Weekend Thoughts To Challenge You This Monday

100 Days to wait

Friday, June 2nd marked 100 days until the Eagles will kick off their 2023 season. Last week I aligned with Jamie Lynch in stating the a “Super Bowl or Bust” expectation is logical and fair. There was a great discussion on Cuz Radio between Anthony and Choonis where they chided that mentality. I don’t understand how you can have anything BUT that expectation. Here’s why;

- You have the top returning QB in the conference. A strong MVP candidate that hasn’t even entered his prime. A born leader that is on top of every analysts list. Other than Dak Prescott I can’t think of a QB that could even be logically discussed as a true option to supplant him. If QB is the most important position in the NFL then the Eagles have a huge advantage over everyone else.

- The Eagles have a very favorable early schedule. The success of last season was built on a foundation of the (8-0) start. There is a great opportunity to build up the wins before the gauntlet comes in late November. On the other hand, the Cowboys and the Giants both have many potholes in their path before Halloween. The Cowboys must play 3 of the Eagles hardest home opponents on the road; the 49ers, Bills and Dolphins. The Giants have to face the 49ers on the road on a short week, the Bills and Jets all before mid-October.

- The Eagles defense has to add a lot of new, young faces. They are looking to get a big return on the infusion of talent from the Athens pipeline. A lighter early season schedule allows them to get their feet under them before the stiffer challenges of the back end of the schedule.

- Nick Sirianni is the only coach in NFL history to win 5 more games than the previous season in his first 2 years. He won’t be able to complete that feat again this year, but he has shown a continual ability to tweak and improve. That will be very important as the Eagles now have a target on their back.

Phillies need to set a more intermediate goal 

Thankfully despite starting tonight’s home stand 5 games under .500 the Phillies are not buried in the wild card race. Arizona, Pittsburgh and Miami are currently sitting in the wild card spots. That gives you reason for optimism. Being 4.5 games out of a wildcard berth is not ideal, but there is plenty of time to stabilize. I believe that a logical goal would be to climb into third place in the East before the 4th of July. The Marlins are bound to cool off a bit and the Mets are struggling. The time is now to make a statement that the season is far from over. Let’s see if they deliver.

Are we still debating The Process?

After yet another 76ers crash and burn postseason, the one thing I didn’t think would still be debated is whether “The Process” worked. Spoiler Alert, it has been an abject failure. It produced no fruit. It didn’t create any playoff success. Will the last one off this sinking opinion ship please set off a signal flare?

Keith Jones joined The Anthony Gargano Show in studio on Tuesday to discuss a new era for the Philadelphia Flyers.

The President of Hockey Operations talked about the new front office, confidence in head coach John Tortorella, his relationship with the city of Philadelphia, and even some Eagles football.

Jones played 554 combined regular-season and playoff games in nine NHL seasons. He spent his final 155 games with the Flyers before retiring in 2000.

He has spent over two decades as a national and local broadcaster since retiring from the NHL.

The Flyers have missed the playoffs in three consecutive seasons for only the second time in franchise history.

They’ve slipped into a tense situation under pressure to succeed for a fan base starved for playoff success.

Jones is well-versed in the 56-year history of the franchise. He will now face the uphill battle of fixing an unfavorable salary cap position and reversing a multilayered mess in Philadelphia.

Newly-appointed franchise governor Dan Hilferty has ushered in a "New Era of Orange" under the leadership of Jones and general manager (GM) Danny Briere.

The Flyers have already taken intense criticism for hiring more alumni to executive positions.

However, the new mission for Jones and the front office is to solve the problem that Anthony brought up on Tuesday.

Despite all the backlash Flyers fans have given to the team and the organization during a truly disastrous three-year period, all they really want is to see the Orange and Black raise the Stanley Cup once again.

How does Keith Jones plan to make that happen? He discussed seven key points with Anthony.

The Flyers threw the entire hockey world into oblivion when they became the first expansion franchise ever to defeat an Original Six franchise in a playoff series on their way to their first Stanley Cup in 1974.

As much as other fan bases like to taunt Philadelphia for celebrating the long-gone history of the Broad Street Bullies, the legacy of the Flyers still carries significant weight around the NHL.

The Flyers have maintained an excellent reputation with their treatment of players' families, their willingness to spend whatever money they think is necessary to win, and their continued tradition of keeping players around the organization after their careers are over.

Jones is a former player and broadcaster with a conscious pulse on the entire league. He fully understands how the organization's history and reputation will make Philadelphia an attractive home for free agents when the Flyers finally reemerge as a contender.

