Reviewing The Flyers' Lines That We've Seen The Past Two Weeks

Instead of taking the advice of everyone on Twitter and going back to #college, Dave Hakstol decided to mix things up for last night's game against Carolina.

The only line he kept constant was the Couturier-Read-Simmonds line, which dominated Carolina (at least in terms of possession) two weeks ago. Those three owned the (admittedly kinda shitty) line of Rask-Terry-Nordstrom. Carolina threw a Rask-Lindholm-E. Staal line at the Coots line this time, and Coots and the boys didn't have quite as much success.

With all of the shuffling that has happened recently - both due to injuries and coaching decisions - I wanted to take a look back to examine the lines we've seen Hakstol throw together so far. I'm going back 5 games, all the way back to pre-Ghost, back when Ryan White was still in our hearts every night.

(Note: at some point I'd really love to dive into some more advanced stats and use my Twitter Friend Muneeb Alam's charts, but that's a project for when I get fired another day.)

Capitals, November 12 (Loss, 5-2)

Raffl-Giroux-Voracek
Old faithful. This has been the top line for (what feels like) years. The safest move a Flyers coach can make is throw these three out on the ice and just let them do their thing. There are downsides to that plan, though, and we'll get to them later.

Read-Couturier-Simmonds
I think it's time to start thinking of a name for these three. They play well together in the defensive zone, they attack well with their cycles, and eventually they'll start to get pucks on the net. I'd also like to see them form the core of the second power play unit. The first runs well enough regardless of who's in front, and I think Raffl or Brayden Schenn could stand in. Let's get Simmer his own PP unit.

VandeVelde-Laughton-White
I miss Ryan White.

Gagner-Schenn-Lecavalier
Here's where things always start to get hairy. Gagner and Schenn are decent players. Vinny stinks. Throw them together, and the line stinks. It doesn't seem like there was an easy fix for Hakstol to make to solve the problem of this third/fourth line (whatever you want to call it).

Kings, November 17 (Loss, 3-2) and Sharks, November 19 (Loss, 1-0) and Senators, November 21 (Loss, 4-0)

Schenn-Giroux-Voracek
It might seem like I would not be on board with splitting up the line I just called "old faithful" but that would be wrong. I liked Brayden's stint with G and Jake.

Read-Couturier-Simmonds

Raffl-Bellemare-VandeVelde
The move of Schenn to the first line (and the loss of Ryan White) meant that moving Raf down with the "fourth liners" made the most sense. He certainly held his own with the energy line, and these three possess a lot more talent than people generally give them credit for.

Leier-Laughton-Gagner
I am on record as saying I like the Laughton-Gagner pair, and these three combine to form a VERY quick line. But I don't know if they have enough size, and they often look pretty overmatched. I'd like to figure out what Leier is/does, because Gagner has silky hands and Laughton has a sneakily good shot. If we can figure out who should play with them (maybe it's Taylor, who knows?) then we can really start to look forward to next summer's cap issues. Sigh.

If you're keeping track, that's four losses in a row and the team combined for just four goals in those games. Obviously those forward groups didn't quite "kill it" or "do good hockeying". So Hakstol shook things up in a big way for last night's game:

Hurricanes, November 23 (Win, 3-2)

Leier-Laughton-Gagner
I'm starting with the fourth line because they didn't see a whole lot of time. Laughts was battling a possible concussion, Gagner smashed his face on the ice and started bleeding all over the god damn place, and Leier is a rookie that doesn't command a lot of time by himself. We'll have to try this again sometime.

Raffl-Giroux-Schenn
Read-Couturier-Simmonds
VandeVelde-Bellemare-Voracek
Let's attack all three of these lines. I love the balance. There isn't one of these top three lines that is lacking in defensive or offensive ability. Here's my issue, though: they didn't do anything. Both regulation goals came on special teams. The overtime winner was another powerplay goal.

Let's take some positives from the War On Ice box score. Brayden Schenn had 4 even strength scoring chances, and they were all considered high-danger. Leier, Read, Bellemare, Simmonds, and Gostisbehere also had high-danger chances at 5-on-5. On the power play, Brayden added 3 high-danger chances (including his goal, of course), Read had a high-danger chance, and Ghost scored on a non-high-danger chance.

Let's look at the dark reality of the November 2015 Flyers: they can't score at even strength. We need Giroux and Ghost to link up on the power play, or we need Coots to break something out shorthanded. Offense is not flowing, but we have a group of forwards that should be able to carry possession and limit opposing offenses.

