Ping-pong ball, Kane haunt gallant Flyers
The Philadelphia Inquirer Blog - Flyers Report: Broad Street Bull
Ping-pong ball, Kane haunt gallant Flyers
Sam Carchidi, Inquirer Staff Writer
Oh, that damn ping-pong ball.
With a little luck in the 2007 lottery, the Flyers would have had the first overall draft pick that summer and would have selected winger Patrick Kane.
The Flyers had the worst record that season, but they lost the lottery to the Chicago Blackhawks, who chose Kane.
The same guy who broke the collective hearts of the Flyers and their loyal fans Wednesday night at the Wachovia Center.
Kane scored 4:06 into overtime to give the Blackhawks a 4-3 win that clinched their first Stanley Cup since 1961.
“It stings. It hurts,” said Flyers winger Scott Hartnell after a heroic, two-goal performance. “It’ll give us more fuel in training camp next year.”
Kane had three goals and five assists in the Finals. On Wednesday, he also had a pair of assists as Chicago won the series, four games to two.
The Flyers played gallantly and had a remarkable playoff run, highlighted by their comeback from a 3-0 series deficit against Boston in the conference semifinals.
But Chicago was the better team. The Hawks showed it by thoroughly outplaying the Flyers in the last two games.
The first period figured to set the tone, and the Hawks were dominating. At one point, they were outshooting the Flyers, 16-3. They finished with a 41-24 advantage in shots, and they controlled the game with their passing, fore-checking and speed.
But the Flyers, to their credit, would not go away. They sent it into OT when Hartnell scored with 3:59 left in regulation, and they almost won it when Jeff Carter had an open net with 1:29 remaining.
Carter couldn’t get the shot up, and Hawks goalie Antti Niemi, who was sprawled on the ice, was able to make the save,
Throughout the game _ and most of the series _ the Flyers had only one line working. Danny Briere, Hartnell and Ville Leino combined for all three goals and seven points. Leino tied an NHL rookie record with 21 playoff points, and Briere fell one point shy of the NHL record for points in the Finals _ 13 by someone named Wayne Gretzky in 1988.
The Briere line was plus-15 in the series.
The Mike Richards-Carter and Simon Gagne line was a combined minus-21 in the Finals.
So where do the Flyers go in the off-season?
Probably shopping for a goalie.
Michael Leighton had a very good season and was superb in the conference finals (three shutouts) against Montreal, but he was shaky in the Finals _ and allowed a bad goal to Kane, who was deep inside the left circle, nearly at the goal line, when his shot appeared to go through the goalie’s legs for the Cup-winner.
The hunch here is that the Flyers, who have said they want to re-sign Leighton, will now explore the goalie market. Montreal’s Carey Price (not my No. 1 choice), Vancouver’s Cory Schneider, Nashville’s Dan Ellis and Los Angeles’ Jonathan Quick and Jonathan Bernier are among the candidates.
But that’s for another day.
The Flyers, seventh-seeded in the East, should be saluted for a sensational two-month playoff march in which they overcame injuries, deficits and higher-seeded teams as they came within two wins of their first Cup since 1975.
“We went through a lot this year as a group,” Richards said. “I can't analyze the season right now, but like I said, we went through a lot. We've gone through a lot together. When you go through stuff like that, I think it brings the group closer together.”
Really, a draft pick from 2007 is the reason the Flyers didn't win last night? So what positive draft pick got them to the Stanley Cup Playoffs?— PhillyFanSouth- Luck has nothing to do with it. In 2007 the Hawks fan base was so poor there attendance was 29th in the league at 12,727 where the Flyers were at 19,282 which was good for 7th place. Is it a coincidence that an original 6 franchise who was so poor and had a non existant tv market which the NHL needed got the #1 pick. Why do you think the ping pong balls were added. Does the NFL us ping png balls or MLB. No, because there ratings or TV contracts are thru the roof. Everyone knew then as they do now, Kane was the clear cut #1 pick and the franchise who needed it most got the number 1 pick. Penqguins needed life and a new arean and they ended up with Crosby and Malkin. Go figure.— cg99
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- Tough loss Flier fans, but a very good series. Not watching much Eastern Conf games, I didn't know that much about your team going in. The boys played all out. Leighton stood up to tremendous pressure. I give him a tip of the hat. I wonder if Huet might be on the Fliers radar screen. 12th overall in save %, should be available. I put the loss on Richards for grabbing the EC Championship trophy.— jcinA2
- I'm a lifelong Blackhawks fan, but I wanted to tell you Philly fans that your Flyers played with incredible heart and toughness. Don't blame the loss on one player. The way the Hawks attacked in the last two games, any goaltender would have been hard pressed. Historic season for the Hawks, but a great season for the Flyers.— RLennyPincus
- The heck with that dommo. I'm tired of these unproven, retread, unknown goalies being given a 'shot'. That is what they always do, and goaltending has been a glaring problem for 23 years now. When are they going to wake up and either develop someone through the draft, or just go out and get the best FA available? I'm tired of the goalie being a problem, its haunted us for years now.— seaonasdad
- Leighton had a good run, but two soft goals in game 6 won't cut it. please don't go after Price, i don't know what the hell the big deal is about him. if they're going to shop for a goalie. i'd go for one of LA's goalies.— mattk
Bill Buckner!!! Oh man..i'm heartbroken today..but that was pretty damn funny! Anyhow...did anyone see how slow simon gagne looked last night? and how everytime jeff carter left the ice he left a trail of sawdust from squeezing his stick so hard..and mike richards--if he hits anymore goalies in the chest with pucks he's going to be arrested for assault. and the defense...don't get me going on that...- What if the Flyers had not traded a young Patrick Sharp for the always dangerous Matt Ellison.— AreaMan
- I know it's popular to single out Leighton for letting up the soft goals that he did in the last two games, but if he doesn't get picked off the waiver wire mid-season, the Flyers wouls have all been golfing two months ago... Maybe one of the reasons that the Flyers goaltending carousel spins at the speed of a jet engine turbine is because we never STICK with one guy and build a strong defensive unit around him...maybe this is the time to do that?— SAG1015
- Anyone who saw the game either live or on TV: I've heard that Carter's stick was being held on the shot that he couldn't lift that's mentioned in this article - just wondering if anyone saw that...— Phantoms9805
- Neimmi was far from better.. Maybe a bit better.. His defense played better in front of him.. Also - he had the benefit of going against Richards and Carter, who were stiffs in the final two games, especially OT period in game 6.— USAFirst1
- Boys, the bottom line is we haven't had a shut down goalie since Hextall. Do whatever has to be done to bring a stud goalie. Gotta trade Carter? Ok do it.— Hatfield_ham
- Gonna need more than a new goalie to keep pace with the Pens, Caps, B's ... Flyers caught lightning in a bottle ... Flashes in the playoff pans ...— Swirski
