By: Bill Meltzer
By: Bill MeltzerFull season record: 42-29-11, 95 points 1st half: 24-10-7 2nd half: 18-19-4 (Disgraceful!!!!!!) Grade: C+ Comments: I just hope the playoffs go better than this tumultuous, underachieving season. We dropped down 8 points from our totals of each of the last two seasons, and never really put together an extended stretch of solid hockey. To have a losing record over half a season, with all the talent that this team supposedly has, is unacceptable. Say all you want about the regular season being meaningless and all the distractions and injuries there were this season. The bottom line is that the Flyers have become a thoroughly mediocre team that accepts losing too easily, and can't be bothered to play focused, team-oriented hockey for 60 minutes. Going into the playoffs, I really have no idea what to expect. I'm hoping for the best, but I'd be lying if I said I was not very concerned. Coaching: Wayne Cashman Grade: D Comments: He was in way over his head as a head coach. But that's Clarke's fault, not Cashman's. Cashman handled his demotion to assistant with uncommon class and loyalty to his employer. Roger Neilson Grade: Incomplete Comments: He really hasn't had enough practice time to fully implement his system, because he stepped in during the middle of the March blitz of games. I think there have been subtle improvements across the board, although I will say that I expected a little better team defense under Neilson than the club has shown so far. His grade will have to be determined by the playoffs. If I had to pin a letter grade on what I've seen so far, it'd be a qualified "B". He took over a seriously flawed roster and has smoothed out some of the rough edges, but hasn't been a miracle worker, either. Front Office: Bob Clarke Grade: D Comments: The Sillinger move looks like a coup. The other moves have all had mixed or negative results, both in the short term and over the long haul. Clarke could have the last laugh if they really come on in the playoffs, but might now, you'd have to rate his key decisions of the last year as a step backward. The club is at a dangerous crossroads right now. If Clarke is not careful, he could be on the verge of completely ruining the team with more short-sighted, ill-conceived personnel moves. Rumor has that one or both of two non-playing personnel who have been proven themselves to be valuable organizational assets- Phantom coach Bill Barber and scout Inge Hammarström- could be gone from the organization soon because of strong differences of opinion with Clarke. I am growing increasingly worried about the future direction of this team- perhaps even more than their impending playoff hopes. Special teams: Powerplay: Full season overall: 71 for 399, 17.8% 1st half overall: 32 for 194, 16.5% 2nd half overall: 39 for 205, 19.0% Full season home: 33 for 209, 15.8% 1st half home: 16 for 110, 14.5% 2nd half home: 17 for 99, 17.2% Full season road: 38 for 190, 20.0% 1st half road: 16 for 84, 19.0% 2nd half road: 22 for 106, 20.8% Penalty Kill: Full season overall: 331 for 382, 86.6% 1st half overall: 162 for 183, 88.5% 2nd half overall: 169 for 199, 84.9% Full season home: 156 for 171, 91.2% 1st half home: 84 for 91, 92.3% 2nd half home: 72 for 80, 90.0% Full season road: 175 for 211, 82.9% 1st half road: 78 for 92, 84.8% 2nd half road: 97 for 119, 81.5% Grade: B Comments: Notice the unacceptable road penalty killing numbers. It's strange because the Flyers are the #1 home penalty killing team in the league. The powerplay definitely improved as the season went along, but they were also more prone to shorthanded odd man rushes and short handed goals over the second half of the season. All in all, the Flyers rank within the top 5 in the league in both special teams categories. So, I suppose you can't complain too much, but I think the numbers are a bit deceptive in this case. I thought that the quality of special teams play- at least the penalty kill- was largely beneath the standards of the Murray era, although the stats would say otherwise. Sometimes, it's the timing more than the actual numbers themselves. It seemed to me that were more letdowns on special teams at crucial junctures than there were in the past. Team awards: Bobby Clarke Trophy (Team MVP) Official: John LeClair My pick: Rod Brind'Amour. LeClair has better stats, and he certainly was a very solid choice for the award, but I thought Brind'Amour was more consistent over the course of the entire season. LeClair was awesome from October until the All-Star break. Then he had an awful slump that lasted from about a week before the Olympics until mid-March. He then closed pretty strong. Brind'Amour had the odd off night, as does everyone, but no prolonged slumps. And, as always, Brind'Amour