own right, but they just broke records, like a
Zach Bookman when they played with a band. When he
played with him at the Bandits, he broke or annihilated

(15:24):
cal mccarr's record of seventy five points for AHL or
AJHL defenseman by posting one hundred and two points the
year he played with Ryan McAllister, And there's a couple
of other players, one from Western Michigan who he played with,
and you know everything else in there. And it just
shows how Ryan's talents can take a good player and

(15:49):
just make them great and get the best out of them.
And I think that is the kind of guy that
is needed to kind of help Mishkoff and others you
know on the flyers, Tyson Forrester or whomever. Bobby Brink
could bring some of the best qualities out of these
other guys who who are kind of in a slump

(16:12):
right now or or we're not up to the par
where we think they you know, were, and and that
is just what you know, Ryan can potentially do. But
again he's being buried in that system in Florida because
I mean, their Cup winning team, they have a roster
and they usually love to play veterans over talented youth

(16:38):
because they're they're at that point where they're potentially Cup
winning team again this year, but they just might need
a little something else, but not help down the middle.
So I think he could be had or could be
had for relatively inexpensive you know, return and on investment,

(17:00):
and it's somebody that the Flyers you know, could bring in,
hopefully like an Owen Tippett and give him the playing
time and allow him to just flourish. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (17:11):
Yeah, and quite frankly, I don't know if I would
necessarily be trading a player for that.

Speaker 1 (17:18):
If not, maybe future considerations or if you want to
do an AHL swap for an HL swap.

Speaker 3 (17:28):
Well, it depends, it is still, it depends what it is.
Like I was saying, do we really need an Eric Johnson?
I don't think we really need an Eric Johnson on
the team, But might a team like the Florida Panthers,
might they be able to use him down the stretch,

(17:48):
a guy a veteran defenseman in the locker room or
on the ice who has Stanley Cup winning uh, you know,
experience to help them down the road there. Or or
Bobby Brink who kind of really hasn't flourished, you know,
in that realm. Or taking one of those centers that
we talked about, maybe Noah Kate's and and kind of

(18:11):
dealing him off who has defensive efforts and stuff like that.

Speaker 1 (18:18):
Frosty go than Kate my choice.

Speaker 3 (18:22):
Yeah, it all depends. It all depends on salary cap
and all that, and you know what, the other pieces
of the pie are going to be in that trade.
But you know, trading one of those guys for me
would kind of give them another shot somewhere else, because
you know, players like Frost have been in the Flyer
system for quite a long time and kind of just

(18:44):
hasn't lived up to expectations. And it's bringing in a
younger kid who's still hungry and would appreciate the opportunity
and probably flourish getting to play with the type of
wingers that he Uh is gonna, you know, get a
chance to play with here. So I think something needs

(19:07):
to be done. The Flyers have been talking to multiple teams,
The Kings have been out there, the Red Wings have
been mentioned. There's there's there's stuff brewing, but I think
they got to strike while the iron is hot here.
Obviously they're still building for the future. So that's why
I suggested a guy maybe like you know of Ryan

(19:29):
uh To to come in. And it's not a veteran
that's gonna help now. It's a kid that can help
now end in the future. And he's still on a
rookie deal, so we're gonna be able to retain him
for some time. That is the type of deal. I'm
not saying it's essentially got to be this player, although
I would like it to be, but you know, it's needed.

(19:53):
I don't think, you know, we have a lot of
draft picks, yes, coming up this this summer, but there's
still going to be a year or two away mostly guys.

Speaker 1 (20:03):
Now.

Speaker 3 (20:03):
We need somebody else now, and we need to continue
to get rid of some of these type players like
a Frost or somebody like that who's been in the
system for some time.

Speaker 1 (20:14):
Now.

Speaker 3 (20:15):
It's not necessarily Danny Brier's guy. He didn't really draft him,
he hasn't worked out. Some of those other pieces have
got to go away to make room for others.

Speaker 1 (20:27):
Clearly, you know what I mean.

Speaker 2 (20:28):
Clearly, and I think quite frankly, I think we might
see that this season with with this upcoming draft for
the Flyers because with that many draft picks in the
first and second round.

Speaker 1 (20:43):
Yeap, I really feel that what.

