Flyertown: Editorials

2001-2002 Season in Review

By Joy Kim
May 7, 2002

It's been over a week since the Flyers were officially eliminated from the playoffs--their fourth first round exit in the past five years--and the bitter taste from the disastrous last weeks of their season still lingers. In the hockey world, the Flyers have becoming a laughing-stock. They went up against a playoff patsy, the Ottawa Senators, and made Patrick Lalime look like Bernie Parent circa 1975. On break-up day, most of the Flyers key players--including the captain, Keith Primeau--broke one of hockey's sacred codes and pointed fingers at their coach for their postseason failures. The next day, Bill Barber was fired by Ed Snider and Bob Clarke after thirty years of service to the organization. Now the players scattered to the World Championships and golf courses around North America, while management looks for their sixth coach of Bob Clarke's second tenure as general manager.

What went wrong?

The season began with hope and high expectations. The Flyers had been active in the offseason: re-signing LeClair, signing Roenick, signing Dopita, and trading Lindros. After a good preseason, however, the Flyers stumbled off to another mediocre start and the first rumors of Bill Barber's job insecurity wafted through the media. Eric Desjardins gave up his captaincy to Keith Primeau in order to focus on his game; both the former and current captain struggled throughout the season to their worst showings ever in the orange and black. Jan Hlavac showed everyone in Philly that he couldn't finish and was ultimately traded for the bruising Donald Brashear. LeClair was a shadow of his former self, scoring only twenty goals.

Winning hides a multitude of flaws, and the Flyers' good run between the Brashear trade and the Olympic break put them at the top of the Eastern Conference. After the Olympics, everything changed. Only one Flyer, Simon Gagne, came back with a gold medal. The gold medal sparked his game briefly, but he slumped down the stretch along with the rest of his teammates. On the night before the trade deadline, both Keith Primeau and Jeremy Roenick were lost to injury, and Clarke pulled the trigger on a big deal. Maxime Ouellet and three 2002 picks went to Washington in exchange for the soon-to-be free agent Adam Oates. Oates was unable to spark the slumping LeClair and Recchi, and the Flyers went meekly to the Ottawa Senators in five games.

Once again, we ask: What went wrong?

There's plenty of blame to spread around. Obviously, Bill Barber was to some extent at fault--particularly with the Flyers' wretched power play and his inability to get through to his players when it most counted. In the end, however, games are won and lost on the ice--not in a locker room, not at a draft table, not in a general manager's office. The Flyers had all the necessary personnel to make a run at the cup. It certainly wasn't overwhelming talent--like the Red Wings or Avs--but it was good enough to get them to the second round. The players have to take most of the blame in this disaster, and they hardly seem inclined to do that.

A look at the Flyers lineup shows a strong veteran core with a few flashy youngsters. The young guns were good enough. Simon Gagne, Justin Williams, and Ruslan Fedotenko all improved upon their previous seasons. In the two weeks after the Olympics, Gagne flashed his potential superstardom. Down the stretch, Justin Williams often looked like the only forward interested in the game--he played with a blue collar edge despite his speed and skill; all in all, his sophomore season was vast improvement upon his rookie one. Fedotenko mostly played with thirdline grinders, but he still managed 17 goals--just a few less that the $9.5 million dollar man, John LeClair. Kim Johnsson struggled down the stretch, but he was still a pleasant surprise.

But when the young players struggled--as is natural--the veterans couldn't pick up the slack. Jeremy Roenick had a decent year railroaded by his knee injury in March--he lost a bit of his flash, and his game and linemates suffered. He has a bit of excuse (but not much) for his disappearance in the playoffs. Keith Primeau, Mark Recchi, John LeClair, and Eric Desjardins can't say the same. They each had their worst seasons in Philadelphia, and two of them were the biggest finger-pointers on breakup day. Two players still on entry contracts (Gagne and Williams) produces, but the big boys did nothing but whine and take bad penalties.

So what to do? The firing of Bill Barber was an unfortunate but obviously necessary step. A lot of names are being mentioned as his possible replacements: Ken Hitchcock, Pat Burns, Ted Nolan, Larry Robinson, Dave Poulin, and even Bob Gainey. Of these men, however, Burns and Gainey probably have the inside track. The former is known for being a players' coach, while the latter (one of the most respected men in all hockey) is a crony of Clarke's. Barber wasn't Clarke's choice: the next man will be.

A new coach won't be able to do much, however, without some new blood. At the beginning of the season, the team seemed to be very close-knit, with good chemistry in the room even when they didn't have it on the ice. That has changed, and the atmosphere around the team is nothing short of poisonous. The last time the Flyers made any noise in the playoffs was 2000, when they had four rookies in their line-up (Gagne, Boucher, Eaton, and Delmore). I don't think that's a coincidence. Management is still high on Bruno St. Jacques, and some defenseman is going to be shuffled off to make room for him: Desjardins or Therien will be traded, or Richardson won't be resigned. A Phantoms forward could also break into the Flyers lineup next season: Pavel Brendl has a shot, as does Guillaume Lefebvre. They'll replace someone--the question is who? It could be just about anyone except Gagne, Williams, or Fedotenko. And both of the Flyers' Czech players could be gone: Roman Cechmanek lost the faith of his teammates in Game 4, while Dopita was an injury-plagued disappointment.

There's a hard truth here for all Flyers fans: year by year, the team is losing its window of opportunity. Recchi, LeClair, and Desjardins are all showing their age--and it won't be too long before the Flyers are as creaky as the Dallas Stars (without a Cup to show for it). Bob Clarke and company have been given one more change by management to make something from their millions. Will they do it? Only another twelve months will tell.

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