Staszak: The First Philadelphian

For all intents and purposes, Ray Staszak is a footnote in one of the worst seasons by any franchise in modern NHL history.

He skated in a total of four contests for the Detroit Red Wings early in the 1985-86 season, recording his lone NHL point in his first appearance in a tie against the North Stars. Working under head coaches Harry Neale and Brad Park, the Wings finished a league and franchise worst 17-57-6 and surrendered more than 400 goals.

Despite those origins which seem much less than humble, it meant that Staszak earned a place in local history as the first player born and raised entirely in the City of Philadelphia to make it into the National Hockey League.

Not even Tom Brennan, born here in 1922 but who had to relocate to Canada in his teen years in order to hone his hockey skills before skating in 12 games with the Bruins from 1943-45, can claim that. 

Flourtown native Mike Richter might be the most famous, or infamous for those of you who are dedicated New York Ranger haters. Cherry Hill's Own Bobby Ryan might be the subject of the most fetishistic rumors, and Jay Caufield might have possessed the most petrified hands. Mark Eaton was from Delaware, and Eric Tangradi also turned heel like Richter and skated for the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Yet, even in failure Staszak can claim to be something that none of the above can: the first college player to be signed to a million-dollar free agent deal.

The kid from the Northeast made headlines when the Detroit Red Wings, in the midst of a free-agent signing frenzy, inked Staszak to a whopping five-year, $1.4 million-dollar contract on July 31, 1985. Included in the bunch were such names as Tim Friday, Warren Young, Harold Snepsts, Chris Cichocki, Dale Krentz, Adam Oates and Petr Klima.

To what did he owe the honor of the sudden windfall? Two years in college and one stellar season with the now-defunct program at Illinois-Chicago, during which he led the Flames in goals (37) and points (72) in just 38 games, gained All-CCHA honors and was a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award, and a Hell of a lot of hard work. UIC's Hobey campaign even featured him in the mills of Indiana, touted as the "Man of Steel."

His rise to the top was as unlikely as it was swift. He didn't begin skating until he was in middle school. Having graduated from Archbishop Ryan High School in 1980, the undersized winger (5-foot-9, 170 pounds) had to take his talents on the road because, even five years removed from the Broad Street Bullies taking the hockey world by storm, players from Philadelphia simply weren't on anyone's radar. He spent one year with the Bux-Mont Glaciers (Junior B) in the Mid- Atlantic League season while working as a machinist, then another with a Minnesota club in the USHL where he garnered enough notice to snag a scholarship to UIC in 1983.

But after taking part in four of the first five games of that disastrous season, during which Detroit went 0-4-1 and was outscored to the tune of 35-13, Staszak was shipped up to Glens Falls to play for the Wings' AHL affiliate under future Flyers head coach Bill Dineen.

"He seemed to me to be in no-man's land. I thought he was a full step behind and having a tough time with the transition," then Red Wings GM Jim Devellano said at the time of Staszak's demotion. "He can go down, relax, start to unwind, start to handle the puck a little better and start to do some of the things he can. It looked like the weight of the world was on his shoulders. Because he cares, he has pride and character, he wants to contribute and he wants to live up to his contract. That's unfair because no one can live up to that contract."

"That contract," which in short order came to be seen as an albatross (albeit one not stone dead and hawked by John Cleese) for the moribund Wings, provided desperate help to a family which saw its patriarch felled by a heart attack just prior to Staszak's college debut.

"(It) was a godsend," Staszak said to the Inquirer in 1987. "It was just under a mil, spread out you know. I helped my family immediately. I paid some bills, helped my sisters through school and put the family's mind at ease as far as where the next dollar was coming from. We're a low-middle class family, and with my father gone, it wasn't easy."

Staszak went to work, totaling 13 goals and 21 assists over 26 games with Adirondack -- which went on to win the Calder Cup in a stunning reversal of fortune. But disaster struck when he suffered a groin injury, then a pair of debilitating shoulder injuries which impacted his shooting. Rehab and more hard work failed to resuscitate the joint, and Devellano was forced to make a business decision and buy him out of his deal.

"It first happened when I was in Adirondack in the (American Hockey League) finals against Hershey," he said. "I felt the pain, but you don't quit at a time like that. Then I hurt it again at practice, in preseason (at the Red Wings' camp). Somebody pulled me down from behind near the goal. My shoulder started bothering me, but when you're in the position I was in -- second year, trying to make a spot on the team -- you don't give up. I kept playing all through camp, fought it to the bitter end."

