Spectrum Memories: He's Never Been Past the Second Round in His Entire Life

From NBCSports.com

by Bob Herpen

Phanatic Magazine

While the St. Louis Blues won the sweepstakes to pry Wayne Gretzky away from Los Angeles, doing so on Feb. 28, 1996, the market for the next best living thing to Wayne Gretzky was wide open.

Dale Hawerchuk, already a veteran of more than 1,000 games and well over 1,000 career points and who played in the shadow of Gretzky for the first nine years of his NHL career, had been bounced from Buffalo to St. Louis, victim of two consecutive veteran purges in less than one season. 

Flush with the confidence of several moves that profoundly shifted the way the Philadelphia Flyers roster was constructed in the mid-1990s, GM Bob Clarke sniffed an opportunity. The desire was mutual. 

According to Jay Greenberg in his 1996 book Full Spectrum, Hawerchuk actually wanted to sign with the Flyers during the 1995 offseason as the Sabres shifted into purge mode after a first-round playoff exit handed to them by Philadelphia. 

Looking for a deal in the range of what he received at $7.8 million over 3 years, there simply wasn’t enough cash in the till at that point due to the necessity for Clarke to lock up two-thirds of the Legion of Doom line as well as seasoned defensive vets Eric Desjardins and Kevin Haller.

But when the Blues – well, GM and head coach Mike Keenan – decided to radically reshape their roster into one more playoff tested and reacquire a bunch of higher-level players already known as friend or foe, Hawerchuk had a little bit more runway to fly the coop. Despite a lineup which featured offensive weapons such as Brett Hull, Hawerchuk, Al MacInnis and Geoff Courtnall, St. Louis waded in the bottom five in total goals scored and goals-per-game all season.

Read about the Blues-Flyers mid-January post-blizzard game decided because a clearing attempt hit a glove.

The deal struck on March 15, 1996 was one-for-one: Craig MacTavish (by then a 4-time Stanley Cup winner and the last helmetless player in league history) headed to the Gateway City and Hawerchuk (who never advanced past the second round of the playoffs at any point of his future Hall-of-Fame-worthy 15-year career) arriving in Philadelphia.

Timing couldn’t have been better for the Flyers, who were hanging on long enough to challenge for the Atlantic Division lead with the Florida Panthers and New York Rangers – both of which were beginning to fade after scorching sections of their earlier schedule. 

After battling each other to a 3-3 tie at Madison Square Garden on March 13, the Panthers were 2-9-2 since Feb. 14 and the Blueshirts just 3-5-4 since then. The Orange and Black had 16 games remaining, just 2 points behind Florida and 9 back of New York, but sputtered to a 2-4-1 mark since Feb. 22.

They were missing the back third of the Legion, Mikael Renberg, sidelined with a persistent stomach-muscle issue that today would have been identified as a core muscle problem or sports hernia injury.  

Instead, as hockey remained in the dark ages orthopedically speaking, Renberg missed 17 straight games from late January to early March, then failed to record a point in the 2 games he started thereafter; another top-flight veteran option who could be moved on a line was a must after Dan Quinn was brought in to shore up the second line and Bob Corkum the bottom six.

“Mike said he needed to free up some money to sign Gretzky,” Clarke recalled in Greenberg’s book. “I would have been interested even if Renberg wasn’t hurt. He’s an intelligent player who could fit into the power play and he could play the wing.”

As luck would have it, Hawerchuk’s debut was at the Spectrum against the franchise he basically willed into existence, the original-and-not-extra-crispy Winnipeg Jets. 

These Jets, saved from relocation at the last minute the previous summer, were almost officially on their way out of Canada by now, though angling for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. It was a long way from the club which rose from the dead after selecting Hawerchuk No. 1 overall in the 1981 NHL draft after back-to-back championships in Canadian juniors with the Cornwall Royals.

“I had no clue anything was up,” Hawerchuk remembered in Full Spectrum. “But I wasn’t playing that much and I thought if anybody was interested it would probably be Philadelphia. You always have mixed feelings about a trade, but I felt pretty comfortable with Philadelphia.”

Hawerchuk played primarily on the power play, putting 4 shots on goal without a point in a 3-0 Flyers victory. Renberg, on the other hand, was a human adrenaline boost with his season-best 7-shot performance.

