Can They Fix It?

By: Patrice L. Leonard

The first NHL season after the lock-out is over. A Stanley Cup Champion has been crowned. Now, we wait. There is a hefty 91 days until the first pre-season game of the 2006-2007. This will seem like an eternity to all those who worship the sport of hockey. So, where do we go from here? Do we look back on 2005-2006 or do we look forward? After the performance of the Flyers, I recommend we look forward. I mean, who wants to relive a disaster? That was what this past season for the Orange and Black was, after all.

So, in my quest for knowledge and answers I attended the Town Meeting held by the Flyers organization at the Skate Zone on Tuesday evening. Coach Hitchcock was going to answer questions thrown at him by season ticket holders, fans. I went in to this event expecting a bunch of questions pertaining to frivolous nonsense, to be honest. What I got was unexpected and welcome. I listened to intelligent question after intelligent question from everyday fans. Those people we consider uninformed and out of the loop. We were wrong. And, if you’re listening Larry Anderson, none of these Flyers’ fans have worn a uniform but yet they appear more knowledgeable and genuine about the sport they love than you do. Keep your comments aimed at Phillies’ fans and we’ll get along fine.

Hitch fielded questions about the power play and injuries. But what I found the most interesting is his staff’s new perspective on speed and the new NHL. They finally realize that they need it. They will not win without it. I guess those rickety light bulbs went on while watching the playoffs. Buffalo killed them with it. And from all appearances, any other team that was left would have done the same thing if we were able to advance further than the first round. So, where does this leave this team? Well, according to Hitchcock, at a disadvantage. A critical disadvantage if some things don’t change. They realize that. Now, what will they do?

From what I can gather the game plan is to weed out the weak links and insert stronger ones. They have set a new standard for training camp this year. All players must report in top notch condition. I just have to ask, what condition were they reporting in up until now? Apparently, whatever condition that made them listless and slow. I really don’t think that this will be an issue with our young guys as much as the older guys. They will all be put equally to the test. Only the fast will survive. This poses another problem. What about our blue-liners? What are Hitchcock, Terry Murray, and John Stevens going to do about the three trees we have back on defense right now? No disrespect to Derian Hatcher, Mike Rathje, and Chris Therien, but this has become a game in which they can no longer keep up. Rathje may have the best chance of the three to keep his head above water, if he stays healthy.

The emergence of Freddy Meyer and Joni Pitkenen gives them the youth and speed they need. The question mark that is Kim Johnsson may create a void that only free agency can fill. Clearly the Flyers would like to maintain Johnsson if at all possible. He is their best puck handler on the blue line. Alas, the current market for a player of his talents has skyrocketed, possibly making this impossible. Speedy skaters are ample in the rest of the line-up with the likes of Simon Gagne, Jeff Carter, and Sami Kapenen to name a few. So the problem appears to be from a defensive stand point. Where are the Paul Coffey’s of yester-year when you really need them?

Another issue that will come to the forefront in the preseason will be that of captaincy. This all relies on the return, or non-return, of Keith Primeau. Hitchcock stated that they basically screwed up this year by not breaking down and starting from scratch by appointing fresh leadership as soon as Primeau went down with injury. The pressure on Derian Hatcher, by the time he took the “C”, was too great. There were troubles in that locker room that were beyond fixing at that point. Disaccord was a day to day event with this team. It wasn’t public; it wasn’t something that was easily noticeable. But when it really mattered, it screamed of the obvious. Something was amiss on Broad Street and it wasn’t just the parking situation. Did this team dislike one another? No. That much was evident, even to the casual observer. I remember back in the earlier part of this season. The Flyers had just come home from that phenomenal road trip and they had lost a few games. After practice one day, when Ken Hitchcock addressed the media, he told us something that stuck with me ever since. At the time it just sounded like another excuse that coaches use to sweep failures and shortcomings under the rug. Now, I am starting to believe that there was a lot of truth to what he said. His explanation went something like this: “You have maybe five guys on this team from the last season played. It’s hard to play well as a team when you can’t trust the person sitting next to you in the locker room. This group of guys doesn’t know each other well enough yet. That will come. You’ll notice it in the way that they’ll play on the ice. That hasn’t happened yet.” Is that what we have to wait for? We have to sit around and scratch our heads until twenty grown men decide they can trust each other? This is not a Lifetime Original Movie here. This is the NHL. This is the league of extraordinary men.

So, as we slowly creep through baseball season hope springs eternal. When August rolls around our boys will be back in town preparing for another run at the Cup. How far will they go this time? That depends on whether they all have had time to sit down and talk about their feeling over a nice cup of tea.