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Quick Hits: Prospects, TIFH and More |
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Quick Hits: October 28, 2020
1) Coming up later today, the Flyers' official website will feature a directory of which Flyers drafted prospects and loaned players are with teams that are/are not currently playing games during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. For those whose teams are not currently playing, when might their seasons begin/resume. Putting such an article together is tricky because the situations are fluid and could change without notice; thereby rendering portions of the article quickly outdated. However, it can serve as a rough guide and the info is based on the most up-to-date material I could find relative to their leagues and teams.
It is, nonetheless, pretty convoluted. For example, in the QMJHL, the Martimes teams are currently playing but the Quebec-based teams had to go into temporary pause. Thus, one Flyers' prospect in the Q, Elliot Desnoyers, is currently active while the other (Egor Serdyuk of the Victoriaville Tigres) is currently awaiting the resumption of his team's season.
2) Today in Flyers History: October 28
* 1980: In a fight-filled game at the Spectrum, the Flyers burn the Calgary Flames for three first-period goals, two second period goals and three third-period goals to compile an 8-0 blowout. Pete Peeters stops all 22 shots he faces. Bill Barber (even-strength and shorthanded goals, one assist) and defenseman Behn Wilson score twice apiece.
* 1999: Valeri Zelepukin scores an overtime goal with just nine ticks left on the clock to secure a 5-4 home win over the Colorado Avalanche. Mikael Renberg, Mark Recchi, Eric Desjardins and Mark Greig also score for Philadelphia, while Daymond Langkow collects three assists. The Flyers lead 4-0 in the third period before Alex Tanguay and Milan Hejduk score twice apiece to force overtime.
3) October 28 Flyers Alumni birthday: Kevin Dineen
Feisty goal-scoring winger and former Flyers captain Kevin Dineen was born October 28, 1963 in Quebec City, Quebec. A member of one of the hockey world's most prolific families, Kevin is the son of former NHL player, coach and scout Bill Dineen. Four of Kevin's siblings - Shawn, Peter, Gord and Jerry - also went on to play professional hockey. Two played in the NHL.
Older brother Peter Dineen was drafted by the Flyers in the ninth round (189th overall) of the 1980 NHL Draft. A defenseman, Peter Dineen broke into the pro ranks with the American Hockey League's Maine Mariners before he was traded by the Flyers to the Edmonton Oilers in exchange for defenseman Bob Hoffmeyer on October 22, 1983.
Kevin Dineen, who was primarily raised in the United States while his father worked in coaching and scouting, was drafted by the Hartford Whalers in the third round of the 1982 draft (56th overall). Coincidentally, the pick originally belonged to the Flyers. The pick was part of the blockbuster exchange of players and draft-selection assets that changed hands on July 3, 1981 when the Flyers traded Rick MacLeish to the Hartford Whalers and received Ray Allison, Fred Arthur, a 1982 first-round pick (Ron Sutter) and a 1982 third-round pick (Miroslav "Cookie" Dvorak) in return.
Dineen was often described as a power forward during his career, but he played much bigger than his actual size. He stood 5-foot-11 and weighed 190 pounds in his prime. In addition to his goal scoring prowess, Dineen had a Tasmanian devil-like quality to his game on the ice. Off the ice, he was friendly, kind and charitable.
The player enjoyed a solid two-year college career at the University of Denver, where he majored in business management. During his freshman year, he scored 10 goals and 20 points in 26 games. The next season, he posted 16 goals and 29 points in 36 since games while setting a team record for penalty minutes in a season with 105 penalty minutes.
In 1983-84, Dineen was invited to try out for Team Canada during the pre-Olympic tour. Playing both forward and defense, he won a spot on the 1984 Olympic roster in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia. He turned pro the next season.
While his father was winning championships as a coach in the American League, Kevin Dineen was steadily making a name for himself in the NHL. As a rookie in 1984-85, he scored a very respectable 25 goals and 41 points in 57 games, to go along with 120 penalty minutes.
Over the next four seasons, he never scored fewer than 25 goals, cracking the 40-goal barrier twice (with a high of 45 in 1988-89). In 1987, Dineen was part of the victorious Team Canada squad that defeated the Soviet Union in what is considered the finest Canada Cup series played in the tournament's history.