Unfortunately, Renberg wasn’t able to skate the next night against San Jose. Hawerchuk was, with Flyers head coach Terry Murray giving him carte blanche to get comfortable up and down the lineup. He centered three lines including the Legion, recording two assists (on goals from Joel Otto and John LeClair) and a third-period goal while riding shotgun with the top line which closed out the 8-2 romp. 

“When I walked into the locker room for the morning skate at Voorhees,” Hawerchuk recalled, “It was a much happier, looser atmosphere than in St. Louis. I just had a good feeling about being there.”

That good feeling was rocket fuel for a sudden spate of health and wealth which spurred a sprint to the finish. From the day of Hawerchuk’s acquisition, the Flyers went 13-3-0 overall, including a 7-1-0 at home. One of the two road losses was No. 18’s final visit to the Winnipeg Arena on March 22, a 4-1 Jets victory.

The Flyers sped past the faltering Panthers and the sagging Rangers, not only reaching first in the Atlantic, but the top overall seed in the Eastern Conference as the Penguins also backslid at the finish. Hawerchuk’s final regular-season line: 20 points in 16 games (4G, 16A). Five multi-point efforts. At least one shot on goal in all 16 games, 44 SOG all told. A six-game point streak from March 23 through Apr. 2.

In the playoffs, Hawerchuk was widely credited with calming down a jittery locker room after the Tampa Bay Lightning stole Games 2 and 3 in their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series. His calm tip from the slot near the end of the second period of a contentious contest at the Thunderdome gave the visitors a 3-1 edge in Game 4.

The Flyers won the night to draw even in the series and then took next two, pummeling the Bolts, settling all scores and outsourcing them by a 14-3 margin. They lost to the Panthers in 6 games in round two and again, Hawerchuk couldn’t clear the nagging postseason hurdle.

Hawerchuk was again leaned on at the start of the following season when Eric Lindros missed most of the first two months with a nagging hamstring issue brought on by playing in the inaugural World Cup of Hockey. Before Lindros' return, he earned a piece of team history, recording the first hat trick in NHL play in the Flyers’ new arena, netting 3 goals in a 7-3 decision over the Penguins on Nov. 21, 1996. It was his first hattie since 1992 and the 15th and final 3-goal effort of his storied career.

Even when reaching the promised land of a Stanley Cup final, fate turned a cruel hand. Hawerchuk's playing days concluded on June 4, 1997 at Detroit, when a crushing open-ice hit by Red Wings defenseman Vlad Konstantinov early in a 6-1 Game 3 loss resulted in a concussion which kept him out of the club’s season-ending Game 4 defeat.

Hawerchuk finished his Philly career by posting 54 points in 67 regular-season games, adding 16 points across 29 playoff appearances. He was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2001. Coaching soon beckoned and the product of Quebec major junior hockey spent nine seasons as bench boss for the Barrie Colts of the Ontario Hockey League.

After a years-long battle with stomach cancer, Hawerchuk passed away at the age of 57 on Aug. 18, 2020. As a way to thank him for his years of service to hockey in Winnipeg, a statue in his honor greets fans outside MTS Centre.

Catching up with: Darren Jensen

by Bob Herpen  

Phanatic Hockey Editor

Forty years ago this weekend, former Philadelphia Flyers goaltender Darren Jensen played his last game in the National Hockey League. 

It was a 7-3 loss to the New Jersey Devils, in which he started but was pulled after yielding 5 goals on 10 shots in less than 2 periods of action.

The goaltender he faced that afternoon at the Meadowlands, was Chico Resch. Resch would join the Flyers via trade only 3 days later, with Jensen earning a trip back to Hershey in the American Hockey League where he teamed up with another goalie prospect, Ron Hextall, to take the Bears all the way to the AHL finals.

Although it's been four decades since his last appearance in the pros, when I spoke to Jensen on Feb. 23, it was obvious he still appreciates the shot he was given here, promoted under the worst of circumstances.

Recall that, on Nov. 10, 1985, Flyers starter Pelle Lindbergh sustained fatal injuries in a one-vehicle accident in south Jersey. Two days later, backup Bob Froese was injured in a sensitive area and unable to start their next contest, Nov. 14 against the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Edmonton Oilers. 