Speaker 2 (20:47):
Danny Brier has done was set this team up for
a generational turn, you know what I mean, Because when
you have that many first round draft picks, the potential
to get three guys in the first round that could
change the course of this franchise in the next ten years,
you know what I mean, instead of being like what

(21:08):
Chuck Fletcher was doing was trying to set this team
back ten years, you know what I mean? Right, Okay, So,
but it's just like what you said, Lance, Yeah, we're
building for the future. But with this fan base and
what they're even even the management is even still talking about,
is hey, we still need to put a good product

(21:30):
down on the ice right now, right, you know what
I mean, And you still need to be able to say, Okay,
we're still trying to win this year.

Speaker 1 (21:40):
So I think with what you were saying.

Speaker 2 (21:42):
Here and marrying this with this article and with a
player like Ryan and bringing this guy in and giving
him an opportunity to play with some of these guys
that are on the Flyers, I think would only be
a benefit for the Flyers moving forward. And I wouldn't
have a problem with getting rid of it a Frost
or even a Cats or somebody even down the middle

(22:05):
to make room for this guy, you know what I mean,
because I would much rather not see them use draft picks,
you know what I mean.

Speaker 1 (22:15):
And we're on the freeze right now of.

Speaker 2 (22:19):
The impost freeze trade freeze for the NHL from the
twentieth till the twenty seventh for the holiday break, So
there's no deals gonna happen right now. But Lance, I
want to build on kind of what you said earlier
about doing this while the flyer is hot. Don't wait
until the trade deadline.

Speaker 1 (22:40):
Do it now. Your team is struggling, Now do it now.
Why wait when you.

Speaker 2 (22:48):
Can potentially be twenty more games into the season and
who knows how many points you would potentially could have
gotten if you would have had this player on the
roster now instead of.

Speaker 3 (23:00):
Oh, it's not just that, it's not even just that,
it's that teams are not waiting until trade deadline day
to make deals. You saw some pretty big names getting
moved out of the New York Rangers. I don't know
what they're doing up there, having a garage sale, like, uh,
Capo CaCO was traded for absolutely nothing, number two overall

(23:25):
pick like or whatever. He was like very high draft pick,
just basically given away for nothing. Chris Drury, I don't
know what he's on up there, but uh, they need
to look to get rid of him. Potentially because he's
just making some some crazy deals, which is good for us.

(23:46):
But right but getting back to that too, the Flyers
not only need to if they're going to make some trades,
make some trades to to get rid of They shouldn't
just make trades to get rid of of a veteran
player like Aristo or something for another first round pick
that's going to be maybe something in two or three

(24:08):
years time. They need to get somebody now like Ryan
McCallister who can help now with the talent that is
coming in right now or potentially next year to kind
of build off of that. And another way they could
do that steal is to sign college free agents like

(24:29):
they have a little bit in the past. Some teams
are very good at it, like the Penguins and others
who generally draft very late or get rid of all
their picks because they're trying to keep that last chance
at another title run going. And if they were to
do this type of deal to get somebody like a

(24:52):
Ryan McCallister, who scored one hundred and thirty nine points
in juniors, I would say what better way to go
to go out and get his old linematee who scored
like one hundred and twenty seven points or something as
well when he played with him, uh in TJ. Hughes

(25:13):
for Michigan, you know, and undrafted free agent somebody that
could come in. And you know, I've heard a lot
right right, So he's he's had quite a good year
last year and everything like that. It's just another guy
who's kind of slipped through the cracks there. But I
mean the year they played together, they scored two hundred

(25:36):
and sixty six combined points together, you know, And and
it's it's kind of like the same process that Colorado did,
you know when when they brought in uh, certain players
to play together in uh Nathan McKinnon and oh, what's

(25:58):
his old linemate there?

Speaker 1 (26:00):
Atlantis Gong and a Landa's God's hurt but.

Speaker 3 (26:04):
No in in juniors. But anyway, drewin you know, brew
and played together in Halifax and you know, kind of
trying to rekindle that same you know, chemistry, you know
from guys that played together. But anyway, you know, it's
what I'm trying to get out here is they need

(26:26):
to look at other things, not just sitting around and
waiting for the draft to come. Because as we all
know you're not going to always you know, strike oil
in the draft. Uh, you know, it's it's a crapshoot.
You know, a guy and juniors can play amazingly and
then you know at the next level doesn't really make

(26:47):
making a turnout, right, So you know, we need we
need to do something now and whatever. But like like
we said earlier, I think the Flyers have been listening
because because they have turned it on in the last
couple of games here with you know, a win last

(27:10):
night in overtime and and everything like that. But you know,
they've been beaten down by some teams they probably shouldn't
have lost to some of the players that we spoke
of in at least the center position have kind of
stepped up and Scottie Lawton and Morgan Frost getting a

(27:32):
couple of goals, Noah Kates got on the board, Ryan
Gilling scored a goal the other nights. And it's like
somebody who was reading this article and kind of saying, oh, crap,
you know, I need to step it up here.

