Bill Meltzer: Flyers to Retire Lindros' No. 88

Just wish that he could have brought a cup to Philly. He was a dominent force in hockey back then. Legion of Doom was for real.

Spoiler alert, Bill!

The honor is well deserved, Lindros was an amazing and dominant player in his prime.

Just wish that he could have brought a cup to Philly. He was a dominent force in hockey back then. Legion of Doom was for real.
- brubacca

The Legion of Doom vs. The Crash Line was my favorite hockey growing up. Those teams were so good and just absolutely brutal to watch. I never wanted to lose to them but in retrospect it would have been nice to see them win a cup.

The honor is well deserved, Lindros was an amazing and dominant player in his prime.
- BiggE

Both the Jersey retirement and being #1 of the past 25 years are well deserved. As much as the baggage was there it wasn't enough to keep from acknowledging his on ice contributions.

(unlike a certain baseball player who played in Philly)

I was born his rookie year and was 7 when he left. Had a Lindros jersey (my first ever) and remember the hoopla of the era vaguely, but I just wasn't old enough to appreciate it.

It's sad that I'll never get to see a player I watched closely get his jersey retired because they all were, are, and will be terrible.

Both the Jersey retirement and being #1 of the past 25 years are well deserved. As much as the baggage was there it wasn't enough to keep from acknowledging his on ice contributions.

(unlike a certain baseball player who played in Philly)
- dragonoffrost

That's because no baseball player in Philadelphia history has made any on-ice contributions.




Yet.

I believe they had 16 in 1 year (08/09 I think). 7 by Richards, 4 by Carter, 4 by Gagne, and 1 by...Hartnell?
- jmatchett383

In the 06/07-08/09 seasons, they had 15, 13, 16 SHGs in consecutive years (NHL.com has them as scoring 16 goals that year individually but 15 as a team. Huh?). You're right though with the breakdown. It's amazing that good players do good things. But the season before that span, 05/06 (Richards's rookie year), they had 19 SHGs. Team record is 22 fwiw.

To add, the Flyers the past 3 years have had or matched the lowest, the 2nd lowest, and the 3rd lowest number of SHGs in franchise history.

That's because no baseball player in Philadelphia history has made any on-ice contributions.




Yet.
- jmatchett383

Well convert on ice to on field and you'd know who I was referring to.

Well convert on ice to on field and you'd know who I was referring to.
- dragonoffrost

Rheal Cormier?

anyone doing the MS bike to the shore next month?

JFC, I'm in meeting hell right now. Thankfully it's a teleconference with my partners, so they can't see the large glass of 120 proof Knob Creek that I'm drinking. I consider it medicinal!

In the 06/07-08/09 seasons, they had 15, 13, 16 SHGs in consecutive years (NHL.com has them as scoring 16 goals that year individually but 15 as a team. Huh?). You're right though with the breakdown. It's amazing that good players do good things. But the season before that span, 05/06 (Richards's rookie year), they had 19 SHGs. Team record is 22 fwiw.

To add, the Flyers the past 3 years have had or matched the lowest, the 2nd lowest, and the 3rd lowest number of SHGs in franchise history.
- Mononoke

Their PK is so passive under Lappy, I can't stand it. You know that your team is young and thin on D and there are questions in goal so why not play a very aggressive PK and let the forwards go all out and pressure the puck? In every era that the Flyers have a quality PK, it has always been based on pressuring the puck and aggressively looking for shorthanded opportunities, I'd like to see this again!

Their PK is so passive under Lappy, I can't stand it. You know that your team is young and thin on D and there are questions in goal so why not play a very aggressive PK and let the forwards go all out and pressure the puck? In every era that the Flyers have a quality PK, it has always been based on pressuring the puck and aggressively looking for shorthanded opportunities, I'd like to see this again!


- BiggE

In my view they had a lot of trouble with getting burned by cross ice passes across the box. They went with a tandem high forward set up where one forward guards against the cross ice pass, while the other forward rotates up top to where the puck goes. The problem with that is that it takes time for that forward to get on the puck gving the opposition more time to make a play. Give top offensive forwards and extra second or two and they can do some damage. The Flyers also haven't had the defenseman to have a top PK group. Lots of room for improvement.

In my view they had a lot of trouble with getting burned by cross ice passes across the box. They went with a tandem high forward set up where one forward guards against the cross ice pass, while the other forward rotates up top to where the puck goes. The problem with that is that it takes time for that forward to get on the puck gving the opposition more time to make a play. Give top offensive forwards and extra second or two and they can do some damage. The Flyers also haven't had the defenseman to have a top PK group. Lots of room for improvement.
- MJL

Can't argue with any of this. Hopefully as the D corps improve the PK will also improve. The other issue is goaltending. Nothing can make a PK better thana top notch goalie. Sadly, it's been a long time since the Flyers have had a true top 10 in the league starter. Hopefully Hart or Sandstrom can eventually fill that role.

In my view they had a lot of trouble with getting burned by cross ice passes across the box. They went with a tandem high forward set up where one forward guards against the cross ice pass, while the other forward rotates up top to where the puck goes. The problem with that is that it takes time for that forward to get on the puck gving the opposition more time to make a play. Give top offensive forwards and extra second or two and they can do some damage. The Flyers also haven't had the defenseman to have a top PK group. Lots of room for improvement.
- MJL

The Flyers D on the PK has been awful.

it sucks that he never won a cup. But he was amazing.

Literally everyone I know in the NHL games, when they design a player, it's always basically EL88.

One of the greatest of all time.

In his prime Lindros was the most dominating player I ever saw.

Spoiler alert, Bill!
- YuenglingJagr

Did he ruin it for you?

In his prime Lindros was the most dominating player I ever saw.
- MBFlyerfan

I had the privilege of watching him play live many times. There wasn't a player who came close.

In his prime Lindros was the most dominating player I ever saw.
- MBFlyerfan

Agreed. Honestly, the only comparables to Lindros in his prime that I ever saw were Orr, Gretzky, and Lemieux. He was that dominant.

Agreed. Honestly, the only comparables to Lindros in his prime that I ever saw were Orr, Gretzky, and Lemieux. He was that dominant.
- BiggE

He even sounded different when he skated, like he was gouging the ice with every stride.

He was as rare a specimen in the game as you'll ever see. Probably in top 2 or 3 Philadelphia athletes I had to pleasure to watch live.

Can't argue with any of this. Hopefully as the D corps improve the PK will also improve. The other issue is goaltending. Nothing can make a PK better thana top notch goalie. Sadly, it's been a long time since the Flyers have had a true top 10 in the league starter. Hopefully Hart or Sandstrom can eventually fill that role.
- BiggE

The Flyers had an 84.5% PK%, tied for 6th in the league during the glorious 06-07 season, along with being 5th in SHGs. They had some great goaltending and defense that year, didn't they? I find it hard to buy that it's talent related; there's been more than enough talent on the roster at every position. Well, I should say optimized talent related. You see teams with league bottom goaltending or mediocre defense have top PKs (maybe not both at the same time) and then you at times see the opposite also holding true.....because it's its own thing, with its own strategies.

I do wonder, statistically, if forwards have a greater effect than defense on the PK. It's the forwards who do the pressing and aggressive play and any SH chance generating and covering the primary QBs along the wall/point. While defense stays closer in front playing zone. Don't know that any study has been done. But there have been studies on the aggressiveness of PKs offensively manifesting in having a better overall PK, with the drawbacks defensively being nil. And we see the Flyers' paltry numbers. And we know they play passive defensively too.