Yesterday, the Flyers celebrated 30 years of their Fight for Lives Carnival, with the usual multi-media barrage on television and radio that brought the sights and sounds of the annual event to fans at home or otherwise busied.
The anniversary apparently brought together the largest gathering of current and former players than any previous year's event - and since the club recently celebrated a flashback night to the 1980's, I think I'll do the same.
My first Carnival experience came in February, 1985. It was shortly after my first game experience, an 8-2 Flyers thrashing of the Penguins in a President's Day matinee at the Spectrum. Being so young (7 years old, first-grader) I barely had any concept of Flyers history beyond what occurred since the previous October, but when my dad came home from the office one day and told me he had tickets, I was pretty psyched to go somewhere special on a weeknight.
I remember how cavernous the Spectrum looked without 17,222 fans jamming every seat, and the floor where the ice surface was being so huge withouth the boards. The rafters looked a million miles away from ice-level, compared to the fact that you could pick out the spots on a pigeon hanging from the rafters in our seats (Section 54) during a game. The concourses were packed with people - fathers and sons, fathers and daughters, young girls and their friends - all trying to get a glimpse of their favorite players in the smaller booths. On the arena floor, things moved much more smoothly because of the space, and no matter where you stood - the dunk tank, the wheels of chance, the goal area, or in the middle where a stack of boxes 10-feet high were positioned - there was enough room and time to breathe in the atmosphere.
That is, until a large, booming voice from above cut through all the joyful buzz.
That stack of boxes, ten-feet high? Someone had to go up the ladder and pick one at random for the endless wave of youngsters eager to gain some new Flyers merchandise. That someone, I later found out, was Joe Watson, former defenseman and original Flyer. At the time, he was a stocky but spry middle-aged man, but that voice was like a rolling peal of thunder to a small fry like myself. When each kid came up to get one of those mystery boxes, someone on the floor yelled up to Joe on the ladder, and he'd grab one, come down, and fire off a bellowing but jovial "Here you go, son/little cutie. Enjoy it." It was almost like an order than a gesture of thanks, because he'd be going up and down those steps hundreds of times over the course of the night.
The two main attractions, and the things I wanted to do the most, were the dunk tank and shooting on a Flyers goaltender. Apparently, so did everyone else. But, since the line to the dunk tank was moving a lot quicker than the shooting gallery, it was an easy choice. I think the wait was about 20 minutes, during which time the players changed up twice. By the time it was my turn, Lindsay Carson (in the middle of a career-best 20 goal season) was the man on the hot (cold?) seat. For three throws, you had to shell out three bucks, and hit the round target 20 feet away for the player to sink into the drink. I knew how to throw a ball as I was a fielding pitcher in a T-ball league the year before, but how fast can a grade-schooler throw really? So, the first chance sailed wide of the target. The second try hit just above, and the third one just below as my arm turned to a wet noodle.
I never even tried to get in line for the shot on a goaltender after my turn at the tank - and besides, by the time I was done there, Bob Froese the back-up goaltender was on the spot. Even though the team was in second place and Bob had played well, nobody was chanting his name night-in and night-out from the upper levels. For me, it was Pelle or nothing - and that would be a sad epitaph for thousands of fans soon enough though nobody would know it then.
So, it was back to the concourse to try and get a handshake, a picture, or a signature from the better known and more popular players on the team. This was the truly magic portion of the night, the thing I'd been waiting for - the chance for a one-on-one with the guys I watched and cheered for on Channel 6 and 29 and the radio network through Gene Hart's wonderful wordplay. I recall Brad Marsh's face light up each and every time a new person came up and exchanged a few words, and how he'd pause to coo over babies wrapped head-to-toe in Flyers garb. Dave Poulin, the captain, greeting all comers and measuring each sentence with a smile and chuckle. Brad McCrimmon, flashing that gap-toothed devilish grin. Peter Zezel, Rick Tocchet and Murray Craven all looking overjoyed and overwhelmed simultaneously at their sudden popularity (particularly amongst the teenage girls).
The coup-de-grace came on our last run of the night down on the floor through the spinning wheels and other games of chance. I don't remember how it happened - whether he just spotted some cute kid or if my parents had just requested that someone free take some time out to meet me - but the chance was there for a picture. Derrick Smith, another one of the fresh young faces on the team in 1984-85, agreed to a snapshot before heading off to his duties for the rest of the night. Thinking it was going to be another pose picture like the ones in the photo booths, I was totally surprised when Number 24 picked me up so we were eye-to-eye for the shot.
The result is priceless: me, with my arm draped around his shoulders all wide-eyed innocence, him with a goofy, bewildered 19-year-old half-smile. Who knows if anybody else did the same thing then, or in other years? The bond I had with the team and the sport was cemented. Years later, after another family move, I dug out the picture and have kept it for myself as a reminder. Maybe one day, after a few beers on the golf course, I'll have enough courage to ask him for another photo opportunity to bring things full-circle.
Which brings me to the media coverage of the event in 2007: On both Comcast Sportsnet and 610 WIP, the Carnival appeared nothing more than a chance for all the corporate sponsors to get face/airtime, for the broadcasters to try and pump the players for information about their trade-deadline worries, and for the radio and TV talent to look like they were involved when all they had to do was stand in front of a camera and tell everyone at home what they were missing.
Once upon a time, not too long ago, television coverage of the Carnival showcased the players more, showcased how excited the parents and the kids were to meet their heroes, and went around to every station for personal interviews with Flyers front office, staff, and former players. You got a real sense of the civic responsibility for helping out Hahnemann University Hospital, and an even truer sense of how much fun everyone had to pause from the season and give back to the fans and community. Instead, things began to turn about three years ago, and this year, as the Flyers are nearing the end of their worst season in franchise history, media coverage was so shot through with corporate shills, merchandising, and pleas about the team's bright future that even a dead man could see through the ruse.
Monday, February 26, 2007
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Standing Still is Another Option
The first volley of the NHL's impending trade deadline was fired this morning, as Keith Tkachuk was dealt from the Blues to the Thrashers for Glen Metropolit and a whole mess of potentiality.
Atlanta, recently faltering in the Southeast Division, acquired yet another veteran war-horse with scoring pop to season its already spirited lineup while giving away nothing in return to a Blues team now officially conceding the season.
Does it really have to be this way? Does every team which deems itself a non-buyer at the trade deadline for any number of reasons, have to sell off its top talent in vague hopes to get draft picks to build a "future?" Of course not.
But, since NHL general managers are positively obsessed with getting "value" in every deal they make, the cycle is perpetuated. Even the Flyers, who are at the bottom of the league standings, felt pressured to be a "seller" even though they have been out of the playoff race since Christmas because the chance of "losing" Peter Forsberg (an unrestricted free agent in summer) without compensation is judged to be far too damaging to the success of future seasons without something in return.
Never mind the actual humans (Scottie Upshall and Ryan Parent), but isn't it bizarre that so many GM's are so willing to throw out warm bodies for the greatest of the Great Unknowns, the draft pick?
Sure, you can never have too many draft picks, and surely never too many picks high in either the first or second rounds, but at least half of these potentialities are dealt in turn - either for more picks, higher picks, or a throw-in forward or minor leaguer - without a real person at least donning a team jersey and posing for a picture on draft day.
Even under the new cap rules following the cancelled season, and despite the fact that a ton of these first-generation contracts with big names attached are about to end, the NHL is very much a "Future is Now" league. Although 16 teams ultimately make the postseason, no fewer than 22 teams have a shot to make the dance at this time of year. After 22 years of watching the NHL, I can't for the life of me understand why heads of these organizations are still willing to deal so willingly in the unknown - but a key to the answer does lay in a pastime of younger years.
Think of GM phone conversations at or near the deadline as trading baseball cards (we all did that in our youth, right?). If you solely judged a player based on stats on the back and the picture on the front, it's easier to fleece your trading partner based on a flimsy piece of cardboard plus your own skewed opinion. You haven't seen the player(s) or talked to him/them in person, so there's no concrete evidence to back up the claim. Still, if you're dangling three cards and professing your desire of just one (or the other way around) that the other person is holding, it's hard for the other person to pass it up, and it's hard for you to resist a snicker of satisfaction as you make the deal.