With the exception of the Laughton line, the combinations from last night's game can all play against any line that another team could put on the ice. They may not score three goals per game at even strength (or any goals at even strength), but they should be able to hold the line enough to allow the power play to generate offense.

Relying on the power play for offense isn't, generally speaking, a great plan. But there is another bright spot here. Michael Del Zotto and Shayne Gostisbehere can both obviously hold their own offensively. Mark Streit and Evgeny Medvedev, if they are around, can do the same. Even Luke Schenn, everyone's favorite punching bag, is solid with the puck. Radko Gudas and Brandon Manning are both not-totally-terrible, and I like the potential Bash Bros those two could form as a third pairing.

We have some defensemen that can join the rush and attack. We also have Ivan Provorov and Travis Sanheim waiting to come up, and we know how well those two play offense.

Hakstol's system encourages - or maybe even requires - defensemen to jump into the play to help zone entries and maintain offensive zone possession. That is a progressive, offensive mindset that needs to be coupled with forwards that can backcheck and play defense. We just happen to have a solid group of forwards that are capable in the d-zone, with a potential future roster full of d-men that are solid in the o-zone. It's going to create a great balance once Hakstol works it all out, and I think that's a huge reason he left his perch at North Dakota to coach Hextall's Flyers.

I've Slept On The New NHL All-Star Format

I spent the past two days thinking primarily about the Flyers (sad face) and trying to collect my thoughts on the new NHL All-Star setup. I fired off Wednesday's post basically as soon as they made it official.

I think I nailed two changes that should be made: 2 goalies and 12 skaters per team (instead of 9), and the money should 100% be going to charity. I think it's mind-blowing that more people aren't suggesting that. These guys all make seven figures annually. The million dollar prize, while it sounds big, is smaller (percentage-wise) than a Christmas bonus once you split it between a dozen people.

Personally, I think the "one player per team" rule is a good one - and that's eased by the roster expansion that I support. Every team has at least one player that is worthy of the weekend. There is an argument to be made for just separating the squad into Skaters and Goalies, but it's easier to just say 2 goalies, 4 defensemen, and 8 forwards.

Here's where I would go with the teams. with two days to think about it (and, to be honest, to read a bunch of other people's thoughts to see how dumb I am):

Pacific

Goalies: Jonathan Quick (LA), Martin Jones (SJ)
Still locks.

Defensemen: Brent Burns (SJ), Drew Doughty (LA), Oliver Ekman-Larsson (ARI), Mark Giordano (CGY)
You can make a case for Anaheim's Cam Fowler, but I went with Giordano instead.

Forwards: Anze Kopitar (LA), Taylor Hall (EDM), Johnny Gaudreau (CGY), Joe Pavelski (SJ), Jeff Carter (LA), The Sedin Twins (VAN), Ryan Getzlaf (ANA)
You can swap Getzlaf out for Corey Perry or Ryan Kesler if you want.

Top Line: Sedin-Sedin-Gaudreau 
You could also have suggested The Kings Line as the top line.

Central

Goalies: Pekka Rinne (NSH), Jake Allen (STL)
Most have been giving the second goalie slot to Minnesota's Devan Dubnyk, who is also a fine option.

Defensemen: Duncan Keith (CHI), Shea Weber (NSH), Dustin Byfuglien (WPG), Ryan Suter (MIN)
Sorry, Alex Pietrangelo.

Forwards: Patrick Kane (CHI), Jonathan Toews (CHI), Tyler Seguin (DAL), Jamie Benn (DAL), Blake Wheeler (WPG), Vladamir Tarasenko (STL), Nathan MacKinnon (COL), Zach Parise (MIN)
I mean.. come on.

Top Line: Kane-Seguin-Benn
You think these three might have some fun the night before the big game?

Atlantic

Goalies: Carey Price (MTL), James Reimer (TOR)
You could swap out Reimer with Ben Bishop or Roberto Luongo or Craig Anderson.

Defensemen: PK Subban (MTL), Erik Karlsson (OTT), Victor Hedman (TB)

Forwards: Jack Eichel (BUF), Patrice Bergeron (BOS), David Krejci (BOS), Max Pacioretty (MTL), Bobby Ryan (OTT), Jaromir Jagr (FLA), Steven Stamkos (TB), Henrik Zetterberg (DET), Gustav Nyquist (DET)
If you want to swap Bergeron out for Krejci's linemate Loui Erikson, I'm fine with it.

Top Line: Stamkos-Pacioretty-Subban
I'm hesitant to include Karlsson at all because he's a noted disliker of 3-on-3. So it's PK on the top line.