Speaker 2 (27:47):
I like what one of the comments was about this
article that said, hey, can Danny Brier read this right?

Speaker 3 (27:54):
Yeah?

Speaker 2 (27:58):
By the way, I would like to say big, huge
props and thanks to all the Facebook groups and all
of them out there for allowing us to post our
our articles and our shows and everything out there. We
really appreciate the feedback that we get from you guys.
It's really great. By the way, if you like what
we do, please hit the like and subscribe. Hop on

(28:18):
over to steel Flyers dot com. Check out all the
latest articles and all the latest shows that we do
over there, from prospect Watch to Hockey Writers Ink to
the Nitney Report. By all means, go over there and
check that out. The next thing I want to talk
about Lance is this we've seen since Aerison's been back. Now,

(28:38):
we've seen the rotation of Aerson and coslow right and
goal and I gotta be honest with you, man, I
think it's time to see Ivan again. Yeah, because over
the last four games they've given up over twenty goals

(28:59):
those two goalies, and these two guys are supposed to
be our best goalies. What that you lose two games
by seven goals?

Speaker 1 (29:12):
What?

Speaker 3 (29:13):
Yeah? A last two outings, Erison gave up four goals
and five goals, So that's nine goals in two games.
And then you know, if if you look at the
last couple of games for Alexi. Six goals against the
Kings he gave up, and he gave up one against
Detroit coming in, but four goals and four goals from

(29:37):
Boston and Florida. You know, you can't win many games
when you're letting in that many goals. No, I'm saying
it's all their fault. The defense have been horrible.

Speaker 1 (29:47):
But yeah, well we'll get into that in a minute.

Speaker 3 (29:50):
Right right, But as far as Ivan goes, I think
he was turning a corner there. He looked sure when
Arson was down. And I mean in December fifth was
his last game. He gave up two goals against Florida,
you know, in in against the Rangers he let in.
He won that game and and only let in one goal.

(30:14):
So I think he started to get it once he
got more playing time with Aristole. And then all of
a sudden, Arison comes back in and he's thrown to
you know, the rafters or whatever, you know, up you know,
not being dressed, and and you know, shoot, uh he was.

(30:35):
He was getting going like like you know, he is
the highest paid goaltender on this roster, and for good reason.
As far as says, what he produced in the KHL.
It's a totally different game over here, and I think
he was finally starting to get it, and the Flyers
pulled him out and you know when when Ersen came

(30:56):
back in, and you know, I just don't see that
when you know, you ride that hot goaltender. And you know,
as far as I'm concerning, Ivan was really you know,
getting on a roll there and and then just kind
of abruptly made the stop.

Speaker 2 (31:14):
So that's why I said, I think it's time to
see Ivan again, because clearly Alexi is.

Speaker 1 (31:21):
On a snag, on a bad on whatever you want
to call.

Speaker 2 (31:24):
It, right, and we're still seeing mistakes from Earison too,
you know, like that turnover last night, but he did
behind the net. Look, if you are not confident enough
to go back there to handle the puck, then let
it go. There's nothing wrong with you standing there in
your net and watching that puff go round.

Speaker 3 (31:46):
Right. It was never never one of my big strengths
playing is and I just kind of, you know, let
it go. Most most of the time I would just
stop it. I'm no Ron Hestall, so I knew that
and kept my butt in the crease, you know.

Speaker 2 (32:00):
No shit, Stirkin or or no Martanbreau door where you
know you can basically stick handle with the puck back
there with that goalie stick.

Speaker 1 (32:08):
Look, if you can't do that, then don't ye stay
in your net. See when you.

Speaker 2 (32:14):
Stay in your net, pay your strength. I mean, you know, look,
Arison is a good goalie. Okay, we we know he's
a good goalie because we've seen him play well. But
and we also seen Alexi play well too, and we
know that he's a pretty good goalie too. And this

(32:34):
is kind of why I wanted to talk about this
a little bit, because I wanted to bleed this in
a little bit too. Why we think there's so many
goals against here for the Flyers And I'm gonna go
in with this one right here. Ever, since he's come back, Drysdale,
who haven't heard or seen nothing of him. I know

(32:55):
that a defenseman is supposed to be you know, if
you don't hear about him, that's good. But he's supposed
to be an offensive threat. And I don't hear nothing
about him. I don't hear his name being called unless
it's something that's bad happening. Oh it's a turnover, or
oh it's a giveaway. Or you know Cam York. We've

(33:16):
seen good things from Cam York. Where's he been the
last he was scratched the other night?

