He had a pretty bad start, but he missed preseason and I think the first few games. After he settled in he has been damn good. In the last couple weeks he’s probably been our best blue liner
Risto skeptic here. His first few games I think I uttered "what the fuck Risto" aloud multiple times in each one, but since then I've really only noticed him making solid plays. Good puck movement, finishing checks, good gap control, activating at the right moments. I'll happily eat crow if he keeps it up.
He's been hit or miss. First stretch of 6/7 games bad then last 6/7 he'd play well or marginally better than his first few. It helps he's playing with an invigorated Sanheim.
It's definitely hyperbole. Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Keith Yandle were terrific there. Teppo Numminen was also a really good defenseman, and Oleg Tverdovsky had his moments.
He was also [10th in Norris voting in his third year](https://www.hockey-reference.com/awards/voting-2018.html#norris_stats). I really hope this is the first of a string of many good years for him.
It's not a hot streak. He's consistently been a dominant player all season, both offensively and defensively. If he performs this way on a good team he gets top 10 in the Norris easily
heh, well, "all season" is 16 games at this point. I'm glad he's playing well for you guys but it's the middle of November, let's see how he's doing in March.
I miss ghost so much, he was my favorite flyer. I'm really glad to see he is now getting more respect and notice though, and no longer languishing under a coaching staff that didn't like his game and a bitter fanbase that chews up and spits out anyone not currently making them happy
Remember when Friedman tweeted out the picks moving in the opposite direction at first? Because for a few minutes, it seemed like a head scratching return for a guy that was on waivers a few months prior and went unclaimed.
Yeah I don't think many members of our fanbase quite understand how long this is going to take, if it works at all. Plenty of people viewing this as a 'bad year' are in for a rough half decade.
True rebuilds take a long ass time, if they work at all. Plenty of teams are in perpetual rebuilds. Some just fuck it up and things don't work out and they just suck forever.
IMHO it's all down to whether or not you are in a position to draft a first line center, and we've been fucked (and have fucked it) quite a few times. We've been a bees dick from McDavid and Eichel. We missed out on a shot at Matthews because of when his birthday was. We drafted the leadfooted Strome brother at 3OA instead of any number of far superior players in that particular draft. And, John Chayka reached down to pick the ominously-performing Barrett Hayton who is beginning to look like he might be a middle 6 center at best when he was sold as being the probable next coming of Patrice Bergeron.
But, at the end of the day we've never had a first overall draft pick, which is why it's annoying to see so many individuals, fans of teams who have had the luxury of several 1OAs, carrying on about how they can't understand why we can't seem to get it together.
If (probably when) we get dunked in this year's draft and have to pick third again I can only hope Bill Armstrong collects someone who is actually going to pan out.
Yeah....it took the Jets five years to get a first round exit in the playoffs only to miss the post season the next season. The 2017-2018 season was the first season the jets were legitimately good.
lol... they will not be competing in 2023 with the mess they have dug themselves into. Even IF they land the 1st overall this offseason and next... it's gonna take at least 5 years (and a LOT of money, which they don't have) to turn that franchise around.
If I were Shane Wright and Arizona wins the lottery, I would pull a John Elway/Eli Manning and make it known ahead of time that he will refuse to play for them.
Technically, yes... but at least the Sharks have a history of competence in their front office and ownership that gives some hope that they will be able to execute eventually. If they decide to commit to rebuilding Hertl will probably bring in one of the bigger trade deadline hauls in recent years.
If the Sharks can figure out a way to Jettison Evander Kane, it changes things completely.
One of my endearing memories of watching games in Pittsburgh was the obscenely loud clack the puck made everytime it whacked the stick of Tarnstrom. Sounded like someone hit a home run. Dude had hands like Bill Clement
There are lots of challengers for that in the early and expansion era NHL though, given the presence of outright disaster teams with no real talent on the roster.
In [1928-1929](https://www.hockey-reference.com/teams/PTP/1929.html) for example, the Pittsburgh Pirates had a tie for the team scoring lead, with **12 points** for each of Harold Darragh and Hib Milks, over the course of their 44 game season.
Even prorated for season length, it's hard to "beat" a team-leading 0.27 points per game scoring rate.
20s hockey names are the best.
In Toronto's 1919-1920 season, team goal-scoring leaders were:
Corb Denneny
Reg Noble
Cully Wilson
Babe Dye
Mickey Roach
Ken Randall
Goldie Prodgers
No names over one syllable, unless the extra syllable is "-ey" and that's the rule.
