With a collective exhale of relief from Philadelphia (and the world), the Flyers’ 39th season (the lockout killed 2004-05 entirely) finally and painfully ended. After Hitchcock was fired, the remainder of the season was just flogging a dead horse. It was hard to avoid watching most days. Adding insult to injury, Philly got the shaft on the draft lottery yesterday. Chicago’s tightwad owner will find a way to ruin his team’s chances with their prospect. Then again, I’m not too torn up over it. The current press I’m reading says none of the top five players are very exciting and they’ll probably remain in juniors to develop some more.
Now the ugly news will start to trickle out over which players will be dumped immediately: my guesses are definitely Gauthier, Esche and Sanderson. The draft won’t matter in the rebuilding. Free agents come July? I have no idea but I doubt Holmgren has the money to grab Drury, Briere or anyone else interesting. I feel he should continue to build up Carter, Richardson and Umberger with Gagne and Kapanen. Give Kapanen the C too, Gagne still doesn’t assert himself enough to be a true leader. He’d be Forsberg Jr. Speaking of Floppa, Holmgren better check himself into a mental ward if he even considers trying to buy him back from Nashville. It’s going to be a long Summer and the Cheesesteak of Suffering will accumulate another 400 days because the Sixers won’t make the NBA playoffs, the Phillies are 1-6 already with no sign of improvement and I doubt the Eagles will be going to the Super Bowl in this decade. Glad I’m only a Flyers fan.
Phoenix closed out with standing ovations for CuJo and JR, both of whom will not be returning, short of a miracle. Recently JR has been backpedalling on a retirement announcement. I thought he should’ve stuck it out until he at least hits the 500-goal mark. Modano beat him to it but it would still be awesome if he could be the third American player in the 500 Club. Which team will take him since he’s been demoted to special teams and the third or fouth line? His price tag with the Coyotes was only $1.2 million, a bargain for a more well-known player who will put butts in seats. I say Philly should give him a call, the people there still love him, John LeClair and Mark Recchi. As for next season with the ‘Yotes? I’m willing to give Gretzky one more shot, what else can the team do, he’s a partial owner! However, no playoff spot next year, he’s out.
Here’s one cool bit of news to see in the Finals. About time an American network brought down the legendary Don Cherry to cover hockey in the States.
Lastly, here is my prediction for Round One v. the ESPN polls:
For the East
- #1 Buffalo v. #8 NY Islanders: Buffalo Sabres in 5, majority agrees.
- #2 New Jersey v. #7 Tampa Bay: NJ Devils in 5, majority says 6.
- #3 Atlanta v. #6 NY Rangers: NY Rangers in 6, majority agrees.
- #4 Ottawa v. #5 Pittsburgh: Ottawa Senators in 7, majority says Pens in 6.
For the West
- #1 Detroit v. #8 Calgary: Detroit Wings in 6, majority says 5.
- #2 Anaheim v. #7 Minnesota: Anaheim Ducks in 5, majority says 6.
- #3 Vancouver v. #6 Dallas: Vancouver Canucks in 6, majority agrees.
- #4 Nashville v. #5 San Jose: San Jose Sharks in 6, majority agrees.