Of all the games for the Flyers to lose, the one against the Red Wings would’ve been excusable and even expected with how poorly they’ve played this season. But it seems they couldn’t do that correctly because the 6-1 spanking they gave Detroit was anti-climatic and opens a huge can of worms, namely, why have they been incapable of doing this to half of the Atlantic Division? If this were the Flyers of the last 10 seasons, it would’ve been great and a sneak preview of a great Stanley Cup series, possibly even payback for the humiliating four-game sweep the Red Wings inflicted on them in 1997. Instead, it feels like the last-place team playing spoiler to one of the best NHL franchises over the last decade. Love them or hate them, three Stanley Cups in 10 years is still a fact one must respect. Sure the Predators are in first for the Central Division with the Wings behind but the smart money is still with the Motor City come playoff time.
Sadly, I didn’t watch the game due to Enterprise reruns on the SciFi channel being on simultaneously and my DVR doesn’t allow you to record one channel and watch another. I honestly figured it would be the Red Wings beating up the Flyers and the farewell tribute to Keith Primeau I wanted see would be skipped by Versus. I never liked Keith in the beginning because my opinions of him were clouded by EA’s NHL 2001 game (he didn’t have very good stats) and my friend Brian’s stories about Primeau’s tenure with the Red Wings. As I watched more Flyers’ games over the weeks, his hockey skills were dwarfed by JR, Recchi, Desjardins, Gagne and even Williams yet you could sense the leadership. Keith earned the right to wear the C on his jersey and he went on to be a key player in keeping the Flyers in the running to the seventh game against Tampa for the Eastern Championship. I don’t think the organizaton was prepared to lose him so soon which is why there are so many problems; Forsberg plays well when he’s healthy but I think his leadership is as non-committal as his responses to the media are about being traded.
Moving on to the trades. Kapanen has been signed up for another two years which makes me happy. He’s still a fast skater and plays a solid two-way game for someone under six feet. Besides the Forsberg trade rumors, now I read about Edmonton and SJ expressing an interest in Hatcher. Please, please, please take this lead-footed clutch-n-grabber off my team.
Phoenix is still struggling as every game is critical and they’re within 15 points of a playoff berth, probably more. Thanks to the salary cap, it’s going to be harder to achieve as they dealt Ladislav Nagy to the Stars. The quote from Gretzky wasn’t helpful and I would’ve clung to him to the end of the season. The Coyotes were going to lose him over the Summer so why not keep pushing to make the playoffs with the best team you have.
Finally, it seems the NHL is trying to widen its worldwide appeal by having at least one game between the Ducks and Kings in London. I can only hope it’s a pre-season game since the ticket holders in LA-Anaheim may be a bit miffed. I forgot to mention something else going around. There is a proposal to have the Stanley Cup winner take on the European league champion in place of the World Cup series. I would like to see the NHL champ take on Europe’s winner. A contest to between two different styles of hockey.