was all over the lineup. If I were Brind'Amour's agent, I would be demanding from Clarke the same money that the Flyers paid to Chris Gratton, who proved himself much less valuable to the team than did Brind'Amour. People seem to think it's going to be an easy matter to re-sign Brind'Amour. I think we could be headed for an ugly offseason with Brind'Amour's RFA contract talks; potentially even uglier than the impending 2nd round of re-negotiations with Lindros. Barry Ashbee Trophy (Best defenseman) Official: Eric Desjardins My pick: Eric Desjardins, but only because Petr Svoboda missed so many games with injury. Pelle Lindbergh Trophy (Most improved during season) Official: Colin Forbes My pick: Colin Forbes. Forbes proved himself to be a bonafide NHLer, with decent all-around skills, after he looked tentative in his previous callups. Class Guy Award (Professionalism and Rapport with the Media) Official: Trent Klatt My Pick: Klatt is a good choice. They seem to give this award to someone different every year. If the Flyers had control over the award, I'd be willing to bet it'd have gone to Chris Gratton to underscore that even though he's been a disappointment on the ice, he's handled himself very well off the ice. If this award weren't spread around each year as a thank you to different people, Ron Hextall- the consummate "class guy" off the ice- would be the perennial winner. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Goaltending: Overall Grade: B- Comments: Hextall had a marvelous first half, although he had some slip ups in big games. He faltered in the second half. I like Hextall- I really do, but sometimes he really breaks the team's back. They can't start him in the playoffs this year. They have to sink or swim with Sean Burke. Garth Snow was inconsistent before being traded to Vancouver for Burke. Burke started out the year regarded as just a shade below the league's elites, played poorly, had off the ice problems, got traded, played poorly in Vancouver, got traded again, got hurt in his first game, came back rusty and shaky after his injury, and then started to like his accustomed self. He made a lot of saves that Hextall would never have made and although not immune to soft goals, tended to yield them at less crucial junctures than the ones that Hextall allows. I've always liked Burke's play and I actually have a fair degree of confidence that Burke's goaltending won't be a problem in the playoffs, no matter the opponent. He's got a lot to prove and all the motivation in the world to play the most focused hockey of his life: he's playing for the Cup AND he's playing for a contract. Team: GP MINS AVG W L T EN SO GA SA SV% Full season: 82 4988 2.32 42 29 11 2 6 193 2085 .907 1st half: 41 2497 2.11 24 10 7 1 4 88 1011 .913 2nd half: 41 2491 2.53 18 19 4 1 2 105 1074 .902 RON HEXTALL GPI MINS AVG W L T EN SO GA SA SV% PIM Full season: 46 2688 2.17 21 17 7 2 4 97 1089 .911 10 1st half: 20 1306 1.97 12 4 4 1 3 39 466 .916 6 2nd half: 26 1382 2.52 9 13 3 1 1 58 623 .907 4 Grade: B- Comments: See above. Hexy was very good through most of the first half, but struggled in the second half. SEAN BURKE GPI MINS AVG W L T EN SO GA SA SV% PIM PHI only: 11 632 2.56 7 3 0 0 1 27 311 .913 0 Grade: Incomplete (B for the limited Flyers games he played) Comments: Unlike position players who came here during the season from other teams, I only listed Burke's Flyers stats, because I think those are the only relevant ones to consider as the playoffs start. I wish we could either give Burke a little of Hextall's puck control abilities or Hextall some of Burke's economy of motion and quick recovery. For the record, here are Garth Snow's season splits with the Flyers, prior to the trade. GPI MINS AVG W L T EN SO GA SA SV% PIM PHI Totals 29 1651 2.43 14 9 4 0 1 67 682 .902 18 1st half: 23 1306 2.21 12 6 3 0 1 48 544 .912 14 2nd half: 6 345 3.30 2 3 1 0 0 19 138 .862 4 NEIL LITTLE: Did not appear in a game. Position Players: JOHN LECLAIR: GP G A PTS +/- PIM PP SH GW GT S PCTG Full Season 82 51 36 87 +30 32 16 0 9 1 303 16.8 1st half 41 32 19 51 +21 20 9 0 6 0 162 19.9 2nd half 41 19 17 36 +9 12 7 0 3 1 141 13.5 Grade: A- Comments: Would have been a Hart Trophy caliber season, but his extended slump and some disappointing performances in big games knocks it down slightly. Still, all in all, it was another very good season under some very trying circumstances. I thought that LeClair suffered from overuse this season, and he carried his line with Gratton and assorted RWs to success for over a month. I prefer keeping him on a line with Lindros. ROD BRIND'AMOUR: GP G A PTS +/- PIM PP SH GW GT S PCTG Full Season: 81 36 38 74 -1 54 10 2 8 0 204 17.6 1st half: 41 17 19 36 +1 30 4 2 4 0 100 17.0 2nd half: 41 19 19 38 -2 24 