Speaker 1 (33:22):
Right, what's going on? Yeah?

Speaker 3 (33:25):
I don't know. This defense is not looking good. There's
tons of young talent on this blue line, but like
you said, Jamie Drisdeale just looks frustrated in a sense.
You know, he's been minus three for last night's game
against Columbus and he was minus three against the Kings.

(33:47):
And as far as production goes, what production, Like you said,
he's played in twenty two games because of course he
got hurt again this season, but in those twenty two games,
he only has scored one goal and four assists for
five points. And he's a minus twelve on the season.
That's not getting the job done. And you know, you

(34:08):
look at Cam Yorke, who you said was supposed to be,
you know, a bigger name on this blue line, and
you know, he had a good game against Columbus where
he had an assist and he was a plus two,
which is a lot better than he was doing where
he's putting up goose eggs. He's supposed to be an
offensive production as well. And you know in twenty games played,

(34:35):
he has three goals and three assists for six points.
And you know, he's a career minus thirty player. This
guy was a first round pick, you know, inside the
top fifteen, and he's twenty three now, he's not you know,
he's played with the Flyers for multiple seasons now, this

(34:57):
being part of his fourth or fifth season with the
Flyers if you can believe that, you know, in twenty
twenty and he only played three three games, but you
know it was NHL experience for sure. But yes, he's
played multiple seasons with the Flyers now as a mainstay

(35:18):
on that Flyer's blue line. And he's not really doing
what he was brought in or drafted to do, you know,
and that's pretty bad when you're getting outshined by guy
a rookie like Amlandre coming in and playing. You know, granted,

(35:38):
he's not putting up tons of points either, but he's
played solid, you know, for the twenty games that he's
been brought in and.

Speaker 2 (35:47):
Bounced back defensive defenseman. But he's not known to be
this you know, offensive juggernaut, right and when you see look,
I can I can tell you of the games that
I watched Tomeil andre I can count on one hand
how many of the mistakes that I actually saw him make. Yes, okay,

(36:08):
on one hand, but I still see mistakes made by
Cam York. I still see mistakes made by Jamie Drysdale.
And look, and we all know that Tortorella is like, look,
we don't mind you taking the chances. We want you
to take the chances. We want you to be creative,
we want you to do those things. But you can't
give the puck away, right and you can't leave your

(36:32):
goalies hanging out to drive because you're trying to do
all this fancy stuff in front of your own net.

Speaker 3 (36:38):
Yeah, I mean Cam York and Jimmie Drysdeller's offensive defencemen
that are supposed to be putting up points for us,
and they're getting out scored by Nick Seeler, who's a
third defensive pairing defenseman and who's supposed to be, you know,
that solid piece on the back and to kind of

(37:01):
let those guys be able to go up and do
their thing. So there's a there's a lot of questions,
you know, surrounding I mean, shoot, yeah, Ristal Lionan scored
more than Cam York or Jamie Drysdale.

Speaker 2 (37:15):
So there's Ristal Lion is not exactly a barn Burner neither,
you know.

Speaker 3 (37:20):
No, I mean, he's scored a lot when he was younger,
but that's not his necessarily game. Scratch my head, you know,
your head. That's at least you know, Sandheim is doing
what he's supposed to be doing.

Speaker 1 (37:36):
But he has been playing lights out.

Speaker 2 (37:38):
I have really liked what Sandheim has done and how
he's really improved his game.

Speaker 3 (37:44):
Yeah, I mean I was never a huge Sanhaim fan.
I think neither you know, a kid that's six foot
four and two hundred and twenty two pounds should be
a little bit more physical on the back end than
he is. But I've come to, you know, be okay
with that, with with the amount of you know, production
that he's putting up. And he's a plus he's one

(38:06):
of the only defensemen that is a plus defenseman. Uh,
being that it's only a plus two, but you know,
he's definitely coming around to to being a solid defenseman.

Speaker 1 (38:19):
And I mean Flyers leading ice time guy.