Enter Jensen. His lone NHL start occurred just over 9 months prior, left to face the fusillade in Uniondale when then-head coach Mike Keenan decided Lindbergh needed a break, suffering a 7-5 loss to the Islanders. With the heat intensified, Jensen stood firm. He stopped 29 shots in a pressure-packed and emotion-laden 5-3 victory as the Flyers took their 11th straight. 

With Froese still sidelined, Jensen remained in net and the club continued to roll -- winning 5-2 at Hartford two nights later then rallying for a 5-4 OT victory against the Islanders. Two nights after that, the roller coaster ride came to a crashing halt with an 8-6 loss on the island which saw the Orange and Black rally from deficits of 5-1, 6-3 and 7-5.

“Everything happens so fast, so you don't have time to really think about it and really, it's kind of a good thing, I think, in the long run,” Jensen said of his being thrown into the starter's role at an unexpectedly tense period in franchise history.  “The more you think, the worse off you're going to be.” 

When Froese returned to action just before Thanksgiving, the gears were greased and set in motion. Froese, in his fourth NHL season, wound up leading the NHL with 31 wins, 5 shutouts and a 2.55 goals-against average. Jensen rode shotgun, picking up his first career shutout at the Spectrum on Jan. 9, 1986 against the Capitals, then added his second clean sheet 16 days later in St. Louis.

That night, Jensen halted 48 shots -- 24 in the third period alone -- along with a combined 18 from Blues scorers Joe Mullen, Rob Ramage and Bernie Federko. It still stands as a club record for most saves in a shutout victory, home or road, regular season or playoffs, according to Flyers PR guru Brian Smith. It was no surprise Jensen had no idea until I told him.

“I didn't even know if it was a record. It's kind of neat,” he said. “It was just such a special game. No expectations, nobody thought much. They were just bombarding us. And the puck just kept hitting me positionally."

“I absorbed it more after the game,” Jensen admitted. “Because I didn't realize I had that many shots. I just know I was getting a lot of rubber directed at me.”

That night at the old Arena served as the high point of Jensen’s NHL journey. As the Flyers and Capitals began to wage war for the Patrick Division lead, the team sagged a bit, starting on a late February West Coast trip and continuing into mid-March. Jensen – whose name eventually was engraved on the Jennings Trophy alongside Froese as the goalies who led the Flyers to the lowest total team GAA in 1985-86 – faltered as well. 

First, it was a loss in Vancouver when the offense took a rare night off. Next, after playing the powerful Oilers in the season's rubber match to a 1-1 tie through regulation at Northlands Coliseum, a harmless Jari Kurri backhander slipped through his pads. Next, when subbing for Froese at home against Buffalo down 3-0, he allowed a goal on the first shot he faced and after watching the hosts storm back with 4 straight only to allow the Sabres’ game-winner to squeeze between his arm and body 30 seconds later. Jensen rebounded to win against a defense-averse Toronto Maple Leafs despite allowing 4 more scores ahead of his final NHL appearance in north Jersey.

With the benefit of hindsight, Jensen said his focus wasn’t on the division race or the season-long mental and physical effects of playing at a high level in the wake of a trusted teammate’s death.

“I just wasn't looking at it that way,” he noted. “I was really more focused on my play.” 

“My job was to win, help the team, give them the best opportunity to win," Jensen added. That's all I really cared about. Fifth place, first place, it really didn't matter because I just believed if I do my job, everything will take care of itself." 

Yes, he admitted, Philadelphia was striving to remain one of the NHL's top teams, so the element of pressure was ever present. Added to that pressure was stepping into the crease each time for both Froese and himself after the way Lindbergh established himself the year before by becoming the first European-born netminder to win the Vezina Trophy. 

“You're trying to put it all together,” he said. “Sometimes it's bad luck, but I would never point the finger. I'm appreciative that I had the opportunity.”

Ultimately, Jensen ended his lone NHL season at 15-9-1, with a 3.69 GAA and two shutouts. The Flyers, with Resch backing up Froese, outlasted Washington and won the Patrick Division on the season’s final night, 5-3, on home ice vs. the Caps. 

“We, thank God, had a great team,” he added. “Guys like Mark Howe and Brad McCrimmon and Brad Marsh (on defense) so that gave me probably more confidence than anything, just the quality of players that we had.”