6 0 4 0 104 18.3 Grade: A- Comments: The only negative stat is this season's +/-, which is never a fully reliable indicator of a player's defensive play, but it's not totally meaningless, either (despite what it's critics say). It did seem, however, that Brind'Amour was involved in an unusually high number of coverage mess-ups this year, as compared to previous seasons. But, all in all, he continued to be a rock of strength and consistency. He may not have any one outstanding asset, apart from his remarkable durability and conditioning. On the other hand, he is above average in all areas; he can and does play in all manpower situations and he can be used effectively at either LW or C. That adds up to a very valuable player. In my opinion, he's not untradeable *if* you acquire in return a real top-end scoring forward, franchise defenseman or top notch goalie. Realize, however, that it would require the Flyers to make at least one key checking forward move in addition to make up for the other roles that Brind'Amour performs. ERIC LINDROS: GP G A PTS +/- PIM PP SH GW GT S PCTG Full Season: 63 30 41 71 +14 134 10 1 4 0 202 14.9 1st half: 40 19 32 51 +12 74 4 0 2 0 130 14.6 2nd half: 23 11 9 20 +2 60 6 1 2 0 72 15.3 Grade: C+ Comments: By Eric Lindros standards, this was a very inconsistent, disappointing season. Despite the surrounding cast, this team still goes as Lindros goes. In previous seasons, I've had a big argument with people who say that he disappears in the clutch, but I do think that was a fair criticism this season. His big game performance this season was well below a point-per-game. He racked up some big individual point games against big games against non-playoff and marginal playoff teams. What was not there were big performances against elite teams or the extended streaks of at least one point per game that he had in every previous season of his career. I was generally pleased with his play in the last 4 games after returning from the concussion and I still fully expect a big playoff from him- I just hope the other team components come together. CHRIS GRATTON: GP G A PTS +/- PIM PP SH GW GT S PCTG Full Season: 82 22 40 62 +11 159 5 0 2 0 182 12.1 1st half: 41 10 21 31 +13 62 2 0 1 0 94 10.6 2nd half: 41 12 19 31 -2 97 3 0 1 0 88 13.6 Grade: B- Comments: I've commented many, many times on Gratton before. I think he's a decent player, but he has some severe deficiencies and he's not worth what the Flyers spent and traded to get him. Here's an interesting stat though. Last season, the Flyers got 22 goals, 59 points and .766 points per game out of Mikael Renberg (and over a point per game and a +21 in the 2nd half). This year they got 22 goals, 62 points and .756 points per game out of Gratton. Gratton's totals suffered from a big early season slump (3 goals, 10 points in his first 20 games) and a horrid 8 game stretch in mid to late March (0 G, 3A, -7). He then finished out fairly well. Renberg, as usual, had a better 2nd half than his 1st half and he closed with his typical late season blitz (which got interrupted last year by the facial injury), but it wasn't enough to rescue a tough season played on a truly horrible team. I saw a stat the other day that said in the months of March and April, Mikael Renberg figured, via goal or assist, in just a shade below *half* of Tampa Bay's total offense over that span, which tells you all you need to know about the teammates Renberg has around him. What a sad state of affairs; Rennie still only finished with 16 goals (tied for team lead) and 37 points (3 off team lead), and missed 14 December-January games with a broken wrist. Neither Gratton nor Renberg can be very happy about their season this year, but both still should have better years ahead (in Renberg's case, it would take him being liberated from Tampa). In the meantime, I hope that Renberg has a good World Championship tournament and Gratton a good playoff. ALEXANDRE DAIGLE: GP G A PTS +/- PIM PP SH GW GT S PCTG Full Season: 75 16 26 42 -8 14 8 0 5 1 146 11.0 w/Ottawa: 38 7 9 16 -7 8 4 0 2 0 68 10.3 w/Flyers: 37 9 17 26 -1 6 4 0 3 1 78 11.5 Grade (Flyers): B- Comments: His grade is made by that wonderful 2½ week stretch he had in March. And really, in the games leading up to that, you could sense that he was turning a corner, because he was racking up a lot of legitimate assists and getting involved in lots of offensive chances. And then came the explosion. Even the games in which he didn't score, he was using his speed well, getting involved in the play, and creating chances. His game in Boston in which he didn't register a point but had 9 shots on goal- and most of them quality chances- was perhaps his 2nd best game as a Flyer, after his hat trick game against Detroit. But then, slowly but