Metro

Goalies: Henrik Lundqvist (NYR), Braden Holtby (WSH)
Lots of people are sticking Marc-Andre Fleury behind Lundqvist, but fuck the Penguins I'm not doing it.

Defensemen: Ryan McDonagh (NYR), Justin Faulk (CAR), Kris Letang (PIT), Johnny Boychuk (NYI)
You can definitely include John Carlson in this group as well.

Forwards: Claude Giroux (PHI), Sidney Crosby (PIT), Evgeny Malkin (PIT), John Tavares (NYI), Alex Ovechkin (WSH), Mats Zuccarello (NYR), Mike Cammalleri (NJD), Brandon Saad (CBJ)
The Metro forward group is where you can really make the "fuck having one player from each team argument" - I tend to think more people would want to see Rick Nash and Nicklas Backstrom or Evgeny Kuznetsov and maybe even Eric Staal instead of Cammalleri and Saad. And TJ Oshie? And Jake Voracek and Derick Brassard and Phil Kessel?

Minor concerns aside, that'll be a fun weekend.

On Sean Couturier, and a Flyers-Sharks Preview

You guys want to talk some advanced stats to prep for the Flyers-Sharks game tonight? And I'm not talking about Corsi and PDO, either. I'm talking about real in-depth, next-level, spreadsheet-porn advanced stats.

Micah McCurdy (@IneffectiveMath) penned this piece today after he took a deeper look into how deployment percentages impact shot creation.

(Side note: he also factors in on-the-fly deployment, which the traditional deployment stat completely ignores. No big deal, but that's like half of the shifts in a hockey game so kind of a huge deal.)

The breakdown is simple: if you start in the offensive zone, you should have a pretty easy time creating shots. As you move to the neutral zone starts (or on-the-fly changes), it becomes a little harder (and more impressive) to create shots. Starting in the defensive zone is, obviously, the hardest.

And so Micah went through all of the NHL players (Excel Macros represent) and calculated their Raw and Adjusted Shot Percentages. It's interesting stuff, and it's especially nice for the Flyers.

For years now, our boy Sean Couturier has been "buried" in the defensive zone and tasked with defending the other team's best line. We use it as an excuse for his less-than-stellar offensive numbers. My first thought when I read Micah's post was "How much has deployment skewed Coots' shot percentage numbers?"

Coots' raw Shot Percentage (Flyers shots/Total shots) for the year so far is 48.4% - less than ideal, because it means they're shooting less than their opponents. When you factor in the adjustment for deployment, that number rises to just 48.7%. To be honest, I expected it to rise over 50. At times, Couturier looks dominant with the puck, and his line with Matt Read and Wayne Simmonds has recently had a lot of success sustaining pressure in the offensive zone.

In the last two games (Carolina and Los Angeles), Couturier has been playing an impressive game with an unfortunate lack of recognition on the scoresheet. Against Carolina:

• 4 offensive zone starts, 4 defensive zone starts
• 22 Corsis for, 10 Corsis against
• 0 goals, 0 assists, +1 goal differential

And LA:

• 1 offensive zone start, 6 defensive zone starts
• 8 Corsis for, 7 Corsis against
• 0 goals, 0 assists, 0 goal differential

My analysis: Dave Hakstol should be fired. 

Yes, the Kings are better than the 'Canes. Yes, the Coots line almost completely nullified the Carter-Lucic-Toffoli line until the very end of the game. But to have a line that generated more than twice the shot attempts against Carolina's second line.. and then make them start in their own zone that much. If you bought the "Berube doesn't use Coots in a way that will allow him to be a star player" line, you want Hakstol to address this discrepancy.  

I'm kidding about firing Hakstol, of course, because I like his system and I think it really works. That's simpleton logic, and the biggest reason the deployment was so different was because LA has a killer second line (while Carolina's.. uh... stinks). 

Against the 'Canes, the Coots line primarily played against the Rask-Terry-Nordstrom line and the Liles-Pesce pair. Rask is second on the Canes in goals and points. It drops off steeply from there. The stats for Terry (2 goals) and Nordstrom (2 assists) are decidedly less impressive. Liles and Pesci each have just one assist, and Liles is sporting a healthy -9 goal differential. They also played a bit against rookie/phenom Noah Hanifin, who held his own (should of drafted). 

I want to take a second here to note how huge it was for Sean's line to be able to avoid the Lindholm-Staal-Staal line and the Faulk-Hainsey pair. Those guys are responsible for most of Carolina's offensive production, and they played mostly against the Giroux line. 