Staszak suffered one final indignity during a tryout with the Vancouver Canucks in 1988, hurting the shoulder again while taking a hard check during a battle for the puck, and he finally hung up the skates for good. 

"When I came back from Vancouver, I figured it was time to let go for a while," he said. "It was the first time I'd given my body time to heal. I didn't play any hockey for four months, didn't do any lifting," Staszak said in a piece from the Inquirer in March of 1989.

Staszak returned to his Academy Road alma mater as a special assistant to its boys' hockey coach in 1989, and he's lived a quiet life since then. Cursory internet searches appear to have turned up that he lives in the far Northeast.

It has taken a little more than a generation for the NHL to come back around and openly court college free agents, though the hype surrounding UMass-Lowell defenseman Christian Folin last Spring didn't come close to reaching the publicity Staszak and his cohorts did.

Mason joins elite company as Flyers blank depleted Red Wings

by Bob Herpen
Phanatic Hockey Editor 

When was the last time you could say the Flyers and Red Wings were battling for playoff position?

How about never.

The two franchises have been on two separate tracks, and for the last 47 years, competing in either opposite divisions or conferences.

On Tuesday night, it was the third and final meeting scheduled for this season, and the most meaningful contest between the franchises since June of 1997.

Due to the vagaries of the new playoff format, and the struggles each have faced through two-thirds of the schedule, these clubs will most likely be sparring for the two wild-card spots available in the eight-team intra-conference format. The eighth-place Wings had a game in hand on the 10th-place Flyers and a one-point margin, but that disappeared as Philly claimed a 5-0 victory.

Steve Mason clocked in with 33 saves for his second clean sheet of the year, the first Philly goalie to blank Detroit since Roman Cechmanek in 2001. It was a perfect going-away present for the club, which begins a three-game California road trip at Anaheim on Thursday.

The hosts' path was made much easier due to the fact that Detroit was missing five principals: forwards Henrik Zetterberg, Pavel Datsyuk, Johan Franzen, Todd Bertuzzi and goaltender Jimmy Howard.

Wings head coach Mike Babcock was nonplussed.

“I thought we did lots of good things early, I thought we were in it, and then too many self-inflicted wounds,” Babcock said. “To me, not good enough. For us to have success right now we got to be detail-orientated and be hard-working and we didn’t have enough details tonight, with or without the puck. We gave them three of the five goals, that can’t happen if you want to have success.”

Scott Hartnell picked up his first multi-goal effort since last April, Adam Hall and Sean Couturier lit the lamp and Claude Giroux added a goal and two assists for the Orange and Black, who recovered from a 6-1 thrashing at the hands of the Bruins on home ice this past Saturday.

"We needed to get our confidence back, need to have our confidence high going into that trip," said Hartnell, whose club closed the books on a four-game losing skid.

Jonas Gustavsson was on the hook for all five goals on 28 shots, as the Wings dropped two of three to Philadelphia this season.

"It's embarrassing, walking out of this arena tonight," groused Wings defenseman Jonathan Ericsson, one of the few regulars forced to slog through one of the team's worst losses this year. 

On the front end of a cross-checking minor to Danny DeKeyser, Timonen let go a low, hard blast from the point which was redirected through Niklas Kronwall's and Gustavsson's legs by Hartnell at 13:42 of the first period. 

Hartnell was denied as the clock moved beyond five minutes played in the second. He was set up perfectly by a cross-ice dish from Giroux off a 2-on-1, but Gustavsson did the full splits in his crease to knock the puck away.

Giroux then fed Hartnell again on the left wing, and he made no mistake with a drive that hit the back of the net at the 8:08 mark.

Gustavsson was strong again to deny a breakaway backhander from Vincent Lecavalier minutes later, but was fooled by a Hall backhander from the right side with 8:58 to play and the hosts led 3-0.

Mason once again did his part, emulating Gustavsson on his own split-save against Luke Glendening with 7 1/2 minutes left, and then got some luck when Kyle Quincey shot the rebound high and wide with three-quarters of the net open.

Hartnell appeared to be a bit allergic to a trifecta, dishing off any chance he could in the third period, but it paid off when he led Giroux up the left wing, and he blew a shot off Gustavsson's glove and in for a four-goal spread just after the midway point.