However, things really get murky when you deal with bodies, because the video evidence is splashed all over the satellite, every night from October to April. That's why, even now, there are precious few two-for-two or higher multiple deals any more. If you have a zombie in skates on your hands costing your team goals every night, you have to find another willing sucker to unload him. On the other hand, if you have a draft pick or even a prospect attached to a pick who has yet to set foot on an NHL rink, you can more easily manipulate someone's opinion by using their hope for the future as a bargaining chip.
So, to the point.
Why are teams so consistently divided into buyers or sellers, with nothing in between? Why can't doing nothing be a wise or viable option? Since there will be so much player movement due to the brevity of contracts under a moving cap in the new era, wouldn't a team that stands pat (out of playoffs or not at this point) stand as good a chance, or even better, to improve next season? Sure, sometimes low risk yields low reward, but what if the two players you traded at the deadline the previous season because the team was out of contention could have helped you this season?
Case in point: the New York Islanders. About to miss the playoffs for the ninth time in 11 seasons, the club dealt second-line scorer Mark Parrish and able defenseman Brent Sopel to the Kings for prospects Jeff Tambellini and Denis Grebeshkov at the deadline last year. Under that regime, the Isles were on a course to move towards a near-total youth movement, so the trade made sense. However, with the offseason shenanigans that stained New York this past summer, more veteran free agents were acquired, and the Islanders are playing well enough to sit on the cusp of the postseason in 2007.
You can't tell me that Parrish and Sopel couldn't have remained vital on a rebuilding team. You also can't say that Parrish and Sopel wouldn't be key positive veteran factors to push the club off the bubble this year. Instead, the remainder of this season will play out like Survivor: Eastern Conference, and the Islanders will have to scratch, claw, and fight to win an immunity challenge.
Case in point #2: The 1997 Stanley Cup Finals (Philadelphia and Detroit). In 1996, the Flyers made a flurry of at-or-near deadline deals to bolster their roster, bringing in Dan Quinn, Kerry Huffman, John Druce and Dale Hawerchuk, then bowed out in six games to Florida in the second round. The next season, they made no deals and with a solid, cohesive roster, reached the Finals. Detroit ripped the guts out of their roster early on, and the club meshed with that stability. The acquisition of Larry Murphy from Toronto for virtually nothing was the sole move for the eventual Cup winner.
Case in point #3: Every Western Conference club that didn't win the Cup from 1996 through 2002. Look back at Colorado, Detroit and Dallas, and you'll see the years they were the least active at gutting their minor-league system and wasting draft picks for veteran talent were the years they won their Cups.
With 48 hours to go before the 3 PM Tuesday deadline, you can be certain of more than a dozen smaller deals borne out of the frustration each general manager has with their counterparts who try to pry a blue chip prospect or a bona-fide scorer from each other's hands. One guarantee, though, is that any team which chooses to stay where they are and not deal in futures, will have the honor of being skewered thoroughly in the papers and on television for their indecision or lack of initiative.
Too bad nobody will see the wisdom when one or more of these clubs makes a deep playoff run.
Atlanta, recently faltering in the Southeast Division, acquired yet another veteran war-horse with scoring pop to season its already spirited lineup while giving away nothing in return to a Blues team now officially conceding the season.
Does it really have to be this way? Does every team which deems itself a non-buyer at the trade deadline for any number of reasons, have to sell off its top talent in vague hopes to get draft picks to build a "future?" Of course not.
But, since NHL general managers are positively obsessed with getting "value" in every deal they make, the cycle is perpetuated. Even the Flyers, who are at the bottom of the league standings, felt pressured to be a "seller" even though they have been out of the playoff race since Christmas because the chance of "losing" Peter Forsberg (an unrestricted free agent in summer) without compensation is judged to be far too damaging to the success of future seasons without something in return.
Never mind the actual humans (Scottie Upshall and Ryan Parent), but isn't it bizarre that so many GM's are so willing to throw out warm bodies for the greatest of the Great Unknowns, the draft pick?
Sure, you can never have too many draft picks, and surely never too many picks high in either the first or second rounds, but at least half of these potentialities are dealt in turn - either for more picks, higher picks, or a throw-in forward or minor leaguer - without a real person at least donning a team jersey and posing for a picture on draft day.
Even under the new cap rules following the cancelled season, and despite the fact that a ton of these first-generation contracts with big names attached are about to end, the NHL is very much a "Future is Now" league. Although 16 teams ultimately make the postseason, no fewer than 22 teams have a shot to make the dance at this time of year. After 22 years of watching the NHL, I can't for the life of me understand why heads of these organizations are still willing to deal so willingly in the unknown - but a key to the answer does lay in a pastime of younger years.
Think of GM phone conversations at or near the deadline as trading baseball cards (we all did that in our youth, right?). If you solely judged a player based on stats on the back and the picture on the front, it's easier to fleece your trading partner based on a flimsy piece of cardboard plus your own skewed opinion. You haven't seen the player(s) or talked to him/them in person, so there's no concrete evidence to back up the claim. Still, if you're dangling three cards and professing your desire of just one (or the other way around) that the other person is holding, it's hard for the other person to pass it up, and it's hard for you to resist a snicker of satisfaction as you make the deal.
However, things really get murky when you deal with bodies, because the video evidence is splashed all over the satellite, every night from October to April. That's why, even now, there are precious few two-for-two or higher multiple deals any more. If you have a zombie in skates on your hands costing your team goals every night, you have to find another willing sucker to unload him. On the other hand, if you have a draft pick or even a prospect attached to a pick who has yet to set foot on an NHL rink, you can more easily manipulate someone's opinion by using their hope for the future as a bargaining chip.
So, to the point.
Why are teams so consistently divided into buyers or sellers, with nothing in between? Why can't doing nothing be a wise or viable option? Since there will be so much player movement due to the brevity of contracts under a moving cap in the new era, wouldn't a team that stands pat (out of playoffs or not at this point) stand as good a chance, or even better, to improve next season? Sure, sometimes low risk yields low reward, but what if the two players you traded at the deadline the previous season because the team was out of contention could have helped you this season?
Case in point: the New York Islanders. About to miss the playoffs for the ninth time in 11 seasons, the club dealt second-line scorer Mark Parrish and able defenseman Brent Sopel to the Kings for prospects Jeff Tambellini and Denis Grebeshkov at the deadline last year. Under that regime, the Isles were on a course to move towards a near-total youth movement, so the trade made sense. However, with the offseason shenanigans that stained New York this past summer, more veteran free agents were acquired, and the Islanders are playing well enough to sit on the cusp of the postseason in 2007.
You can't tell me that Parrish and Sopel couldn't have remained vital on a rebuilding team. You also can't say that Parrish and Sopel wouldn't be key positive veteran factors to push the club off the bubble this year. Instead, the remainder of this season will play out like Survivor: Eastern Conference, and the Islanders will have to scratch, claw, and fight to win an immunity challenge.
Case in point #2: The 1997 Stanley Cup Finals (Philadelphia and Detroit). In 1996, the Flyers made a flurry of at-or-near deadline deals to bolster their roster, bringing in Dan Quinn, Kerry Huffman, John Druce and Dale Hawerchuk, then bowed out in six games to Florida in the second round. The next season, they made no deals and with a solid, cohesive roster, reached the Finals. Detroit ripped the guts out of their roster early on, and the club meshed with that stability. The acquisition of Larry Murphy from Toronto for virtually nothing was the sole move for the eventual Cup winner.
Case in point #3: Every Western Conference club that didn't win the Cup from 1996 through 2002. Look back at Colorado, Detroit and Dallas, and you'll see the years they were the least active at gutting their minor-league system and wasting draft picks for veteran talent were the years they won their Cups.
With 48 hours to go before the 3 PM Tuesday deadline, you can be certain of more than a dozen smaller deals borne out of the frustration each general manager has with their counterparts who try to pry a blue chip prospect or a bona-fide scorer from each other's hands. One guarantee, though, is that any team which chooses to stay where they are and not deal in futures, will have the honor of being skewered thoroughly in the papers and on television for their indecision or lack of initiative.