surely, he fell back into all his old bad habits- started floating again, looking only for breakaways and not getting involved in the play. And as a result, he stopped having success. Daigle only has offense to contribute, and when he's not scoring, he's a liability. I'm a little bit disgusted with Daigle right now, because I really hated the way he finished out the season. He knows what he has to do to be successful and he stopped doing it. He's not in a "slump", he's backslid. Still, I can only mark him down so much because during his prolonged streak of very good play after the Olympics, Daigle, Sillinger, and Brind'Amour were pretty much carrying the Flyers offense for a few weeks. By the way, here are the Ottawa stats for Vaclav Prospal and Pat Falloon after the trade. Even with Daigle's up and down play, the Flyers got the better end of the deal, at least through the end of this regular season. GP G A PTS +/- PIM PP SH GW GT S PCTG Prospal 14 1 6 7 0 4 0 0 0 0 26 3.8 Falloon 27 3 3 6 -11 8 2 0 0 0 72 4.2 TRENT KLATT: GP G A PTS +/- PIM PP SH GW GT S PCTG Full Season: 82 14 28 42 +2 16 5 0 3 0 143 9.8 1st half: 41 6 12 18 +5 6 0 0 2 0 55 10.9 2nd half: 41 8 16 24 -3 10 5 0 1 0 88 9.1 Grade: B- Comments: Klatt saw a lot of time on more time on scoring lines this season than last and yet did not produce up to last year's standards. This season, he was the recipient of a lot of prime scoring chances and turned few of them into goals or primary assists on rebound put-ins. He also failed to get any shorthanded goals this season, an area that he made major contributions last year. It should also be said, however, that he remains great on the boards and very conscientious of his defensive responsibilities. And whatever scoring struggles he's had at 5-on-5 during his Flyers career, whenever he's been given powerplay time (both last year and this year, and even including a couple of experimental looks during 95-96), he has been reasonably productive. By the way, Klatt had several extended trials on Mike Modano's line when Trent was in Dallas, and last season, played a fairly long stretch of games on the 2nd line with Hawerchuk and Brind'Amour. So contrary to what some of our local media has said, this season was *not* the first time in his career that Klatt has been tried for more than a shift or two on a scoring line. MIKE SILLINGER: GP G A PTS +/- PIM PP SH GW GT S PCTG Full Season: 75 21 20 41 -11 50 2 4 1 0 96 21.9 w/Vacouver: 48 10 9 19 -14 34 1 2 1 0 56 17.9 w/Flyers: 27 11 11 22 +3 16 1 2 0 0 40 27.5 Grade: A Comments: Sillinger has been a great pickup for the Flyers. And I don't think he's the one to blame for the tailoff of his line's production in the last 2 weeks of the season: I really think the fault lies with Daigle's work habits going backward again and the largely unsuccessful attempt to make Gratton the LW on the line instead of Forbes. I thought that Sillinger was working with the deck stacked against him in those games. He's not good enough to carry a line, but he sure showed the ability to click along with somebody else. Sillinger has opened eyes with his speed, hustle, creativity, and soft hands. DAINIUS ZUBRUS: GP G A PTS +/- PIM PP SH GW GT S PCTG Full Season: 69 8 25 33 +29 42 1 0 5 0 101 7.9 1st half: 30 5 17 22 +21 12 1 0 3 0 49 10.2 2nd half: 39 3 8 11 +8 30 0 0 2 0 52 5.8 Grade: B Comments: I commented on Zubrus in an article I wrote a few weeks ago. The only thing "wrong" with him is that his offensive game has not matured yet. It was unrealistic and unfair to expect big offensive numbers from him this year, although about 15 goals was probably realistic, and he didn't come close. Still, he's only 19, surpassed his rookie point total by 12, and was one of the most consistently reliable in staying with his check and in getting the puck in deep. The Flyers should be happy they have a player who has proven himself a bonafide NHLer at such a young age. At that age, most teams are still hoping their first round pick makes it to the NHL within the next 2 seasons or so. Zubrus is still way ahead of the game. Instead, they are looking to dump him because he isn't yet ready to meet their overblown expectations on him. To me, even if he only turns someday into someone who plays solid defense and scores in the 10-15 range- and I still am convinced that he'll blossom into someone who scores about 30 a year when he matures in the next 2-3 seasons- what's so terrible about that? You need players like that, too. I am utterly amazed by the impatience of Flyers fans (and Mr. Clarke) and they way they write off certain players, particularly young players. ERIC DESJARDINS: GP G A PTS +/- PIM PP SH GW GT S PCTG Full Season: 77 6 27 34 +11 36 2 1 0 0 150 4.0 1st Half: 36 5 10 15 +15 14 2 1 0 0 62 8.1 2nd