"You give him the puck, you're going to get it back," Hartnell said of his old/new linemate. "That second period, I could have had two or three goals. He tells me to always go to the net with my stick on the ice, and I thought we did a really good job tonight. He's one of the best passers in the game. He thinks the game, he's competitive. When he goes, we go as a team."

ly.com/philly/sports/flyers/20140129_Hartnell_scores_twice_as_Flyers_rout_Red_Wings.html#sYcKjGBZRhfPG9VD.99

Couturier's wraparound against a passive Wings defense with 3:51 to play was the additional dagger.

Mason capped his shutout with three more sweeping glove stops, keeping Detroit winless here since the 1997 Stanley Cup Finals. 

Notes: Bernie Parent (2-0, 11/16/76) and Wayne Stephenson (3-0, 11/13/77) also kept the Wings off the scoreboard, and all four Flyers shutouts against Detroit have occurred in Philadelphia ... Hartnell recorded his 30th career two-goal game and first since his hat trick last April 15 at Montreal ...  Flyers defenseman Kimmo Timonen, who logged only 7:20 of ice time, did not play past the late stages of the second period after blocking a shot, and was listed as day-to-day with a lower-body injury that Berube stated was not serious ... The Orange and Black have beaten the Wings eight straight times during the regular season in Philadelphia, four off the franchise record of 12 straight set from Oct. 14, 1973 to Nov. 19, 1978 ... Detroit suffered through its third consecutive road shutout defeat, after losing to Anaheim and the New York Rangers by identical scores of 1-0 from Jan. 12-16.

Mark Howe's jersey retirement remarks

Prior to Tuesday's 3-2 victory over the Detroit Red Wings, Mark Howe was honored by becoming just the fifth player in Flyers history to have his number retired. Below is a transcript of his remarks during a pre-game ceremony.

"I stand before you today a proud yet humbled man. I am being honored tonight in the presence of the two teams that have been a part of my life for the past 30 years. In Detroit, I had the opportunity to play with the great Nick Lidstrom. I got to wear the uniform that my father proudly wore for 25 years. And I have had the opportunity to work for Mike and Marion Ilitch. Their passion for hockey and their compassion for those who have worn a Red Wing uniform is second to none.

I am, however, being honored here today for my playing days wearing the #2 as a Philadelphia Flyer. As I reflect upon those days, the passion for hockey and compassion for those who wore the Flyers uniform were equally displayed by Mr. Ed Snider. It was truly the “Flyers Family.” As I said at my Hockey Hall of Fame induction speech in November, when I first came to Philadelphia back in 1982, it was as if I was born to be a Flyer. The orange and black began to flow through my veins and instantly consumed my heart. The memories of playing for the Flyers will be a part of me forever.

I had the opportunity to play with and learn from Bill Barber and Bobby Clarke. They passed on to me the expectations that came with wearing a Flyers uniform. Throughout my 10 years, I had the privilege of playing alongside so many gifted players and an incredible staff. Pat Croce, Ed Van Impe, Cagey, Mike, Sudsy & Kurt, the medical staff, Gene Hart, Poulin, Propp and Kerr, Hexy, Pelle, Brownie, Chief, Homer, Illka, Tock, Ronnie & Rich, Cocker, Kjell, Brad Marsh, Cross and my dear partner the Beast. These people and many others contributed so much to this tremendous individual honor of having my #2 jersey hung in the rafters alongside Bernie Parent, Barry Ashbee, Bill Barber, & Bobby Clarke. Our teams from the mid 80’s will always have a special bond because of the work ethic and commitment we made to each other.

I am blessed to have my family by my side to share in this joyous event: Dad, Marty & Mary, Murray, Sharon, Travis and Kristine; Azia, Josh and Ella; and Nolan. And I know my mother is looking after me from above. I am incredibly lucky to be able to call you all family. I love you all.

I would like to applaud both the Red Wings and the Flyers organizations for doing all they have to financially help the families of those who lost their loved ones last September. I would also like to thank all of the men and women who have served in our armed forces and made all of this possible.

Over the course of 10 years, I wore my #2 jersey in front of a sold out Spectrum crowd. Sometimes we succeeded and sometimes I failed, but you always stood by my side and supported me, and for that I thank you, the fans.

