At no point, prior to the trade deadline, did the Flyers look like they had given up.

Yes there were blowout losses, embarrassingly bad ones, too, but the Flyers, as bad as they’ve been, and as frustrating as they are to watch, never really stopped trying.

They still skated hard in games they were obviously going to lose. They tried to come from behind – so many times. They honestly believed they could still get things right.

Then the trade deadline came. Two players were sent packing. No one new was brought in. If that wasn’t a signal enough from the general manager that the powers that be in the organization had little faith in their ability to make a miracle push to the playoffs, Fletcher then emphatically said, “no” when asked if any coaching changes were coming and basically added that the remainder of the season would be an evaluation period to see who would be part of this organization moving forward into next season, which will happen quickly. After all, it’ll only be four months from the end of the regular season to the start of training camp.

And even though they were still just four points out of a playoff spot, you know how the Flyers responded?

By not showing up at all in another blowout loss, this time, 6-1 to the Washington Capitals.

Playoffs? How about dropping the P? Because after that kind of performance there are players who have run out of equity in this organization and no longer deserve to be here. Yes, layoffs are in order, and they’ll be coming… soon.

It’s not really worth going through the bits and pieces of this game. You’ve seen them all before. You’ve read enough about the way the team makes the same mistakes over and over. How they can’t help but get themselves behind in games and have too big a hole of which to dig out.

Yeah, it happened again. Washington got the first goal in the first period on a shift that was either an absolute clinic by the Capitals on how to maintain possession in the offensive zone for an extended period of time, or was as pathetic an effort by the Flyers in not trying to get the puck out. Probably a little bit of both.

It was after that shift that you knew, this Flyers team wasn’t going to have it Tuesday. I’m sure playing six games in nine nights had them weary. It would any team. An because of that, you could understand not playing your best game. But to just not show up at all? The Capitals led 4-1 after one period. The Flyers were outshot 19-9 in the period.

From there, it didn’t matter. However, the Caps added a goal in each of the second and third periods. Brian Elliott took one for the team and stayed in goal for the entirety of the contest.

When I asked coach Alain Vigneault why he didn’t feel the need to switch goalies to try and spark the team as he has several times in the past, here’s what he said:

“(It was about) our guys playing better in front of Brian. Brian is an experienced player. He’s always giving us his best effort. We had to find pride in our game here to stop the onslaught that was going on. We did get a little bit better (after the first period)… but it was far from good enough.”

Even in a game when Carter Hart’s not playing, AV finds ways to tweak his franchise goalie – whether he intended to or not, this time.

Fun.

I’m sure outside of the city of Philadelphia, Flyers haters are having a field day with this debacle. And for once, they are right. The Flyers deserve every bit of criticism you can muster at this point. I don’t even fault the fans who are completely misguided about what’s wrong with the team and who is at fault. You want to blame the coaches, go ahead. You want to rip the “C” off of Claude Giroux? Go nuts. It’ll get you no closer to what you ultimately want but hey, go ahead and fuel your misfocused rage. You do you. This is the closest you will ever be to correct about this team.

Because this fetid corpse of a franchise needs a much better self-evaluation process both on the ice and off it.

Chuck Fletcher already promised us some change with his personnel this summer. We’re on the wait-and-see watch for that.

And while changes in personnel are nothing new on the other side of the organization, one has to wonder how so many people from one franchise can be so damn clueless and continue to make themselves look incompetent time and again.

What do I mean? Consider this paid advertisement the Flyers have going around on social media:

Notice anything wrong with this picture? Anything maybe they could have done differently?

Let’s see… It’s Hockey Fights Cancer night. We want to promote the game and have fans come out to support the cause. Who should we use as the central figure to promote the night and really get fans interested in coming out, even though the team is in the crapper?

Well, we do have a kid in Oskar Lindblom on the team who was diagnosed with Ewing’s sarcoma, beat cancer in six months, made an inspirational return to the ice in August to play in the playoffs, had thousands of fans using the hashtag #OskarStrong, got players from other teams – including hated rivals like Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang to don Oskar Strong T-shirts, has become a spokesperson for Hockey Fights Cancer, petitioned the league to have the purple ribbon on his helmet for the whole season and got permission, is still cancer-free, and who has been an inspiration to so many, not just in Philadelphia but across the hockey world.

We could use him. Or we could use Gritty.

Yeah, let’s go Gritty.

I try not to curse on this blog, even though I can, but I think I speak for the entirety of this exasperated, frustrated, and soon to be completely apathetic fan base when I say, “Are you $#%@&$ kidding me?”

I mean, WTF, Flyers?

I know the Flyers are not going to be happy with this. I’m sure I’ll get another phone call, text message, or something trying to tell me I’m being unfair to the organization, and that the decision makers on these things care deeply and work long hours and try harder than anyone to get these things right.

This was a layup. This was the Staples “Easy Button.” This was paint by numbers and there was only one number for the entire picture – 23.

But, when you have built an entire marketing strategy around a mascot and not around the actual athletes that fans pay hard-earned money to come and see, you really can’t see the forest for the trees.

This error in judgment should go into the Sports Business 101 textbook used at every college and university as an example of not knowing your audience, which this organization does not.

Yet, at the same time, it’s perfectly apropos for the 2021 Flyers.

Considering how everything has gone, you know what would be the best thing for this organization right now?

Just ending the season. Anytime. Anywhere.

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