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Team Turmoil Flyers writing a storyline only Jerry Springer could love
Posted: Thursday April 13, 2000 01:26 AM
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- If Doug Gilmour and the Buffalo Sabres think they have problems, they'd better get in line behind the Philadelphia Flyers. The team that calls South Broad Street home might as well have been taping episodes of a soap opera or afternoon talk show in the last few months. Yet here is hockey's First Family of Dysfunction, sitting nicely with the top seed in the Eastern Conference, getting ready for the playoffs. The playoffs. Remember those? "It's playoff time," new captain Eric Desjardins said. "Any questions about the playoffs or Buffalo?" Nah. Not even the most important games of the year could match the twists and turns of South Philly's longest running drama. The Flyers begin their first-round series against the Sabres Thursday night in a rematch of a 1998 series won by Buffalo in five games. Desjardins says the Flyers are still stewing over that loss, but it's hard to imagine how they have time to concentrate on such things. Yes, the Sabres have problems of their own. Gilmour, their star forward, has lost 10 pounds with a stomach virus and said Wednesday he's not sure if he'll be ready for Game 1. "It's a weird virus, something I've never been through in my life," Gilmour said. But a tummy ache? There's no way that can match the Flyers' litany of distractions, ego trips, illnesses and infighting. Where to begin?
"We didn't want the controversy," Clarke said Tuesday. "We didn't start it." At least one teammate, Jody Hull, urged Lindros to apologize. Others took a pass when given a chance to defend their former leader. Lindros rejoined the team Tuesday and stood by his comments without apologizing. More important, Lindros still is experiencing post-concussion headaches five weeks after the injury. He cannot return to the ice until they go away. "I believe, without Eric Lindros, the other players can prove that they can play even without him," goaltender Dominik Hasek said. But have all the distractions made the Flyers vulnerable? "They say there's turmoil coming out of Philly," Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said. "It doesn't look to me like it's affected their hockey club." In fact, the Flyers finished the season 16-8-1 under Ramsay and passed the slumping New Jersey Devils for the top playoff seed. Somehow, the Flyers have managed to concentrate on playing. "I don't think people really understand who we are as a team and what this organization is all about," said Ramsay, an assistant and interim head coach of the Sabres from 1984-87. "These guys have a wonderful ability to block it out and realize they have a job to do." The Sabres also have some business at hand. They're still mad about last year's loss to Dallas in the Stanley Cup Finals on Brett Hull's disputed goal with his foot in the crease. With Hasek regaining his dominating form after missing 40 games with a groin injury, the Sabres are a dangerous eighth seed. "We don't really care," Hasek said. "This is the playoffs. You have to win four games. It doesn't matter if you finish seventh or eighth or first. All we have to think is about the Philadelphia Flyers and to beat them four times."
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