Too bad nobody will see the wisdom when one or more of these clubs makes a deep playoff run.
Thursday, February 22, 2007
I Don't Mean to Start a Fight...
But... how is the suggested easing of the instigator suspension rule going to truly prevent the game's stars from harm if their guards are still suspended in some way by protecting them?
The 30 Dark Lords of the NHL debated this issue down in Florida this week among several others, and a consensus was reached that a two-game suspension should only come after a player has accumulated five, not the original three, instigator penalties.
Just from the logic of the above rule amendment, the league is STILL not fully protecting their superstars. A suspension is a suspension however you slice it, and if a given team has only one designated "enforcer" on their roster, he basically has only five chances outside the rules to protect his teammate before losing two games to do so effectively. The ramifications are worse if a second-line goal scorer with a mean-streak takes matters into his own hands and sacrifices a pair of games since he's the only man for the job. Chances are there will be a point (maybe several if this player is brutally effective) during the season where your 50-goal player is left unprotected while flitting across the ice - during which opposing bruisers will lick their chops and size up their prey for The Big Hit.
The bridge to cross on the issue is far off, to be sure, but the resulting questions are relevant: Can the coach trust the role to a less-engaging skater? Can he trust the role to an excessively-exuberant AHL player looking to take a permanent roster spot? Does he do nothing and hope the honor system works?
I believe all forms of instigator penalty, save for a situation when one player clearly attacks another and engages in a fight without provocation or consent (such as when a 6'4, 230-pound Saskatchewan-bred fourth-liner decides to pummel a 5'10, 180-pound Swede or Finn just because he's there) should be abolished. Even if a player who is grabbed and pulled into a fight eventually sticks up for himself, no extra penalty should be called on the aggressor because his own defense constitutes consent to engage. Same should go for a fighter who engages another player due to a hit the latter put on the former's more skilled teammate - the fact that both men clinch and throw punches means consent to the action under The Code - and besides, the latter player knows a challenge is coming due to his recognition of The Code as well.
However, it's pretty clear that an old-school fan and student of the game like myself won't see those plans come to fruition, but short of that, let's get rid of the suspension for multiple instigators altogether. You want to send a message that a player can't get out of control? Give out a ten-minute misconduct for every two instigators a player receives in one game. A player accumulates five? An automatic game-misconduct. There's a lot of breathing room between no infraction at all and a multi-game suspension.
At worst, if a player receives a two-game suspension for headhunting say, Sid Crosby, how will it affect that player's role if all he's thinking about for three or more days is getting revenge? Even in this day and age of the supposedly more genteel NHL, a suspended player isn't going to sit in a darkened corner and think about what he did - he's going to spend his time plotting revenge beyond the referee's gaze - and that can only lead to more trouble down the road.
The 30 Dark Lords of the NHL debated this issue down in Florida this week among several others, and a consensus was reached that a two-game suspension should only come after a player has accumulated five, not the original three, instigator penalties.
Just from the logic of the above rule amendment, the league is STILL not fully protecting their superstars. A suspension is a suspension however you slice it, and if a given team has only one designated "enforcer" on their roster, he basically has only five chances outside the rules to protect his teammate before losing two games to do so effectively. The ramifications are worse if a second-line goal scorer with a mean-streak takes matters into his own hands and sacrifices a pair of games since he's the only man for the job. Chances are there will be a point (maybe several if this player is brutally effective) during the season where your 50-goal player is left unprotected while flitting across the ice - during which opposing bruisers will lick their chops and size up their prey for The Big Hit.
The bridge to cross on the issue is far off, to be sure, but the resulting questions are relevant: Can the coach trust the role to a less-engaging skater? Can he trust the role to an excessively-exuberant AHL player looking to take a permanent roster spot? Does he do nothing and hope the honor system works?
I believe all forms of instigator penalty, save for a situation when one player clearly attacks another and engages in a fight without provocation or consent (such as when a 6'4, 230-pound Saskatchewan-bred fourth-liner decides to pummel a 5'10, 180-pound Swede or Finn just because he's there) should be abolished. Even if a player who is grabbed and pulled into a fight eventually sticks up for himself, no extra penalty should be called on the aggressor because his own defense constitutes consent to engage. Same should go for a fighter who engages another player due to a hit the latter put on the former's more skilled teammate - the fact that both men clinch and throw punches means consent to the action under The Code - and besides, the latter player knows a challenge is coming due to his recognition of The Code as well.
However, it's pretty clear that an old-school fan and student of the game like myself won't see those plans come to fruition, but short of that, let's get rid of the suspension for multiple instigators altogether. You want to send a message that a player can't get out of control? Give out a ten-minute misconduct for every two instigators a player receives in one game. A player accumulates five? An automatic game-misconduct. There's a lot of breathing room between no infraction at all and a multi-game suspension.
At worst, if a player receives a two-game suspension for headhunting say, Sid Crosby, how will it affect that player's role if all he's thinking about for three or more days is getting revenge? Even in this day and age of the supposedly more genteel NHL, a suspended player isn't going to sit in a darkened corner and think about what he did - he's going to spend his time plotting revenge beyond the referee's gaze - and that can only lead to more trouble down the road.
Monday, February 19, 2007
Lingering Effects
Although not unexpected, it is still jarring, the Thursday night trade which shipped team-captain-cum-franchise-savior Peter Forsberg to the Nashville Predators for two fresh bodies and a pair of hypotheticals.
However you slice it, the Flyers gave up the biggest reason to keep watching the team this season for four smaller reasons to keep interest in future years. They also gave up the player who made it easier for the rest of the team, injured or not, to go out and win games. Clearly, the Flyers skated like drunken zombies through two periods Thursday against Toronto because of the trade announcement and it showed. Clearly, they had to do everything they could to reverse that performance on Saturday, and they did by winning in New York.
However, the true effects of losing Forsberg for the remainder of the schedule are to be seen, and can only be one of two things: total disillusion that despite all best efforts and hard work, it won't be enough to win more than a handful of games; a closing of the ranks and all-f0r-one attitude in the face of continuing adversity which may thrust the Flyers into the role of spoiler for some playoff wannabes.
In Thursday's second-period intermission press conference given by GM Paul Holmgren, owner Ed Snider and Forsberg himself, a few things jumped right off the TV screen:
Plus, as he was clearly indecisive about wanting to leave in the first place, then forced to go by management which deemed every day he was indecisive as detrimental to trade talks, Forsberg won't be all that comfortable playing out the string as part of a powerful Nashville lineup. He looked very tentative in his first game Saturday night against Minnesota (a 4-1 Wild victory). Sure, he'll contribute to what figures to be a deep Preds playoff run, but after the trauma of being traded for the first time in his career is compounded by his departure under duress, it might take until the summer before he adjusts mentally - just in time to rediscover how much the Flyers may want (or need) him back.
Holmgren's refusal to mention the "other clubs" who wished to trade for Forsberg seemed to accomplish two goals - taking the heat off the front office if the beat writers deemed another potential deal as benefitting the Flyers more, and to keep the heat off Peter himself if cornered and pressed on where he would have liked to play if not Nashville. It was traumatizing enough for him to leave when he did; he didn't need the added pressure of a dozen microphones or tape recorders shoved in his face asking if he'd like to be in Carolina, Dallas, or wherever.
Also, regardless of whether the Flyers want to bring Forsberg back, whether he really will consider it, or whether he can find a skate boot in all the universe that will keep his foot and ankle stable, Snider is clearly setting the media and the fans up for another signing bonanza in the summer. In addition to Forsberg, Chris Drury, Sheldon Souray and Paul Kariya are three big names on the unrestricted market and would be killer additions to a lineup the organization feels needs only a few veteran voices to back-up a "stellar" young core.
Taken in the context of something like the Curt Schilling deal in 2000, the Forsberg-for-four deal on Thursday appears to be a move to reshape a roster with small future payouts.
