Season #90 without winning and so it goes

May 2, 2006 | By Dennis Bakay | Discuss

Well, so it goes, another team in Philadelphia and another season in the books. Mark this down as the 30th year the Flyers have gone without a title and the 90th aggregate season the city of Philadelphia has gone without a championship.

The Flyers got off to a promising start tonight by holding the Buffalo Sabres without a goal for a good part of the first period.

For a half an hour it seemed they would stave off elimination and ward off this pesky team that is indicative of the "new-style NHL" with their speed.

And, then came Mike Grier's goal 11:16 into the first period.

And, then came Alex Kotalik's goal 6 minutes later.

And, then came the dagger in the form of Chris Drury's goal to put them up 3-0 with just 33 seconds left in the first period.

For all intents and purposes the Flyers' season was over at that point. They never recovered from the 3-0 deficit and it got worse and worse and worse.

In their history, the Flyers have only recovered from a 3-2 deficit just one time. It wasn't to be. And, let's be honest here; did anyone really in their hearts feel that this team had what it takes to make it past the New Jersey Devils?

They were playing from behind in each of the games and it was evident that the Flyers were playing catch-up in more ways than one throughout this series. To say the Flyers were a few steps slower than the Sabres would be an uderstatement. The Sabres were a Ferrari Spider and the Flyers were a 1972 Ford Pinto. Now, granted the Sabres are arguably one of the fastest (if not the fastest) teams in the league. But, the Flyers' lack of speed on defense was glaring in the series.

The acquisitions of Hatcher and Rathje were hailed in the off-season. Remember that time, the Flyers' offseason when they also got the greatest hockey player on the planet in Peter Forsberg?

It seems so long ago. It seems almost as long as the Flyers' magical run two years ago in which they fell to another team with speed in the Tampa Bay Lightning. And, they had speedy defensemen in Danny Markov and Kim Johnsson then. Added to that, the Flyers were without their top player in the playoffs from two years ago in Keith Primeau. The injuries combined with lack of speed and age just caught up to them.

Now, it's back to the drawing board. Where does this team begin?

It would be assumed that Desjardins won't be back. It would be a mistake for them not to retain Kim Johnsson. This team needs speed on defense. Resigning him should be a top priority. This would be a good start. They'll also have to take a long, hard look at their acquisitions of Hatcher and Rathje and whether they should remain on board.

Will they be able to unload their salaries though in the "new NHL." They should be able to move at least one of them, but moving both will be next to impossible because of their high salaries.

The new NHL is here and it's time for Clarke, et al. to adapt or they will go the way of the dodo bird. They have too much invested in this team to allow that to happen. We've been here before. Clarke likely has more than one move up his sleeve.

More importantly the players who quit on the team tonight need to be held accountable. Speed or no speed, it's inexcusable to quit. In fact, it's reprehensible.

And, so it goes, season #90 for Philadelphia teams and no titles.