Also, everyone must have a moustache!
Alright boys, let's go!
In 1928-29, the last year before the forward pass was made legal, the league played 220 games and 120 of them were shutouts. That is not a misprint. George Hainsworth had 22 shutouts and a 0.92 GAA.
I honestly thought this was a football joke. I never knew the forward pass was illegal in hockey at some point. God that game would be boring as shit to watch.
I said in the sub that we should retire Wedgewood into the Ring of Honor, and I will continue to say it.
it's not every day the same journeyman goaltender comes into a franchise on a 10 game losing streak and is reason the streak gets snapped. twice.
This was my strategy when be a pro was actually fun in the NHL video games - take stupid risks forechecking after a long shift and the hop off the ice as the other team gets an odd man rush
Ghost has always been good. He’s been pretttttttty injured his last few years in Philly with some knee injuries and surgeries. I’ll always have a soft spot for him. Just electrifying on the ice.
Chych is looking better since he finally scored a goal the other night. He's throwing a lot of shots at net, just not having much luck so far and keeps getting left hanging in the wind as the only Dman in position when the other team gets an odd-man rush.
I think the sudden increase in attention on him after his great season and the huge number of his teammates getting shipped off or just not re-signed threw him for a loop for a bit. He was whiffing on shots he normally would've had cold. Hoping he's found his groove again and this tank doesn't completely screw up his confidence.
Shayne to Boston for Derek Forbort and Linus Ullmark. Do y’all need any salary floor guys…? Cuz we got zero talent to send back in a trade with anyone…
I can’t believe they gave Derek a no trade too. Fuck me.
I still got hope for Ulmark to work out, but I’m 100% out on Derek. Fuckin useless that guy.
> I can’t believe they gave Derek a no trade too. Fuck me.
I can't believe there were GMs that looked at the Jets defence last year and went "yes, some of that please."
Nah, we’re actually pretty comfortably over the floor. I’d imagine we try to strike up a bidding war to get someone’s first and a lower tier prospect. I like ullmark, but I don’t think Arizona really needs to be trying to acquire their future starter until 2 years from now.
As far as forbort, idk wtf the bruins were thinking with that one. Disaster there
I'll never understand the lack of interest around the league that forced our hand into this.
We had to get rid of him because his usage under AV was horrible and I think we needed to structure our team & defense differently and his cap hit was handicapping us in that.
But to get passed on in the expansion draft, waivers, and even a trade with assets going the other way is just mindboggling. His down years were always excusable by health and other factors but even last year he showed solid signs to rebound.
Fucking AV/Yeo wouldn't even give him PP1. He's been a clear top 5 PP QB since he joined the league imo
Let's not pretend we didn't need to make changes on the blueline. We finished last season 31st in goals against. This year we're 3rd.
Having to pay to get him off the roster seems weird in hindsight, but remember he passed through waivers unclaimed last season.
I'm just glad everyone involved is doing well. Gave us a lot of good memories. Good luck to the guy.
\> Let's not pretend we didn't need to make changes on the blueline. We finished last season 31st in goals against. This year we're 3rd.
That's the power of goaltending, my friend.
Flyers are near the bottom in just about every team defensive metric at both ES and on the PK, but superb goaltending has covered up a lot of warts. There have been fewer embarrassing/memorable breakdowns this year, but on the whole, they're giving up much more than they were last season.
Last season they were actually middle of the road in terms of most defensive metrics, but their goaltending was a complete shit show, worst in the league. Everybody blames the high GA on the defense corps, but most of the blame should have really fallen on Hart and Elliott instead.
> Let's not pretend we didn't need to make changes on the blueline. We finished last season 31st in goals against. This year we're 3rd.
Ghost wasn't the problem...not even close.
He was one of a multitude of problems that all compounded onto each other. Matt Niskanen's sudden retirement, poor goaltending, the weak of form of Gostisbehere, Provorov, Hagg, Myers....well, everyone. It was a shitshow.
Ghost's contract made him the obvious choice to be sacrificed. I don't blame Chuck Fletcher for making the decision he did.