But why would you need two players and two draft picks unless you're willing to deal one or more in the future for better gains? It's what the Flyers have done for years under the old system, and it's not likely that they won't try to work a steal under the new system. And why wouldn't they settle? Because to the Flyers, "the future" only means two years down the road, and "the future" also means constant reloading with roster tweaks to continue the illusion of a perennially-contending team.
Unfortunately, if the club chooses to view things through more practical eyes, re-signing an injury-prone Forsberg wouldn't really be a smart move. There are other players less talented, but built for the long-haul with more luck and longevity than Forsberg has displayed throughout his career. If nothing else, though, the Flyers have been an excessively loyal franchise, willing to give those who gave hearts and body parts to win, unlimited opportunity.
However you slice it, the Flyers gave up the biggest reason to keep watching the team this season for four smaller reasons to keep interest in future years. They also gave up the player who made it easier for the rest of the team, injured or not, to go out and win games. Clearly, the Flyers skated like drunken zombies through two periods Thursday against Toronto because of the trade announcement and it showed. Clearly, they had to do everything they could to reverse that performance on Saturday, and they did by winning in New York.
However, the true effects of losing Forsberg for the remainder of the schedule are to be seen, and can only be one of two things: total disillusion that despite all best efforts and hard work, it won't be enough to win more than a handful of games; a closing of the ranks and all-f0r-one attitude in the face of continuing adversity which may thrust the Flyers into the role of spoiler for some playoff wannabes.
In Thursday's second-period intermission press conference given by GM Paul Holmgren, owner Ed Snider and Forsberg himself, a few things jumped right off the TV screen:
- Holmgren's stiff, jaw-clenching denial that Forsberg agreed to re-sign with the Flyers in the off-season as a condition for letting the Flyers deal him. Quoth the GM: "That would be tampering."
- His curious refusal to name any other team that might have been able to work a deal with the Flyers, choosing to do so "in fairness to the other clubs."
- Ed Snider's flat denial that the Forsberg deal signified any kind of downturn for the franchise by tersely venting "We don't understand what 'rebuilding' is."
- His dragging out of the old injury excuse as a reason for the club's misfortune, and his admittance that the Flyers are "not far away" from being a contender again with a few key signings.
- Forsberg shying away from any indication he'll play anywhere beyond the end of this season saying he "wouldn't commit to another year anywhere unless [his] foot feels right," and hinting he'd have no problem hanging it up and returning to Sweden if his skate issue is not properly resolved.
Plus, as he was clearly indecisive about wanting to leave in the first place, then forced to go by management which deemed every day he was indecisive as detrimental to trade talks, Forsberg won't be all that comfortable playing out the string as part of a powerful Nashville lineup. He looked very tentative in his first game Saturday night against Minnesota (a 4-1 Wild victory). Sure, he'll contribute to what figures to be a deep Preds playoff run, but after the trauma of being traded for the first time in his career is compounded by his departure under duress, it might take until the summer before he adjusts mentally - just in time to rediscover how much the Flyers may want (or need) him back.
Holmgren's refusal to mention the "other clubs" who wished to trade for Forsberg seemed to accomplish two goals - taking the heat off the front office if the beat writers deemed another potential deal as benefitting the Flyers more, and to keep the heat off Peter himself if cornered and pressed on where he would have liked to play if not Nashville. It was traumatizing enough for him to leave when he did; he didn't need the added pressure of a dozen microphones or tape recorders shoved in his face asking if he'd like to be in Carolina, Dallas, or wherever.
Also, regardless of whether the Flyers want to bring Forsberg back, whether he really will consider it, or whether he can find a skate boot in all the universe that will keep his foot and ankle stable, Snider is clearly setting the media and the fans up for another signing bonanza in the summer. In addition to Forsberg, Chris Drury, Sheldon Souray and Paul Kariya are three big names on the unrestricted market and would be killer additions to a lineup the organization feels needs only a few veteran voices to back-up a "stellar" young core.
Taken in the context of something like the Curt Schilling deal in 2000, the Forsberg-for-four deal on Thursday appears to be a move to reshape a roster with small future payouts.
But why would you need two players and two draft picks unless you're willing to deal one or more in the future for better gains? It's what the Flyers have done for years under the old system, and it's not likely that they won't try to work a steal under the new system. And why wouldn't they settle? Because to the Flyers, "the future" only means two years down the road, and "the future" also means constant reloading with roster tweaks to continue the illusion of a perennially-contending team.
Unfortunately, if the club chooses to view things through more practical eyes, re-signing an injury-prone Forsberg wouldn't really be a smart move. There are other players less talented, but built for the long-haul with more luck and longevity than Forsberg has displayed throughout his career. If nothing else, though, the Flyers have been an excessively loyal franchise, willing to give those who gave hearts and body parts to win, unlimited opportunity.
Saturday, February 17, 2007
Sotto Voce
Philadelphia native Tony Voce has been released from the Phantoms due to a disagreement with head coach Kjell Samuelsson.
Judging from the little bit of information in Panaccio's article there is a lot more than meets the eye, since, well, when has a simple disagreement over a practice where the player's anger gets the better of him, result in a dismissal?
Voce has been known to be a fiery, temperamental sort on the ice. He has been benched for periods here and there over his three-year stint with the Phantoms in order to bring his competitive streak in check and to continue his adjustment to the pro game from the college ranks. From all accounts and from these two eyes, when he's on, he displays a sniper's flair with an eye for punishing contact. When he's off? That's another matter that apparently has only been dealt with away from the ice and within Phantoms management.
The 26-year-old developed from a clear work-in-progress with unlimited talent during the team's 2005 Calder Cup season, to a bona-fide two-way player and team-leading scorer last season, to a part-time skater who has been clearly frustrated and shackled under Samuelsson.
Why a player of his caliber, even with his sometimes unrestrained brand of passion, was sent home with no chance of returning to South Broad Street indicates only one of two things: that he has exhibited a pattern of discord with Samuelsson and the coaching staff before this point, or that Samuelsson's plan for the hometown lad was vastly different with where his talent and skill lay, and the argument was simply the catalyst to get Voce out of town.
In either instance, it is a sad ending for someone whom I legitimately pegged as having a chance to crack the Flyers lineup in future seasons as part of its youth revival. Aside from just being a native Philadelphian, Voce is equal parts venom and velvet, someone who has worked to become very Flyer-like, a second-line checker with some pop in the Peter Zezel or early-Rick Tocchet mold. He rose from a role playing freshman on Boston College's 2001 National Championship squad to captain and leading scorer in his senior season, so he knows how to handle himself and others both on and off the ice.
The fact that Paul Holmgren went to the philosophical well and pulled out another old chestnut from venerated former head coach Fred Shero to explain Voce's release indicated an old-school mindset about the incident that is woefully out of line with today's athlete. So he had a blowup at practice, and he's frustrated about his role? So what? Even if it's not the first time it happened, did anyone on the coaching staff or front office talk to Voce before about his temper? Did Samuelsson or Holmgren or anyone else meet with Voce before the decision was made to dump him? Again, there's more to the story we're missing.
In any event, despite the brave front Holmgren may construct, the Phantoms are now missing their spark plug, and a huge impact player from their ranks. Where they will get offense from an already goal-challenged lineup is a total mystery. Where they will find any better marketable attraction than a hometown-boy-does-good story, is equally mysterious.
After this move, the real questions should be: Do the Flyers really care that much about the Phantoms as a hockey team, or are they nothing more than a conveyor belt for the big club, spare parts for inevitable injury bugs which strike the team each season? Do the Flyers care that their once-proud minor-league franchise is a shell (no pun intended) of its former self, catering to families and kids and half-empty houses? Can anybody even hear themselves think over the incessant din of the Sponge Bob Square Pants theme song?
Judging from the little bit of information in Panaccio's article there is a lot more than meets the eye, since, well, when has a simple disagreement over a practice where the player's anger gets the better of him, result in a dismissal?
Voce has been known to be a fiery, temperamental sort on the ice. He has been benched for periods here and there over his three-year stint with the Phantoms in order to bring his competitive streak in check and to continue his adjustment to the pro game from the college ranks. From all accounts and from these two eyes, when he's on, he displays a sniper's flair with an eye for punishing contact. When he's off? That's another matter that apparently has only been dealt with away from the ice and within Phantoms management.
