2009 Flyers Offseason Thread

[ice grillin you]

two seats for 50 bucks....best deal in town son

same seats you got from me last year

have the flyers ever had a worse last 6 forwards in thier history than they do right now

forget everything about the lindros years dont you?

maybe equally as bad but certainly not worse....the latter half of the roster is a joke on this team

[Seabiscuit36]

Pronger PC on now  http://flyers.nhl.tv/team/console.jsp?catid=616&id=44687

[Seabiscuit36]

"If I get booed in the East Coast cities now then I'm doin' my job here."

[SD_Eagle5]

The highlight of the pc is Snider's blue suit

[Seabiscuit36]

"Call me Jack Bauer"
"34 is the new 24"
"If I get booed in the East Coast cities now then I'm doin' my job here."

What kind of message do you want to send to Crosby and Ovechkin?
"I think you know the answer to that. We don't want to premeditate anything now do we?"

How are you planning on defending the likes of Ovechkin and Crosby?
"Lot of back pressure, standing up at the blueline, not giving them any room to dip-si-do. I can get a chalkboard if you want."

good interview/pc as far as they go.  Pronger has a personality, and is busting on some of the reporters for asking stupid questions. 

[PhillyGirl]

I can get a chalkboard if you want."

Love it.

[BigEd76]

MVP

[Eagaholic]

I used to follow hockey pretty avidly and had the NHL ticket, but not a whole lot of interest since the lockout. How good is Pronger now and how much does he have left?

[SD_Eagle5]

I used to follow hockey pretty avidly and had the NHL ticket, but not a whole lot of interest since the lockout. How good is Pronger now and how much does he have left?

He's as good as ever, may not have the wheels he had like he did when he was in his mid 20's but it's not like he was ever that fast or his game relied on speed. He has a nasty shot from the point and plays great D, he's also the most physical defenseman in league history. Ducks fans were thrilled with what they got in the trade but pissed off he was leaving. I personally love the guy as a player...I just wish Holmgren didn't get raped in the deal.

[Seabiscuit36]

If Sbisa wasnt part of that deal its a steal for the Flyers, the video is http://flyers.nhl.tv/team/console.jsp?catid=616&id=44687, its a great one IGY would love it

[Geowhizzer]

I pretty much agree with everything that SD said here.   Consensus is, aside from IGY, is that Pronger is still a top 5 (or at least 10) D-man right now.  He makes the Flyers a heck of a lot better on the blueline next year.

Point is, with the time that Pronger has left as an elite D-man, will the Flyers win the Cup with the team they have? Probably not with what they're fielding at goal.  And, of course, the Flyers have yet to extend Pronger, so their time with him may be just one year.

Holmgren gave up way too much for him.

[Rome]

Anyone who continues this retarded conversation should be hit with a farging flaming meteor.

[ice grillin you]

no one will answer this question for me but if pronger is a top defenseman why couldnt he even pull off a plus rating (and btw hes a -1 over the last two seasons)....yeah plus minus means nothing blah blah blah...if you truly believe thats the answer to the question then at least tell me why 99% of good defenseman on good teams have a double figure plus rating and why there were 123 defenseman in the nhl this year that played 10 or more games who had a plus rating and chris pronger wasnt one of them

now i might have seen five anaheim games all year so i certainly dont know the ins and outs of prongers game as it stands right now...but how does everyone else know hes as good as ever...a top five defenseman in the whole league and a guy who can gonna make the flyers a stanley cup winner?...is it because the media is telling you?...i just dont get how you can look at his numbers and his age and think hes a top five defenseman

i know its a good soundbyte question but i laugh my ass off at all the idiot guys at the press conference and in every tv and radio interview hes given since the trade about what hes gonna do to ovechkin and crosby...he aint gonna do shtein...he wasnt stopping a ton of people from scoring last year but now hes going to stop ovechkin who he wont be able to touch and crosby the best player in the nhl...hes going to help with clearing then crease and making it easier on his goalie but his game isnt shutting down the leagues best players like a niklas lidstrom


and i dont get you sd...youre saying hes as good as hes ever been but the flyers gave up to much...thats a complete contridiction...i mean wouldnt you support one of your teams giving a lot for the best defenseman in the league and the exact kind of defenseman they need??

if he was a norris trophy defenseman still then i wouldnt have nearly the problem with the trade that i do now....problem is hes a lot closer to being colin white than he is a norris trophy winner

[SD_Eagle5]

Pronger isn't Norris trophy good anymore, he doesn't have the offensive numbers they look for. He's not top 5 either, I'd say top 10. You get a different element of a player with him, he's huge, makes players think when they have to skate into the Flyers zone, he's a very good passer, and has a rocket from the point.
As for plus/minus rating look at the Ducks to find your answer, the teams decline has more to do with that then the individual player. 2-3 years after he won the Norris St. Louis was terrible and he was a minus 1, are you going to tell me that was all his fault? He was elite elite at that point, definitely top 5. Even 5-6 years ago I'd question this trade, you don't give up that many picks and a promising defenseman for 1 player, now that he's 35 the move was just flat out retarded, because his play can only decline from this point on.

FYI - Bouwmeester, Niedermayer, Kaberle, Phaneuf all had a minus +/- last season.

[Seabiscuit36]

+/- is the VORP of hockey. 

Where Pronger is valuable is in front of the net, without Hatcher they had no one to really keep it clear and keep Malkin/Crosby and other players from making the D look bad.  Pronger's entire game is to be physical to the point that players are scared to cut in near the goal, from that standpoint he's probably top 3 in the league.  Again if they win a cup, its the best trade they've made, but unless they actually win a cup, Pronger will never be worth the 4 1st round picks it essentially took to get him.