head coach: Wayne Cashman

roster: C - Eric Lindros, Chris Gratton, Dan LaCroix, Joel Otto, Vaclav Prospal. LW - Rod Brind'Amour, Dan Kordic, John LeClair, Shjon Podein. RW - John Druce, Pat Falloon, Trent Klatt, Dainius Zubrus. D - Paul Coffey, Eric Desjardins, Chris Joseph, Janne Niinimaa, Luke Richardson, Kjell Samuelsson, Petr Svoboda, Chris Therien. G - Ron Hextall, Garth Snow.

injuries: Eric Desjardins, d (abdominal muscle/pelvic bone, injured reserve until late October); Petr Svoboda, d (broken finger, injured reserve until late October); Daniel LaCroix, c (knee surgery, sidelined until late November).

transactions: None.

standings:

GP   W   L   T   PTS   GF   GA   HOME      ROAD
 3   2   1   0     4    9    6  2-1-0     0-0-0

game results:

10/01 Florida     W 3-1
10/03 Ottawa      W 5-3
10/05 Phoenix     L 2-1

team news:

by Eric Meyer, Philadelphia Correspondent

New Faces and New Places

So another season is upon us. I assume we've all had time to lick our wounds from last season's debacle in the Cup finals against the Red Wings. Let's wipe the slate clean and start fresh.

So what have we got to work with? Let's see, we've got a Lindros, a LeClair, a Hextall, some Snow, a bunch of solid defensemen, a healthy Vinnie Prospal, a strong Rod Brind'Amour, and oh yeah, some new faces in new places.

Let's start with the big guy. No, not Lindros, I'll get to him later. I'm talkin' 'bout that Chris Gratton. The 6'4", 218-pound dynamo via Tampa Bay gave GM Bobby Clarke and his team the one sniper/physical force that this club was lacking last season. Quickly, for all of you hockey fans who spent that off-season in hibernation, I'll recap the Gratton saga.

August 13, 1997 - Flyers file a complaint with the league to block a proposed trade between Tampa Bay and Chicago, claiming that they had already signed the 22-year-old Gratton to a free agent offer sheet.

August 14, 1997 - Tampa Bay and Philadelphia go to arbitration. The Flyers signed Gratton to an offer sheet on Tuesday (8/12/97) that is reportedly worth $16.5 over five seasons and includes a $9 million signing bonus, then sent a faxed copy of the offer sheet to Tampa. NHL rules say an offer sheet sent to a team must be legible, and Lightning general manager Phil Esposito says the year-by-year breakdown on the fax sent Tuesday night was unreadable. Esposito claims that as a result, he was within his right to trade Gratton, sending him to Chicago that same night in exchange for unnamed players.

August 15, 1997 - Arbitrator John Sands rules in favor of Philadelphia, meaning that the Lightning have seven days to match the five-year, $16.5 million offer the Flyers tendered to Gratton.

August 20, 1997 - Philadelphia Flyers trade Mikael Renberg and Karl Dykhuis to Tampa Bay for the rights to Chris Gratton. The Flyers then ink Chris Gratton.

Well, that was a mouthful. So anyway, where was I? Oh yeah, Gratton's impact. Well, a goal and an assist in his first game, playing on the second line centering Prospal and Pat Falloon, against the Panthers ain't too shabby. And if John Vanbiesbrouck doesn't stone Falloon on the left post, then Gratton has a three-point night in his first game as a Flyer.

More new faces. What about Luuuuuuuuuuuuuuke? No I wasn't booing, I said Luke, as in Luke Richardson. Richardson, signed as a free agent in July, gives the Flyers an incredibly physical presence on the back line. His impact won't be felt in the scoresheets, but it will be felt by opposing players in the form of bumps and bruises. In his first few games as a Flyer, Richardson hasn't disappointed showing a solid mix of physical play and strong defense.

More new faces? Sure, the Flyers also went out and signed defenseman Chris Joseph, the prototypical NHL journeyman, to a contract to add some depth to an already solid defensive core.

Even more new faces? Yeah, let's not forget to mention the new general, head coach Wayne Cashman. He's a mean ex-Bruin player, and a savvy ex-Shark assistant coach. He's also Bobby Clarke's type of guy. Don't look for too many differences between this year's coaching philosophy and that of last year's coach Terry Murray. Both coaches preach a defensive style of hockey. Why else would Cashman go out and add Luke Richardson and Chris Joseph to an already rich defensive crop? It's a little early in the season and we have about eighty more games to go, but so far-so good.