The 26-year-old developed from a clear work-in-progress with unlimited talent during the team's 2005 Calder Cup season, to a bona-fide two-way player and team-leading scorer last season, to a part-time skater who has been clearly frustrated and shackled under Samuelsson.
Why a player of his caliber, even with his sometimes unrestrained brand of passion, was sent home with no chance of returning to South Broad Street indicates only one of two things: that he has exhibited a pattern of discord with Samuelsson and the coaching staff before this point, or that Samuelsson's plan for the hometown lad was vastly different with where his talent and skill lay, and the argument was simply the catalyst to get Voce out of town.
In either instance, it is a sad ending for someone whom I legitimately pegged as having a chance to crack the Flyers lineup in future seasons as part of its youth revival. Aside from just being a native Philadelphian, Voce is equal parts venom and velvet, someone who has worked to become very Flyer-like, a second-line checker with some pop in the Peter Zezel or early-Rick Tocchet mold. He rose from a role playing freshman on Boston College's 2001 National Championship squad to captain and leading scorer in his senior season, so he knows how to handle himself and others both on and off the ice.
The fact that Paul Holmgren went to the philosophical well and pulled out another old chestnut from venerated former head coach Fred Shero to explain Voce's release indicated an old-school mindset about the incident that is woefully out of line with today's athlete. So he had a blowup at practice, and he's frustrated about his role? So what? Even if it's not the first time it happened, did anyone on the coaching staff or front office talk to Voce before about his temper? Did Samuelsson or Holmgren or anyone else meet with Voce before the decision was made to dump him? Again, there's more to the story we're missing.
In any event, despite the brave front Holmgren may construct, the Phantoms are now missing their spark plug, and a huge impact player from their ranks. Where they will get offense from an already goal-challenged lineup is a total mystery. Where they will find any better marketable attraction than a hometown-boy-does-good story, is equally mysterious.
After this move, the real questions should be: Do the Flyers really care that much about the Phantoms as a hockey team, or are they nothing more than a conveyor belt for the big club, spare parts for inevitable injury bugs which strike the team each season? Do the Flyers care that their once-proud minor-league franchise is a shell (no pun intended) of its former self, catering to families and kids and half-empty houses? Can anybody even hear themselves think over the incessant din of the Sponge Bob Square Pants theme song?
Monday, February 12, 2007
Saturday, February 10, 2007
Trading Places
There were two trades in the NHL yesterday, which heralds the initiation of the three-week speculative frenzy the accompanies the onset of the trading deadline - happening this year an absurdly early February 27th:
Carolina (re) acquires Josef Vasicek from Nashville in exchange for Eric Belanger.
The funny thing about these third-generation Eurpoean players is, it's still all about where they feel comfortable on and off the ice. Vasicek threw his weight around for five years, including one Stanley Cup, with the Hurricanes, then was the trade bait to pry Scott Walker from the Predators. All he did was blend into the scenery in Nashville during whatever playing time came his way, and he's much better off back "home" as it were, where Peter Laviolette locked him into a role (2nd-3rd line hard-hitting winger) where he could use his size and skill. Since the changes from last year's Carolina squad to this year's are minimal, it shouldn't take too long for Joe to fit right in.
On the other hand, this must be a nightmare for Belanger - plucked from a young, energetic core in Los Angeles to the defending Cup champions, only to be shuttled to yet another team in less than one season. My guess is, Carolina went with too many players with only a skill upside this year (Trevor Letowski, Scott Walker, Belanger) and since Belanger was the weakest statistically, a more even deal could be made. Since Nashville is already so deep at forward, Belanger might just fill the space Vasicek did, ready to play in case of injury or if Barry Trotz wants to set a different tone depending on the game down the stretch. Even at this point, it's rare for two top clubs to make a one-for-one, or two-for-two deal without cash or draft picks - but this one will ultimately benefit Carolina more.
NY Rangers ship Adam Hall to Minnesota for Pascal Dupuis.
Just from reading the names involved, Dupuis was either in head coach Jacques Lemaire's doghouse, or his physical play was not up to par with the Wild's game plan. Recently, I've expounded the fact that offensive power will be the difference in the Northwest Division, not defense/goaltending/gritty play, and it will hurt Minnesota to lose a skilled player like the Quebec native (10 goals, 13 points in 48 games shifting between 2nd and 3rd lines). If there's one thing the Rangers don't need, it's another strictly offensive-zone player, and if there's something New York does need, it is someone who can play with toughness and heart without being reckless. This may end up being a set-up deal for either club, because as it stands now, it's a complete wash for both sides.
Update: The Predators have traded Eric Belanger to Atlanta for defenseman Vitali Vishnevski.
Make that four teams in less than two seasons for "Suitcase" Belanger. I didn't have any indication that Hartley and the Thrashers were displeased with the Russian backliner, and Atlanta, perennially hamstrung by their defensive woes, aren't deep on defense again this season. This is a depth move for both sides, but the Thrashers will come out on the wrong end of this one, losing a solid defenseman with offensive capabilities while Nashville just gets one more good player to throw out when they need it.
Double Update: Boston sends Wayne Primeau and Brad Stuart to Calgary for Chuck Kobasew and Andrew Ference.
Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli, in a statement regarding the deal, is sending a message that his team "is not throwing in the towel." Apparently, he, the rest of the front office, the coaching staff and the players are the only ones who think the B's can make the playoffs with some different cast members. This was a deal between two very desperate general managers. The Flames net Primeau, who fills the defensive stopper role that the injured Darren McCarty vacated, and Stuart, in need of a change of scenery after the Bruins decided "his time" was up. The Bruins get a forward who is no more than a middling second-line winger (who happens to have a broken elbow) and a defenseman who is a younger, less awkward looking, more assertive version of Stuart. For Calgary, the move might not make any difference in the standings, but that's OK as long as they don't slip. For Boston, however, they're just swapping the same players in the same roles - something which is guaranteed only to give a boost in the short-term, and is a harbinger of tough times and failed expectations in the long run when faced with an uphill climb towards the postseason.
Carolina (re) acquires Josef Vasicek from Nashville in exchange for Eric Belanger.
The funny thing about these third-generation Eurpoean players is, it's still all about where they feel comfortable on and off the ice. Vasicek threw his weight around for five years, including one Stanley Cup, with the Hurricanes, then was the trade bait to pry Scott Walker from the Predators. All he did was blend into the scenery in Nashville during whatever playing time came his way, and he's much better off back "home" as it were, where Peter Laviolette locked him into a role (2nd-3rd line hard-hitting winger) where he could use his size and skill. Since the changes from last year's Carolina squad to this year's are minimal, it shouldn't take too long for Joe to fit right in.
On the other hand, this must be a nightmare for Belanger - plucked from a young, energetic core in Los Angeles to the defending Cup champions, only to be shuttled to yet another team in less than one season. My guess is, Carolina went with too many players with only a skill upside this year (Trevor Letowski, Scott Walker, Belanger) and since Belanger was the weakest statistically, a more even deal could be made. Since Nashville is already so deep at forward, Belanger might just fill the space Vasicek did, ready to play in case of injury or if Barry Trotz wants to set a different tone depending on the game down the stretch. Even at this point, it's rare for two top clubs to make a one-for-one, or two-for-two deal without cash or draft picks - but this one will ultimately benefit Carolina more.
NY Rangers ship Adam Hall to Minnesota for Pascal Dupuis.
Just from reading the names involved, Dupuis was either in head coach Jacques Lemaire's doghouse, or his physical play was not up to par with the Wild's game plan. Recently, I've expounded the fact that offensive power will be the difference in the Northwest Division, not defense/goaltending/gritty play, and it will hurt Minnesota to lose a skilled player like the Quebec native (10 goals, 13 points in 48 games shifting between 2nd and 3rd lines). If there's one thing the Rangers don't need, it's another strictly offensive-zone player, and if there's something New York does need, it is someone who can play with toughness and heart without being reckless. This may end up being a set-up deal for either club, because as it stands now, it's a complete wash for both sides.
