The Song Remains The Same

A 44-win season - two more than last year. Tied for second place with 99
points - two places higher and four more points than a year ago.

No season-wrecking 10-game losing streak in February. A higher seed in the
playoffs than the previous season.

But then, yet another inexplicable collapse in front of the home crowd in an
elimination game unfolded, one week ago.

And something even more alarming, passed along by the internets Sunday
morning: General manager Paul Holmgren says head coach John Stevens will
return next season.

And then...Flyers chairman Ed Snider says the Flyers "absolutely do not" need
to make major off-season changes.

Once again, in black and white. The organization is not very concerned with
winning the Stanley Cup.

They're satisfied that interest is high and the horrid season of 2006-07 is
far in the rear view mirror. Speaking of rears, plenty of them make contact
with the ample seats and entertainment pavilions at Wachovia Center game after
game, now sated that the club is back on the winning side of the ledger.

They're also content to believe that the good soldiers, the John Stevenses and
Craig Berubes of the hockey world, will lead the club to greatness just for
having passed through the ranks on the way to The Show.

If winning the whole thing is the true goal, endorsements of the head
coach and his staff by a general manager whose season might best be termed
as "embattled," could never be issued less than 24 hours after yet another
collapse in a do-or-die playoff game on home ice.

Ed Snider, once the firebrand and primary mover behind the success of the
franchise, could never dream of making such a defensive comment in public when
all logic dictates otherwise.

It takes a lot of guts to stay the course after such a dramatic exit in what
can be viewed as a failure of a season. After all, it's a pattern the club has
seen before.

Mike Keenan led the 1985 team to the Finals, only to lose in the first round
to the fourth-place Rangers the next season due to Pelle Lindbergh's death and
John Vanbiesbrouck. The next season, it took until the third period of Game 7
against Edmonton to subdue their charge.

Terry Murray was at the helm for the 1995 conference finals run, then presided
as the Florida Panthers trapped their way to victory in the second round in
1996. One year later, he oversaw the run to the Cup before that exploded in a
four-game sweep.

Common factors here? Overachieving in Year One, followed by underachieving in
Year Two, then taking those lessons and going for glory in Year Three.

What else links those two eras? Ultimately, not capturing the supposed prize.

Naturally, over the course of the past week, the slow leak of injury news
emerged.

Mike Richards had two torn labrums, one in each shoulder, requiring surgery
and rehab. Kimmo Timonen played with a concussion. Jeff Carter somehow managed
to dodge the knife.

And there you have the primary silent message to the masses: we do not use
injuries as excuses for poor play, but how can you judge the team as truly
underperforming when key players were so banged up?

Nice little heart-tugging paradox isn't it? That particular brand of hockey
"logic" fits right in with the usual front-office protocol when the result
doesn't come near expectations.

And so it goes, year after year. The corporate slogan for each season may
change, but the song remains the same.