I've Been Blinqed

Surf over to Blinq, Daniel Rubin's blog on the Inquirer web site. Just this morning he posted about the reaction around the blogosphere to the Tuesday Night Debacle in Buffalo. In said post, he just happened to link to us here at There It Is, among others. We were going to respond in the comments section, but realized that our response was way too long for just a comment. Thus, we decided to turn it into a post instead. So, check out Blinq and then click back here for our response. Mr. Rubin, thanks for the link. In my defense, it wasn't Tuesday night's game that brought about my feelings on Clarke. I have been saying this to anyone who will listen -- and to a lot of people who won't; the Buffalo game just brought everything to a head. Hopefully, the team will reach a point of critical mass in the next few days and there will be some positive results. Right now, they're not even close to a playoff team, though -- as I noted in my season preview -- the Eastern Conference is so wide open this year anything can happen. Now, Thompson, I'm afraid I must comment on some things you mentioned. Year after year, since the five-year drought in the early 1990s, this team ends the season with a hundred points in the standings, a winning record and a berth in the playoffs. Clarke is almost universally revered for always getting the better end of a trade (when was the last time the Flyers got fleeced in a trade?), is a two-time Stanley Cup champion and a Hall of Famer. Who do you replace him with? . . . He's Bobby Clarke, and that means Flyers to me. Eight times since 1993-94 have the Flyers finished with 100 points or more (I prorated 1994-95's 60 points to 102.5); the other three seasons they finished with 95 (1997-98), 93 (1998-99), and 97 points (2001-02) -- good seasons all. In those 11 years, they have been to the finals once (swept by Detroit), lost in the Eastern Conference Finals three times, lost in the second round twice, and lost in the first round five times. Five times. This is not even close to being a good playoff record. Clarke is not universally revered for anything. He is, in fact, almost universally reviled for being a spend-happy, big-market GM that throws money at a problem to gloss over it instead of actually trying to find the right piece to fit the given hole. As for when was the last time the Flyers got fleeced in a trade? That's hard to quantify, since player value can be entirely subjective. However, I think the argument could be made that last year he got fleeced -- twice -- in the Petr Nedved deal (from Phoenix for Dennis Seidenberg, a young defensemen who can move the puck -- sound like a team need?) and in the Niko Dimitrakos deal (from San Jose for a third-round draft choice). That amounts to a young, skilled defenseman and a third-round draft choice for two players that are no longer on the team. Yes, Clarke is a two-time Stanley Cup champion and a Hall of Famer -- for what he did on the ice, not for what he has done off of it. He can build a solid team that can win in the regular season -- but fold in the playoffs. Not exactly Sam Pollock, is he? Who do I replace him with? Well, back in April I was arguing for Clarke to go and for Snider to hire Dean Lombardi -- who, by the way, was already employed by the team. Right now, I'd be willing to consider Neil Smith, though I think I would rather see someone from another organization who is a little younger and a whole lot hungrier.