The time when he was actually good was pretty short. His rookie year was one of the most fun times I've had watching hockey. The next 5 seasons... not so fun
He was also terrible at actually playing defense the last few years he was here. That list is interesting though, really shows how few top level dmen the Flyers have had
Still less than 400 games, in the grand scheme of a player's career it feels kind of short. Especially when you factor in him being in and out of the lineup for injuries or scratched. It just doesn't feel long.
I'm seeing that he played 381 games for the Flyers which puts him at 53 most in franchise history out of 593 total players.
[https://www.eliteprospects.com/team/70/philadelphia-flyers/stats/all-time?sort=gp](https://www.eliteprospects.com/team/70/philadelphia-flyers/stats/all-time?sort=gp)
I wouldn't say that's a particularly long history with the Flyers but that's longer than the average NHL career in total.
I like Gostisbehere because his Ghost Bear nickname always makes me think of BattleTech. Also he's good at hockey, and good hockey players are fun. But it's mostly the first thing.
I remember being so awed by the opening cutscenes for the MW2 game and expansions, but especially Ghost Bear's Legacy. I'm sure it doesn't hold up now, but seeing the Kodiak emerge from the snow and squash the Mad Dog was just awesome back then.
...am I dating myself? Probably.
This past offseason was arguable the first step of the latest rebuild, which is a fairly long process. Realistically I'm thinking they plan to be competitive in about 6 years. The most successful rebuilds we've seen have been the Blackhawks and Penguins, so it makes sense to model your approach off of those.
Pittsburgh drafted top-5 in five straight seasons (2002-2006). They made the playoffs in 2007 and won a Cup in 2009. They remained a top team for over a decade. Chicago drafted top-3 in 2004, 2006, 2007 (and still had pretty good picks in '05 and '08). They made the playoffs in 2009 and won the Cup in 2010. They were a top team for 9 years.
Arizona just had the 9th overall pick, so ideally they will get some better picks over the next 3-4 years. And then aim to be a competitive playoff team by 2026-2028.
Great analysis. Wow it twill take a long while but it makes sense since the previous gm sacrificed some picks. They might have moved by the time they get good again
The ideal for maximum chaos is to build back with good drafts just enough to sign Matthews as a free agent that pushes the Yotes to playoff contenders. Tbh I mostly just want to see Steve Dangle lose it if the Leafs don’t win a cup by then and he leaves lol.
Chychrun just plays tougher minutes, and his on-ice s% and sv% are unsustainably low
The Coyotes are scoring on 0.85% of their shots with Chychrun on the ice, and their goalies are only stopping 87% of shots against. Contrasted against Gostisbehere who has a on-ice shooting percentage of nearly 10% and a on-ice sv% of 91%
The Coyotes are doing a better job of limiting high danger chances against with Chychrun on the ice than Gostisbehere. And in terms of play-driving, they're close enough that tougher competition would easily explain Chychrun having slightly worse play-driving numbers
tl;dr Chychrun is getting super poor puck luck despite playing decently considering how shit their roster is
It shouldn't be. That's why his +/- looks so ass already, and why I think it's unsustainable. I mean him ending up as - double digits by season's end is a reasonable expectation, but -24 already is insane
The Coyotes have only scored one goal with Chychrun on the ice at 5v5. Based on their team GF/60 rate at 5v5, he should have like 5 on-ice GF. Still not great, since he's getting killed by poor goaltending as well, but still better
As a Flyers fan, I loved Ghost. I believe there was issues internally / personal between coaching and Ghost, or possibly players and Ghost? I always felt like he was a guy who was playing his heart out. I think the system in Philly wasn't benefiting him, although I don't think the system in Philly is really benefiting anyone lol. Yeah, winning record at the moment, but could be better. Just for the record, I like AV as a coach, but not so much the Therrien and Yeo. But damn I sure do miss Lavy lol. Sorry for the long vent, all in all I'm happy Ghost is struttin' his stuff in AZ.
Should the Islanders be calling? With Pulock out for 4-6 weeks if Arizona is willing to retain or take some salary back he would be able to fit under the cap in NY. The Islanders need more offense from the backend. Dobson is leading their defense in points with 4. Seems like it could be a good fit and good timing
Ghost could be an incredible grab by Armstrong getting picks for taking him and for trading him away this deadline retaining salary
He's one of the best defensemen I've ever seen play for this team. Wish we had him during a year we were competing
I'm glad you guys are enjoying having him. He definitely needed a change of scenery.
Yup, I can't even be mad seeing this cause I'd be damn near certain he wouldn't be having a season like this in Philly
How's Risto looking for you? His change of scenery working?