Speaker 2 (38:24):
He's he's averaging over twenty six minutes a game, right
that's in the top five in the NHL.

Speaker 1 (38:31):
As far as that's going.

Speaker 3 (38:33):
And he's having to because of everybody not doing their job.
I mean, he played over twenty five minutes a game
against Columbus. Yeah, so you know he's taken on that
workhorse as he should. He's now twenty eight years old.
If you can, I would say he's.

Speaker 1 (38:49):
The top defenseman on the team.

Speaker 3 (38:53):
And that's a problem. I think that is that is
a problem. I mean, the the Flyers have been focused
sing on you know, offense for some time now. And
you know, they drafted you know, Sanahaim in the first
round years ago, and they they've since drafted some other defense.

(39:14):
But I think it's time this draft to actually get
some help again early, you know, in the first round
of this draft or in the second round. I think
they need to go back to getting some defenseman in
this draft that can that can kind of do something

(39:34):
on the back end.

Speaker 2 (39:36):
Hey, here's a novel concept, guys. Right, Hey, you drafted
defenseman to guess what play defense, and you draft wingers
and centers to guess what play offense? Why are you
drafting defensemen that are offensively minded. Look, I understand the

(39:58):
concept behind it. I understand why a lot of teams
fall in love with it. But when you look at
the teams that have won the Cup, those teams have
defensive defenseman back there. They're not worried about their defense
coming up and scoring goals.

Speaker 1 (40:17):
Is it a bonus that they do?

Speaker 2 (40:19):
Yes, But that just means that they're jumping up on
the play, but they're being responsible. There's a guy that
there's a winger that's going back to cover his spot.
If you don't have that, then you jumping up into
the play is dangerous. Play your position first, then worry

(40:40):
about all the other you know, extracurriculars. Right, You're supposed
to be a defenseman. Play defense first. If the offense comes, bonus, right,
trust me, if you play the game that way, the
offense will come.

Speaker 3 (40:59):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (40:59):
I mean.

Speaker 2 (41:01):
I'm not saying anything that hasn't been proven over and
over again by Stanley Cup winning teams.

Speaker 1 (41:09):
Right. This is not an old concept, you know.

Speaker 3 (41:13):
Yeah, I mean I get you. I'm for that we
have the pieces in place that should be producing offensively.
I want defensive defenseman in this draft, and I think
with one of the first round picks they should be
drafting Kashawn Aitchinson, who we interviewed on prospect.

Speaker 1 (41:32):
Watch a.

Speaker 3 (41:34):
Player that was born to be a flyer. I think, yeah,
just plays with grit, a shutdown defender. He plays for
the Barry Colts. Amazing, amazing kid, amazing defender. And then
Carter Amoco for Team USA, six foot five, two hundred

(41:54):
and five pound defenseman on the back end who just
clears the porch in front of that wins board battles
you know of racist people out of plays, wraps people up,
you know, amazing talent. And he should fall somewhere in
the second round. So at least use, I know we

(42:15):
need centers, but at least Danny please please draft these
two kids with you know, these two picks, one in
each round, and then get centers if you want them.
I know you're a center at yourself, you know. And
he wants some centers to help this team out and
they need it. But get some defense as well that

(42:36):
can play defense. Uh, these guys had been you watch
these games recently? Why are these teams on three or
zero breaks against our goaltenders? Good? Lord good? Who could
stop that? With three NHL players coming down on you
versus no defenders and you know they score the goal

(42:58):
and then you see the guys come back into position,
you know, into the camera frame there on defence. We
need some guys that can play defense as well, Nola
said Steel. We have three pretty good goaltenders in net
now to pick from, but when you don't give them
anybody to play in front of them that wants to

(43:20):
play defense, it's kind of hard. It's kind of hard to,
you know, keep those pucks out of your net.

Speaker 1 (43:26):
I don't know I'm with you on that, but I'll
tell you what.

Speaker 2 (43:30):
Let's let's let's change gears here a little bit, and
instead of talking about a team that's been one in
three in their last four games, let's talk about a
team that's been three and one in their last four games.
And that's why, folks, we're gonna shift gears and we're
going to talk about the Philadelphia Flyers farm team and
that is the Lee High Valley Phantoms. And how about them,

(43:52):
fanos boy. Up until last night, they were on a
three game win streak, playing really well. Guys been scoring,
doing really well. They dropped a heartbreaker a little bit
last night to the Wilkesbury Scranton Penguins, which those games
are always tough for the Fantoms they've been playing them
tough this year, you know what I mean. So they

(44:13):
got a couple more games left against them guys, But
the Fantoms are starting to slowly climb the charts. I
think they're what fourth in the division right now. Right
They're starting to win games. They just came off of
three game win streak. They lost last night, but three

(44:33):
and one in the last four games. You're seeing guys
like Ali Lesel putting up patricks. You're seeing guys like
Richard doing well. You're seeing guys coming back down to
the Fantoms like emil Andre playing well. I mean, it
just seems like that that corner has been kind of

(44:55):
turned here with the fans.