The Whalers were a perpetual also-ran in the 1980s and 1990s, but that was hardly Kevin Dineen's fault. Montreal Canadiens' coach Jean Perron called the right winger "one of the most inspirational players I have ever known."
During the late 1980s, virtually every NHL team asked Hartford whether Dineen was available in trade. The answer was always a flat no. That finally changed after the 1990-91 season.
In 1987, Dineen was diagnosed with Crohn's Disease, a painful and incurable digestive disorder. In December of 1990, a severe flare up of the condition caused Dineen to miss several games and ultimately resulted in him being hospitalized on January 2, 1991. Over an eight-day span, Dineen lost 10 pounds.
Dineen returned to the Whalers lineup on January 23, 1991. Although he refused to use his condition as an excuse for subpar play, the player was still not fully recuperated. He finished the season with just 17 goals, 47 points and 104 penalty minutes in 62 games.
Hartford management publicly expressed support for Dineen but was privately worried whether the soon-to-be 28-year-old would be able to recover his previous form. When Dineen got off to a slow start in the 1991-92 season (four goals, six points in 16 games), the club listened to several trade offers from other clubs.
Flyers general manager Russ Farwell was looking to shake up the roster. The team had missed the playoffs the previous two seasons and stumbled out of the gates in October and November of the current season.
On November 13, 1991, Philadelphia and Hartford struck a deal. The Flyers sent veteran Murray Craven and a 1992 fourth-round draft choice (Kevin Smyth) to the Whalers in exchange for Dineen.
The next night, Dineen was placed on right wing on the line centered by first-year Flyer Rod Brind'Amour. Dineen scored his first goal as a Flyer in the closing seconds of regulation to seal a 3-1 win over the Edmonton Oilers. Two nights later, the Flyers downed Montreal, 3-1.
Unfortunately, the wins proved to be the final ones of Paul Holmgren's three-plus season tenure as head coach. The club went on to lose six of its next seven games with one tie.
When Holmgren was fired as head coach, Farwell chose Bill Dineen (who had been working as a Flyers scout) as his replacement. The Dineens became the first - and only - father and son, coach and player duo in Flyers' franchise history.
The Flyers had a winning record over the remainder of the 1991-92 season but the team fell short of the playoffs. Nevertheless, Kevin Dineen was one of the bright spots, posting 26 goals, 56 points and 130 penalty minutes in 64 games.
In his second and final year as coach, the still-undermanned Bill Dineen-led Flyers club might have snuck into the playoffs if rookie phenom Eric Lindros had not missed 23 games due to injury. On the second line, center Rod Brind'Amour produced 37 goals and 86 points. Tenacious as ever, linemate Kevin Dineen tallied 35 goals, 63 points and a career-high 201 penalty minutes as well as a plus-14 rating at even strength.
With new head coach Terry Simpson at the helm, Dineen was named captain of the Flyers for the 1993-94 season. Struggling with a setback in his Crohn's Disease regimen, he missed five games during the middle of the season. The next year, Lindros became captain as Terry Murray became head coach. After five seasons of missing the playoffs, the Flyers re-emerged as a Stanley Cup contender. Dineen battled a shoulder problem for much of the shortened regular season.
Dineen re-signed with the Flyers during the 1995 offseason. However, he got off to a slow start during the 1995-96 season. On December 28, 1995, the 32-year-old was traded back to Hartford for a 1997 third-round pick (Kris Mallette) and a 1997 seventh-round pick (later reacquired by the Whalers).
Dineen had something of a bounce-back season for the Whalers in 1996-97 (19 goals, 48 points, 141 penalty minutes). He played six additional NHL seasons after that, spending the first two years of the Carolina Hurricanes' franchise history with the club after they relocated from Hartford to Raleigh. Thereafter, he spent one season with the Ottawa Senators and three seasons with the Columbus Blue Jackets before retiring as an active player.
For his distinguished NHL playing career, Dineen played 1,1184 regular season games (355 goals, 405 assists, 760 points, 2,229 penalty minutes) and 59 playoff matches (29 goals, 18 assists, 41 points, 127 penalty minutes). As a Flyer, he posted 176 points (88 goals, 88 assists) and 533 penalty minutes in 284 regular season games. During the 1995 playoffs, he stepped up to score six goals and four assists for 10 points in 15 games to go along with 18 penalty minutes.
After his playing days, Dineen began a successful coaching career.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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