Let's end on a learning point/bright spot for Seany Coots. The Giroux/Voracek line is always going to be the "top line". They are going to draw the other team's best defensive line, and that's going to mean Coots' line gets to play against a less defensive-minded line. In some situations, that line is very talented offensively (Carter-Toffoli-Lucic). In others, it just kind of stinks (Rask-Terry-Nordstrom). I'd love to dive more into whether the teams we've played - and which teams Couturier sat out against - but I'd also love to not get fired from my job, so we'll save that for another day. 

Tonight (Sharks-centric preview), with home ice advantage, I'd expect to see Hakstol match Coots' line up with the Thornton-Pavelski line (Pavelski has scored 10 goals this year). Those two Joes are a *combined +17* so far this season. I imagine Hak wants to shut that down. That means the G line gets matched up with the Marleau line (or maybe the Hertl line depending on how Peter DeBoer operates). G and Jake will also probably draw Paul Martin and Brent Burns, which is a good sign for Coots, Reader, and Simmer. 

The Sharks have a handful of big names and they're tied for 2nd in the Pacific, but they have just 4 points more than the Flyers (10-8-0 against 6-8-4). Vegas says Sharks -135/Flyers +115. Confidence level for tonight: 6.9/10.

They're Changing The NHL All-Star Game

..we don't quite know how they're changing yet, but all signs point to including everyone's favorite new thing: 3-on-3.

TSN's Bob McKenzie detailed a bunch of possible changes, the short version being converting a 60-minute scrimmage into a bracket of 20 minute 3-on-3 games between Division All-Star Teams.

The biggest issue, of course, is whether anyone will actually try. Bob mentions a cash prize at the end for the team to split up - he says $1 million, but between 10+ players that's basically nothing.

I'd offer a different alternative: keep the cash prize the same, but have each team playing for a charity they support. There are a handful of big-name players that have their own foundations (and causes they support), and I get the feeling that's more incentive than an extra paycheck. Even if you want to split the pot 60/20/10/10 to make sure everyone gets a piece, charity is always a good thing.

We could also turn the charity side of it into a piece of the weekend's festivities, and have a segment of the game's pre-show documenting the All-Stars visiting their respective charities and helping out (and hopefully lighting a fire under their asses to win the money).

Bob suggests 9 skaters and 2 goalies from each division. I'd bump it up to 12 skaters because, let's be honest, three lines isn't enough to realistically play 20 minutes of breakneck 3-on-3 hockey. Bumping the total number of All-Stars from 44 to 56 isn't the end of the world, and screw you if you think that's the deal-breaker. Let's all agree on a minimum of one All-Star from each NHL team.

My first thought as a Flyers fan was "Hey The Metro Might Actually Be Good Here!" Let's look at who would be competing, and we'll work our way West to East to keep you on your toes (FYI, I'd have the West on one side of the bracket and the East on the other):

Pacific Division

Jonathan Quick (LA), Martin Jones (SJ)
These two would be locks. I hope all the divisions are this easy.

Taylor Hall (EDM),  Johnny Gaudreau (CGY), Joe Pavelski (SJ), Daniel Sedin (VAN), Jeff Carter (LA)
The top five point scorers in the division, and I'd find it hard to believe anyone has a real problem with them.

Tyler Toffoli (LA), Max Domi (ARI), Anthony Duclair (ARI), Sean Monahan (CGY)
All top ten in goals scored, and again I can't see anyone having an issue.

Brent Burns (SJ), Drew Doughty (LA), Oliver Ekman-Larsson (ARI)
Top three defensemen in terms of points scored and time on ice. Boom. Easy.

That's 4 Kings, 3 Sharks, 1 Canuck, 3 Coyotes, 0 Ducks, 2 Flames, and 1 Oiler. Realistically, one of the Getzlaf/Kesler/Perry trio should replace Duclair. Maybe the Ducks will be better before the All-Star break. They've been very unlucky, especially Kesler (who's currently sporting a 95.98 PDO, per War On Ice),

This team doesn't scare me at all because I am from the East Coast and the West Coast doesn't matter.

(*Editor's note: Admittedly, I don't really follow the West. If you want to pick the biggest names instead of who's had the most success this year, you'd take Kopitar/Doughty/Quick from LA, Jones/Burns and one of Marleau/Pavelski/Thornton from San Jose, The Sedin Twins, Domi, Getzlaf/Perry/Fowler from Anaheim, Gaudreau, and you'd make one of the other Edmonton first overall picks wear a McDavid jersey and pretend Brandon Manning didn't kill the actual Connor McDavid.)