Speaker 3 (44:56):
What do you think, Yeah, I mean, I think they're
coming together as a team. You know, the Flyers pulled
a lot of those players at the beginning of the season,
like you said, towards the beginning of the season, so
they kind of had to rely on some players that
they they necessarily didn't expect to have to play such
a huge role. And you know, some of the players

(45:18):
have been stepping up. And one of those guys that
I'd like to highlight is a guy who I think
the Flyers just re signed in Jacob Gosher. Oh yeah, man,
he's been playing well. And hey, a center at that, right,
he's a six foot three and eighty five pounds center

(45:39):
who is signed now through the twenty five to twenty
sixth season with the Flyers for pennies on the dollar.
And you know he's kind of went through the EHL.
He played a little bit with the Fantoms last year
ended well. But this season, man, he's coming on and uh,

(46:02):
thirteen goals, nine assists for twenty two points in twenty
eight games played, you know, leading scorer on the Flyers
as far.

Speaker 1 (46:10):
As goals go, right on the top line.

Speaker 3 (46:13):
Yeah, projected to score thirty three goals this season, twenty
three assists for fifty six points. Bring them up, bring
the get a chance.

Speaker 1 (46:26):
Again.

Speaker 2 (46:27):
Uh.

Speaker 3 (46:27):
You know, he played in the Queue and the and
the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League and the kind of
you know, went undrafted there but was signed by the Flyers.
And uh, you know has some family that's that's played
you know, some pretty good hockey in his father and

(46:49):
brother as well, and Nathan Gosher who was signed you
know as well right now, So and you know, playing
in the Ducks Farm system first round pick for them.
Pretty darn good player that I think I've talked about
a little before. When he was drafted. I liked him

(47:12):
as well, so you know, it comes from a hockey family.
But definitely, you know, not wishing somebody would get injured
on the Flyers, but if they do, I think he
should be one of the next call ups, you know,
and let him relegate a role, you know, in those
dots and see what he can do. You know, at

(47:35):
this point, I would like to see guys like Rashard
and Goosher come up and uh have a chance. You know,
at this point, what is to hurt the Flyers? Are
you know, hurting themselves at this point?

Speaker 1 (47:51):
You mean you mean you mean Frost for a game
or two? All darn? You mean sit Kates for a
game or two? All darn? What's a hurt?

Speaker 3 (48:00):
Yeah, what's it gonna hurt?

Speaker 1 (48:02):
Seriously? What's it gonna hurt? Right?

Speaker 2 (48:05):
At least that way you can see what you got
in this kid. I don't think he's been called up,
uh this season, and I don't I don't remember him
being a call up at all this season, So I think.

Speaker 3 (48:17):
That's why I think that's why they've resigned him so
that they could. I think he was with an AHL
contract now he leave. Don't quote me on this. I
believe he's a two way contract now, so that potentially
they could. So you know, at this point, let's let's
try everybody we do have and then we know what

(48:38):
they got. They got and they're dropping games to teams
that they shouldn't. So, you know, as I'm not trying
to get back on the Flyers because really the fan

(48:59):
of have been been doing better than the Flyers in
their own you know, right, and really just like what
I see from this team, and you know, h head coach,
you know Ian la Perier there has got these guys
playing and you know rightfully so with the with a
call up of Ali although he just hasn't seemed to be,

(49:24):
you know, getting going in the NHL as far as
you know, how well he's doing in the HL. But
like you said, Stele, I think before we started the show,
maybe maybe they move them up in a line or
so and giving them a chance would be something. Taking
one of those guys on the wing that maybe necessarily

(49:45):
isn't producing at the same rate that they once were
and dropping them down a line. Maybe that'll kick start
them and potentially be able to kick start Ali as well.
You know, if he gets a point on the board
and the a NHL and and and get him going,
uh this season up with us. Who knows, you know,

(50:10):
it wouldn't be the strangest thing. It couldn't hurt because
the flyers, uh you know, like the switch around lines
a little bit there, they don't have cemented you know,
first line or second line, so guys move around a
little bit. Why not why not give them a shot?
So who knows?