On December 31^st, I had the opportunity to wear my #2 Flyers jersey one last time at the Winter Classic in front of 46,000 passionate Flyers fans. The chills I got from hearing Lauren and Kate sing God Bless America and the thrill I got from scoring a penalty shot goal for my granddaughter Ella were incredible. To top that, I can only wish that the Red Wings and Flyers meet here in June for Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals.

To the fans of Philadelphia and the entire Flyers organization, it was my honor and privilege to have represented your city and your team wearing the #2 jersey of the Philadelphia Flyers."

Bryzgalov rescues sluggish Flyers in victory over Red Wings

by Bob Herpen
Phanatic Hockey Editor

It started out like Ilya Bryzgalov was going to have one of those games where all he needed to do was kick it into gear at key times, flash the pads, sweep the glove, and turn in another victory.

But the hobbled Detroit Red Wings unleashed 39 shots on net -- 37 in the final two periods -- and forced Bryzgalov to stand strong in a 3-2 Flyers victory on Tuesday.

Once the fanfare of retiring former defenseman Mark Howe's #2 was silenced, a hockey game that Philadelphia controlled early on nearly slipped from their grasp.

Max Talbot picked up the eventual deciding tally, a short-handed marker with 5:50 remaining in the second period which gave the hosts a 3-1 advantage. Claude Giroux added a goal and assist, while Jakub Voracek also scored before leaving the game just over seven minutes into the second period after absorbing a devastating shoulder-to-head hit from Wings defenseman Nicklas Kronwall.

"It felt good to string a couple wins together in a row and move back into position by playing well at home. Everybody knows the playoffs are coming," said Talbot.

Henrik Zetterberg and Johan Franzen provided the offense and Joey MacDonald wound up with 20 saves in defeat.

Detroit's losing streak here reached seven regular-season games, dating back to January 25, 1997, but this one was aided by the absences of marquee names such as Pavel Datsyuk, Todd Bertuzzi, Nicklas Lidstrom and usual starter Jimmy Howard.

Giroux provided the excitement in a one-goal hockey game by picking an Ian White pass at the point, racing by the defender and cruising in on MacDonald. Though White's stick check slowed the initial shot enough, the rebound kicked right out to Talbot for the easy slam-dunk from the left side to give the Flyers that crucial two-goal margin.

From that juncture, the ice was tilted heavily in Detroit's favor, and wave after wave of shifts and shots came in on Bryzgalov.

Even though Franzen ripped a shot home from between the circles at the 8:47 mark of the third to make it 3-2, Bryzgalov saved his best for last.

The Wings went for the extra attacker with just over a minute to play, and the visitors worked the puck into the right offensive corner. The scrum reached the edge of the crease before the puck squirted loose to Franzen, whose dead-on chance was calmly trapped by Bryzgalov between his arm and body as 56.8 seconds showed.

It looked like an auspicious night for Philly as it enjoyed a power play after just 23 seconds. Though it fell by the wayside, good fortune seemed to desert the Orange and Black at the four-minute mark.

That's when Zetterberg took a Valteri Filppula drop pass in stride on the right wing and slid a rising backhander inside the near post.

Still, the hosts buckled down and allowed only one more shot for the remainder of the period, while lighting the lamp twice.

On the tying goal, MacDonald left the puck behind his cage for Doug Janik, who hesitated and blew his assignment by not making a clearing attempt. Voracek swooped in and while trying to wrap the puck to Talbot at the opposite post, the disc caromed off the skate of Brendan Smith and in with 6:10 remaining.

Giroux then found another gear to meet a Braydon Coburn pass which ricocheted off the right-wing boards. He was two steps ahead of the defense by the time he gathered the puck, made a slight fake to pull MacDonald out of position, and lift his backhander under the crossbar at 18:11.

"He's our leader and he's a little banged up right now," Talbot said of Giroux. "He plays with energy and competes night in and night out. He shows that he wants to go out on the ice no matter what's going on."

Danny Briere continued to be snakebitten despite being fed by his linemates in the early going. A chance from inside the crease somehow stayed out and avoided deflecting off a Detroit player, instead ringing off the post early in the second.

Minutes later, Kronwall did his damage. Taking advantage of Voracek looking down and to the side while trying to corral a loose puck along the left-wing boards, the gritty defenseman caught the former Blue Jacket unaware with a solid shoulder to the mush.

