Its not that I dont like Laughton. I do. I just think the Flyers need to take a more aggressive position when it comes to drafting. Instead of using your picks to trad for players rights, use them to move up in the draft. Be agressive B E agressive. - youarewrong
Well I'm glad we didn't move up to take Ceci because he's had a rough go but I like Maatta at the time. Pained me to watch him go to the Pitt.
That is where you are wrong. They could have kept both Carter and Richards and still went after Bryz. They CHOSE to deal them. Potentially because they would bring back the best return (and they did). - jak521
Thats debateable. If Snyder doesn't tell Homer to get a Number 1 goalie, do the Flyers trade Richards and Carter? If Homer was doing this just to change the culture of the team, then why was he so visibly upset? I, and others, think Homer didn't have a choice.
Thats debateable. If Snyder doesn't tell Homer to get a Number 1 goalie, do the Flyers trade Richards and Carter? If Homer was doing this just to change the culture of the team, then why was he so visibly upset? I, and others, think Homer didn't have a choice. - youarewrong
I think Carter was gonna get traded, no matter what. I recall the argument being "too many centers".
Richards was the surprise, IMO. I think the return for Richards was good enough to where Holmgren looked at the term of Richards' contract (which is like, a billionty year contract) and decided to get out from under it (even though....you know....Holmgren signed it too).
I think Holmgren's fingerprints are all over the trades of Carter/Richards and have nothing to do with Al Davis, er, I mean Ed Snider.
Clarke acquired the pick they used on Carter in summer of 2001.....not in Carter's draft year, which was 2003. They got that pick in exchange for Daymond Langkow (I liked Langkow, but wow, I think the Flyers won that trade).
Richards was their own draft pick.
So, it's not like Clarke rolled up on the 2003 draft and went "Whoa, I've got to get an early pick in the first round because this is a stacked draft year!".
He held onto that pick for 2 full calendar years and likely, the only reason he DIDN'T trade it is because someone in the office bound, gagged, and prevented him from doing so. - johndewar
I'm pretty sure the orginization knew 2003 was going to be a deep draft when they got the pick in 2001, just like people knew this was going to be a deep draft in 2011.
I'm pretty sure the orginization knew 2003 was going to be a deep draft when they got the pick in 2001, just like people knew this was going to be a deep draft in 2011. - youarewrong
GM Bob Clarke was a lot of things.
"Master of the NHL Entry Draft" was not EVER one of them.
Hockey representative Jakub Voracek morning crashed near Kladno his Ferrari California. Philadelphia Flyers attacker was driving too fast for a truck that wanted to turn and did not stop in time. The accident took place without injury, incurred when the damage for more than three million crowns. "It was such a tiny accident. It's not worth mentioning," said Voráček for Blesk.cz. - Scoob
I think Carter was gonna get traded, no matter what. I recall the argument being "too many centers".
Richards was the surprise, IMO. I think the return for Richards was good enough to where Holmgren looked at the term of Richards' contract (which is like, a billionty year contract) and decided to get out from under it (even though....you know....Holmgren signed it too).
I think Holmgren's fingerprints are all over the trades of Carter/Richards and have nothing to do with Al Davis, er, I mean Ed Snider. - johndewar
I think it was an organizational decision that was a long time coming. I agree that they initially wanted to hold onto Richards. It sounded to me like they wanted to swing the Richards deal in LA with Carter and were rebuked so they made the Carter to Columbus deal. Then LA called and said you know if you want to do that same deal we'll do it for Richards. The front office sat down, talked and did both.
By the way: I don't even disagree with your sentiment (i.e.--go get the player you covet in the entry draft).
I just disagreed with the example you chose. Getting Richards and Carter in the same draft year was more serendipity than the result of any sort of plan.
Talking about too early to tell... There are an infinate amount of possibilites the Flyers could have taken... some would be better then Laughton, some would have been worse. To me it would have been much easier to stomach moving into this draft, or getting a team need. When I saw the Flyers take Laughton I turned off the damned TV because.... another frickin center. - youarewrong
What does it come down to? The Flyers took who they felt was the best player available. We'll see if they were right or not. And if Laughton becomes a solid NHL player worthy of the #20 pick.
