Philadelphia Flyers hold Players Only Meeting After Loss

After the team lost 7-1 to the Florida Panthers, the Philadelphia Flyers held a players only meeting. No audible screaming occurred and the General Manager, former Flyer great Ron Hextall, was calm. “It’s Game 2,” Defenseman Mark Streit said. “You lose 7-1, we’ve got to have a little talk here, no?”

It is understandable for the veteran Streit and others to be upset. It took seven minutes for Florida to score four goals on their usually dependable goalie Steve Mason.

Mason had this to say after the game, “Right from the beginning, there was nothing I could be too proud of tonight. I take full responsibility for this loss. Short memory, put it behind me and re-focus.”

After he allowed the four goals, two on turnovers he committed, on eight shots, Mason was pulled for Michal Neuvirth. Neuvirth fared better, conceding three goals on 22 shots. Jaromir Jagr had a pair of points, as did Reilly Smith. Vincent Trocheck had a career-high four points.

This is pretty embarrassing, a fact that I believe is self-evident. A team will have some blow out losses, but it should never come this early in the year. They will chalk this up as “just getting used to things” and move forward.