Half: 41 1 17 18 -4 22 0 0 0 0 88 1.1 Grade: B Comments: Desjardins seemed to suffer from overuse by the late states of the season, something that had affected him every year but last, when Murray made a conscious effort to keep his #1 defenseman fresher for the playoffs. The late season fatigue showed up in the form of an unusual number of sloppy turnovers, unneeded icings, forced holding and hooking penalties, and a tailoff in his headman passing. His problems were made worse by the fact that his most frequent partner, Chris Therien, had a pretty bad 2nd half of the season. Desjardins remains the Flyers top blueliner, but he's not as his best going into the playoffs, and that's yet another thing to cause some concern. DAN McGILLIS: GP G A PTS +/- PIM PP SH GW GT S PCTG McGillis overall: 80 11 20 31 -21 109 6 0 3 1 137 8.0 Niinimaa overall: 77 4 39 43 +13 62 3 0 1 0 134 3.0 McGillis w/Edm: 67 10 15 25 -17 74 5 0 3 1 119 8.4 Niinimaa w/Phi: 66 3 30 33 +6 56 2 0 1 0 115 2.6 McGillis w/Phi: 13 1 5 6 -4 35 1 0 0 0 18 5.6 Niinimaa w/Edm: 11 1 9 10 +7 6 1 0 0 0 19 5.3 Other Niinimaa stats: GP G A PTS +/- PIM PP SH GW GT S PCTG 1st half: 40 2 15 17 0 38 1 0 1 0 68 2.9 2nd half (PHI): 26 0 15 15 +6 18 0 0 0 0 47 0.0 2nd half(PHI/EDM): 37 1 24 25 +13 24 2 0 0 0 66 1.5 Note: I don't have McGillis' half-season splits available. Grade: Incomplete (but a C based on the few games he's played here) Comments: His hitting game has definitely been something to see. But the bigger question is this- has he shown his defense to be better than Niinimaa's? I'd say no. He's done okay, I suppose, but he's also shown some the same problems with turning the puck over, messing up his coverages, and making questionable pinches that got Niinimaa run out of town by our GM. I was of the opinion that Niinimaa's game (in every facet) was finally starting to come around from the Olympics onward and I think Niinimaa is more physical- at least when he's on and playing his "A" game- than Clarke gave him credit for being. So far in his still young career, Janne has been a streaky player both offensively and defensively, but he's already hit good streaks in *both* facets that McGillis can't even dream of. And Niinimaa is now playing very well heading into the playoffs for Edmonton, while McGillis is still a question mark. McGillis' big hits have been sights to behold, yes, but how much have they really helped to keep the puck out of our net? Have opposing forwards shown the least bit of hesitancy to go at the net when McGillis is patrolling the zone? Not really. Has there been one game where you could say that McGillis really shut somebody down? No. He's been basically a so-so player since the trade. No more, no less. I didn't particularly like the way McGillis looked when given a chance to play in Therien's place on the top pairing. This deal is already starting to look very slanted in Edmonton's favor and the scary part is that Niinimaa has still only scratched the surface of what he can do. Can McGillis play better than he has so far? I think he can… and he had better do so if the Flyers are going to do anything at all in the playoffs. But I strongly doubt he's capable of ever coming close to justifying Clarke's even-up trade for Niinimaa. Having patience with a young defenseman's growing pains and/or knowing when to take advantage of another club impatience with the same is why Detroit today still has Nicklas Lidström, Dallas has a core of good home grown defensemen, St. Louis is reaping the benefits of Chris Pronger's play, and the Islanders have Kenny Jonsson. PAUL COFFEY: GP G A PTS +/- PIM PP SH GW GT S PCTG Full season: 57 2 27 29 +3 30 1 0 1 0 107 1.9 1st half: 37 2 16 18 +6 18 1 0 1 0 72 2.8 2nd half: 20 0 11 11 -3 12 0 0 0 0 35 0.0 Grade: D Comments: Most people are saying that Coffey is washed up. I view it a little differently. While I do agree that Coffey's offensive skills have diminished somewhat with age and injury, I think the most important factor (and I said this even before the deal was made to bring him here) is that he is just a very bad stylistic fit for this squad. Coffey is great at leading the rush, but this team generates the majority of it's offense by forechecking and cycling the puck. Even the line rushes that produce goals usually come in transition, not off of pure skating skills (the hot atreak of the Sillinger and Daigle combo was a nice exception to that). I think Coffey could still put up more points than he has with the Flyers if he were on more of a skating team. But defensively, he is worse than ever, and even if his offense were still near his accustomed levels, it still might not be enough to make up for his defensive drawbacks. He's never been a favorite of mine, but I don't blame Paul Coffey for playing