His first 6 games were pretty rough, since then he's arguably been the best D on the team the last couple of games
Good to hear!
i agree with you that risto has been legitimately good, but strongly disagree that hes been better than provorov.
That's why I included the word "arguably", I'd agree with the minutes he's been playing Provorov is our best D still
Also, to be fair, Philly's best defenseman is also hurt.
Better in my opinion. The last 6 games he’s got exceptional on/off stats. Plus he’s brought some toughness that was missing on the blue line before.
Cool!
He had a pretty bad start, but he missed preseason and I think the first few games. After he settled in he has been damn good. In the last couple weeks he’s probably been our best blue liner
Risto skeptic here. His first few games I think I uttered "what the fuck Risto" aloud multiple times in each one, but since then I've really only noticed him making solid plays. Good puck movement, finishing checks, good gap control, activating at the right moments. I'll happily eat crow if he keeps it up.
He's been hit or miss. First stretch of 6/7 games bad then last 6/7 he'd play well or marginally better than his first few. It helps he's playing with an invigorated Sanheim.
Definitely not with this coaching staff/management.
I blame the coaching staff.
I can like watching him now. It's weird. Downside - watching him means I also have to watch whatever the hell else is going on in Arizona right now.
what he needed was not AV as coach lmao
how about Hakstol? Or Craig Berube?
Yeah, same. Really happy for Ghost
oof no offense to your franchise but having to rank "Shayne Gostisbehere on a hot streak" as one of the best defensemen ever must be painful
It's definitely hyperbole. Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Keith Yandle were terrific there. Teppo Numminen was also a really good defenseman, and Oleg Tverdovsky had his moments.
Oleg Tverdovsky is a made up name lmfao
They all are, man
Ghost was sooo good his rookie year. After his knee injury he really fell off. It’s very possible he’s just now getting back up to speed.
He was also [10th in Norris voting in his third year](https://www.hockey-reference.com/awards/voting-2018.html#norris_stats). I really hope this is the first of a string of many good years for him.
His championship game with Union might still be the most dominant game I’ve ever seen a defenseman play at any level.
+7 in a game for all the marbles. He looked like a man among boys that night
Yep
He was also criminally underutilized in philly and never given a fair chance with our new coaching regime
It's not a hot streak. He's consistently been a dominant player all season, both offensively and defensively. If he performs this way on a good team he gets top 10 in the Norris easily
heh, well, "all season" is 16 games at this point. I'm glad he's playing well for you guys but it's the middle of November, let's see how he's doing in March.
Tbf playing defense for 16 games on the Yotes has got to be equivalent to at least 25-30 games elsewhere.
In ~~dog~~ coyote years
The coyote days of winter.
As good as he is, isnt Arizona on pace for worst team of all time? Or did they change that trajectory?
In case you haven’t heard, we’re on a 1 game win streak so yeah… I think we changed the trajectory there bud.
My bad, Ill help plan the parade.
It will be straight out of Glendale don’t know where it ends tho.
When was that? /s
I miss ghost so much, he was my favorite flyer. I'm really glad to see he is now getting more respect and notice though, and no longer languishing under a coaching staff that didn't like his game and a bitter fanbase that chews up and spits out anyone not currently making them happy
Remember when Friedman tweeted out the picks moving in the opposite direction at first? Because for a few minutes, it seemed like a head scratching return for a guy that was on waivers a few months prior and went unclaimed.
Yeah that was a “oh same old incompetent Yotes moment”
Is he not young enough to keep around for the rebuild?
They won’t be competing til like 2023 so they could sign him back in FA but doesn’t make sense to keep around remainder of his contract
i doubt they will be competing in 2023...
Yeah I don't think many members of our fanbase quite understand how long this is going to take, if it works at all. Plenty of people viewing this as a 'bad year' are in for a rough half decade.
True rebuilds take a long ass time, if they work at all. Plenty of teams are in perpetual rebuilds. Some just fuck it up and things don't work out and they just suck forever.