Update: The Predators have traded Eric Belanger to Atlanta for defenseman Vitali Vishnevski.
Make that four teams in less than two seasons for "Suitcase" Belanger. I didn't have any indication that Hartley and the Thrashers were displeased with the Russian backliner, and Atlanta, perennially hamstrung by their defensive woes, aren't deep on defense again this season. This is a depth move for both sides, but the Thrashers will come out on the wrong end of this one, losing a solid defenseman with offensive capabilities while Nashville just gets one more good player to throw out when they need it.
Double Update: Boston sends Wayne Primeau and Brad Stuart to Calgary for Chuck Kobasew and Andrew Ference.
Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli, in a statement regarding the deal, is sending a message that his team "is not throwing in the towel." Apparently, he, the rest of the front office, the coaching staff and the players are the only ones who think the B's can make the playoffs with some different cast members. This was a deal between two very desperate general managers. The Flames net Primeau, who fills the defensive stopper role that the injured Darren McCarty vacated, and Stuart, in need of a change of scenery after the Bruins decided "his time" was up. The Bruins get a forward who is no more than a middling second-line winger (who happens to have a broken elbow) and a defenseman who is a younger, less awkward looking, more assertive version of Stuart. For Calgary, the move might not make any difference in the standings, but that's OK as long as they don't slip. For Boston, however, they're just swapping the same players in the same roles - something which is guaranteed only to give a boost in the short-term, and is a harbinger of tough times and failed expectations in the long run when faced with an uphill climb towards the postseason.
Monday, February 05, 2007
Just Please Shut Up and Play...
Once again, a heinous crime has been perpetrated against an innocent abroad, inside one of hockey's hallowed halls:
I take issue with the manner in which the youngster brushed himself off and returned to the bench at the end of his shift - which falls squarely on the shoulders of his mentor, Mario Lemieux. It shouldn't matter if you're the NHL scoring leader, or Matthew Barnaby, or Roman Vopat; when you've been wronged and nobody caught the offense, get up, get going, and move on. No need for showing up the zebras by prolonging your agony just to stick it to the referee for not blowing the whistle.
High-sticking is an equal-opportunity offender in this age of helmets and visors - everybody gets one from time to time, whether it's deserved or not. But where do you think Sid the Kid learned the art of pissing and moaning from? Number 66, of course, who used to do the same things throughout his entire career because the officials dared not to give him a break because of his 6'4" 200+ pound frame. It's just the latest in about a half a dozen complaints from the 2005 draft pick in a season-and-a-half of NHL play about fellow players or officiating crews not catering to His Royal Highness' every whim.
In such a short period of time, he's drawn criticism from a dozen NHL head coaches, Peter Forsberg, Brendan Shanahan and Martin Brodeur for his on-ice attitude and behavior. Hell, even his own teammate, Mark Recchi, voiced his displeasure to anyone with a microphone last year about Crosby's obvious lack of respect for the game, and considered himself fortunate to have left the team for a Carolina Cup winner.
We all know he's one of the two current Golden Boys, tapped to lead the NHL into a new era of glory, but he couldn't have picked a worse mentor than Super Mario in terms of decorum. Lemieux was famous in his pre-English seasons for whimpering and gesturing and shrugging shoulders and sinking into depression at perceived non-calls and other assorted slights. In his later seasons, after his back problems and his cancer treatments, he moaned incessantly about the league's move towards "white-on-rice" defensive play, trapping and careless stickwork. Let's be honest - he had many valid points. But it was pretty clear that his complaints were less about trying to move the league forward than it was a protest from deep within his soul that he wanted the space to work because he desperately wanted an end to the battering his body took.
Still, that doesn't mean you pass on your own peeves and slights to someone who seeks your guidance. It's the downside of a father-son/mentor-student relationship that when things progress to a deeper stage, the elder tends to pass on their own doubts, fears, and grudges along with the good and valued wisdom.
Master Crosby would be wise to take a page from the quiet professionalism of his current teammate Recchi, who returned to Pittsburgh this time around in part precisely because the absence of veteran leadership on the team, plus Lemieux's on-ice absence, really could have put a kink in his progress. Recchi's career reads like a palindrome in some respects - he's been shuffled back to Philly twice and Pittsburgh three times with Montreal in the middle, traded twice in the prime of his career simply because his stats were excellent bait - and thrived long enough to score 500 goals and 1300 points and win a pair of Stanley Cups.
The root of his actions go deeper than just needing an "enforcer" to watch his back. He needs to be sufficiently respectful of the game first before anyone will be able to stick up for him. Lemieux got lucky in that he was guarded from the start by a bunch of AHL call-ups eager to win a job as well as a series of never-weres (Warren Young, Dan Frawley, Mitch Wilson, et al) before Terry Ruskowski stepped in to be the Zen Master for Mario from 1985-87. Even Wayne Gretzky had to wait three years before he gained the services of Dave Lumley and Dave Semenko, who passed on the job to Marty McSorley and Jeff Beukeboom and so on.
From now on, when someone says they can't imagine Crosby playing for any other team than the Penguins, my nod in agreement will be a vicious backhand slap. After all, what other team leader or veteran would tolerate, or even promote such behavior? Mark Messier would have had Crosby wrapped around his finger, taking out his trash, and driving his kids to school. Steve Yzerman and Joe Sakic would have just needed one long, cold, intense stare to get their point across. Mike Modano could have skated the kid into exhaustion to teach him a lesson, and Brett Hull would have shamed him with a barrage of verbiage akin to a high school bully torturing his mark in the cafeteria.
In the old days, in some quarters, one good prank in the locker room or one good hit in practice could also force Sid to see the light of day. But what else can you say to a 19-year-old whose been given the keys to the kingdom, more money than we'll see in a lifetime, and the adoration of millions?
Just please shut up and play.
I don't blame the referees for making a non-call if there were a torrent of penalties already whistled. I don't blame Downey for his actions and reaction - it's what has kept him in the NHL for as long as he's been in The Show. Crosby clearly is in the right for questioning why no call was made on something pretty obvious by this observer, who had the good fortune of watching and covering the game for work.
I take issue with the manner in which the youngster brushed himself off and returned to the bench at the end of his shift - which falls squarely on the shoulders of his mentor, Mario Lemieux. It shouldn't matter if you're the NHL scoring leader, or Matthew Barnaby, or Roman Vopat; when you've been wronged and nobody caught the offense, get up, get going, and move on. No need for showing up the zebras by prolonging your agony just to stick it to the referee for not blowing the whistle.
High-sticking is an equal-opportunity offender in this age of helmets and visors - everybody gets one from time to time, whether it's deserved or not. But where do you think Sid the Kid learned the art of pissing and moaning from? Number 66, of course, who used to do the same things throughout his entire career because the officials dared not to give him a break because of his 6'4" 200+ pound frame. It's just the latest in about a half a dozen complaints from the 2005 draft pick in a season-and-a-half of NHL play about fellow players or officiating crews not catering to His Royal Highness' every whim.
In such a short period of time, he's drawn criticism from a dozen NHL head coaches, Peter Forsberg, Brendan Shanahan and Martin Brodeur for his on-ice attitude and behavior. Hell, even his own teammate, Mark Recchi, voiced his displeasure to anyone with a microphone last year about Crosby's obvious lack of respect for the game, and considered himself fortunate to have left the team for a Carolina Cup winner.
We all know he's one of the two current Golden Boys, tapped to lead the NHL into a new era of glory, but he couldn't have picked a worse mentor than Super Mario in terms of decorum. Lemieux was famous in his pre-English seasons for whimpering and gesturing and shrugging shoulders and sinking into depression at perceived non-calls and other assorted slights. In his later seasons, after his back problems and his cancer treatments, he moaned incessantly about the league's move towards "white-on-rice" defensive play, trapping and careless stickwork. Let's be honest - he had many valid points. But it was pretty clear that his complaints were less about trying to move the league forward than it was a protest from deep within his soul that he wanted the space to work because he desperately wanted an end to the battering his body took.
Still, that doesn't mean you pass on your own peeves and slights to someone who seeks your guidance. It's the downside of a father-son/mentor-student relationship that when things progress to a deeper stage, the elder tends to pass on their own doubts, fears, and grudges along with the good and valued wisdom.