a "Paul Coffey" game the Flyers should have known what they were getting. SHJON PODEIN: GP G A PTS +/- PIM PP SH GW GT S PCTG Full season: 82 11 13 24 +8 53 1 1 2 0 126 8.7 1st half: 41 6 5 11 +5 27 0 0 1 0 65 9.2 2nd half: 41 5 8 13 +3 26 1 1 1 0 61 8.2 Grade: B- Comments: Went through some tough stretches, and I don't his overall play quite matched his standards of the previous two seasons, including defensively. However, he still remains one of the top checking forwards in the game, and had his usual brief offensive spurts, despite reduced overall ice time. COLIN FORBES: GP G A PTS +/- PIM PP SH GW GT S PCTG Full season: 63 12 7 19 +2 59 2 0 2 0 93 12.9 1st half: 22 4 4 8 +4 21 1 0 1 0 32 12.5 2nd half: 41 8 3 11 -2 38 1 0 1 0 61 13.1 Grade: B Comments: See comments in Pelle Lindbergh award section. Forbes ended up having a decent rookie year, although his goal pace fell off late in the season after it looked like 15 or so was well within his reach. Good on the boards, usually reliable defensively, displays a noticeably better sense of work ethic than many of his teammates, and has a pretty good nose for driving the net. I like him. CHRIS THERIEN: GP G A PTS +/- PIM PP SH GW GT S PCTG Full season: 78 3 16 19 +5 80 1 0 1 0 102 2.9 1st half: 40 0 9 9 +11 31 0 0 0 0 47 0.0 2nd half: 38 3 7 10 -6 49 1 0 1 0 55 5.5 Grade: B- Comments: Went in reverse of last season. Last season, Therien emerged from Terry Murray's doghouse with a vengeance. He was absolutely tremendous in the 2nd half of the season and rode it right through the playoffs. This year, Therien kept up his hitting game with a fair amount of consistency, but he had some problems with turnovers and getting beaten on the rush during the second half of the season. By the way, people sometimes mistake penalty minutes for "physical play", but they aren't really necessarily equivalent. Therien is the blueline equivalent of Klatt in that he can hit effectively without taking many penalties. And most of the guys who combine physical play with very high PIM totals, usually tend to rack up a lot of those PIMs with fights and after-the-whistle activities in scrums. Therien may not give you the latter but he does give you the former, at least when he's on his game. I suppose that I wouldn't mind seeing a few more "defensive aggression" penalties mixed in for Therien: things like cross-checking minors in front of the net, coincidental roughing penalties, and the rare boarding *minor* (I don't like to see the ones that result in majors- because those usually come on very stupid and dangerous hits from behind, while the majority of the minors seem to be borderline sideways hits in which the recipient turns at the last moment and the guy hitting him isn't able to pull up). However, I don't agree with Therien's critics that he doesn't hit enough. He may not be "mean" enough for some people's liking, but his clean hitting game is just fine. PETR SVOBODA: GP G A PTS +/- PIM PP SH GW GT S PCTG Full season: 56 3 15 18 +19 83 2 0 0 0 44 6.8 1st half: 29 1 5 6 +5 31 1 0 0 0 25 4.0 2nd half: 27 2 10 12 +14 52 1 0 0 0 19 10.5 Grade: A Comments: The only negatives on Petr Svoboda are his tendency to get injured (which is a direct result of the courageous style he plays) and a proneness to a lot of minor penalties. It's hard to fathom that he's maligned by a certain segment of Flyers fans. Svoboda makes fewer mistakes in a month than some of his teammates make in one game. He always seems to make the smart play. He's mobile. He's a competitor. And he's a winner. For all the deserved accolades Hasek got at the Olympics, the Czechs still would not have won the gold medal if not for the defensive leadership and stellar play of Svoboda, anchoring what was considered a suspect blueline and helping turn it into a team asset. I never liked Svoboda before he arrived in Philly- I thought he was a mouthy stickwork artist- and it took me a little while to appreciate his defensive value and smarts. Each year he's been here, though, he has grown on me more and more. Now, I hold my breath every time the Flyers are forced to play without him. Having a healthy Petr Svoboda in the lineup is one of the most underrated keys to the Flyers Stanley Cup hopes. DAVE BABYCH: GP G A PTS +/- PIM PP SH GW GT S PCTG Full season: 53 0 9 9 -9 49 0 0 0 0 46 0.0 w/Vancouver: 47 0 8 8 -11 37 0 0 0 0 40 0.0 w/Flyers 6 0 1 1 +2 12 0 0 0 0 6 0.0 Grade: Incomplete (B based on the few games he played) Comments: In a lot of respects Babych reminds me of Kjell Samuelsson. Over the course of their careers, they have been different types of players- Babych was once very productive offensively, Kjell was always stay-at-home. Kjell has also played mostly on better teams than most of the ones Babych was on. However, they