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.
- bmeltzer

Good stuff, Bill!



"Hockey urban legend" is a good way to describe those stories.

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.
- youarewrong

If Pulock is available when that happens... Ill pick you up in my Jeep on the way to Homers.

EDIT: For the record... I think Pulock is the 2nd best available d-man in the draft... I have him as high as 7th overall...

1-Seth Jones
2-Nathan MacKinnon
3-Aleksander Barkov
4-Jonathon Drouin
5-Elias Lindholm
6-Sean Monahan
7-Ryan Pulock (or Nurse)
8-Nurse or Pulock
9- Valeri Nichushkin
10-Hunter Shinkaruk
11-Ristolainen

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.
- youarewrong

Even if Monahan is the best player on the board? I'd be pissed if he was the best player on the board and they drafted by need. Always take the best player available. If two players are pretty much equal. Then break the tie by position of need. But otherwise it's a mistake to draft by position of need.

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.
- bmeltzer

Great insight. My only issue is calling Metallica a "show". Makes an epic metal legend sound like an off-broadway number.... like calling Gretzky a sportsman.

Good stuff, Bill!



"Hockey urban legend" is a good way to describe those stories.
- johndewar

I'm suprised there is no urban legend of Giroux playing beer-pong with casts on both wrists...

Even if Monahan is the best player on the board? I'd be pissed if he was the best player on the board and they drafted by need. Always take the best player available. If two players are pretty much equal. Then break the tie by position of need. But otherwise it's a mistake to draft by position of need.
- MJL

Thinking of the Flyers... If you had your pick between Pulock, Risolainen, Nurse, Nichushkin, and Monahan... which player would you take?

Even if Monahan is the best player on the board? I'd be pissed if he was the best player on the board and they drafted by need. Always take the best player available. If two players are pretty much equal. Then break the tie by position of need. But otherwise it's a mistake to draft by position of need.
- MJL

This draft is deep with defenseman that we need, yes even if Monohan is the best player on the board I would rather them trade the pick to someone desperate for a center, move 2-4 spots down and take a defenseman they have a need for, while getting other assets that could turn into another good player. That is how I would do it.

I'm suprised there is no urban legend of Giroux playing beer-pong with casts on both wrists...
- youarewrong

If I remember correctly, there was physical evidence of that.

Thinking of the Flyers... If you had your pick between Pulock, Risolainen, Nurse, Nichushkin, and Monahan... which player would you take?
- jak521

Honestly, no clue. I have spent zero time looking at any of those players. Not really my thing.

This draft is deep with defenseman that we need, yes even if Monohan is the best player on the board I would rather them trade the pick to someone desperate for a center, move 2-4 spots down and take a defenseman they have a need for, while getting other assets that could turn into another good player. That is how I would do it.
- youarewrong

It all depends who is on the board at 11.

If Ristolainen, Pulock, Nurse are all off the board... and I would probably take Monahan or Max Domi... I love Max Domi.

This draft is deep with defenseman that we need, yes even if Monohan is the best player on the board I would rather them trade the pick to someone desperate for a center, move 2-4 spots down and take a defenseman they have a need for, while getting other assets that could turn into another good player. That is how I would do it.
- youarewrong

Wouldn't be a bad move if they felt they could get the player they wanted with the later pick, and add another asset.

If I remember correctly, there was physical evidence of that.
- jak521

S C A N D A L O U S

Wouldn't be a bad move if they felt they could get the player they wanted with the later pick, and add another asset.
- MJL

It would really depend on what kind of return they're getting imo.

S C A N D A L O U S
- BulliesPhan87

Quick, post the picture of Giroux and Briere with the porn star. Let's get something going here!

S C A N D A L O U S
- BulliesPhan87

I guess Crosby really did give him a good hand job

It would really depend on what kind of return they're getting imo.
- BulliesPhan87

Agreed.

Even if Monahan is the best player on the board? I'd be pissed if he was the best player on the board and they drafted by need. Always take the best player available. If two players are pretty much equal. Then break the tie by position of need. But otherwise it's a mistake to draft by position of need.
- MJL

Exactly. Here's an example of how there's no such thing as too much depth, because you never know how players will develop:

In 1995, the Flyers used their first-round pick (22nd overall) to select Brian Boucher. According to The Hockey News' Draft Preview that year, most scouts considered him the fourth-best goalie prospect in a goalie-rich draft, behind Martin Biron, J-S Giguere and Marc Denis but a first-round worthy prospect in his own right. As of 1999, he looked to be on track to graduate to the NHL in the near future.

In the 1996 draft, Philly took Swedish goaltender Per-Ragnar Bergkvist, in the 5th round (124th overall), largely because Bergkvist had outplayed Boucher head-to-head at the most recent World Junior Championships. Unfortunately, Bergkvist proved to be a flash in the pan and never became even an average Elitserien goalie. In 1999, however, he had a brief revival with Färjestad and was at least considered a fringe prospect.

