There are times when watching the free-falling Philadelphia Flyers feels like witnessing years of poor decisions in action, but it’s tough to say how much of it is head coach Craig Berube’s fault.
Wayne Simmonds seemed to rally the troops behind his coach after another dispiriting loss to the New York Rangers, as the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Sam Carchidi reports.
“This has nothing to do with the coach,” Simmonds said.
Players all deflect blame from Berube, who says "we're all in this together." #Flyers
— Sam Carchidi (@BroadStBull) November 29, 2014
Berube wasn’t shy about pointing out individual disappointments among his players, however.
That feeling seemed most obvious with Vincent Lecavalier (who received less than six minutes of ice time on Saturday) and Andrew MacDonald (who didn’t even play against the Rangers today). Berube called out each player for their lack of effort, as Carchidi notes.
“He has to play better; he hasn’t moved the puck as well as he has, his intensity dropped off,” Berube said of MacDonald.
His comments about Lecavalier were pretty similar:
Berube on Lecavalier, who played 5:56:"He neds to work harder, needs to be a better player, needs to play with more structure & dig in more"
— Sam Carchidi (@BroadStBull) November 29, 2014
Lecavalier, 34, admitted that it was “frustrating” to gete benched like he was this afternoon, yet it’s easy to see why. He hasn’t scored a point in five straight games and only has an assist in his last nine.
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Whoever’s at fault, rumors are swirling that two wayward teams often found in the headlines might just find a way to make a deal.
At least two reporters indicate that something could be brewing between the Flyers and the Edmonton Oilers.
TSN’s Darren Dreger noted that Mark Messier was on hand to scout for Edmonton:
Mark Messier scouting for the Oilers this afternoon at MSG as Rangers thumped the Flyers 5-2. Hextall vows patience, but things are tough...
— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) November 29, 2014
Meanwhile, the Edmonton Journal’s Jim Matheson goes as far as to propose a hypothetical trade involving Braydon Coburn and David Perron:
Interesting.