Central Division

Pekka Rinne (NSH), Jake Allen (STL)
You can also make pretty solid cases for Minnesota's Devan Dubnyk and Dallas' Kari Lehtonen. Ultimately, Dubnyk falls just short and Lehtonen hasn't played enough of his team's games.

Patrick Kane (CHI), Tyler Seguin (DAL), Jamie Benn (DAL), Blake Wheeler (WPG)
Same as the Pacific, I just listed off the top point scorers. Wowwee. What a lineup.

Vladamir Tarasenko (STL), Zach Parise (MIN), Jonathan Toews (CHI)
All three of these guys are in the top 20 in the division in goals, but let's be honest - they're all All-Stars regardless of their production.

Shea Weber (NSH), Dustin Byfuglien (WPG), Ryan Suter (MIN), Duncan Keith (CHI)
That is an unbelievably good group of defensemen.

That's only 11 guys, but I wanted to make sure I split it up evenly. It's 2 Stars, 2 Predators, 2 Blues, 2 Wild, 3 Blackhawks, 2 Jets, and 0 Avalanche.

So the last spot goes to Nathan MacKinnon or Matt Duchene or Gabriel Landeskog - take your pick but you can only have one. I'm still bitter about that Flyers game.

Atlantic Division

I'm going to rely less on stats here because I actually know some stuff about the teams in the East. Let's go team-by-team.

Canadiens: Max Pacioretty and PK Subban are locks, as is Carey Price (/his backup Mike Condon, who may or may not be Price in disguise). Brendan Gallagher, Thomas Plekanec, David Desharnais, and Andrei Markov could all be considered as well. The Habs are having a killer start to the season.

Senators: Erik Karlsson and Mark Stone have been racking up assists, and Bobby Ryan and Kyle Turris are scoring goals. Craig Anderson is firmly in the second tier of Atlantic Divison goalies (behind Price, of course).

Red Wings: Again with the fucking Red Wings. It's hard to argue against Henrik Zetterberg, Gustav Nyquist, and Dylan Larkin. Tomas Tatar is also right there. They have no standout defensemen and their goalies split time so I'm keeping them both out. Good. Hate the Red Wings.

Panthers: Jaromir Jagr (born in the month when the FCC regulated that TV providers must carry at least 20 channels - twenty! So goddamn old!) leads this team in goals and points. There are a bunch of no-names that are having decent years, but the next men in line after Jagr are Aaron Ekblad and Roberto Luongo (who is also older than dirt).

Lightning: Stamkos. Hedman. Johnson. We have to draw the line somewhere. Ben Bishop is also in the second tier of goalies.

Bruins: David Krejci and Patrice Bergeron have to be locks for this team. Zdeno Chara is the big name on defense, but Torey Krug has arguably been even better than the big man this year. Tuukka Rask... oops. Should not have drafted for my fantasy team.

Sabres: I'm hesitant to put anyone on this All-Star team except Jack Eichel. Maybe Buffalo will put it together next year! (Right, Buffalo fans?)

Maple Leafs: How could any team be worse than the Sabres, you ask? How about a team with a middle-of-the-pack goalie and a ballot of Dion Phaneuf, Tyler Bozak, James van Riemsdyk, Morgan Rielly, and Joffrey Lupul? Woof.

The team: Pacioretty, Ryan, Zetterberg, Nyquist, Jagr, Stamkos, Krejci, Bergeron, Eichel, Subban, Karlsson, Hedman, Price, Reimer. That's 2 Habs, 2 Senators, 2 Wings, 1 Panther, 2 Lightning, 2 Bruins, 1 Sabre, and 1 Maple Leaf.

Metropolitan Division

And now, the moment you've been waiting for - your Metro Divison All-Star Lines!

Forwards
Alex Ovechkin (WSH), John Tavares (NYI), Mats Zuccarello (NYR), Claude Giroux (PHI), Mike Cammalleri (NJD), Evgeni Malkin (PIT), Brandon Saad (CBJ)

Defensemen
Justin Faulk (CAR), Ryan McDonagh (NYR), John Carlson (WSH), Kris Letang (PIT)

Goalies
Henrik Lundqvist (NYR), Braden Holtby (WSH)

That's 3 Rangers, 3 Capitals, 1 Islander, 1 Penguin, 1 Devil, 1 Flyer, 1 Hurricane, and 1 BJ.

(*Editor's note: The Metro is a loaded division. This hypothetical team is leaving off Evgeny Kuznetsov, Nicklas Backstrom, TJ Oshie, Kyle Okposo, Johnny Boychuk, Jake Voracek, Shayne Gostisbehere (kidding?), Keith Yandle, Rick Nash, Derick Brassard, Scott Hartnell, Nick Foligno, Adam Henrique, Eric Staal, Phil Kessel, and Sidney Fucking Crosby. In real life, I'd swap Crosby for Carlson.)