Despite the cries of the sellout crowd, the deed went unpunished.

“It was a tough hit, he took it right in the head,” Flyers head coach Peter Laviolette said. “It’s frustrating. He’s having a terrific year and is a terrific player for us. It’s substantial when you’re battling through a lot of injuries and you take a hit like that.”

Notes: The three stars of the game in ascending order were Giroux, Bryzgalov and Howe...The Flyers have won three straight games for the first time since taking seven in a row from December 2-15...Bryzgalov ran his record to 6-2-1 with a 2.15 goals-against average and one shutout over his last 10 starts...Jaromir Jagr departed the game late in the second period and did not return due to a groin injury. He will be re-evaluated on Wednesday...Largely subbing for Giroux because of a wrist injury, Scott Hartnell ended up winning 7-of-16 faceoffs...The game was delayed nearly 30 minutes due to Howe's number being retired, standing as the fifth player honored in Flyers history and first since Bill Barber in October of 1990.

Simmonds issues statement on banana incident

A Phanatic Editorial

On Friday morning, Flyers forward Wayne Simmonds issued a statement regarding an incident at the John Labatt Centre in London, Ontatrio, where an unidentified fan threw a banana onto the ice while Simmonds took his turn in the shootout.

“It was unfortunate that this incident happened but I am above this sort of stuff. This is something that is out of my control. Moving forward, this incident is something I will no longer comment on so I can just focus on playing hockey for the Philadelphia Flyers.”

Simmonds scored on a nifty backhand as if nothing really happened, but the Flyers dropped a 4-3 decision to the Detroit Red Wings.

On Friday, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman issued his "condemnation" of the incident.

"We have millions of great fans who show tremendous respect for our players and for the game. The obviously stupid and ignorant action by one individual is in no way representative of our fans or the people of London, Ontario."

What Bettman misses in his obvious attempt to merely smooth things over, is that when you're dealing with something like racism, the actions of one person are simply going to taint everyone around that individual.

While it's a given he'll defend hockey fans as a whole to stem the tide of media hyperbole, who cares if the people of London, Ontario are or aren't racists? It's a minor-league town with a long and proud tradition of junior hockey, but after what happened last night, really not worth courting its fans to buy into the NHL product.

Time to move on, Mr. Bettman. Plenty of other towns to stage a preseason exhibition. 

As far as Simmonds is concerned, it's his life and his career, but I am disappointed that he's not taking a stronger stand. Nobody's expecting the young man to be hockey's version of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, but some pointed words on the 23-year-old's end will absolutely be crucial in not letting this incident pass. 

Perhaps his quick dismissal -- mistaken for being classy and taking the high road -- and hopes that life will return to normal without further discussion is an implicit reminder that speaking out may not be the best choice for him to be able to continue his career.

If his own teammates, including James van Riemsdyk, who said "we've got his back" in reference to the Ontario native, truly want to make an impact, they should not simply circle the wagons. That's convenient against an attack by an opposing player or outside threat, like the media or the public away from the rink.

But for an internal threat such as fan behavior inside an arena during play, they're better served to band together and suggest a boycott of London outright -- even though it's going to cause a problem high up since Global Spectrum -- a cousin entity to Comcast, which owns the Flyers, also owns and operates the Labatt Centre.

There are nearly 30 players of at least part-African descent in the NHL, and they are not on the margins.

Try telling that to Winnipeg's imposing Dustin Byfuglien, or Colorado's slick-skating forward Chris Stewart, or Trevor Daley of the Dallas Stars, who rose above an ugly name-calling incident in juniors by John Vanbiesbrouck to become an impact defenseman on his club.

It would be easy to use that collective influence from the team reps to the NHLPA leaders and so on up the chain, to let the real power-brokers know that nothing of this sort should be tolerated anywhere and for any reason.

Flyers to play another preseason game in Ontario

The Philadelphia Flyers will play their annual preseason game at their “home away from home” against the Detroit Red Wings at the John Labatt Centre in London, Ontario, on Thursday, September 22 at 7 p.m.

It will be the eighth straight season the Orange and Black have headed to one of Ontario's minor-league bellwether towns to play an exhibition contest. London has long been home to the Knights, who play in the Ontario Hockey League, one of Canada's major junior leagues.