remind me of one another in and of the fact that both Babych and Sammy are held in much higher esteem by coaches and players than by fans. Neither guy is a "stiff": you don't stay in the league as long as those guys have without being able to really play the game. It had been some time since I paid close attention to Babych and I must say that I was pleasantly surprised by the caliber of his defensive play after he arrived here from the Canucks- all the reports said he was completely spent and the Flyers were just acquiring a body. Not from what I saw. He looked like he still has something to contribute to a club, even if his 60+ point seasons are ancient history. The Flyers are going to have to start getting more defensemen going well, and hopefully Babych can come back from his injury and show more of what did in the 6 games prior to going down. JOEL OTTO: GP G A PTS +/- PIM PP SH GW GT S PCTG Full season: 68 3 4 7 -2 78 0 0 0 1 53 5.7 1st half: 31 1 3 4 -1 30 0 0 0 1 24 4.2 2nd half: 37 2 1 3 -1 48 0 0 0 0 29 6.9 Grade: C+ Comments: Otto's role on the team diminished over the season from his former role of regular shifts centering the 3rd line to the role that Craig MacTavish played- sparing use at full strength and nearly exclusive use on penalty kills and certain defensive zone faceoffs. Even as late as last season, you could bank on double digit goals and assists from Otto to go along with terrific defensive play. This year, though, Otto's offense was gone completely, even when he was used in his old 3rd line role. I also thought that although his defense and faceoff taking were still very good, they weren't up to their perrenial Selke Trophy finalist standards of most of Joel's career. I trace some of the club's problems on defense this year to Otto's overall downward slope and resulting decreased use. LUKE RICHARDSON: GP G A PTS +/- PIM PP SH GW GT S PCTG Full season: 81 2 3 5 +7 139 2 0 0 0 57 3.5 1st half: 40 1 1 2 +3 76 1 0 0 0 26 3.8 2nd half: 41 1 2 3 +4 63 1 0 0 0 31 3.2 Grade: B- Comments: In learning to improve his defense, Richardson had to sacrifice some of his calling card aggressive hitting. He used to run around too much and look for hits where there were none. He made the transition to a somewhat more high percentage style of play a few years ago and consequently became a better overall defender. He still made his share of coverage mistakes, but he was overall a reasonably sound (and still physical) defenseman his last two years in Edmonton. That's exactly what the Flyers got when they signed him- still an above average hitter along with a competent defender. Many Flyers fans were expecting him to be a Rod Langway or a Brad McCrimmon and deposit everyone on the seat of their pants while still being extremely sound positional players. But Richardson's defense never was and never will be of that caliber. We got a durable foot soldier type who is a respectable #4 defenseman for the club. No more, no less. I was satisfied with his season, even if others were not. If you want him to go back to trying to put everyone through the boards, realize that he wouldn't be all that much better defensively than the Michel Petits of the league. DANIEL LACROIX: GP G A PTS +/- PIM PP SH GW GT S PCTG Full Season: 56 1 4 5 0 135 0 0 0 0 28 3.6 1st half: 30 1 3 4 +3 54 0 0 0 0 16 6.3 2nd half: 26 0 1 1 -3 81 0 0 0 0 12 0.0 Grade: C Comments: One of the few Flyers who regularly stood up for his teammates, and that in and of itself stood out. But hockey-wise, I thought that he looked more effective last season than this. He's versatile and can skate full shifts at center or wing, in addition to being a secondary enforcer and agitator. A good locker room guy as well, because he's one of the few guys on the team that seems to have fun with his job. That's the biggest change since the giddy half season of 1995, when it seemed like playing hockey was a pleasure for the guys on the team and the Legion of Doom dominated nightly. That team wasn't nearly as deep as the one that is in place now, but it was a much more cohesive bunch. Really, ever since Craig MacTavish was dealt, there has been a void in that Dave Poulin sort of role as a "playing coach" and locker room voice of reason who keeps everyone on the same page. There also has generally been a lack of players like Lacroix, who have fun and break up the monotony and keep others loose. Since then, it's become much more like a chore, as expectations of a Cup have been in place every year since. The pressure to win has become immense and Lacroix is one of the few guys who typically seems loose and relaxed. JOHN DRUCE: GP G A PTS +/- PIM PP SH GW GT S PCTG Full season: 23 1 2 3 0 2 0 0 0 0 18 5.6 1st half: 13 1 0 1 -1 0 0 0 0 0 4 25.0 2nd half: 10 0 2 2 +1 2 