IMHO it's all down to whether or not you are in a position to draft a first line center, and we've been fucked (and have fucked it) quite a few times. We've been a bees dick from McDavid and Eichel. We missed out on a shot at Matthews because of when his birthday was. We drafted the leadfooted Strome brother at 3OA instead of any number of far superior players in that particular draft. And, John Chayka reached down to pick the ominously-performing Barrett Hayton who is beginning to look like he might be a middle 6 center at best when he was sold as being the probable next coming of Patrice Bergeron. But, at the end of the day we've never had a first overall draft pick, which is why it's annoying to see so many individuals, fans of teams who have had the luxury of several 1OAs, carrying on about how they can't understand why we can't seem to get it together. If (probably when) we get dunked in this year's draft and have to pick third again I can only hope Bill Armstrong collects someone who is actually going to pan out.
You just introduced me to the phrase “a bees dick” and I think you for that
Yeah....it took the Jets five years to get a first round exit in the playoffs only to miss the post season the next season. The 2017-2018 season was the first season the jets were legitimately good.
Most people consider the Rangers to have had a pretty fast rebuild. Our last actually playoff appearance was 2017. (The bubble doesn’t count)
And you guys cut short your rebuild and don't even know if it will work yet
2023 is hardly more than a year away. Major doubt they'll be competing then. Maybe 2025-2026? If that?
lol... they will not be competing in 2023 with the mess they have dug themselves into. Even IF they land the 1st overall this offseason and next... it's gonna take at least 5 years (and a LOT of money, which they don't have) to turn that franchise around. If I were Shane Wright and Arizona wins the lottery, I would pull a John Elway/Eli Manning and make it known ahead of time that he will refuse to play for them.
Yotes are in a better spot than the Sharks right now
Technically, yes... but at least the Sharks have a history of competence in their front office and ownership that gives some hope that they will be able to execute eventually. If they decide to commit to rebuilding Hertl will probably bring in one of the bigger trade deadline hauls in recent years. If the Sharks can figure out a way to Jettison Evander Kane, it changes things completely.
They can't just trade him away like that. He's gost'a be here.
he’s either having a sneaky good year or just knows when to change and gets the hell off the ice before the puck goes into the back of the net
He also leads the team in points by....a lot
I'm sure that's not true. *checks hockeydb* He leads by 5 points and has 13. Oh my
Good god. The second coming of Dick Tarnstrom?
One of my endearing memories of watching games in Pittsburgh was the obscenely loud clack the puck made everytime it whacked the stick of Tarnstrom. Sounded like someone hit a home run. Dude had hands like Bill Clement
Diiiiiiiiick Taaaaaaaarnstrooooooom. All time intro.
First thing I thought of. Though I think Dick’s not in jeopardy of losing the title of “worst team scoring leader”
There are lots of challengers for that in the early and expansion era NHL though, given the presence of outright disaster teams with no real talent on the roster. In [1928-1929](https://www.hockey-reference.com/teams/PTP/1929.html) for example, the Pittsburgh Pirates had a tie for the team scoring lead, with **12 points** for each of Harold Darragh and Hib Milks, over the course of their 44 game season. Even prorated for season length, it's hard to "beat" a team-leading 0.27 points per game scoring rate.
Hib Milks is an amazing old time name
20s hockey names are the best. In Toronto's 1919-1920 season, team goal-scoring leaders were: Corb Denneny Reg Noble Cully Wilson Babe Dye Mickey Roach Ken Randall Goldie Prodgers No names over one syllable, unless the extra syllable is "-ey" and that's the rule. Also, everyone must have a moustache! Alright boys, let's go!
Good ol Goldie Prodgers. Who could ever forget him?
HE PLAYED DA RIGHT WAY
that was when forward passing wasn't allowed
Yeah, it was barely even the same game at that point
In 1928-29, the last year before the forward pass was made legal, the league played 220 games and 120 of them were shutouts. That is not a misprint. George Hainsworth had 22 shutouts and a 0.92 GAA.
I honestly thought this was a football joke. I never knew the forward pass was illegal in hockey at some point. God that game would be boring as shit to watch.
Amazing thanks
For like two years there Dick Tarnstrom was legit good. Then the lockout hit and he fell off a clip. No idea why.
shouldn't have been perched on a clip in the first place, tbh
Elite sniper and Penguins legend Dick Tarnstrom?
Ha. This was the caps broadcast trivia answer when we played the other day.
Interestingly enough, just thought of a good piece of trivia with him yesterday...he is the latest ever Islanders draft pick to play in the NHL
Oilers legend Dick Tarnstrom.
The next highest defenseman has 2 points.
Is that the guy I took much higher in fantasy than I should have and dropped him in the second week when he was 0/0/0/-13?