"London truly is our home away from home. The fan support here in London for the Flyers is outstanding," said Comcast president and chief operating officer Peter Luukko in a statement that accompanied the announcement.

"The John Labatt Centre is a fantastic hockey arena that our players enjoy visiting. To be playing the Detroit Red Wings here in London is a dream match-up for hockey fans in Southwestern Ontario and Eastern Michigan. It’s going to be a terrific night of hockey in the City of London."

Are the Flyers who we think they are?

by Bob Herpen
Phanatic Hockey Editor

After one minor move at Monday's trade deadline, Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren has elected to dance with who brung him as the club attempts to once again reach the Stanley Cup Finals.

The numbers are impressive as the season winds down to its final 20 games: A 40-16-6 record for 86 points, which is good enough for tops in the Atlantic Division (by five points over Pittsburgh) and best in the Eastern Conference (three points up on Boston, the Northeast Division leader).

Philadelphia has also been embroiled in a race for the NHL's best record, now trailing Vancouver (40-16-9) by three points. The Flyers, though, have two games in hand in the quest for the Presidents' Trophy which means home-ice advantage for all four rounds of the postseason.

Warning signs are now on the horizon after such a quick ascension to the elite of this 30-team track meet.

An overtime home setback last week to an injury-weakened Phoenix Coyotes. Another listless home loss to an inferior Toronto club on Thursday. A power play mired in the lower third of the NHL. A general manager, for the second time in three years, publicly decrying the attitude of his players.

Adversity? Sure. Self-inflicted mostly. Pressure? You bet. Reason to panic? Let's hold off on that for a bit.

The last team to win the Presidents' Trophy and take home the Stanley Cup was the Detroit Red Wings, in 2008 and 2002.

Let's face it, Mike Richards, Kris Versteeg, Chris Pronger and Brian Boucher are who they are, but they are no Steve Yzerman, Brett Hull, Niklas Lidstrom and Dominik Hasek.

Despite a balanced attack which has kept Peter Laviolette's charges at the top of the league to this point, doesn't it seem like everything's been a little too perfect?

Last year's regular season was probably too bad to be true. Injuries, intrigue, coaching changes, a desperate stand to make the playoffs. A 41-35-6 finish that belied the talent within that suddenly turned into playoff magic.

This year, it seems too good to be true as the pitfalls have been minor, but telling. When all other obstacles have been eliminated, trouble comes from within. It is indeed difficult to keep motivated for six whole months for a return shot at the Cup. Attention flags, effort wavers, and slumps occur. It's a fact of hockey life.

There's a fine line between the two ends. Don't believe it? Ask the Boston Bruins and Washington Capitals, whose dream seasons in 2009 and 2010 exploded into early postseason heartbreak.

Although Holmgren beamed earlier in the week about improving his team through addition, you'd be a fool not to recognize something has been lost. Two things actually -- Simon Gagne and Ian Laperriere -- valued veteran leadership on the forward lines.

But what remains is obviously getting the job done, now with another Cup winner added in Versteeg.

Given this recent blip in the relatively-smooth path the Flyers have taken to the top of the league so far, comparisons to past Orange and Black teams are apt.

Looking back to the magical season of 1979-80, the one in which the club put together a near-unreachable record 35-game unbeaten streak and went 48-12-20, you see that even this legendary squad had its troubles.

Before starting the run, they lost a 9-2 game in Atlanta. They suffered bewildering late-season home losses to Montreal, the Islanders, Vancouver and the Rangers. They were pounded like veal cutlet in Boston. Their power play clicked in the low double digits the whole year.

Bob Clarke in later years admitted that the Flyers' 22-11-10 finish after The Streak was over was a better indicator of the team's true makeup.

Despite steamrolling the NHL for three-quarters of the year, Pat Quinn's charges completed the regular season just 3-5-5 and lost the Finals to a hotter Islanders team that finished 25 points back in the standings but hit their stride in April.

Another parallel trotted out this year has been that with the 1986-87 season, a Cup Finals club under Mike Keenan's watch.

Armed with the fiery rookie Ron Hextall, a 50-goal scorer in Tim Kerr and Mark Howe anchoring the second-best defense in the NHL, the Flyers exploded to a 31-11-3 in mid-January, surpassing even Edmonton for best record.

However, long-term injuries caught up to the young stars, and it finished just 15-15-5 the rest of the way.

