ROUGH ROAD AHEAD
The Flyers recent winning streak, stifling defensive play, strong
goaltending, and balanced scoring rightfully have fans expecting
big things come playoff time. Let's not get too far ahead of
ourselves.
It's easy to be excited about the Flyers' 19-4-6 record in their
last 29 games, but keep this in mind. Only 11 of those games were
against teams with winning records.
That's about to change. Twenty-two of their last 38 games will
match them up against teams over .500. And chances are that their
performance in that stretch will be a much better predictor of
the their playoff chances than their recent tear.
Here's a scary thought. Thanks to the, shall we say "peculiar,"
new playoff system, a 2nd place finish in the Atlantic division
would mean no better than a 4th-place seeding for the playoffs -
and a first-round matchup with the 5th seed in the East. That
could mean another first-round date with, gulp, Buffalo and
Dominik Hasek.
SPEAKING OF WHICH...
Flyers fans couldn't have been very encouraged by watching the
Dominator do his thing against Eric Lindros and John LeClair over
the All-Star weekend. Sure, Lindros managed to slip one out of
five pucks behind him in the Skills Competition Rapid Fire event
(it was a cheap rebound goal) and he scored in the Breakaway
relay (another cheap rebound goal), but Hasek was still rock
solid. And the next day, he added an exclamation point by denying
LeClair from the doorstep on a two-on-none and holding the
Lindros, LeClair, and Shanahan line without a point in the
All-Star Game.
Here's hoping that the boys in orange and black somehow manage to
avoid the pointy-eared little demon elf in the playoffs. I
wouldn't count on it.
DAIGLE BLOCKS TRADE
I can't imagine that there are many Alexandre Daigle fans lurking
out there, but logic dictates that there must be one or two
tucked away in a rubber room somewhere. Well, even they must be
ashamed of their hero now.
The events of the last few days are nothing short of incredible,
even for those who've grown accustomed to watching Daigle cherry
pick, loaf, complain, and generally waste space and talent. I
certainly count myself as a member of that club, and even I'm
shocked by the guy's latest antics.
For those who haven't been following the sorry saga, I'll give a
brief recap. Bob Clarke thought he had Daigle traded to the
Edmonton Oilers for Andrei Kovalenko, another talented malingerer
with an affinity for missing planes. But there was one little
detail to be worked out. The deal was contingent on Daigle
accepting a one-year contract extension in the range of $1
million. Still, it seemed like a done deal. A guaranteed million
would have to seem pretty attractive to a guy with three goals
and two assists in 31 games, right?
Wrong! Incredibly, Daigle refused the extension and killed the
trade. And I guess he figured that Clarke wasn't quite pissed off
enough at that point, because he went on to say that he'd much
prefer a trade to Los Angeles, where he'd be nearer to Hollywood
and a prospective career as an actor.
What the hell is the matter with this guy? I'd say he's already
acting-like the jackass of the sports century.
I can't blame Daigle for not wanting to go to Edmonton. Glen
Sather is a butt munch, the team is going nowhere, and it's so
cold the damned ground is frozen 15 feet below street level. But
if he thinks that's an ugly scenario, he should probably consider
what it's going to be like for him to be within one hundred yards
of Clarke on a daily basis. Maybe he should ask Valeri Kharlamov
about that?
Hopefully, Clarke will administer the same kind of vigilante
justice to Daigle. It looks like that's the only way the Flyers
are ever going to get rid of the guy at this point.
PELLETIER STONES AHL ALL-STARS
John Vanbiesbrouck is looking pretty good at the moment, but
chances are the Flyers goalie of the near future isn't even on
their NHL roster right now.
Next season should see Phantoms goalie Jean-Marc Pelletier with
the big club, not the AHL Philadelphia Phantoms. He's already
shown that he can do the job at the First Union Center, where he
dominated the AHL All-Star festivities this weekend. Pelletier
celebrated his first-ever AHL All-Star berth by stoning six
consecutive penalty shots in the skills competition and stopping
17 of the 18 shots he faced in the big game. His efforts earned
him the All-Star MVP Award.
A towering goaltender in the Ron Hextall mode, Pelletier seems
poised to take at least a backup role on the Flyers next year.
"Jean-Marc has progressed very well," said Phantoms coach Bill
Barber, "especially when you consider he's a guy who before this
year had no experience at the professional level. After we had
the injury to Boucher, he basically took the job over. He's been
very focused. Mentally, he's been getting himself ready to play.
A lot of times for young players, that's the biggest challenge."