The Bracket

I think the Central has a pretty easy time beating the shit out of the Pacific.

The East side is a little more hairy, and as a Metro fan it'd be really nice if we didn't have to include New Jersey or Columbus. Ultimately I don't really know which way it would end up, but I know I'd love to watch those two squads face off, and I'd love to watch the Central team beat them in the final even more.

Flyers-Capitals Recap

The Colorado game was a 1/10 on the Scale Of Goodness. Last night was not a great game, but they certainly were better than Tuesday. Fuck it, they were still pretty horrible though because Flyers.

WSH-PHI: Backstrom line beats Giroux-Voracek. pic.twitter.com/8lG1uTtUJ7

— Muneeb Alam (@muneebalamcu) November 13, 2015

Here are some bright spots:

• Claude scored a powerplay goal!
• The Coots line (with Schenn/Schultz and Gudas/Del Zotto) did a really good job against the Ovechkin line. Oshie scored a goal where he was absolutely wide open 1 foot in front of the net, but one lapse for this team isn't bad. If you had told me we would be holding that line to 1 goal, I would have assumed the Flyers would win. 
• The fourth line also scored a goal. 
• Ryan White fought a guy. 
• Despite behind held completely off the scoresheet (again), there were a handful of moments last night where Jake Voracek impressed me. His contract doesn't worry me at all, but you can see the team is trying to force his first goal of the season. That will calm down, and we'll be left with one of the more talented wingers in the league. 
• I don't think Steve Mason had a bad game. It's tough to call goaltending a "bright spot" when you lose 5-2, but there weren't any other saves that a reasonable person could have expected Mase to make. 

And the negatives:

• As a team, the boys in orange combined for 20 shots. We should be aiming for about twice that many. 
• That Backstrom line dominated the G line (and Medvedev/Streit) at even strength. We loaded up with offensive-minded players, and it just flat out wasn't good enough. I think we need to end that strategy and balance our lines. 
• The Schenn/Gagner/Lecavalier experiment also has to end. They got matched up with Washington's fourth line all night and didn't generate anything. Literally not even a single scoring chance. 
• After the second time he fell down on his own last night (and between the bullshit cross-checking and hooking penalties he took), I found myself thinking that Michael Raffl kind of stinks. He's the Chris Kunitz of this team: he seems a lot better than he is because he plays with the best playmaker on the team. 
• Brayden Schenn won just 38% of his faceoffs last night, and Scott Laughton won just 25%. I understand that those are small sample sizes, but woof. 

Flyers Lineup Volume 7

The Brandan Shanahan Line

White - Giroux - Vandevelde

We saw it for about 5 seconds last night when Claude stayed out a little too late. I got my hopes up that he would stay out for an extra 30 seconds just to see what happened, but he didn't and I was sad. I know we'll probably never see these three together, but I've overthought it so much that I'm convinced it would work. The Giroux-White 2-on-1 was not ideal, but neither was the Giroux-Voracek 2-on-1 or any other 2-on-1 we've seen this season. 

The Coots Line

Read - Couturier - Voracek

My twitter friend Jake Fahringer has been tweeting about putting Jake on Coots' wing for like a month, and I'm finally convinced. I want to see it. Jake, for all of his offensive success last year, is a bruising forward. I have to see it. 

Hopefully This Line Can Score Goals

Gagner - Schenn - Simmonds

Gagner is a playmaker. Simmonds is a banger. Brayden is lowkey pretty talented but he hasn't quite found his niche. Well B, we're giving you your own line. Try not to fuck it up!

You Pick Three

Raffl - Laughton - Bellemare - Lecavalier - Umberger

(Puts gun in mouth.)

The Universal Studios Orlando Pair

Del Zotto - Gudas

They actually looked "good" last night (in quotes because this is the 2015-16 Flyers). I didn't see anything that made me want to vomit. They combine to have a nice mix of skill and physicality, and that makes for a decent d-pair. 

The CDs Are Released For Sale In Germany Pair

Medvedev - Schultz

I didn't see anything terrible from Schultz (he was trailing Chimera on one of his goals, but that was a flukey play). He is what he is - kinda shitty, but he tries hard and it seems like his teammates like him. Oh well. Medvedev, on the other hand, is a goddamn wizard with the puck. He's really entertaining, and his fakeout moves seem to be rubbing off on the other defensemen, especially (looks around the room) (whispers) Gudas. 