Jensen currently resides in Kelowna, British Columbia. He and his wife act as a billet family for three players on the Kelowna Rockets of the Western Hockey League in Canadian juniors. From afar, he still keeps tabs on his former team and host city, even showing up to the Flyers-Penguins Alumni contest in January, 2017.

This year, a newbie, Dan Vladar, is dealing with his time in the line of fire as the prospective No. 1 starter as the Flyers attempt to claw back into the playoff chase. Vladar, who will continually set personal records for wins and games played as long as confidence is placed in him by now-head-coach Rick Tocchet, bears a burden familiar to many. 

As an NCAA champion with North Dakota in 1982 and as a player who came to know about how to deal with being thrown into a tough situation in a city whose fans can be tough on their players, Jensen offered Vladar the usual time-tested wisdom spiced with some modern twists.

Goaltending, he said, has never changed. For elite athletes, it’s all mental and taking care of the mental side has not changed. What has since his time, Jensen added, is the legion of mental-health professionals invested in keeping goalies on an even keel. He bristled when recalling a memory of Keenan suggesting he seek help from a sports psychologist, as if his performance wasn’t enough of an indicator of his worthiness to stick in the NHL.

“I would never be on social media,” he offered.

Among the other time-tested chestnuts Jensen had for Vladar: never get too high or too low. Focus on each game, one at a time. Seek to sharpen the good points and remedy the bad ones. Ditch the memory of a bad game as quickly as the memory of a good one. When you play, you alone have control of your destiny and if you don’t play much, you’ll want to play as many games as possible.

“He’s just got to get through all the rubble at the beginning and then things will calm down,” Jensen said of Vladar’s development. “You’ve got to be strong mentally. Management reacts very fast, so, you’re there to win and these guys have the ability to be very consistent and that’s the biggest challenge – consistency.”

Zegras needs to find another gear...and fast

by Bob Herpen 

Phanatic Hockey Editor

Since Old Time Hockey returned to South Philadelphia on Jan. 6 in a 5-2 win over the Anaheim Ducks, the Flyers have gone a dismal 3-8-4. 

In that span, the club dropped out of the top eight clubs in the Eastern Conference who are locked into playoff position, but are still within striking distance as play resumes tonight in Washington. 

In that same span, former Duck and current top-line amoeba Trevor Zegras has cooled off noticeably. While skating in all 15 contests, he's gone for just 3 goals and 5 assists. Even if you subscribe to the old chestnut "correlation doesn't equal causation" there's something amiss here with the 24-year-old expected to be a galvanizer up front.

He's also been blanked three times in the previous 14 games, after only being zonked four previous times all year, three of those in October alone. A 27-game shot-on-goal streak was snapped on Jan. 10 vs. Tampa Bay. His apex during this time of team-wide struggle was a 7-SOG performance in a loss at Buffalo on Jan. 14 and then 6 more on net in a 5-3 setback in Columbus exactly 2 weeks later.  

One of the troubling aspects of Zegras' slide is that his shot totals are low. Consistent, but low. Even before the post-Ducks-afterglow, the fifth-year pro put together a streak of 12 straight games from Dec. 11 to Jan. 3 where he posted at least 1 SOG but no more than 2 each time. Then, there was that lone credited shot on goal in that score-a-palooza rout in Denver where virtually every other teammate on the top 6 made better contributions.

What snapped him out of an early-season funk that resulted in zero goals and 5 assists over the first seven games, whether he wants to cop to it or not, was almost having his wrist sliced by the skate of Sens forward Tim Stutzle. As playoff pressure mounts, let's hope it doesn't take another near-career-altering experience to jolt him back to reality. 

Zegras' season high for most consecutive games with at least a point is nine -- which all took place before Christmas (Dec. 9-23) and none better than 2 points in any contest. 

That, obviously has to change: the number of games as well as the number of points. Again, consistent but low. His season best for points in a game is 3, and both occurred waaaaay back in the season's first month, Oct. 25 and 30.  

One way head coach Rick Tocchet can start Zegras' engine is to test him right away -- or on an extended jag -- with more ice time per night. After 56 games, Zegras is averaging 18:43 per contest, a hair below his career best of 18:50 set in Anaheim 3 years ago. Not coincidentally, it was the last fully healthy season he skated for the Ducks, posting 23 goals and 65 points. 