Speaker 1 (50:27):
I'm with you on that, you know what I mean.

Speaker 2 (50:29):
Now, Fantoms got some some tough games coming up here.
They got a tough game here after Christmas on the
twenty seventh. I'm against those Penguins again. That seems to
be the rivalry more so, I think than the Hershey
gains because Hershey is just really.

Speaker 1 (50:49):
Good this year.

Speaker 2 (50:49):
I mean, they're the defending Calder Cup champions and they've
just been playing really, really well, and they usually play
well against the Fantoms. Now, the Fantoms have had one
or two with them, but it's it's it's.

Speaker 1 (51:02):
Kind of back and forth, you know what I mean.

Speaker 2 (51:04):
But I really feel that there's more of that animosity
there with the Baby Pens.

Speaker 1 (51:10):
You know what I mean.

Speaker 3 (51:11):
And that's a rivalry game.

Speaker 1 (51:13):
Yeah, that's that's what I mean. You know.

Speaker 2 (51:15):
And last night they took one on the chin and
lost seven to two. And I have a feeling they're
gonna be a little bit, especially after full of holiday cheer,
going into the twenty seventh game, with a little bit
more fire under the.

Speaker 1 (51:29):
You know, to try to take that one back.

Speaker 2 (51:31):
But and then of course the the game on the
twenty eighth against the Checkers, uh, the the Florida Panthers
team and and oh it just so happens to be
the team that Lance wrote the article of battle Ryan McAllister, Oh,
you know, hey, look at Best's gonna be at that game, folks.
That's right, Steel Flyers is gonna be at that game

(51:53):
along with the Lance Man. We're gonna be there to
cover that game for the for the Fantoms. So that's
the twenty eighth, be sure to check that out. Well,
we'll have some special content coming out after that for sure.
So Alanta, I think we got a good one here, buddy.
We talked about what the Flyers need to do down
the middle, you wrote a great, awesome article. Go to

(52:16):
the steel Flyers dot com and check out that article.
You wrote a great article about a player that the
team could use. It's not gonna break the bank, it's
not gonna give up draft picks or anything like that,
and they can bring in a player that could help
them now because clearly that's what they need help now. Look,
we understand we're building for the future, and this is
what a whole part of a rebuild is. Where you

(52:40):
bring players in that maybe might be those bridge players
where they're gonna help you get to the point where
you need to get to, but they might not necessarily
be on the team once you get there, you know
what I mean. You need to have some of them
guys that can be on the team that can help
the team now, right, but they might not be part

(53:02):
of the future.

Speaker 3 (53:06):
Well, I mean, or they very well could be who
ye or they could be who knows. Get but but
to keep putting out the same guys over and over
and over again.

Speaker 1 (53:18):
And expecting different results.

Speaker 3 (53:20):
You're year in and year out to expecting different results
is just stupid and and and in my mind, uh,
I mean, Hannity, you know talking about him, I I'm
not a fan. I'm sorry, but uh, you know, guys
like Morgan Frost, he is what he is?

Speaker 2 (53:41):
Uh?

Speaker 3 (53:42):
Is he a second line player? No? No, he's not.
Uh you know he's he's benefiting from getting the opportunities
that he has because the Flyers don't have the depth
down the middle. So he's playing, you know, above himself. Uh,
as far as you know who he's playing with, he's

(54:06):
a third line center on on a playoff contending team
at best, at best at best? So why are the
Flyers continue to put him out? He's twenty five years
old now, he's he's been drafted since twenty seventeen, you know, one, two, three,
four or five six years. He's now been with the

(54:29):
Flyers alone. Let alone, you know, with the in the
Flyers organization, with the phantoms before that, you know.

Speaker 2 (54:39):
Can let the big hedge clippers out? Just is this
not enough? Can we cut ties with this guy already?
I mean, can I get the big out hedge clippers
or don't have to break out?

Speaker 3 (54:48):
Take him? Let them clear out, clear out space for
some new blood. You know, if he goes and thrives
somewhere else, great, he's not working out here. The Neil
Flyers built some of those centers to be defensively responsible

(55:10):
players to help out. Well, he's not even that all right,
minus seven this year. He's a minus twenty nine on
his career, as well as some of these other guys.
Scott Lawton, Okay, Scott Lawton is a good NHL player.
You're building for the future. If you can get a

(55:30):
first round pick for him, if you can trade him
for some young talented player, then let's do it. He's
been with an organization for ten to fifteen years and
he's a great guy. He's a great NHL player, But
he's a third line player on a good team, you know,
at best.