In the 1997 draft, the Flyers used their first pick of the draft (30th overall) to select Jean-Marc Pelletier. The second-round draftee made a quick splash with the Phantoms in 1998-99 and even earned a start with the big club -- which didn't go very well -- while the club was struggling and looking for a spark. Although his stock soon fell, Pelletier still looked like a solid NHL prospect in the summer of 1999.

In the 1998 draft, the Flyers took Antero Niitymäki in the 6th round (168th overall). A product of the vaunted TPS Turku system, which produced a string of future NHL goalies, Niittymäki got an extended chance to play with the TPS team in SM-Liiga when Fredrik Norrena went down with an injury. Niitty ended up winning the 1999-2000 Rookie of the Year award in SM-Liiga and TPS won the championship.

In the 1999 draft, the Flyers selected Maxime Ouellet in the first round after Boston snapped up defenseman Nick Boyton (a draft re-entry after he was selected 9th overall by Washington in 1997 but did not sign a contract) one pick earlier. Considered by many to be the best goalie available in the draft, many scouts thought he had franchise goaltender potential. Ouellet would go to play for Team Canada at the WJC and actually started the 2000-01 season on the Flyers' NHL roster before being returned to the QMJHL.

Of course we know what happened to this deep pool of prospects; chock full of potential "goalie-of-the-future" candidates. One by one, they fell by the wayside.

Quick, post the picture of Giroux and Briere with the porn star. Let's get something going here!

- MJL

Agreed.
- MJL

Lets say this.. if you were drafting and one guy was listed as a top 6 forward and the other a top 4 offensive d-man... which would you select...

HAVE AT YOU!!!!!!!
- MBFlyerfan

Great insight. My only issue is calling Metallica a "show". Makes an epic metal legend sound like an off-broadway number.... like calling Gretzky a sportsman.
- youarewrong

Thinking of the Flyers... If you had your pick between Pulock, Risolainen, Nurse, Nichushkin, and Monahan... which player would you take?
- jak521

This is exactly what I mean, just said better.

Plus there are even some other guys Bill posted about a few weeks ago that would also be good picks... maybe not at 11, but if you don't get one of those guys, you have the ability to move down.

Maybe you trade the 11th for an established young d-man and then trade Coburn for a later 1st rounder... or somthing.

Lets say this.. if you were drafting and one guy was listed as a top 6 forward and the other a top 4 offensive d-man... which would you select...
- jak521

Whom ever I felt was the better player.

Exactly. Here's an example of how there's no such thing as too much depth, because you never know how players will develop:

In 1995, the Flyers used their first-round pick (22nd overall) to select Brian Boucher. According to The Hockey News' Draft Preview that year, most scouts considered him the fourth-best goalie prospect in a goalie-rich draft, behind Martin Biron, J-S Giguere and Marc Denis but a first-round worthy prospect in his own right. As of 1999, he looked to be on track to graduate to the NHL in the near future.

In the 1996 draft, Philly took Swedish goaltender Per-Ragnar Bergkvist, in the 5th round (124th overall), largely because Bergkvist had outplayed Boucher head-to-head at the most recent World Junior Championships. Unfortunately, Bergkvist proved to be a flash in the pan and never became even an average Elitserien goalie. In 1999, however, he had a brief revival with Färjestad and was at least considered a fringe prospect.

In the 1997 draft, the Flyers used their first pick of the draft (30th overall) to select Jean-Marc Pelletier. The second-round draftee made a quick splash with the Phantoms in 1998-99 and even earned a start with the big club -- which didn't go very well -- while the club was struggling and looking for a spark. Although his stock soon fell, Pelletier still looked like a solid NHL prospect in the summer of 1999.

In the 1998 draft, the Flyers took Antero Niitymäki in the 6th round (168th overall). A product of the vaunted TPS Turku system, which produced a string of future NHL goalies, Niittymäki got an extended chance to play with the TPS team in SM-Liiga when Fredrik Norrena went down with an injury. Niitty ended up winning the 1999-2000 Rookie of the Year award in SM-Liiga and TPS won the championship.

In the 1999 draft, the Flyers selected Maxime Ouellet in the first round after Boston snapped up defenseman Nick Boyton (a draft re-entry after he was selected 9th overall by Washington in 1997 but did not sign a contract) one pick earlier. Considered by many to be the best goalie available in the draft, many scouts thought he had franchise goaltender potential. Ouellet would go to play for Team Canada at the WJC and actually started the 2000-01 season on the Flyers' NHL roster before being returned to the QMJHL.

Of course we know what happened to this deep pool of prospects; chock full of potential "goalie-of-the-future" candidates. One by one, they fell by the wayside.
- bmeltzer

But Bill, their need was still Goaltending... Who did they have from 95-99 in goal? Hextall, Vanbeisbrook, Hackett, Burke... who am I forgetting? And the fact that everyone knows not all goalies come to fruition....

And then, you use your "position of strenght" to for trades and what do you end up with for the 3 first rounders you used?

3 months of Adam Oates, Robert Esche, and a throw in for Primeau. Not exactly worth the 3 firsts you spent on them.

S C A N D A L O U S
- BulliesPhan87

Not sure my beer pong skills are good enough anymore.

Not even against a hockey star with casts on his wrists.

What a drag it is getting old.