Quick Hits: July 6, 2019
1) As expected, Flyers center Scott Laughton has filed for salary arbitration. No hearing date has been announced as of yet. General manager Chuck Fletcher has stated that getting Laughton's deal done ahead of an arbitration hearing is high on the agenda list this month, along with trying to get restricted free agents Travis Konecny and Ivan Provorov signed.
2) In the latter case, there remains a holding pattern while the Flyers and Provorov's agent, Mark Gandler, wait to see what Boston's Charlie McAvoy and Columbus' Zach Werenski receive in their next contracts. Meanwhile, the other teams and the players' respective agents are also waiting for someone else to make the first move that sets the market for the other two.
3) Earlier this week, members of the Flyers Alumni and the Flyers' front office staff played a game against the Philadelphia Flyers PowerPlay, the power wheelchair hockey team that is affiliated with the Flyers' organization and which won the last national Power Cup Championship. The PowerPlay prevailed over the Alumni/front office team in overtime. Afterwards, the Alumni presented a $2,500 check to the PowerPlay to help defray some of the costs associated with playing in the upcoming 2019 Power Hockey Canada Cup.
4) Joe Watson, an original Flyer who was a member of both Stanley Cup championship teams, a two-time NHL All-Star Game participant and an inductee in the Flyers' Hall of Fame, celebrates his 76th birthday today. With the exception of a brief end-of-playing-career stint with the Colorado Rockies, the elder Watson brother has been an member of the Flyers organization (in many different capacities) from the inaugural 1967-68 season through today.
Joe remains the heart-and-soul of the Flyers Alumni Team; the one who cares the most about how the Flyers crest on the uniform is represented (he is as competitive as ever), the one who maintains its busy schedule of charitable fundraising games at community rinks all over the Delaware Valley, the one who strictly demands commitment and punctuality when the Alumni Team travels, and the one who is the de facto coach on the bench. Alumni Games are for fun, fundraising and nostalgia -- and Joe realizes that -- but he also wants the team to function as a team. It's the only way he knows.
Joe is also arguably the biggest Flyers fan among all the Alumni guys who are not working in the hockey ops side of the organization. Every Alum I know WANTS to see the Flyers win, but Joe is the only one who truly gets perturbed when the team isn't playing well. He follows the progress of all the prospects. He has strong opinions on which NHL-level guys play the right way. Above all, he dreams of seeing another Cup parade in the city.
Joe is gregarious, and still has a powerful handshake. He is opinionated and old-school. He still has a booming laugh and loves to tell stories, but is no-nonsense individual in other regards. He hates downtime and he detests what he sees as needless delays. He's honest, trustworthy and he's always been hard-working; never expecting anything to be handed to him. Those have been the keys to his longevity in and around the game.
During the final weekend of the 2016-17 season, the Flyers hosted the Columbus Blue Jackets in the penultimate game. The Flyers (courtesy of Brad Marsh) provided club box tickets for Cory Mickey and his family. Cory is the son of the late Larry Mickey, who played briefly for the Flyers in the early 1970s. On my way to stop over to say hello to Cory during the first intermission, I saw Joe and mentioned that I was on my way over to greet his old Flyers teammate Larry Mickey's son.
"Well, for Chrissakes, bring him over here," Joe said.
So I did. Retrieving Cory, our path back to where Joe Watson was standing was blocked by security and a slew of people gathering around former U.S. vice president Joe Biden. Finally, I told a security guard we were trying to see another Joe -- Watson, not Biden. The security guard nodded and directed us through the jam-up but, by now, intermission was almost over.
Joe Watson was still there, though. He vigorously shook Cory's hand and regaled him with stories about playing against his dad and their short time together playing for the Flyers. Specifically, he told a story about how Larry Mickey was great at lightening up the boredom of waiting to board airplanes by successfully pulling off the "dollar bill on a string" prank on unsuspecting travelers in the terminal and on the plane (this was before the days of chartered flights when teams traveled commercial flights).
By the time we said our goodbyes and I got back up to the press box, it was about six minutes into the second period. There had been a goal (by Columbus) scored, so I had to ask NHL.com's Adam Kimelman to get me caught up on what I'd missed. I didn't mind, though. It was really cool to see Joe so happy to make acquaintances with the son of someone who was his teammate 46 years ago for all of 14 games, and to have a related story on instant recall.
That's Joe Watson. He's one of a kind. Here's to many happy returns to the day, and to many more lunch times on Wells Fargo Center game days where Joe stops over to talk about the state of the current team and the recent goings-on with the team's top prospects.