I talked to a GM, not Paul Holmgren, who informed me that many teams are calling the Flyers about Gagne. He said the following, "Many teams know the Flyers, and Mr. Snider is not the kind of guy who will allow the team to stay in last place. So there is a bit of a feeding frenzy to see if someone can steal Gags in a trade that the new regime would make just to put their mark on the team and make a trade for trade's sake. The kind that would shake up a team. Paul Holmgren won't allow that to happen. He is a very calculated GM. He is the opposite of reactionary. It would have to be Christmas before that kind of trade would occur if the Flyers fall off the map. And it won't happen becauae there are too many players. These are the same guys that scored a bunch of goals last year."

This is interesting because I have heard this analysis of Paul Holmgren from many people now. He is of the mentality that if I don't know that answer, I will find the answer. Holmgren is very experienced. Another tidbit I have discovered is that Homer has been the acting GM in many ways for years.

"Bobby Clarke is not a fan of agents. Doesn't believe in them. Never had one himself." a respected Flyers source told me. "So he didn't like talking to them. He would have Paul do that."

There are some pretty powerful agents out there, not the Meehan's and Winter's of the world, but guys right underneath, agents with say 10-20 players, who told me this past week that in all these years they have NEVER spoken to Bobby Clarke.

It looks like Clarke handled all the trades first hand, dealt with the super agents, but for the most part had Holmgren deal with all the other agents. I am sure Clarke and Homer were conferring on which players to sign, but I just kind of found these inner workings interesting.

In another note, I have heard a rumor from a good source that Tom Poti turned down a very lucrative multi-year contract with the Penguins this past summer in favor of signing witht the Islanders.

As an aside, You had to be very impressed with Brian Boucher in last night't loss to the Flyers. He looked outstanding at times and is square and standing up in a way that makes him look much better than your average goalie in the NHL. And to think he came to Chicago on a tryout.

Heading to Chicago tomorrow night with my equipment. I am playing open hockey with some friends on Thursday morning at 7 am in Chi-town.

Tonight is Halloween and the Eklund family is going as charactors from Winnie the Pooh. Our little girl of 4 is Pooh, our boy of 1 is Roo, I am Tigger, my wife is Kanga, and our dog, Eeyore. Should be a fun night. I actually made the Eeyore and Kanga costumes. Yes, I am a dweeb.

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