TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE
Apparently Roger Neilson and Bob Clarke miscommunicated before
the trade deadline yesterday. Instead of retooling the Flyers
roster, Clarke went out and picked up a bunch of tools.
While Detroit was out nabbing Chris Chelios, Ulf Samuelsson, Bill
Ranford, and Wendel Clark for little more than Anders Eriksson
and some used puck bags, the Flyers were patting themselves on
the back for one-way defenseman Steve Duchesne and prodigal Flyer
Craig Berube, a more accomplished headcracker than hockey player.
Is anyone else out there reaching for the Tums right now?
Clarke's failure to acquire either Chelios or Samuelsson
yesterday probably doomed the Flyers to another early exit from
the playoffs. If the Flyers recent 13-game winless skid
accomplished anything, it was to expose all of the holes in the
leaky Flyers defense. Call me crazy, but I'm hard-pressed to
believe that Steve Duchesne is the right man to correct that
situation.
Oh, what might have been. Due to the less than unconditional love
shared by Clarke and Neil Smith, Ulf was probably never a
realistic possibility. But the Flyers' inability to land Chelios,
a player Clarke openly coveted, must have been a bitter pill for
old #16 to swallow.
According to Al Morganti, the sticking point in any Chelios deal
was top Philly prospect Simon Gagne, a player some scouts are
calling the best player in Canadian junior hockey right now.
Chicago apparently demanded Gagne and Daymond Langkow for
Chelios. Clarke countered with an offer of formerly untouchable
AHL goaltender Brian Boucher and either Karl Dykhuis or Luke
Richardson, but the Hawks refused to bite.
With Samuelsson and Chelios just more water under the bridge now,
the Flyers need to hope against hope that the knee injury
suffered by Eric Desjardins is not severe enough to keep him out
of playoff action. Apparently Desjardins was well enough to leave
the building under his own power after suffering the injury on
Sunday, but it seems likely that he'll be at less than 100% if
he's able to return at all this season. That's a scary prospect
for a team that won its first game of the year without him on
Monday night.
THE NEW FACES
So what exactly did the Flyers pick up in the last week?
Well, for starters, they picked up a couple of legitimate NHL
goons. Newcomers Sandy McCarthy and Craig Berube should provide
Flyers fans with some welcome relief from too many nights spent
watching Luke Richardson work his fists. Anyone who's seen
Richardson drop his gloves knows that Luke belongs in a fight
about as much as Kathy Bates belongs on Baywatch.
McCarthy is especially scary. He can play better than former
Flyers enforcers such as Dave Brown, but the multiple knock-outs
he scored during his Calgary stint are more indicative of his
real "abilities" on the ice. He's garnered 80 fighting majors in
his six-year career. He also plays hard, a quality that made him
an assistant captain in Tampa Bay.
Berube is not quite the pugilist that McCarthy is, but he's a
major upgrade from Richardson and a capable player. He'll likely
cost Roman Vopat his job on the checking line. Berube also brings
some welcome leadership skills to the fold. He was a highly
respected veteran in Washington.
It's unlikely that Berube and McCarthy will make a major impact
on the club. The acquisition of Steve Duchesne may, but
unfortunately it's likely to be negative. I'm convinced that the
addition of this prodigal Flyer was a major blunder. Duchesne
brings some power-play savvy, a skill the club desperately needs,
but he's more likely to impersonate Dykhuis than Chelios in his
own end. That's not good news for a Flyer defense that already
coughs up the puck with alarming frequency.
This acquisition calls to mind another recent Flyers disaster,
the Paul Coffey fiasco. Here's betting that Duchesne ends up
leaving the club in the same unceremonious way.
All in all, Clarke's deadline deals are a major disappointment.
Other teams seem to demand more from the Flyers than any other
club, but that's no excuse in this situation. Barring a playoff
miracle, Clarke is going to have to perform a much more
significant overhaul of the club in what's likely to be a long
off-season.
