Spontaneous Combustion

By: Patrice L. Leonard

Right about now, most people are numb. Our brains hurt from trying to figure out exactly why a team so loaded with talent is sinking like the Titanic. Here I will try to offer some insight and answers to why the Flyers are stinking like a diaper pail at the local pre-school.

1. Ken Hitchcock. Two little words, one big problem. In the past successful teams were a direct result of the coaching they received. That seems pretty simple, right? Well, those teams seemed to morph into the personality of man coaching them. Lindy Ruff has his Sabres playing at such a high intensity you can physically feel it when they are on the ice. Hitchcock is too mild mannered to be coaching in this city. As of late that has been called into the light. He has no fire, no “eye of the tiger” if you will. He is so boring; you want to check for a pulse whenever you’re in a room with him. How can players keep the fire lit when the guy holding the matches drops them in the toilet?

2. Simon Gagne and Jeff Carter. Al Morganti said it best when he quipped, “Just because the name Gagne or Carter is on the back of your sweater doesn’t mean that the puck is magically going to go in.” These two have been two of the more useless players in this young season. They need to make the net about 4 feet wider for one of Gagne’s shots to find it. Carter needs to have his ego knocked out of him. Once that happens, maybe they can find their game. It wouldn’t hurt for them to sit back and watch players like Sami Kapanen and Mike Knuble. That is the kind of grit and grind they have to learn and use.

3. Defense. With the exception of Derian Hatcher, this defense is pitiful. With Lars Johnsson out with an injury and Mike Rathje fighting to come back into the lineup, this team is left with very little to work with on the blue line. Joni Pitkanen shows some flashes of greatness, but as always it’ll take a few months for him to find his groove. So, let’s look at what we have left. Denis Gauthier is taking up space in this line up. He just can’t seem to raise his level of play. He gets into periods of what looks like plain laziness sometimes. Freddy Meyer can’t skate for anything. He’s gotten slower and clumsier. Alexandre Picard showed promise in his first game this season so we’ll have to keep our eyes on him. This will continue to be a problem throughout the year and I see no relief in sight.

4. The goalies. There really isn’t a talent problem here. The issue lies with the fact that the Flyers are carrying two number one goalies. Antero Niittymaki is more than capable to carry this team as far as it can go. Robert Esche can do the same. The difference with Esche is that he has to be the number one guy. If he is playing and looking over his shoulder at Niittymaki wondering if he’ll loose that job his game suffers miserably. I am a huge Esche supporter, but for his own mental health and ours, maybe he should be traded. I will admit though, I will truly miss his honesty with the media and everything else about his personality that makes him perfect for the city of Philadelphia.

5. Heart. It is amazing how one little word can strike fear into the hearts of other teams. That will not be a problem for any team facing the Flyers right now. They have no heart, or fire, or will to win for that matter. I have never witnessed such a internal meltdown with this team before. There have been slumps and losing streaks in the past to be sure. None have come about with as much timidity and gutlessness as the current funk they are in now. At present time there seems to be no one to come to the front and call themselves out about it. If Jeremy Roenick were here, this never happen. We could have had him, but we let him pass by. That may have been one of the monumental mistakes of the off-season.

Ed Snyder was notably angry at the play of his team. He promises that something will be done to correct this. They did put Petr Nedved, Nolan Baumgartner, and Niko Dimitrakos on waivers. It was his call, and he demanded it be done. What else he has turning around in his head remains to be seen. That’s a start.

The quote of the week came from a second year player, one whom everyone expects to be the next captain of the Philadelphia Flyers. Mike Richards simply stated, “This is typical Flyers hockey. We get behind the eight ball and we fall apart.” Or something to that effect. Nobody has come forth and disagreed with him yet.