Thanks to a murderous 16-games-in-28-day stretch in March, there were puzzling blowout losses at the Spectrum to the Rangers, Kings and Red Wings, along with a 9-5 home defeat to the Islanders in the final regular-season tilt which drew the public ire of then-GM Clarke. Three gruelling victorious rounds wound up in a gallant Game 7 defeat to the dynastic Oilers.

The common factor in both? White-hot starts to both seasons which saw frustrating fizzles at the end and ultimate defeat in the final round at the hands of foes who were fresher and healthier.

While there's no harm in enjoying this sweet, sweet ride, the Flyers will inevitably come upon an opponent who just wants it more. That's what happens when 25 of 30 teams are hunting for 16 playoff berths, and that's what happens when one of those catches fire and faces a team ripe for the plucking in the early rounds.

That this down period occurs now instead of in October or November/December as it has in the last two seasons is something to worry about, but would you rather it happen now with so much of a cushion built up or in May when every loss puts you closer to the edge?

One more burning question is, can Laviolette's temperament and the leaders on the club strike enough of a balance to keep everyone in line and events in perspective long enough to correct things before April 9?

 Only time will tell if they are who we think they are.

Boucher stars as Flyers break 22-year drought in Detroit

by Bob Herpen
Phanatic Hockey Editor
  
Brian Boucher celebrated his 34th birthday by stopping 25-of-27 shots as the Philadelphia Flyers erased more than 22 years of frustration in Detroit with a 3-2 victory over the Red Wings at Joe Louis Arena.

James van Riemsdyk, Dan Carcillo and Scott Hartnell notched second-period scores for the Flyers, who nearly wasted a three-goal lead but posted their first win -- regular season or playoffs -- in the Motor City since November 4, 1988.

Philadelphia had gone 0-16-2 since then, including two losses in the 1997 Stanley Cup Finals.
With the victory, the Flyers tied idle Pittsburgh atop the Atlantic Division with 53 points, and joined the Penguins and Red Wings atop the NHL standings.

Valtteri Filppula and Henrik Zetterberg tallied in the third period for the Red Wings, who have dropped consecutive one-goal decisions on home ice.

Jimmy Howard suffered the loss, pulled after allowing three goals on 27 shots in two periods. Chris Osgood finished the game by halting all five shots he faced.

Osgood was tested in the first 30 seconds of the period, but he made two pad stops in close on Mike Richards.

Shortly thereafter, Johan Franzen hit Filppula, who went around a Flyers defenseman and whipped a shot home from the left wing at 51 seconds.

Boucher snagged a sizzling wrister from Franzen roughly 7 1/2 minutes in but was helpless on a Detroit power play with 7:32 remaining as Zetterberg scored on the backhand to make it 3-2.

Detroit maintained pressure and the Flyers were reduced to long clearing attempts. Philly's best chance down
the stretch came with 2:40 left, but Danny Briere's wraparound was squeezed off between Osgood's pads.

The Wings gained an extra skater starting with 1:07 to play, but failed to generate a quality shot until the buzzer.

The Red Wings failed to convert on an early 5-on-3 advantage, then after the Flyers couldn't convert a power-play chance, Boucher stoned Darren Helm on a clear breakaway.

Philadelphia took a 1-0 lead at the 51-second mark of the second, as van Riemsdyk's attempted centering pass from the boards along the goal line caromed off a Red Wing stick and sailed by Howard.

Seconds after Carcillo was unable to lift a puck over a prone Howard, the disc found its way back to the point to Andrej Meszaros, who ripped a shot that Carcillo did deflect home at 5:32.

Hartnell made it 3-0 with 5:36 left in the second when he managed to lift a shot through bodies at the left post and under the crossbar.

After stopping all nine shots he faced in the first period, Boucher added 11 more saves in the second.


Notes: Murray Craven, while fending off a two-hander to the side of his face by Miroslav Frycer, notched the game-winning goal with 13 seconds left in regulation in that 1988 contest, despite a hat trick from Red Wings franchise icon Steve Yzerman...Philadelphia improved to 13-5-3 all-time on January 2 and have taken six in a row since a loss at San Jose on January 2, 2002...Carcillo hadn't scored since October 29...The Flyers end their five-game road trip in New Jersey on Thursday...The Red Wings begin a five-game trip at Edmonton on Tuesday.