0 0 0 0 14 0.0 Grade: Incomplete (C based on NHL games played this season) Comments: Hardly got any ice time when with the Flyers. That he was a dominant player when with the Phantoms shows the disparity between the AHL and the NHL; at the NHL level, when used regularly, Druce is a nice role player with some speed who goes off on the occasional offensive hot streak then cools off for long stretches. In the AHL, he's a star offensive talent. KJELL SAMUELSSON: GP G A PTS +/- PIM PP SH GW GT S PCTG Full season: 49 0 3 3 +9 28 0 0 0 0 23 0.0 1st half: 24 0 2 2 +10 14 0 0 0 0 12 0.0 2nd half: 25 0 1 1 -1 14 0 0 0 0 9 0.0 Grade: B- Comments: I like Kjell Samuelsson, always have. His many critics won't be convinced otherwise by me, nor me by them. But I thought that he justified Clarke bringing him back for one more year this season, although I'll concede that his price tag was excessive, given the general spot duty nature of the way he was used this season. My all-time favorite quote about Sammy is from Ron Hextall two seasons ago: "The three best friends a goalie can have are the left goal post, the right goal post, and Kjell Samuelsson in front." That's the sort of respect he gets from people in hockey. Too bad the fans and certain media segments have never appreciated him. DAN KORDIC: GP G A PTS +/- PIM PP SH GW GT S PCTG Full season: 61 1 1 2 -4 210 0 0 0 0 12 8.3 1st half: 28 1 1 2 +1 81 0 0 0 0 7 14.3 2nd half: 33 0 0 0 -5 129 0 0 0 0 5 0.0 Grade: C+ Comments: Kordic lacks basic skills but when given a full shift, works his tail off not to be a liability, with somewhat mixed results. Like Lacroix, I thought he was more effective last season than this one. As a fighter, he is one of the better ones in the NHL- can go toe-to-toe with most anyone, and goes about his job quietly without a lot of yapping and posturing. He may not be a top-of-the line enforcer because he is only really good at that one thing and isn't good enough at the other things that top modern era enforcers are expected to do: get the puck in deep, forecheck effectively, and bang bodies. Scoring is a bonus, but they must be able to contribute in those areas. Kordic tries, but he's too slow afoot to do those things with real consistency. Folks, that's why Frank Bialowas can't play in the NHL. The Animal can barely keep up with the AHL pace, hard as he tries and as recklessly as he throws his body around. Bialowas ends up taking himself out of as any many plays as he does the opposition (but woe to the guy he catches with a hit!). His hitting success ratio in the AHL is about 45% and would be would be that much less in the NHL. You can't only fight and stay in the league. Not anymore. Bialowas is a passable player in the AHL because his recklessness does have a certain intimidation value to it at that level, plus he's an effective fighter. He would only have the fighting at the NHL level. In the NHL, Frank would constantly plaster *himself* all over the boards, trying to hit someone who is long gone; opponents wouldn't be intimidated, they'd be amused. And then Bialowas would do something stupid and hurt his team with a bad penalty. That's generally how he operates in the AHL when he's made to look foolish- he takes a pop at someone and gets penalized. He'd hurt the team if he were in the NHL. I know he's something of a cult figure in this city, but those are cold hard facts. Kordic is the next step up because he can do those other things in the NHL with at least marginal success, doesn't take very many extra penalties that hurt the team, plus he does have legitimate NHL heavyweight fighting ability. CHRIS JOSEPH: GP G A PTS +/- PIM PP SH GW GT S PCTG Full Season: 15 1 0 1 +1 19 0 0 1 0 20 5.0 1st half: 6 1 0 1 +2 2 0 0 1 0 4 25.0 2nd half: 9 0 0 0 -1 17 0 0 0 0 16 0.0 Grade: Incomplete (B for the games he played in the NHL) Comments: Joseph had a poor defensive reputation when he came here, but was surprisingly solid in the very limited action he saw, mostly at the beginning of the season. He did look a bit more like the shaky player of his reputation when given a few late season games, but that could easily be excused as accumulated rust over the course of a season spent nearly exclusively up in the pressbox. Note: No ratings for Paul Healey or Craig Darby. The released Brantt Myhers would get an F, because he was a liability on the ice and off. According to Rob Parent's recent Delaware County Times Article, the Flyers brass let out that Myhers was not only battling personal demons with his drinking problems, he was also starting to influence the behavior of certain young teammates. That is why the organization sent him home, rather than let him travel as a healthy scratch with either the AHL or NHL team and then let him go after the season.