Zegras has only broken the 20-minute mark 16 times in 56 games. His season high was a 23:24 stint at Montreal on Nov. 4. In November alone, Zegras was allowed to roam the ice for 20-or-more minutes 6 times, far and away the most for any other month. His 23:07 in a loss at Buffalo was matched only by 21:20 on Jan. 28 at Columbus, with a 21:17 in a beyond-regulation game vs. Ottawa on Feb. 5 before the Olympic break. 

I know, I know. Deep waters here with the "Michkov situation" that's always bubbling under the surface. 

But there's no load management in the NHL like there is in the NBA. And since your top players have to be top players on a consistent workload, it's safe to assume that means they will be given the maximum chance to produce. And it is safe to assume, for now anyway, that Tocchet doesn't plan to rein Zegras in unless there's a blowout -- in which case that's for protective purposes -- or evidence the youngster went on a Krispy Kreme bender over the last 2 1/2 weeks. 

From there, it's on Zegras and Zegras alone to do with the ice time he's given. Twenty minutes a night has a nice ring to it. No complaints about deployment, puck possession, high-or-low-danger chances. Pure fundamental instinct and hockey IQ has to guide him with each stride. 

Heading into the schedule resumption tonight, we don't know where Zegras' head's at. His lone availability to the media occurred following Sunday's practice and if you believe the message was whole coming out of Flyers PR, the only apparent subject of interest in-house was his role in cheering Team USA at the Winter Olympics.

There was also no apparent concern or issue or questions relating to Zegras' play from the beats who have all access during yesterday's media session after practice at Voorhees. That includes an 11-minute open forum with Flyers assistant Todd Reirden.

That's not good, either.

The only insight into Zegras' situation prior to puck drop was broached with a question related to his placement at either center or wing after yesterday's practice. Reirden offered minimal information there.

"We've looked at a couple different things in that regard," he said. "I don't want to commit to something on that. It's trying to find the best 12 guys up front that can help us win games."

At least for tonight, Zegras is listed as a winger, paired with Christian Dvorak and Travis Konecny according to several reports.

"I think he's played better lately," Tocchet was quoted as saying in the pregame, as reported by multiple sources. "He said to me he wanted to play more inside, he felt he was getting a little farther from the net. 

"When he's comfortable, he's a good hockey player," Tocchet added.

No matter where he's placed, he's gotta be on. Every night. Around the puck, moving the puck, moving his feet to get into open shooting and passing position. Tracking all rebounds within shooting or passing range. Can't afford to be a passenger even on nights when he is targeted. Even a skate keeping a loose puck alive can lead to a crucial scoring chance. Points are a must, win or lose, excepting shutouts -- which shouldn't be an issue as the club, for all its struggles, has only been blanked twice in 56 games.

Alongside the practical concerns, there's also the matter of Zegras' emotional reserve. In short, there's no time for getting too high or too low against any opponent. A scramble of 26 games in 48 days dictates he call upon any lessons learned about (cliche warning) keeping an even keel and focusing one game at a time.

There's one more game against his old club, on Mar. 18 in Southern California. He absolutely, positively cannot treat his first trip back to Anaheim as some kind of emotional high point -- even if he wants to stick it to that percentage of home fans who will make their displeasure known. I don't know if he knows it, but he can still be the dagger in their hearts without whooping it up like he did and performing for the cameras 49 days ago.

Objectively and subjectively, it was a mistake for Zegras to become so emotionally invested back on Jan. 6. Once the high wore off, he AND his teammates felt the sting of a string of lifeless performances whose fallout was only interrupted by the Olympic break. Switching it on to fuel his play against the likes of Carolina, Boston, the Red Wings, Rangers, Islanders and Devils should be where his head's at. 

I don't want to put a number on Zegras' production, but 25 points, minimum, in 26 games would sound like he's trying to rise to the occasion, with 30-or-more being indicative of latent drive and leadership quality. Throw in a couple game-tying or game-winning goals, that's a recipe for success. 

Regardless of deployment, he won't be able to dodge media scrutiny for much longer if the results don't arrive.