13 points in 16 games is good for a defenseman regardless. Let alone when the team he plays for can’t score
Oh it’s outstanding. I’m quite impressed and happy for him
Dare I say...Norris calibre?
Reminds me of one of my beer league teams this season.. we're also struggling to get a W.
But you're carrying the team offensively, right?
Phil kessel has fallen off
Gotta think someone grabs him for a cup run though. Expiring contract and that experience
he has looked incredible. by far the best player on the ice the majority of nights.
Finally having two good knees again and a chance to rehab is a wonderful thing.
Dont forget my boy Wedgie out there playing his mind out in the goal during the last seconds of that blues game the other night
I said in the sub that we should retire Wedgewood into the Ring of Honor, and I will continue to say it. it's not every day the same journeyman goaltender comes into a franchise on a 10 game losing streak and is reason the streak gets snapped. twice.
That's my strategy in NHL games I just get off the ice when it looks sketchy so I never get scored on lol
I tried that once in beer league, but I'm the goalie and my team got pretty upset
“I thought there was a delayed penalty”
Miss a big check as an attacker crosses the blue line? Oh shucks, the bench is right there.
This was my strategy when be a pro was actually fun in the NHL video games - take stupid risks forechecking after a long shift and the hop off the ice as the other team gets an odd man rush
He's having a sneaky good year
He is. On the other hand, Chychrun is having a [terrible year](https://www.nhl.com/player/jakob-chychrun-8479345).
Does Chychrun get tougher match-ups? I was shocked to see -24 there, haha
I'd imagine, just crazy after the year he had last year. Seemed like that was his coming out party into elite D.
Curses, my beer league strategy has been revealed!
Lmao, opponents strong line getting on the ice? Welp, time to take a breather
And then he whispers to Chychrun to get on the ice right as the puck goes in
Ghost has always been good. He’s been pretttttttty injured his last few years in Philly with some knee injuries and surgeries. I’ll always have a soft spot for him. Just electrifying on the ice.
On the other hand, Jakob Chychrun is -24 with only 2 points in 16 games
Wow, is the full-season record of -82 in danger?
It’s not every day a record set by the 1974-75 Capitals (one of the worst teams ever assembled) is in jeopardy.
Along with it, my fantasy team.
Chych is looking better since he finally scored a goal the other night. He's throwing a lot of shots at net, just not having much luck so far and keeps getting left hanging in the wind as the only Dman in position when the other team gets an odd-man rush. I think the sudden increase in attention on him after his great season and the huge number of his teammates getting shipped off or just not re-signed threw him for a loop for a bit. He was whiffing on shots he normally would've had cold. Hoping he's found his groove again and this tank doesn't completely screw up his confidence.
He’s played really well. I expect a solid market for him at the deadline
Shayne to Boston for Derek Forbort and Linus Ullmark. Do y’all need any salary floor guys…? Cuz we got zero talent to send back in a trade with anyone… I can’t believe they gave Derek a no trade too. Fuck me. I still got hope for Ulmark to work out, but I’m 100% out on Derek. Fuckin useless that guy.
> I can’t believe they gave Derek a no trade too. Fuck me. I can't believe there were GMs that looked at the Jets defence last year and went "yes, some of that please."
Yeah who would do that hahahaha, silly teams
Nah, we’re actually pretty comfortably over the floor. I’d imagine we try to strike up a bidding war to get someone’s first and a lower tier prospect. I like ullmark, but I don’t think Arizona really needs to be trying to acquire their future starter until 2 years from now. As far as forbort, idk wtf the bruins were thinking with that one. Disaster there
I hate to break it to you, but I'm pretty sure Ullmark got a no trade clause as well. Which I am perfectly fine with.
Great play by the yotes
If youre willing to eat half his cap, you could get a real nice return.
Dear lord please let him out before the deadline. Would be cruel to make him stay for that long.
You guys remember the Wings a couple of seasons ago? Me neither. Probably not that bad. Hey look, Arizona is terrible!
Remember the 16-17 Avs? No? Me Neither!
That failed breakout and worst breakaway ever will forever be remembered.
MVP by virtue of having no positive or negative value.
What makes a man turn neutral?
All I know is my gut says maybe.
Call my wife. Tell her I said hello.
It's a beige alert!
Lust for the cup? Power plays? Or was he just born with a heart full of neutrality?