Let's Set Our Starting Lineups

OFFENSE

LeClair-Lindros-Zubrus
Prospal-Gratton-Falloon
Podein-Brind'Amour-Klatt
Kordic-Otto-LaCroix

DEFENSE

Richardson-Niinimaa
Coffey-Joseph
Therien-Samuelsson

GOALTENDERS

Hextall
Snow

New Faces but no New Goalie?

Nope! They brought in Richardson, Gratton and even Joseph (Chris that is), but in the goalie department, the Flyers made no major moves in the off-season. We heard rumors about Ed Belfour, but he's down in Dallas. We heard about Felix "The Cat" Potvin, but he's still languishing in Toronto. Finally we heard a fair amount of talk about Curtis Joseph (to Flyers fans he is now just the other Joseph). But rumor had it that Oilers GM Glen Sather was too interested in either Dainius Zubrus or Janne Niinimaa, and around here, it's understood that for now, those two are off limits.

The consensus here in Philadelphia (myself included) is that the Flyers will never be able to win the Cup with Ron Hextall and Garth Snow. Let's just say that maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon... no, maybe not even soon, but at one point or another the Flyers are going to make a move for a proven goaltender such as Curtis Joseph.

Legion Go Bye-Bye

That's right, the Legion of Doom line of Eric Lindros, John LeClair and Mikael Renberg is no more (so who wants to buy a slightly used L.O.D. T-shirt?). With Renberg down south in the blue and black of the Tampa Bay Lightning, new coach Wayne Cashman has opted to go not with Chris Gratton on the top line, but with 19-year-old Dainius Zubrus. The youngster had just nine goals all of last season, but showed flashes of offensive brilliance on the ice, as well as a nasty, physical side to boot. Zubrus also came to life in the playoffs scoring five goals while adding four assists. That was good for second among NHL rookies in the playoffs last season. This year, in the first game of the season against Florida at the CoreStates Center, Zubrus notched the game-winning goal on the power play to help the Flyers to an easy 3-1 victory over the Panthers. In his second game this season, at home against Ottawa, young Dainius posted two assists.

What about the other ex-Legionnaires? Well, John LeClair, the same John LeClair who griped about renegotiating the final three years on his five-year contract with the Flyers during the off-season, came out of the gate in the regular season like an orange flash. In just his second game of the season, LeClair registered a goal and two assists, to help the Flyers cruise to a 5-3 home win against the Senators.

Finally we have Eric Lindros. In his final game as a Penguin in the playoffs last season, Super Mario told Lindros during the team handshakes that it was "his turn". Lindros, the same Eric Lindros who is in the last year of his contract, took those words to heart in his second game of the season against Ottawa. It appeared that the success of his linemates was contagious. Two goals and an assist helped get his team jump started against the Senators.

Contract Negotiations

Could it be that this might be the last year of Eric Lindros hockey in Philadelphia? Well, probably not, and it probably will be the case that Lindros will play the majority of his remaining seasons, if not finish his career with the Flyers. So why hasn't he been signed yet? Well that's an interesting question. It wasn't long ago, during the summer that his father, Carl Lindros, as well as another representative were said to be near wrapping up negotiations on a contract extension. But Flyers president Ed Snider denied those allegations and the process wore on.

As far as I can tell, Lindros and his representation have turned down offers of approximately $40 million over eight years, and $27 million over three years. Expect negotiations to take a hiatus for a short while as the team begins the regular season.

They Just Love Being Two Men Down

Not once, but twice in the first period alone, the Phoenix Coyotes found themselves defending five-on-three Philly power-play opportunities. The first opportunity saw many Philly flurries, but no goals to show for it. The second two-man advantage actually set the stage for a Phoenix breakaway which goaltender Garth Snow denied with time expiring in the first period.

Meyer's Flyers Notes

The Flyers' meeting with Phoenix on Sunday was Eric Lindros' 300th career NHL game.

For all you Sony Playstation buffs out there, you'll notice on Electronic Arts' NHL '98 that Luke Richardson is indeed a member of the Flyers. However, you still will need to make the necessary trade with Tampa to acquire Chris Gratton, and you will need to add Chris Joseph, as well.

In case you didn't hear, Dale Hawerchuk retired.

We're still awaiting that first Flyers fight of the season. I'll put my money on Mr. Kordic.

Get this... the Flyers have started charging for food in the press box? Yeah, I might pay $5 for a "Jumbo Hot Dog". Mmmmmm, hot dog.

[ issues | web extra | stats | nhl archive | home | chat | mailing list | about us | search | comments ]

1997 © Copyright LCS Hockey All Rights Reserved