Master Crosby would be wise to take a page from the quiet professionalism of his current teammate Recchi, who returned to Pittsburgh this time around in part precisely because the absence of veteran leadership on the team, plus Lemieux's on-ice absence, really could have put a kink in his progress. Recchi's career reads like a palindrome in some respects - he's been shuffled back to Philly twice and Pittsburgh three times with Montreal in the middle, traded twice in the prime of his career simply because his stats were excellent bait - and thrived long enough to score 500 goals and 1300 points and win a pair of Stanley Cups.
The root of his actions go deeper than just needing an "enforcer" to watch his back. He needs to be sufficiently respectful of the game first before anyone will be able to stick up for him. Lemieux got lucky in that he was guarded from the start by a bunch of AHL call-ups eager to win a job as well as a series of never-weres (Warren Young, Dan Frawley, Mitch Wilson, et al) before Terry Ruskowski stepped in to be the Zen Master for Mario from 1985-87. Even Wayne Gretzky had to wait three years before he gained the services of Dave Lumley and Dave Semenko, who passed on the job to Marty McSorley and Jeff Beukeboom and so on.
From now on, when someone says they can't imagine Crosby playing for any other team than the Penguins, my nod in agreement will be a vicious backhand slap. After all, what other team leader or veteran would tolerate, or even promote such behavior? Mark Messier would have had Crosby wrapped around his finger, taking out his trash, and driving his kids to school. Steve Yzerman and Joe Sakic would have just needed one long, cold, intense stare to get their point across. Mike Modano could have skated the kid into exhaustion to teach him a lesson, and Brett Hull would have shamed him with a barrage of verbiage akin to a high school bully torturing his mark in the cafeteria.
In the old days, in some quarters, one good prank in the locker room or one good hit in practice could also force Sid to see the light of day. But what else can you say to a 19-year-old whose been given the keys to the kingdom, more money than we'll see in a lifetime, and the adoration of millions?
Just please shut up and play.
Friday, February 02, 2007
This Date in Flyers History
This game, from the 1990-91 season was quite the experience:
First off, it was enough of a shocker that the Flyers lost to Hartford. At the Spectrum. Even worse, it was by shutout, pitched by a goaltender whose name I'm still hard-pressed to announce even now. I mean, eight shots through two periods against a team that would be buried in last place if it weren't for Quebec? Scandal. And this came in the midst of the second year of five the Flyers would not make the playoffs. It was a painful sight for an impressionable 13-year-old sitting in Section 67, Row 1, Seat 4. I think this was also their once-a-year 11:05 AM starts because they needed extra time to convert the ice surface for the Flyers Wives Carnival. Imagine that, a non-school day and I still had to be awake at 9 AM just to do something fun...
The loss wasn't the most memorable thing about that game, though. It was a week into Gulf War One, and America was whipped into a patriotic frenzy because Our Troops were going to bomb those Saddamite Camel Jockeys back to the Stone Age. Safety and security concerns were at an all-time high (even more so than the height of the Cold War I'm told) because the prevailing theory was that Iraqi spies and sympathizers could be lurking everywhere, to strike at any time. For the first and only time in my life at a major sporting event, I was the subject of the old pat-down security check, as were every single person, man, woman, or walking child who attended the game. I remember everyone talking and joking when gathered around the Rocky Statue outside the gates, but when the doors were opened and everyone lined up to get in, it got eerily quiet. You come to the Flyers, or any sporting event to forget your troubles, and here was a reminder of the times even before you got into the place.
At this time, tickets to a hockey game were still relatively cheap, and a good cross-section of humanity who didn't work behind a desk or in a board room could afford to go - so the sell-out crowd was in full (profane and vulgar) voice when the National Anthem was played before the opening face-off. I remember chants of U-S-A!, U-S-A! and a big American flag waved during the game. The Arena Vision board called attention to the mini American flag stickers on the backs of each player's helmet, and the crowd went nuts.
However, the patriotic frenzy of the day was not enough to keep the masses entertained - as the Flyers played one of the most passionless games I can remember. By the middle of the second period, cheerful and staccato war whoops were replaced by the somber bellowings of paid customers who realized they had been cheated. It was the first Flyers game where I practically begged my father to leave before the game's last two minutes, win lose or tie. People in our sections made none-too-subtle comments about how Iraq should aim several scud missiles at the Flyers bench and clean out the whole team. Something was in the wind, and it wasn't furtively lit Winston or a stale beer belch...
First off, it was enough of a shocker that the Flyers lost to Hartford. At the Spectrum. Even worse, it was by shutout, pitched by a goaltender whose name I'm still hard-pressed to announce even now. I mean, eight shots through two periods against a team that would be buried in last place if it weren't for Quebec? Scandal. And this came in the midst of the second year of five the Flyers would not make the playoffs. It was a painful sight for an impressionable 13-year-old sitting in Section 67, Row 1, Seat 4. I think this was also their once-a-year 11:05 AM starts because they needed extra time to convert the ice surface for the Flyers Wives Carnival. Imagine that, a non-school day and I still had to be awake at 9 AM just to do something fun...
The loss wasn't the most memorable thing about that game, though. It was a week into Gulf War One, and America was whipped into a patriotic frenzy because Our Troops were going to bomb those Saddamite Camel Jockeys back to the Stone Age. Safety and security concerns were at an all-time high (even more so than the height of the Cold War I'm told) because the prevailing theory was that Iraqi spies and sympathizers could be lurking everywhere, to strike at any time. For the first and only time in my life at a major sporting event, I was the subject of the old pat-down security check, as were every single person, man, woman, or walking child who attended the game. I remember everyone talking and joking when gathered around the Rocky Statue outside the gates, but when the doors were opened and everyone lined up to get in, it got eerily quiet. You come to the Flyers, or any sporting event to forget your troubles, and here was a reminder of the times even before you got into the place.
At this time, tickets to a hockey game were still relatively cheap, and a good cross-section of humanity who didn't work behind a desk or in a board room could afford to go - so the sell-out crowd was in full (profane and vulgar) voice when the National Anthem was played before the opening face-off. I remember chants of U-S-A!, U-S-A! and a big American flag waved during the game. The Arena Vision board called attention to the mini American flag stickers on the backs of each player's helmet, and the crowd went nuts.
However, the patriotic frenzy of the day was not enough to keep the masses entertained - as the Flyers played one of the most passionless games I can remember. By the middle of the second period, cheerful and staccato war whoops were replaced by the somber bellowings of paid customers who realized they had been cheated. It was the first Flyers game where I practically begged my father to leave before the game's last two minutes, win lose or tie. People in our sections made none-too-subtle comments about how Iraq should aim several scud missiles at the Flyers bench and clean out the whole team. Something was in the wind, and it wasn't furtively lit Winston or a stale beer belch...
Thursday, February 01, 2007
Pacific Division
Anaheim - Chris Pronger's injury is, thankfully, now just a memory, but the difference in how the Ducks play and the emotional jolt they get from their hulking defenseman is obvious. Anaheim can beat you in so many ways, it's almost criminal. One night it'll be Bryzgalov or Giguere. On another night it will be because the opposition is ground down by the defensive physical game. Offensive blitz? Dial up any one of the top three lines for contributions. They can even win the tugs-of-war and the hot opposing goaltender nights, evidenced by Wednesday's 2-1 win over Phoenix with a two-goal burst in just over one minute in the third period. Nashville may have kicked it into high gear recently to overtake the Ducks for first place in the Western Conference, but I give the edge to Anaheim since they have done it with the same group of players the whole year, unlike Nashville which, even when not hit by key injuries, keeps the line open between the Music City and their AHL team in Milwaukee. Teemu Selanne's continued success under the Southern California sun proves two things: that European players, for better or worse, are all about comfort with their surroundings; and that Selanne doesn't need Paul Kariya to be a menace coming into the offensive zone. They should be one year wiser, and if they somehow don't finish with that top seed, they'll be a very dangerous two.
