Wednesday, January 6, 2016

#ShouldOfKept

It's cold outside. Trekking to your car sucks. Driving to work with a cold steering wheel sucks. Sitting in a cubicle all day sucks. Let's distract ourselves by expanding on a completely ridiculous Scott T tweet (you should be following him if you are a fan of any Philly sports team, especially the Flyers).
Let's look into who could make up that team, and really think about how much talent has passed through Philly over the past decade or so. A couple quick notes: I only went back to trades made in this century/millenium, and I'm considering the team I'd put together with the players in their current state (sorry, Eric Lindros and Brian Boucher).

Not On The Ice, But Always In Our Hearts

Head Coach: Kimmo Timonen (Blackhawks)

Assistant Coaches: Simon Gagne (Lightning), Joni Pitkanen (Oilers), Roman Cechmanek (Kings)

Broadcast Team: Jeremy Roenick (Kings) & Chris Therien (Stars)

To be honest, I'd watch Roenick and Therien host the NHL Tonight show 3 nights a week. Everytime I watch that show - it's a cool idea, they basically just talk about the hot topics and bounce around from game to game for live look-ins - I wish they had better hosts. I wish they had more Jeremy Roenick.

I wish the whole world had more Jeremy Roenick.


Forwards

First Line: James van Riemsdyk (Maple Leafs), Mike Richards (Kings), Patrick Sharp (Blackhawks)

Second Line: Scott Hartnell (Blue Jackets), Jeff Carter (Blue Jackets/Kings); Joffrey Lupul (Ducks)

Third Line: Brandon Dubinsky (Coyotes/Rangers), Joe Pavelski (Sharks), Kris Versteeg (Blackhawks)

Fourth Line: Jordin Tootoo (Predators), Zac Rinaldo (Bruins), Matt Martin (Islanders)

Scratched: , Brian Bickell (Blackhawks), Max Talbot (Bruins), Scottie Upshall (Coyotes), Emerson Etem (Ducks), Steve Downie (Lightning), Tye McGinn (Sharks)

There are no salary cap issues in this scenario, and that's a Stanley Cup caliber team, no? Really solid down the middle. Really solid across the entire top nine, really. We #shouldofkept at least seven of those guys.

And that fourth line is making me drool - could you imagine all of those guys in orange and black? Nobody would ever want to play against that line and there would be 3+ fights every single game. If you want to put asses in the seats, you ice a line of Tootoo-Rinaldo-Matty Martin and let them all bash skulls.


Defensemen & Goalies

First Pairing: Braydon Coburn (Lightning) & John Carlson (Capitals)

Second Pairing: John Moore (Ducks) & Luca Sbisa (Ducks)

Third Pairing: Nicklas Grossman (Coyotes) & Dennis Seidenberg (Coyotes)

Scratched: Dan Hamhuis (Penguins)

Probably not quite as good as the forwards, but that's pretty common for NHL rosters. Coburn-Carlson would be a legitimate top pairing, and Moore-Sbisa is a solid young duo. It kind of goes to shit after that, but that's Coach Joni Pitkanen's problem.

"My bad, Braydon, sorry I messed everything up again"
Goalies: Sergei Bobrovsky (Blue Jackets) & Ondrej Pavelec (Rangers/Thrashers)

Scratched: Karri Ramo (Lightning), Michael Leighton (Blue Jackets)

This is probably the only area where the actual Flyers would have an advantage. Bob and Pav (and Ramo) are solid, but Mason and Neuvirth have been impeccable almost all season.

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