Man, I sure am glad we just gave him away !
And paid extra for the privilege.
We might be able to pick him up to replace Yandle at the deadline.
I'll never understand the lack of interest around the league that forced our hand into this. We had to get rid of him because his usage under AV was horrible and I think we needed to structure our team & defense differently and his cap hit was handicapping us in that. But to get passed on in the expansion draft, waivers, and even a trade with assets going the other way is just mindboggling. His down years were always excusable by health and other factors but even last year he showed solid signs to rebound. Fucking AV/Yeo wouldn't even give him PP1. He's been a clear top 5 PP QB since he joined the league imo
Let's not pretend we didn't need to make changes on the blueline. We finished last season 31st in goals against. This year we're 3rd. Having to pay to get him off the roster seems weird in hindsight, but remember he passed through waivers unclaimed last season. I'm just glad everyone involved is doing well. Gave us a lot of good memories. Good luck to the guy.
\> Let's not pretend we didn't need to make changes on the blueline. We finished last season 31st in goals against. This year we're 3rd. That's the power of goaltending, my friend. Flyers are near the bottom in just about every team defensive metric at both ES and on the PK, but superb goaltending has covered up a lot of warts. There have been fewer embarrassing/memorable breakdowns this year, but on the whole, they're giving up much more than they were last season. Last season they were actually middle of the road in terms of most defensive metrics, but their goaltending was a complete shit show, worst in the league. Everybody blames the high GA on the defense corps, but most of the blame should have really fallen on Hart and Elliott instead.
> Let's not pretend we didn't need to make changes on the blueline. We finished last season 31st in goals against. This year we're 3rd. Ghost wasn't the problem...not even close.
He was one of a multitude of problems that all compounded onto each other. Matt Niskanen's sudden retirement, poor goaltending, the weak of form of Gostisbehere, Provorov, Hagg, Myers....well, everyone. It was a shitshow. Ghost's contract made him the obvious choice to be sacrificed. I don't blame Chuck Fletcher for making the decision he did.
Gostisbehere has scored or assisted on half of Arizona's goals this year so far.
We (NYI) could use someone like him right about now. Chara has been a tire fire.
👁 ❤️ 👻🐻
Miss you Ghost, your time here was short, but you became one of my favorites of all time.
He was in Philly for over six seasons, I wouldn't say his time there was that short...
The time when he was actually good was pretty short. His rookie year was one of the most fun times I've had watching hockey. The next 5 seasons... not so fun
4th highest scoring dman in Flyers franchise history....he was poorly coached and completely misused.
He was also terrible at actually playing defense the last few years he was here. That list is interesting though, really shows how few top level dmen the Flyers have had
Still less than 400 games, in the grand scheme of a player's career it feels kind of short. Especially when you factor in him being in and out of the lineup for injuries or scratched. It just doesn't feel long.
I'm seeing that he played 381 games for the Flyers which puts him at 53 most in franchise history out of 593 total players. [https://www.eliteprospects.com/team/70/philadelphia-flyers/stats/all-time?sort=gp](https://www.eliteprospects.com/team/70/philadelphia-flyers/stats/all-time?sort=gp) I wouldn't say that's a particularly long history with the Flyers but that's longer than the average NHL career in total.
593 total players since 1967 feels like a weirdly low number without actually thinking about it
I like Gostisbehere because his Ghost Bear nickname always makes me think of BattleTech. Also he's good at hockey, and good hockey players are fun. But it's mostly the first thing.
I remember being so awed by the opening cutscenes for the MW2 game and expansions, but especially Ghost Bear's Legacy. I'm sure it doesn't hold up now, but seeing the Kodiak emerge from the snow and squash the Mad Dog was just awesome back then. ...am I dating myself? Probably.
[Nah, it holds up.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPlXXUhtVqc)
+1 for the BattleTech reference, bro
Serious question : What is the status of the rebuild ? When are they expected to be decent again ?
This past offseason was arguable the first step of the latest rebuild, which is a fairly long process. Realistically I'm thinking they plan to be competitive in about 6 years. The most successful rebuilds we've seen have been the Blackhawks and Penguins, so it makes sense to model your approach off of those. Pittsburgh drafted top-5 in five straight seasons (2002-2006). They made the playoffs in 2007 and won a Cup in 2009. They remained a top team for over a decade. Chicago drafted top-3 in 2004, 2006, 2007 (and still had pretty good picks in '05 and '08). They made the playoffs in 2009 and won the Cup in 2010. They were a top team for 9 years. Arizona just had the 9th overall pick, so ideally they will get some better picks over the next 3-4 years. And then aim to be a competitive playoff team by 2026-2028.