It's possibly the simplest reason why the Flyers have fallen apart during the salary cap era. Relentless spending under the direction of Ed Snider carried the Flyers for decades, but the strategy will no longer translate to success following the 2004-05 lockout.

Paul Holmgren overspent during his tenure as GM from 2007-2014, which handcuffed his successor Ron Hextall's ability to put together a roster with enough depth to compete for a Stanley Cup.

Chuck Fletcher kept spending aggressively in 2021-22 and 2022-23 while playoff hopes started to look unrealistic. The new front office will have to handle the consequences of the long-term contracts he negotiated without enough consideration to the long-term effect on the salary cap.

Jones talked about a goal of getting younger, which might also include getting cheaper if the opportunities come along to move high-priced veterans like Kevin Hayes or Travis Sanheim.

The salary cap might limit the amount a team can spend on player salaries, but Comcast still provides the Flyers with deep pockets in all other realms of hockey operations.

Jones recognizes the financial advantage, and he'll need all the help he can get to fix arguably the toughest restriction the new front office faces with the current roster.

Jones talked about how strong defensemen can become a foundation for an NHL team, something he learned playing under GM David Poile with the Washington Capitals during the 1990s.

He pointed to the resurgence of the Flyers after a dismal 2006-07 season. They added Kimmo Timonen and Braydon Coburn to help become key contributors on their blue line.

Both defensemen played roles at the top of the lineup when the Flyers reached the Eastern Conference Final in 2008.

The addition of Chris Pronger two years later spring loaded them to an incredible run to the Stanley Cup Final. Jones also emphasized the strength of the blue lines for the Vegas Golden Knights and the Florida Panthers during the 2023 postseason.

However, the Flyers have an expensive group of defensemen locked into long-term money who didn't perform well enough to help the team toward postseason contention in 2022-23.

The new front office inherits the albatross contract of Ryan Ellis, who likely won't play another game in his NHL career, the questionable stylistic fit of Tony DeAngelo, and complex issues surrounding Ivan Provorov.

Reshaping the defense will be a major obstacle in bringing the Flyers back into contention. They must develop their most valuable piece, 22-year-old Cam York, and add multiple other defensemen to build a championship-caliber unit.

The Flyers have given as much influence on roster construction to Tortorella as any other head coach in the NHL has.

The two-time Jack Adams Award winner earned respect and admiration from everyone in the organization by setting a new standard for performance in 2022-23.

His demanding attitude resonated in Philadelphia, and he'll play a key role in the "triumvirate" of the hockey operations department along with Jones and Briere.

Keith Jones has been in Philadelphia for a long time, long enough to remember Jeffrey Lurie referring to the Philadelphia Eagles as the "gold standard" of NFL franchises in 2003.

The Tampa Bay Lightning might've established themselves as the NHL's gold standard, but Jones also praised his neighbors across the street in South Philly.

He lauded how quickly the Eagles recovered from the fallout from Carson Wentz leaving by finding a better option in Jalen Hurts.

It might not always seem like it, but the Eagles are one of the best organizations in the NFL and undoubtedly the best of the four major professional teams in Philadelphia. Seven conference championship game appearances in the 21st century haven't happened by accident.

The Flyers simply don't have the same level of talent playing at the top of their lineup as the best teams in the NHL. Only the Chicago Blackhawks averaged fewer goals per game than the Flyers in 2021-22 and 2022-23 combined.

Jones talked about Owen Tippett as a player with the size, speed, and skill to become a star with the right coaching and development.

He also believes Travis Konecny took a major step toward becoming a player the Flyers can count on as a core contributor through the rebuild.

He spoke practically about the impressive talent of both wingers without giving any sense that the organization will overvalue them.

The Flyers have finished last in the league on the power play in consecutive seasons. Meanwhile, the Edmonton Oilers set a new NHL record converting 32.4% of their power plays in 2022-23.

Anthony didn't create 4-for-4 with the idea that his own son would rather play a video game as a team that defeated the Flyers in two Stanley Cup Finals in three seasons during the 1980s.

Something needs to change, and Jones recognizes that just as much as the Cuz.

Jones echoed Dan Hilferty's statement on May 12 that the new leadership group hopes to make the Flyers "the envy of the NHL" once again.

He spoke about the salary cap bind, identified some elements of organizational culture, and emphasized the Flyers brand.

However, Jones is fully aware that there's only one thing that will satisfy the fan base and reestablish the culture that seems to dominate all conversations surrounding the Flyers.

They just need to win.