Orange & Black & Blues

I am writing this on Sunday the 10th, the eve of the latest big headache that the Philadelphia Flyers have to solve before it gets out of hand and turns into a soap opera. Since John Leclair, long underpaid relative to statistical impact with other players with apparently better agents, wants what equals to the annual budget of the country of Albania and won’t settle for less, the folky, campfire setting that the Flyers have worked so long and hard to impress us with is now taking another blow. I hope but don’t count on the Flyers being able to corral Leclair. I am also not so sure that the bucks are the problem. From all other sources & inside information, the stoical Leclair may not really want to be around the organization that cast off his bread & butter set up man, Eric Lindros.

This is no revelation to many of us. No new insight or real “news”. What it is, is just another disturbing look at the team that just 5 years ago seemed to have all of the pieces to its puzzle virtually set,to begin a run at Red Wing like and Devil-ish consistency. All the lip service from the Flyers during the playoffs about how they felt more like a “locker room” with Craig Ramsey at the helm will have to be re-implemented this year just to come close to last year’s performance.

I sure would have liked to be a fly on the wall in the arbitration room when Leclair went toe-to-toe with Bob Clarke over the reasons Leclair shouldn’t have received such a hefty settlement (unlike the toe-to-toes Leclair, 6’2″, avoids every single game). A lot of people seem to feel that Big John will be Just Plain John without #88 capturing the bulk of opposition attention. And rightfully so. Bob Clarke, perceived Leclair back in 1995,as a complement to Lindros. His stats did not indicate that he would project to the 50 goal scorer he became. Clarke was obviously right about him then and may be right about him now.

What the Flyers have on their hands is unenviable. Another lynchpin to their success who is insatiated, who feels under appreciated, and has the derringer to the temple of management. I can well imagine the glee with which non-Flyer fans have over this latest development. Being objective, I just think it’s a shame that the league lost a chance for a perennial powerhouse, which only creates, like fighting, interest in the game. It’s a shame that, like the 1995 Devils, which teams on or near the top, in the last few years, don’t stay as cohesive. However, unlike the Devils, the Flyers have no hardware to show off and don’t figure to have any time soon.