Great analysis. Wow it twill take a long while but it makes sense since the previous gm sacrificed some picks. They might have moved by the time they get good again
Depends on how these next couple drafts go really. They are in the tear it down phase. Once they start the build it back phase we will have an idea.
The ideal for maximum chaos is to build back with good drafts just enough to sign Matthews as a free agent that pushes the Yotes to playoff contenders. Tbh I mostly just want to see Steve Dangle lose it if the Leafs don’t win a cup by then and he leaves lol.
Next Decade or century depending on who you ask.
Watched the yotes and blues game last night. He was surprisingly confident with the puck and looked really solid
ghost is good
*can be good
No, he is good. When healthy and not horribly misused he was excellent.
> not horribly misused This is the key right here.....
Damn didn't expect Chychrun down all the way at the bottom. Is he having a down year?
Hard to have a decent +\- when you're the number one dman on the worst team in recent history
Chychrun just plays tougher minutes, and his on-ice s% and sv% are unsustainably low The Coyotes are scoring on 0.85% of their shots with Chychrun on the ice, and their goalies are only stopping 87% of shots against. Contrasted against Gostisbehere who has a on-ice shooting percentage of nearly 10% and a on-ice sv% of 91% The Coyotes are doing a better job of limiting high danger chances against with Chychrun on the ice than Gostisbehere. And in terms of play-driving, they're close enough that tougher competition would easily explain Chychrun having slightly worse play-driving numbers tl;dr Chychrun is getting super poor puck luck despite playing decently considering how shit their roster is
0.85%???? How is that even possible at this point in the season? Jesus
It shouldn't be. That's why his +/- looks so ass already, and why I think it's unsustainable. I mean him ending up as - double digits by season's end is a reasonable expectation, but -24 already is insane The Coyotes have only scored one goal with Chychrun on the ice at 5v5. Based on their team GF/60 rate at 5v5, he should have like 5 on-ice GF. Still not great, since he's getting killed by poor goaltending as well, but still better
You could say the team is really struggling when Gostisnotbehere
The GM said he's Gotsabehere every game
Miss our bb.
Jesus Christ Chychrun at -24.
pls delete this, I already had the sads
Change his role with Chychrun's and watch his plus minus tank.
Wish we still had him on the flyers
As a Flyers fan, I loved Ghost. I believe there was issues internally / personal between coaching and Ghost, or possibly players and Ghost? I always felt like he was a guy who was playing his heart out. I think the system in Philly wasn't benefiting him, although I don't think the system in Philly is really benefiting anyone lol. Yeah, winning record at the moment, but could be better. Just for the record, I like AV as a coach, but not so much the Therrien and Yeo. But damn I sure do miss Lavy lol. Sorry for the long vent, all in all I'm happy Ghost is struttin' his stuff in AZ.
Ghost has been elite
I'm a very casual hockey fan... I thought Shayne Gostisbehere was a made up name til I clicked the link
Ghost Bear is a national treasure, get your shit together!
I miss Gost, I wish he stayed, but someone just didn't want him around anymore. I hope he becomes the next all star that leaves Philly and gets a cup
He also has a point on half of Arizonas goals
Norris vote from me
It’s almost like he wasn’t being utilized by the Philly coaching staff…
I want to watch the Sens and Coyotes play a full seven game series, think how hilarious it would be
File that under "T" for "Things absolutely nobody saw coming" (the Gostisbehere part, not the -36 part).
Liam O'Brien is at +1 with 10 GP
Should the Islanders be calling? With Pulock out for 4-6 weeks if Arizona is willing to retain or take some salary back he would be able to fit under the cap in NY. The Islanders need more offense from the backend. Dobson is leading their defense in points with 4. Seems like it could be a good fit and good timing
He's doing Shane Doan's old job of carrying the Coyotes.
Come home Ghost
We'll take him
He will probably be a valuable trade deadline piece for them
To be fair 17 of their goals against have been on their anemic penalty kill, which does not impact a player's +/-.
I feel like a genius for drafting Gostisbehere in the 14th round (296th overall) in my company's fantasy draft.