| Tuesday, October 24
By Al Morganti
Special to ESPN.com |
|
The Philadelphia Flyers had their Christmas party on Monday afternoon,
but while many of the players skated with their families on the ice at the First Union
Center, coach Roger Neilson was on his way to a local hospital to discuss the course of
action to best attack last week's diagnosis of bone marrow cancer.
"The man is unbelievable," said Ed Snider, the Flyers chairman. "He was
on his way to the hospital, and the big concern was how to get to the hospital. I
tried to give him a shortcut, but ..."
|  | | Roger Neilson (rear), most recently head coach of the Flyers, was hired Tuesday as an assistant with the Senators. Nielson has been a head coach with six NHL teams. |
But giving Roger Neilson directions for anything except a straight line
had been a running joke since he arrived in Philadelphia to take over the Flyers during
the 1997-98 season. With the exception of the trip from his home to the rink -- which he
usually makes on a bike -- Neilson has no idea of the surrounding area.
"I told him to take the Schuykill Expressway," said Snider, referring to
the main commuter route in Philadelphia. "And he didn't even know what it was."
Snider shook his head and laughed, which is the way Neilson would prefer
that everybody would do in the early stages of his battle with cancer. However,
beneath all the laughter and efforts to put-on-the-best-face, the Flyers organization
realizes the gravity of the situation -- especially the players.
Neilson said Monday that he did not want to go behind the bench
if he "looked like a cancer patient." In other words, he would not want to appear
drawn, sickly and without his hair. In his own way, he was preparing the team for what
might be a period of time in which he is away from the club during his chemotherapy
sessions.
The best-case scenario is that Neilson reacts very well to the chemo,
which can be taken at least in part by pills, rather than intravenously. But one way or
another, Neilson intends to be back behind the Flyers bench when the season gets down to the gritty games of the spring and into the playoffs -- where the Flyers have twice been
eliminated in the first round with Neilson behind the bench.
Well, this spring could be very different. The Flyers came into the season
as one of the handful of teams with a chance to win the Stanley Cup, and now they've
got a personal issue that could make that goal an emotional quest.
Despite those two early playoff exits, the Flyers' locker room has
maintained its belief in Neilson, and players were enraged at rumors that Neilson would be fired early this season. Neilson has also served as a crucial buffer in the rocky
relationship between captain Eric Lindros and the club's management.
"I don't think people realize how much we all like Roger, especially
Eric," said one team member. "It has been amazing to watch Eric mature just during this
season. I think it all started with Roger's backing.
"Now, Eric is more likely to stand up in the locker room and speak up. I
think before, he was afraid that we would not listen. Now, we'll listen. And I know
that he is very close to Roger.
"I guess this could go one of two ways: A huge distraction, or it draws
us all together. From what I've seen over the past few weeks, I think Eric is going
to make sure it draws us closer together -- especially when we get to the playoffs."
Once in the playoffs, the Flyers will have an enormous emotional
burden, and additional motivation to succeed.
Perhaps Neilson was only joking when he commented that he and the
doctor agreed that winning the Stanley Cup would be an appropriate medical course of
action. But from now until the end of the season, it will be no joke to a team that
will try to make sure Neilson finally gets to coach a Stanley Cup champion, which he has never done.
Young NHLers playing in World Junior Championships
Defenseman Mathieu Biron of the New York Islanders
Center Mike Ribeiro of the
Montreal Canadiens
Center Manny Malhotra of the New York Rangers.
That's the same Manny Malhotra who was supposed to represent the future of the franchise. Yes, the
same Malhotra whom the Rangers refused to include in a trade that would have
netted them Pavel Bure.
This season, Malhotra was playing only about five minutes a game, and the
Rangers hope some ice time and success in the tourney will pump up his confidence.
Miracle on Ice gets old
When Herb Brooks took over the Pittsburgh Penguins last week, there were
the natural memories of the Miracle on Ice in 1980. Well, if you want to know
just how long it's been, consider that the Atlanta Thrashers franchise player and No. 1 draft pick, Patrik Stefan -- was not born until six months after the Americans won the
Olympic gold medal.
Miscellaneous
With Mike Smith now running the show in Chicago, expect the Blackhawks to
make a pitch for either Phoenix goalie Nikolai Khabibulin, or Islanders goalie
Felix Potvin. Ironically, it was Smith who drafted Khabibulin while running the
Winnipeg Jets, and also Smith who traded Potvin when he was running the Maple Leafs.
The Boston Bruins came into the season with a team based on youth and Ray
Bourque. But they have since added veterans Joe Murphy and Marty McSorley to
the equation. In other words, this is a serious run for the Cup.
The L.A. Kings have used their four-game East Coast trip as a get well
tour, with Ziggy Palffy, Rob Blake and goalie Stephane Fiset getting back on the
ice. The Kings' Christmas gift should be the return of center Jozef Stumpel by the end of
next week.
Al Morganti covers the NHL for ESPN. |  |