Streit - Schenn

Streit, it seems, lacks the ability to play with puck-dominant defensemen like Del Zotto and Medvedev. He gets Luke Schenn as his dance partner because Gudas plays well with DZ and because Schultz doesn't play well with anybody. So you're welcome, Mark, because we found you the perfect partner/scapegoat. 

Fun fact time: When Mark Streit was born, it was the 1977-78 NHL season. That year's All-Star team was Ken Dryden, Denis Potvin, Brad Park, Bryan Trottier, Clark Gillies, and Guy LaFleur. 

Luke Schenn was born during the 1989-90 NHL season. That year, the All-Star team was Patrick Roy, Ray Bourque, Al MacInnis, Mark Messier, Brett Hull, and Luc Robataille. 

Maybe it's the millennial in me, but I think the 89-90 team would cream the 77-78 team. right?

Flyers Lineup Volume 6

Not good.

That's where I'd place the Flyers on the scale from "good" to "not good". 

Through 7 or 8 games, the boys in orange and black were in a good spot. They had beaten the Blackhawks, Bruins, and Rangers. They took a point from the Lightning game. They got creamed by the Panthers, but bounced right back and shut the same team out in their next game. Even the 8th game of the year - an overtime loss to the Sabres - was okay. They were sitting at 4-2-2 and looking like they might be able to make some noise this year. 

And now that dream is dead. Losses to the Devils, Sabres, Canucks, Oilers, and Flames made for a pretty awful road trip. Closing it out with a win at Winnipeg helped, but they follow it up with one of the most pathetic hockey games I can remember watching. 

COL-PHI: Third shutout win of the night, this time by Avs. pic.twitter.com/CoKMzOoULd

— Muneeb Alam (@muneebalamcu) November 11, 2015

There were a few mild bright spots. The Giroux line fared okay against Colorado's top pair of defensemen. We did a decent job overall of handling their bottom three forward lines. That Duchene-Landeskog-MacKinnon line, though. We threw our two best defensemen and our best defensive forward line at them, and it just flat out didn't work. They were dominant, and the box score reflects it. Duchene scored twice and had one assist, and the other two each had an assist.

I can't wait to match those same scrubs against Ovechkin, Kuznetsov, and Oshie! Claude me one time:

rage dot gif pic.twitter.com/H4vbozDzWs

— Stephanie (@myregularface) November 11, 2015

 Let's switch gears and talk about how we're going to fix this dumpster fire. My new theory: Dave Hakstol was an only child. He's playing guys on lines with people who are 4 or 6 or 10 (hey Vinny) years younger than them. Nobody wants to hang out with their little brother's friends.

Here's what we're going to do:

Born During The 1987-88 Season (Brendan Shanahan's First Year In The NHL)
Vandevelde (3/15/87) - Giroux (1/12/88) - White (3/17/88)
A lot of heart with this unit. And that's what we need out of a first line. I also happen to believe that all three of these guys are underrated and underutilized. Vandy has more skill than a typical fourth liner, and White always seems to play up to G's level when they're together. This also frees up Raffl and Voracek to play on more specialized/sheltered lines.

Born During The 1990s (God Damn Millennials)
Schenn (8/22/91) - Couturier (12/7/92) - Read (6/14/86)
We're starting to get away from the birthday thing here, because Reader is like five years older than the other two (and not actually born in the 90's), but he and Coots have always played like they're twins. That leaves us with an interesting decision on the other wing: Schenn (16 months older than Couturier) or Bellemare (15 months older than Read). Ultimately I think Bellemare is more of an old man and my vision of this line was that they should all be familiar with Tinder and Periscope. Give me Matt Read here, because I get the sense he Snapchats pictures of his cock to chicks all the time.

Born During The American Revolution 
Umberger (5/3/82) - Bellemare (3/6/85) - Lecavalier (4/21/80)
Sorry, Pebs. Here's the thing: this line doesn't have to be generating a million goals. They can play a smart (kinda physical) game and basically act like a fourth line. It's a shame that two fourth line wingers combine to make almost eight figures, but that's just how it goes sometimes when your franchise is a goddamn mess.

Here Is What The Fuck We Have Left
Raffl (12/1/88) - Laughton (5/30/94) - Voracek (8/15/89) - Gagner (8/10/89) - Cousins (7/20/93)
Couple things here. Who would have guessed Raffl was older than Voracek? Not me. Voracek and Gagner were born in the same week, which is a cool fun fact. As for what we're actually going to do here, I think you have to go with a rotation until the fans finally boo Lacavalier so much that he decides to just retire.