Speaker 1 (55:51):
At best, So let's with his age and everything.

Speaker 2 (55:53):
Now he is about he's played to that third line,
you know what I mean? All right, Well, so now
here's the thing. This team needs help now we clearly
know that to rebuild. That's what I was trying to
get to with this whole thing. You know, give your
team the opportunity to see what you got because you're
in a rebuild. That kind of takes the pressure off.
You don't have to win right now, you don't have

(56:15):
to be a contender right now because you're in a rebuild,
take that opportunity and rebuild and see what you've gotten.
Bringing these players and see what you got. Otherwise, all
you're doing is putting the same guys out on the
ice and expecting different results. You're expecting wins from guys
who aren't capable of giving you the wins. Right, Okay,
So we're really liking how the fantoms have come along.

(56:38):
We feel like that they're turning the corner. We feel
that we need to see Ivan Fidotos a little bit
more playing time. We felt that he was kind of
turning the corner as well too. Go over to sealfiers
dot com check out Lance's latest article for sure. Big props,
and thanks to the Facebook groups for allowing us to
post all of our stuff out onto your sites and

(56:59):
for giving us all the great feedback that you guys
give us.

Speaker 1 (57:02):
Man, we really really really appreciate that.

Speaker 2 (57:05):
Also, Oh yeah, get yourself on over to the place
where you need to listen to the best music on
the planet. That's right, folks, lowercase blues dot Net.

Speaker 1 (57:18):
Hop on over there to see Jake and the boys.

Speaker 2 (57:20):
They got swag, they got all kinds of dates and.

Speaker 1 (57:24):
Everything on there.

Speaker 2 (57:24):
For you to go check them out, and they also
got some videos on there where you can listen to
their music. Man, I gotta tell you, they're the ones
that provide the music for the opening of this show
and they are definitely worth the listen. Go check out
Lowercase Lowercase Blues dot net. That's lowercase Blues dot Net.
Check them guys out. Also big thanks to sports Fighter

(57:48):
they post out all of our stuff from all of
Lance's articles all of our shows. Be sure to go
check them out for all the Flyer's latest information where
you can see all the stuff from Steeal Flyers from
all of our shows, all the articles at Lance Writes.
Big thanks and props to sports Spider Lance you got
anything in the works? I know you just posted out
an article the other day here, but you got anything

(58:10):
in the works.

Speaker 3 (58:11):
I have some ideas on my sketch pad or you know,
of different ideas and trying to gather what where I'm
going to go from here. I think we've got a
lot of good shows coming out in the works, or
at least we need to find time to record. I
have been working with a couple of different prospects as

(58:34):
well to get them on prospect watch. But you know,
hopefully over this holiday break, I'm going to be tuning
into a lot of hockey as far as the World
Juniors goes. You have a couple of prospects uh with
jet Lachenko uh and such bonks playing as well on

(58:56):
Team Canada. So you know, I want to see some
of those guys and how they're pretty dressing in their seasons,
you know, this year and as well as against the
best of the world. So that is what I'm going
to be doing over this holiday season, I hope. Yeah,
each best for everybody and their families, you know, in
this time of year, So dore Man, spend some time

(59:20):
with the families, watch some great hockey, and it doesn't
get better than that.

Speaker 2 (59:26):
Still, there you go, man, that's what it's all about,
especially this time of year. Listen, take the time to
tell the people that are important in your life that
you love them and that you care about them, and
take the time to spend time with them, because you
are not guaranteed your next breath, okay, and life is

(59:48):
too short, and especially with the holidays and Christmas and
this time of year, get with your families, get with
your people and tell them that you love them and
let them know that you care. Okay, because here at
Steel Flyers, we care about y'all and we want to
wish you guys a very merry Christmas and a happy
New Year. And we can't wait to see you guys
going here with good Christmas and everything. And man, with

(01:00:11):
what Lance said, we're gonna be watching some great hockey
with the i HF juniors coming up here starting on
the twenty sixth, Flyers are gonna be playing some good games,
and of course the Phantom is gonna be playing some
good games. I'm your host, Ron Steel Flyers, and we
will catch you all on the next episode of The
Hockey Writers, Inc.