I think it was an organizational decision that was a long time coming. I agree that they initially wanted to hold onto Richards. It sounded to me like they wanted to swing the Richards deal in LA with Carter and were rebuked so they made the Carter to Columbus deal. Then LA called and said you know if you want to do that same deal we'll do it for Richards. The front office sat down, talked and did both.
Just my supposition. I have no sources. - mayorofangrytown
Yeah, that describes my theory as well.
Hopefully, when someone publishes the "real" history of the Flyers that includes chapters like "Just how the hell did that Eric Lindros sleeping with Rod Brind'Amour's wife thing become so viral even though it was untrue" and the real story behind Janne Niinimaa's presence at that Metallica concert, it includes a chapter on Frick and Frack.
Location: OMAR COMIN'..Head or Gut?.....Watching regular white people Joined: 01.10.2008
May 22 @ 1:34 PM ET
It seemed contrived and stats driven. Now they were all interesting stats but it used them to jump to some conclusions rather than actually addressing some of the things that were actually happening on the ice.
It doesn't take a genius to figure out that production is related to ice time and I don't need two graphs to tell me that but he worked the situation backwards. He started with the results and tried to correlate that backwards but stopped without considering the circumstances that caused the decrease in ice time.
He did put in a lot of work and it was informative up to the point he stopped writing about the impact of differing line-mates. - mayorofangrytown
I agree with you. Other than Bill's work, we really arent offered substantive articles, so I wanted to pass it along
Location: OMAR COMIN'..Head or Gut?.....Watching regular white people Joined: 01.10.2008
May 22 @ 1:52 PM ET
Talking about too early to tell... There are an infinate amount of possibilites the Flyers could have taken... some would be better then Laughton, some would have been worse. To me it would have been much easier to stomach moving into this draft, or getting a team need. When I saw the Flyers take Laughton I turned off the damned TV because.... another frickin center. - youarewrong
We all know youre wearing a Laughton jersey as you type these posts
Hopefully, when someone publishes the "real" history of the Flyers that includes chapters like "Just how the hell did that Eric Lindros sleeping with Rod Brind'Amour's wife thing become so viral even though it was untrue" and the real story behind Janne Niinimaa's presence at that Metallica concert, it includes a chapter on Frick and Frack. - johndewar
The Lindros-Brind'Amour's wife thing is a version of an age-old hockey urban legend that circulated around many players on many teams over the years... just change the names and perhaps add in the detail that Teammate Z (Rick Tocchet in some tellings of this one) was so enraged on behalf of Teammate B, he punched out Teammate A for it. Just to cite two of a couple dozen examples, there was the very same urban legend in Montreal right around the same time about Mathieu Schneider and Patrick Roy -- who actually did have a scuffle in the locker room one time, but not about anything of that nature and the more recent Jeff Carter/Scott Hartnell version. Ninety-nine percent of the time, the story is BS.
The story with Niinimaa isn't much of a story. He found out in the morning that he was going to be a healthy scratch for poor recent play. He had permission from Wayne Cashman to attend to the show, but apparently Clarke wasn't happy about it anyway, believing he had his priorities in the wrong place.
We all know youre wearing a Laughton jersey as you type these posts - KINGKENZO
I like Laughton, really I do. It isn't him that is driving me crazy. See if you Edmonton and you have the Number 1 pick year after year, yes you have to take the best pick. It's a no-brainer. However, at some point you have to give consideration to what you have and what you need in your orginization. That is all I'm saying. Not that Laughton was a bad pick, not that he will be a bust. Just that it frustrates me that the Flyers give no regard to what they need when drafting. If they take Monohan in the draft I swear after I get done pooping my pants I'm going to walk to NJ from DE and give Homer a piece of my mind.
He was also the highest "jumper" in the re-draft 