This was a stupid exercise. I know that. But it doesn't matter anyway, so maybe it really is best to throw a bunch of guys with similar birthdays in a boat together and see if they float. As for the defensemen, here are my pairings:

Mark Streit Was Legitimately Born In The 1970s 
Streit (12/11/77)
Wow.

August 1982 (CDs Are Released For Sale In Germany)
Medvedev (8/27/82) - Schultz (8/25/82)
Birthday friends! Also a decent pairing, if you're judging based on what the Flyers have looked like this season.

June 1990 (Universal Studios Orlando Opens)
Manning (6/4/90) - Gudas (6/5/90) - Del Zotto (6/24/90)
Guys, this is great news! Now, instead of "Oh no why are 3 and 23 on the ice together? They both stink!" we can say "Hey those guys were both born the same month than Universal Orlando opened!" The Flyers are fixed!

The Trading Block
Schenn (11/2/89) - MacDonald (9/7/88)
I call these two The Trading Block sarcastically, because (1) I think Luke is a valuable defenseman and (2) nobody in the world will ever trade for Andrew MacDonald's contract until the trade deadline before it expires.

The Only Reasons For Hope
Alt (10/18/91) - Morin (7/12/95) - Hagg (2/8/95)
Sanheim (3/29/96) - Provorov (1/13/97)
Gostisbehere (4/20/93) (nice)

Tuesday Night MACtion Preview: Toledo @ Central Michigan

To simplify this game, Toledo is a run-based offense (5.3 yards per attempt, 222.9 yards per game, 16 rushing touchdowns) that ranks top 3 in the conference in rushing and bottom 3 in passing. CMU is a pass-based offense (296.2 yards per game, 20 touchdown passes) that ranks in the top 3 in passing and is dead last in rushing.

I love these games because we'll see how Toledo has handled good passing teams, how CMU has handled good rushing teams, and then figure out where we can make a bunch of money. At the time of me writing this, the line is Toledo -4.5.

Toledo against the pass:

• Arkansas: 32/53 attempts, 412 yards, 0 touchdowns, 1 interception (they average 280.2 yards, 2.3 touchdowns, 0.6 interceptions)
• Iowa State: 26/43, 274 yards, 1 touchdown, 0 interceptions (239.2 yards, 1.6 touchdowns, 1.0 interceptions)
• Arkansas State: don't pay attention to this game, they aren't a real school
• Ball State: 23/37, 236 yards, 1 touchdown, 0 interceptions (221.8 yards, 1.4 touchdowns, 0.6 interceptions)
• Kent State: don't pay attention to this game, they're the worst passing team in the MAC
• Eastern Michigan: 25/39, 205 yards, 0 touchdowns, 1 interception (218.3 yards, 1.4 touchdowns, 1.4 interceptions)
• UMass: 27/49, 240 yards, 4 touchdowns, 1 interception (293.0 yards, 1.9 touchdowns, 1.0 interceptions)
• Northern Illinois: 16/25, 277 yards, 2 touchdowns, 1 interception (236.1 yards, 1.7 touchdowns, 0.6 interceptions)

UMass is right behind CMU in terms of passing yards in the conference, but CMU throws the ball more efficiently. It's important to note that Toledo won that game despite giving up 4 touchdown passes (Toledo QB Phillip Ely threw 5). 

Overall, with the exception of the UMass game, Toledo's defense does a good job of containing against the pass. In every game listed above (and the two not listed), they've held opponents to under or around their averages in passing yards and touchdowns. That's why they're a road favorite tonight. 

Central Michigan against the two MAC teams similar to Toledo's running game:

• Northern Illinois: 59 carries, 211 yards, 3.6 yards per carry, 2 touchdowns (they average 47.4 carries, 207.0 yards, 4.4 yards per carry, 2.8 touchdowns)
• Western Michigan: 41 carries, 215 yards, 5.2 yards per carry, 1 touchdown (39.6 carries, 208/2 yards, 5.3 yards per carry, 2.1 touchdowns)

I want to note that WMU's quarterback had a near-perfect day, with 15 completions on 22 attempts for 262 yards, 4 touchdowns, and a bananas 94.1 QBR. I'm going to make a mental note to bet on them in the future, because they lost to Michigan State and Ohio State, flubbed a game at Georgia Southern, and have creamed almost everyone else. My man Clay Travis loves Bowling Green this year, but BGSU travels to WMU tomorrow night, and I like the Broncos as a 3-point home dog. 

Back to the game at hand, though, and I like Toledo here. I almost like them too much - this feels like a CMU line, but I don't think Toledo has a problem covering 4.5 at all.