Time is Ticking
We are now a little less than a month away from the NHL's targeted Jan. 13, 2021, return date to begin the belated and shortened 2020-21 regular season. The aim is for a 56-game slate with temporarily reconfigured divisions. The Flyers would be in the Eastern Division with the Boston Bruins, Buffalo Sabres, New York Islanders, New York Rangers, New Jersey Devils, Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals.
The financial disagreements between the NHL and the NHLPA over adjusted escrow and deferred compensation for the 2020-21 season were put aside last week to focus instead on the nuts and bolts of staging a season. Some major issues, as of this writing, have yet to be formalized including the start and end dates for training camps, roster sizes and a potential "taxi squad" arrangement until the American Hockey League can start its own season, regional mini-bubbles vs. teams playing in their home arenas (to limited attendance or empty stands, at first, subject to compliance with local ordinances and restrictions), updated coronavirus-testing policies and procedures and a plan for working around the closed U.S.-Canada border if it remains closed into the spring, among other issues.
If there are no exhibition games before the start of the regular season, players from the seven teams that did not qualify for postseason play in the Toronto/Edmonton bubbles in August of this year will be essentially 10 months removed from their last hockey game by the time shortened training camps (no Rookie Camp portion, shorter duration). That is something, however, that the NHLPA side appears willing to work with.
Given the realities of a flat salary cap, a shorter cap, and possibly zero or a single exhibition game with which to impress coaches, it may be tough for NHL teams to realistically offer many unsigned but still potentially viable roster candidates much in the way of Professional Try-Out (PTO) arrangements when camps begin.
Today in Flyers History: Philadelphia Acquires Dupont
Known for his frequent fisticuffs and celebratory "shuffle" after scoring goals, defenseman Andre "Moose" Dupont was one of the most colorful members of the Broad Street Bullies era Philadelphia Flyers. It all started on December 14, 1972 when the Flyers acquired Dupont and a 1973 third-round draft choice (Bob Stumpf) from the St. Louis Blues in a trade for Brent Hughes and Pierre Plante.
Hours later, Dupont made his Flyers debut at the Spectrum against his now-former club.
Dupont assisted on a Gary Dornhoefer goal less than five minutes in the first period. The Flyers went on to get a pair of goals from Bill Clement, plus single tallies by Bill Barber and "Cowboy" Bill Flett in a 5-3 win over the Blues. Michel Belhumeur earned the win in goal, making 37 saves.
Dupont played 573 regular season games for the Flyers between 1972-73 and 1979-80, recording 177 points (42 goals, 135 assists), 1,505 penalty minutes and a career plus-269 rating. In the playoffs, he posted 28 points (13 goals, 15 assists) and 306 penalty minutes in 108 games.
Today in Flyers History: December 14
1986: Tim Kerr scored twice and Dave Poulin earned three assists in a 4-1 road win in Winnipeg. Brad McCrimmon and Peter Zezel also tallied for Philly, while Ron Hextall made 30 saves.
1995: Ron Hextall earned an 18-save shutout in a 4-0 home win against the Tampa Bay Lightning. John LeClair notched his 19th and 20th goals of the season plus one assist, while Eric Lindros scored his 19th and assists on two other Philadelphia goals. A third period goal by Pat Falloon rounded out the scoring. Jeff Reese, later the Flyers' goaltending coach, took the loss. In a foreshadowing of the nasty first-round playoff battle that would later ensue between these teams in April, the third period was filled with chippy stickwork, fights and misconduct penalties.
1996: Garth Snow registered a 21-save shutout in a 4-0 road win over Hartford. John LeClair and Eric Lindros each scored once apiece, while Rod Brind'Amour found the net twice. Trent Klatt and Dale Hawerchuk assisted on both Brind'Amour goals. 2002: Robert Esche breezed to a 15-save shutout in a 2-0 home win over Buffalo. Donald Brashear and Eric Desjardins provide all the goal support Esche would need. 2010: Claude Giroux, Nikolay Zherdev and Scott Hartnell (power play) scored in a 3-2 home win over the archrival Pittsburgh Penguins. Brian Boucher earned the win with 21 saves. Hartnell's game-winner came midway through the third period with the score tied at 2-2.
2016: Russian import winger Roman Lyubimov snapped a 2-2 deadlock early in the third period as the Flyers forged ahead of the host Colorado Avalanche at the Pepsi Center in Denver. Brayden Schenn added some much-needed insurance less than two minutes later before a late goal by Matt Duchene narrowed the Flyers' lead back to a single goal. Steve Mason, who made 13 saves in the final period, slammed the door from there as the Flyers skated off with a 4-3 win. Earlier in the game, Michael Del Zotto and Wayne Simmonds sandwiched goals around tallies by Rene Bourque and Duchene's first goal of the game.
2017: The lowly Buffalo Sabres threw a scare into the host Flyers despite generating just 15 shots over the first 48 minutes of the game. Tied at 1-1 with the clock ticking down under the final 2:30 of regulation, veteran forward Valtteri Filppula put the Flyers ahead to stay, 2-1. Ryan O'Reilly and Travis Sanheim (first NHL goal) traded off first-period tallies.
2019: One day after learning that teammate Oskar Lindblom, who had officially been out due to an upper-body injury (what he thought at first was simply a case of lingering ribcage soreness from a hit in the ice), had just been diagnosed with a form of bone cancer called Ewing's Sarcoma, a listless and unfocused-looking Flyers team sustained a 4-1 road loss at the hands of the Minnesota Wild. It would take the Flyers team a few weeks and a disastrous post-Christmas western road trip to regain their bearings and go on to have a dominant second-half of the 2019-20 season before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the remainder of the regular season.
December 14 Flyers Alumn birthday: Chris Therien
The longest-tenured defenseman in Flyers' franchise history, Chris Therien was born on Dec. 14, 1971 in Ottawa, Ontario. Therien was drafted by the Flyers in the third round (47th overall) of the 1990 NHL Draft. After playing three seasons for Providence College and a stint with the Canadian national team, Therien joined the Flyers for the lockout shortened 1994-95 season.
Even before Therien's longstanding defensive pairing with Eric Desjardins was formed by Terry Murray midway through Therien's third NHL season, the player nicknamed "Bundy" proved to be a mainstay on the Flyers' blueline.
Therien was an NHL All-Rookie Team selection in 1994-95 with Dmitri Yushkevich as his primary partner and generally performed well in his second season with veteran Kjell Samuelsson as his most frequent partner. Thereafter, Therien formed a lengthy as successful tandem with Flyers Hall of Famer Desjardins. After his first Flyers stint ended near the 2003-04 trade deadline when he was traded to the Dallas Stars, for whom he played 11 games, Therien returned to the Flyers for a second stint in 2005-06 before retiring.
Therien played 753 regular season games for the Flyers; a franchise record among defensemen. He chipped in 159 points (29 goals, 130 assists), 583 penalty minutes and a combined plus-125 rating. In the playoffs, he played 99 games, posting 12 points (two goals, 10 assists), 68 penalty minutes and a plus-one rating. His best run came in 1997, when he posted seven points and a plus-14 for a Flyers team that reached the Stanley Cup Final.
After his playing days, Therien remained in the Delaware Valley. After his playing days, he embarked on a broadcasting career. His greatest pride is his children, who become accomplished athletes in their own right.