What a letdown! I am not talking about the result of the finals. I go through this every summer. From October through early June we are conditioned to watch hockey. Almost a game every day and then once we are seriously hooked they start the playoffs and the games get better! Then we get to witness the ultimate an OT goal to win the Cup and the next day we must quit – COLD TURKEY – for four months! It is almost unfair!
I will be writing periodically over the summer as topics creep up. This week I have a few random thoughts.
• Flyers trade Parent for the rights to Hamhuis. If they can sign before July 1 and can also keep the other defensemen, this move is sheer genius. This gives the Flyers 5 defensemen on the roster that have served as a top pair defenseman. This move lightens the load of any potential goalie for the Flyers.
• The Hall of Fame vote today was great for the first pair of ladies to be inducted. However, the voters have really missed by not voting Eric Lindros into the Hall of Fame. This was one of the great Franchise Players of all time in the game. Every GM in the league was trying to blow up their entire team to acquire him out of Quebec. He had Hall of Fame defensemen in the league scared of being demolished by the kid when he played. He played on AWFUL Flyers teams early and still dominated. He was arguably one of the top players of his generation and should have been voted into the Hall of Fame today. Shame on the voters for not voting him in today!
• Hall of Fame number 2. I just got done reading how Fred Shero is not in the Hall of Fame. Why is that? Let’s check his coaching resume. He won back to back Stanley Cups, he beat the Russian team that nobody else was close to, he was the first coach to use video analysis, and he was the first coach to employ an assistant coach. Sure sounds like the kind of guy you want in the Hall of Fame! Yes he was a flakey coach, but then again so was Roger Neilson and last time I checked, Roger is in the Hall of Fame as is Don Cherry. Vote him in guys!
• Hall of Fame number 3. I am not sure how or why Brian Propp gets no mention of the hall of fame, especially after Dino Cicerelli was inducted today. Some of the Propper’s achievements are as follow; played in the Stanley Cup Finals 5 times, 5 time NHL All-Star, was the left wing with Gretzky and Lemieux in the 87 Canada Cup, was a key member of the Flyers 35 game unbeaten team in 1979-80, playedin 1000+ NHL games, scored 1004 points, and finally he holds the NHL record for most points EVER by a Left Wing in the NHL playoffs with 148! Propp is nothing but class and deserves to be a NHL Hall of Fame player!
• Finally we come to talk about Jeff Carter. I am 99.9999999% sure that the starting point of all these rumors is the media and team sources of the other 29 teams in the NHL. The reason for these rumors is simple, everyone wants the guy! If you are the team holding his contract, keep him right where he is and work in training camp on him playing wing with Mike Richards. Send him nowhere for nobody!
Only 3 and half months til hockey starts back up! Good Night and Good Hockey!
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Carter belongs at Center. We need his size up the middle
Put Richards on the Wing. Carter's great in the center and crap on the wing. Richards is great at center and had several scoring oppertunities on the wing when Carter had to replace him in draws. Richie to the wing please, we aren't doubting his centering skills, it's everyone else's 'wingman' abilities that suck.
As far as Lindros for the HOF? Imagine Ovie runs afoul of Concussion trouble this year, has a shortened year (the way he plays, it's possible) Now follow it with another shortened season due to head injury, now imagine that he continues to decline in points and production and mounts more injuries. Does Ovie, the most dominant player at one time get a HOF mention? Because that's what Lindros was.
Point per game guys are hard to find. If you just look at his Flyers numbers he played 486 games and had 659 points over an 8 year span. That is 1.3 points per game. That is Hall of Fame ratio for almost a decade.
The reason for the Carter talk is because he is the only person with value that doesnt have a ntc.
That is not a reason to trade Carter. He is the best goal scorer on the team. You don't trade goals. With the raise in the cap sign Coburn, Hamhuis, and Leighton then plug the Asham/Carcillo/Powe gap with a cheap option (Powe) and bring up a young player. With that defense and offense, the goalie is much less important on the Flyers than ever before.
I loved this blog. I am missing hockey so much. I do NOT know how I will make it to October.