from Sam Carchidi of the Philadelphia Inquirer,

Fans are angry - not just because the team isn't winning and isn't entertaining, but because of a lack of a 60-minute commitment. The Flyers disappeared for an entire period in a lot of games last season, and that head-scratching trend continued in Thursday's 4-1 loss to Pittsburgh. It's one thing to have a lackluster period in a midseason game in, say, Buffalo. But to be embarrassed in a second period - the Penguins had a 17-5 shots advantage and looked as if they were on a power play for almost the entire 20 minutes - in a home game against your bitter archrivals?!

The knee-jerk reaction is to blame the general manager for the Flyers' fall - from a Stanley Cup finalist in 2010, to winning one playoff round in 2011 and 2012, to missing the playoffs in 2013 for just the second time in the last 18 seasons, to this 1-7 disaster.

Holmgren is the one who gave the crazy contract to Ilya Bryzgalov (nine years, $51 million). The Flyers ate the final seven years of the deal, costing the franchise $23 million.

Holmgren is the one who traded away last season's Vezina-winning goalie, Sergei Bobrovsky - though, from here, more blame has to go to Laviolette for the way he lost confidence in him in the 2011 playoffs, causing a panic signing of Bryzgalov.

Holmgren is the one who has assembled an offensively inept team, while traded-away players such as Jeff Carter, Joffrey Lupul, James van Riemsdyk, and Mike Richards are flourishing around the league.

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