“Favored sons”, Complacency and the Future

The Boston win was refreshing but then came the total collapse in Pittsburgh. Finally Richards seems to comprehend the severity of the situation but is it too late? Most importantly, what exactly is going wrong? I want to take the opportunity today to look at a few things regarding the club.

First and foremost is what I'll call the “favored sons” condition. Players who are favored my management (and fans) because of what they have brought to the team in the past. This past gives them a free pass, so to speak, protecting them from the thoughts of trade. While eventually this would wear off with time, due to a lack of production or inconsistency, the reason I bring it up is for the short term impact. When the so-called “untouchables” are thought to be just that (untouchable), complacency sits in and that is awfully dangerous. Eventually players lose that drive to compete and win if they become complacent for too long. Once that is gone it's rather hard to get back without stimulation by a major motivator. Fear of being traded is probably going to be the best motivator. That’s a vital component currently lacking…

So should people get this favored sons treatment? In a limited capacity, I believe so, however I think the wrong people are on the list. I would prefer to see players such as Giroux, JVR, Parent and Bartulis on this list for the Flyers. For the Phantoms it should be Marshall, Maroon, Bourdon, Ross (I know having a bad year) and a select few others. They are the future of the team and they need to be afforded the opportunity to progress and advance. Should they be completely untouchable? No, no one should, but the next generations are the ones who should be given the closest status to untouchable. The here and now isn't looking so good so it's time to take a good hard look at the future.

The next problems are the NTCs and the NMCs. Welcome to the hell that is contract negotiation. While I do understand that these clauses enticed some players to come to the team, it takes its toll.

With the clauses players can allow complacency to settle in. This again is quite dangerous. Without the ability to externally cause motivation the role of self-motivation becomes critical. Where is the motivation for these players? Probably the only bit still left externally is to embarrass the players with special punishments during practices, or to ridicule them in the media. The NHL clubs should not have to resort to kindergarten type punishment to instill motivation. If the drive isn’t there I’m resorting right back to a previous post. If they don’t perform, bench them. If they don’t respond, trade them. If you can’t trade them, waive them.

Fitting into both of the previous topics is a lack of competition. Without a serious ability to advance, the motivation that you see from the Phantoms is entirely internal. If you throw them some external motivation perhaps they would surprise us all.

Let's face it because I think everyone no matter what they said didn't actually believe that John Stevens was the entire problem. The thing that he was probably the guiltiest of was being too nice and too close to the team. That works in select instances with say Claude Giroux in the playoffs last year when he was wearing the weight of the loss (in his mind) entirely on his shoulders. But does it work with those like Richards & Carter who are more advanced? Well, it took Stevens getting fired and a whole lot of media heat for Richards to start addressing the public regarding the problems. John Stevens enabled the team to remain coddled and for that he became the scapegoat. I feel sorry for the man but he did in a sense create the situation.

There are two goalies whom I feel bad for as well. Let's face it Philadelphia is a hard town to goaltend for. We are loud, mean and expect all our goalies to be Bernie Parent. What has the team done to help them our goalies out this year? I mean overall not just select little incidents. Razor played injured when he shouldn't have and the team knew this. Where was the additional support? Poor Boosh has been the best player some nights and he's taking the loses. It's a shame.

But who do I feel the worst about? Giroux, JVR, Parent, Bartulis, Maroon, Marshall, Bourdon and the rest of the younger generation. The Phantoms because they had a rough adjustment and are suffering a bit for it. Also because they lack real opportunity to advance and showcase their talent right now. They are not fully capable of shopping their goods to the big club nor is anyone really giving them the ability to jump forward. It's a general lack of opportunity.

Which brings us to the young group on the Flyers. They are probably suffering the greatest of anyone. Not only are they being dragged along on this downward spiral, their development is suffering. You really think Claude Giroux is getting the linemates he needs to develop and advance? I'm not saying his linemates are bad, what I'm saying is that he doesn't have the correct ones for his specific talent. The kid has amazing passing skills but if his linemates aren’t capable of receiving his passes and burying them in the net, all that talent is going to waste.

JVR hits a slump and gets moved backwards in the lineup. Everyone needs to remember it's his fist year. He wasn’t even supposed to be with the big club according to most people. The fact that he has accomplished what he has is a testament to his hard-work. I, for one, expected him to bring a lazy attitude to training camp. Gladly I stand corrected. But he has hit a wall and it’s hard to be sure if it’s a normal first year “slump” or if this team has been affecting him.

We are at a pivotal time here in Flyers-land. The club is rocky and it’s fairly new territory for us. I don’t like what I’m seeing and I certainly don’t have the perfect solution.

We need to move forward and it’s critical to decide how to best do that without hurting the future of our club. The here and now isn’t so bright right now so it’s time to look forward. I’d rather take a temporary setback than a long-term one.

My advice is to hold onto the young guys coming up through the system and give them every opportunity to thrive. Sure as a fan base we’ll be irate and disgruntled, but I don’t want to see this team turn into a “welfare team”. I’d rather not witness that first hand.

It’s time to cut our loses and make the changes. If that means trading some big guns then we bite the bullet and do it. The future should be our focus and allowing this group of young players to spiral out of control with the rest of the team is only going to hold them back.

It’s time for management to figure out the exact problem and remove it from the system. It’s to the point that I don’t care if it’s Mike Richards, the problem needs to go. And if the team doesn’t respond tonight, the decision needs to be made now.