San Jose - It's been used to death, but the Sharks literally are lurking just beneath the surface waiting to bite some playoff hopefuls down the stretch and then cause trouble in the postseason. Because the Ducks have been so good, the Sharks are looking at a four-seed and only one round of home-ice advantage, but that really should not be a daunting task for this club. Losing Nils Ekman, Tom Preissing and Niko Dimitrakos, all important role players, has done nothing to take the edge away. Cynics might look at the stat sheet and see that Thornton, Marleau, Cheechoo will all post less points this year than last; don't be fooled, it's because goals are down across the board this season and the West is particularly more hard-nosed than the East. If Ryane Clowe, Joe Pavelski, Matt Carle and Steve Bernier continue their excellent years, that youth will serve the Sharks well when they need some young lungs and enthusiasm to push through. Right now, they are the five-seed and Detroit is the four: that's one hell of a series in anybody's book - and even if the final 30 games of the year do nothing more than to either swap those teams or keep them where they are, the Wings may have their third-straight first-round upset on their conscience.
Dallas - Ever hanging on as Dave Tippett has become one of those coaching renegades who insists on squeezing points beyond the game's first 60 minutes. Someone's gotta remind Jussi Jokinen that the playoffs don't have shootouts, and the likelihood of him having an uncontested breakaway in a postseason contest are infinitesimally small. The Stars are not in danger of missing out on the postseason, six-seed that they are, but they will not surprise anyone with their game plan, and it is not likely they'll advance past the first round - as Calgary, a carbon-copy squad in third position, has more weapons offensively and are not afraid to use them. Marty Turco is a pleasure to watch on any given night, but he may just not have it in him to be the goaltender who can take the rest of the team on his back and carry the Stars deep into the playoffs - which is not a knock, but in the goaltending-rich Western Conference, that will be a major factor in separating pretenders from contenders.
Phoenix - Somebody's gotta float to the bottom in the Pacific, and the Coyotes will be frantically pushing down on the collective necks of the Kings to avoid the abyss. This team is another in the Penguins-Blues mold, where the gameplan for winning is based around a yearly merry-go-round of formerly-proven, slightly-over-the-hill players. It's a thrill to read all the names on paper, but the puzzle pieces don't often fit. That burst around the turn of the New Year, not surprisingly while on the road, saved this club from a much worse fate. Trading away the rumored whiner Mike Comrie to Ottawa seems like a wise move right now, since The Great One's team does not need malcontents as they try to stay above the waterline. They're 10 points out of eighth in the West, and although they might feel like there's a legitimate shot to make a run, there are too many teams waiting to step on them on their way to the top. Even though the veterans are what helped pull the club out of their horrid start, Gretz should use the remaining time to rest some of his older goats in favor of the young talent (Roche, Sjostrom, Saprykin, et al.) and see who's for real and who could be dangled for bait in the offseason.
Los Angeles - Perhaps the only struggling team in the entire NHL that looks like they're sticking to their guns about the rebuilding process. Nobody I've read or heard seems to understand that the Rob Blake signing was little more than a token gesture, which will give the kids the benefit of a Cup-winning veteran's perspective, plus provide Blake an easy transition when he decided to hang up the skates. It's a paradox, I know, but Alex Frolov, Anze Kopitar, Mike Cammalleri and the rest of the young cast will develop so much quicker, and so much for the better out in LA, where they're not bound to be recognized or bothered either by fans or by the press. That is, unless Sean Avery goes and does something very stupid in his relationship with Elisha Cuthbert...but I digress. The goaltending situation is about as horrendously unfortunate as any we've seen in years - and exposed just how far the netminders in the Kings' system have to go before they're NHL-ready. Sean Burke may not even be a guy to steal you a couple points anymore, but the Kings aren't going to be a team who will play spoiler as the Stars, Sharks and Ducks all jockey for playoff position down the stretch. If, at least, the defensive corps stays intact for the remainder of the schedule, LA won't be blown out of many games for the rest of the season, and the skilled players will throw in a thrill or three for the Staples Center faithful. Marc Crawford should have virtually free reign to mold his team to his winning philosophy, and almost all the time and space in the world to do it.
San Jose - It's been used to death, but the Sharks literally are lurking just beneath the surface waiting to bite some playoff hopefuls down the stretch and then cause trouble in the postseason. Because the Ducks have been so good, the Sharks are looking at a four-seed and only one round of home-ice advantage, but that really should not be a daunting task for this club. Losing Nils Ekman, Tom Preissing and Niko Dimitrakos, all important role players, has done nothing to take the edge away. Cynics might look at the stat sheet and see that Thornton, Marleau, Cheechoo will all post less points this year than last; don't be fooled, it's because goals are down across the board this season and the West is particularly more hard-nosed than the East. If Ryane Clowe, Joe Pavelski, Matt Carle and Steve Bernier continue their excellent years, that youth will serve the Sharks well when they need some young lungs and enthusiasm to push through. Right now, they are the five-seed and Detroit is the four: that's one hell of a series in anybody's book - and even if the final 30 games of the year do nothing more than to either swap those teams or keep them where they are, the Wings may have their third-straight first-round upset on their conscience.
Dallas - Ever hanging on as Dave Tippett has become one of those coaching renegades who insists on squeezing points beyond the game's first 60 minutes. Someone's gotta remind Jussi Jokinen that the playoffs don't have shootouts, and the likelihood of him having an uncontested breakaway in a postseason contest are infinitesimally small. The Stars are not in danger of missing out on the postseason, six-seed that they are, but they will not surprise anyone with their game plan, and it is not likely they'll advance past the first round - as Calgary, a carbon-copy squad in third position, has more weapons offensively and are not afraid to use them. Marty Turco is a pleasure to watch on any given night, but he may just not have it in him to be the goaltender who can take the rest of the team on his back and carry the Stars deep into the playoffs - which is not a knock, but in the goaltending-rich Western Conference, that will be a major factor in separating pretenders from contenders.
Phoenix - Somebody's gotta float to the bottom in the Pacific, and the Coyotes will be frantically pushing down on the collective necks of the Kings to avoid the abyss. This team is another in the Penguins-Blues mold, where the gameplan for winning is based around a yearly merry-go-round of formerly-proven, slightly-over-the-hill players. It's a thrill to read all the names on paper, but the puzzle pieces don't often fit. That burst around the turn of the New Year, not surprisingly while on the road, saved this club from a much worse fate. Trading away the rumored whiner Mike Comrie to Ottawa seems like a wise move right now, since The Great One's team does not need malcontents as they try to stay above the waterline. They're 10 points out of eighth in the West, and although they might feel like there's a legitimate shot to make a run, there are too many teams waiting to step on them on their way to the top. Even though the veterans are what helped pull the club out of their horrid start, Gretz should use the remaining time to rest some of his older goats in favor of the young talent (Roche, Sjostrom, Saprykin, et al.) and see who's for real and who could be dangled for bait in the offseason.
Los Angeles - Perhaps the only struggling team in the entire NHL that looks like they're sticking to their guns about the rebuilding process. Nobody I've read or heard seems to understand that the Rob Blake signing was little more than a token gesture, which will give the kids the benefit of a Cup-winning veteran's perspective, plus provide Blake an easy transition when he decided to hang up the skates. It's a paradox, I know, but Alex Frolov, Anze Kopitar, Mike Cammalleri and the rest of the young cast will develop so much quicker, and so much for the better out in LA, where they're not bound to be recognized or bothered either by fans or by the press. That is, unless Sean Avery goes and does something very stupid in his relationship with Elisha Cuthbert...but I digress. The goaltending situation is about as horrendously unfortunate as any we've seen in years - and exposed just how far the netminders in the Kings' system have to go before they're NHL-ready. Sean Burke may not even be a guy to steal you a couple points anymore, but the Kings aren't going to be a team who will play spoiler as the Stars, Sharks and Ducks all jockey for playoff position down the stretch. If, at least, the defensive corps stays intact for the remainder of the schedule, LA won't be blown out of many games for the rest of the season, and the skilled players will throw in a thrill or three for the Staples Center faithful. Marc Crawford should have virtually free reign to mold his team to his winning philosophy, and almost all the time and space in the world to do it.
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