Remembering the Flyers last best chance in Stanley Cup Playoffs
When I was in high school, the Legion of Doom Era of the Philadelphia Flyers had commenced. As the team got into the late 1990s, it seemed that the Stanley Cup was just in our grasp…but not quite. Sometimes, it was that we ran into a hot goalie; usually Martin Brodeur.
Sometimes it was the wrong team. For example, the Flyers would have a physical series that ran six or seven games with a team like Toronto or Buffalo only to run into a speedy, finessed team like Ottawa. The Flyers would run out of gas and lose out, again in six or seven.
But still, the dream was there. We were oh so close so many times. The Detroit Red Wings swept us in 97 (my senior year in high school). Then the Eric Lindros Era turned kind of sour as he and GM Bobby Clarke publicly feuded. In 2001, the Flyers were on the brink of winning the Eastern Conference with a 3-1 lead over the hated New Jersey Devils. We all know how it ended. Scott Stevens hit Lindros and the series was effectively over, even though it was just game six.
That offseason, Lindros was traded away. A new team was built. Jeremy Roenick, a superstar from Chicago and Phoenix, was brought in as his replacement. But at this point, Keith Primeau was “the man” on this team. Once again, the team would flounder in the first round of the playoffs.
The following year, Clarke would hire Ken Hitchcock, who previously won a Stanley Cup with the Dallas Stars, to be his head coach. They lost to the Senators in the second round of the playoffs, but the stage was set for the 2003-04 season.
Flyers: The Roster
First of all, it starts with the coach. Clarke, who normally pulled the trigger on a coach took his time with Hitch. It paid off well as the team had a great season. The team won the Atlantic Division and would be third overall in the Eastern Conference.
But after him, this was a veteran team filled with hall of famers, borderline hall of famers, and young stars waiting in the wings. Mark Recchi is the only guy on this team currently in the Hall of Fame, but you could make serious arguments for John LeClair, Roenick, and Justin Williams.
Alongside them were veteran stars Primeau, Tony Amonte, Michael Handzus, Alexei Zhamnov, Marcus Ragnarsson, Eric Desjardins, Chris Therien, and Sami Kapanen. Filling in the ranks were young studs like Simon Gagne, Patrick Sharp, Joni Pitkanen, and Kim Johnsson.
If you wanted muscle, the Flyers also had Claude LaPointe, Todd Fedoruk, and Donald Brashear. If you wanted speed, look for Gagne and Kapanen. A power play of Recchi, Roenick, and LeClair would devastate you.
In short, this was a team that was loaded. Five Flyers scored 20+ goals that season: Recchi (26), Gagne (24), LeClair (23), Handzus (20), and Amonte (20) with Roenick chipping in with 19. Recchi led the way for the Flyers leading in goals, assists (49), and total points (75).
The goalies were a rotation of Robert Esche and veteran Jeff Hackett. Esche, who was acquired for Brian Boucher the year before, was the starter after the Flyers dispatched Roman Cechmanek. For a team loaded with all-star talent, a young goalie with a solid veteran backup, a reliable defense, and a determined coach, this was the team that was going to get us to the NHL’s Holy Ground.
However, Therien would be traded for draft picks at the deadline. In order to shore up the goalie situation after Hackett was diagnosed with vertigo, the Flyers traded for Sean Burke. Midway through the season, the Flyers also traded away Williams for Danny Markov; a defender who didn’t do much for Philly. Looking back, you wonder if Williams or Therien, along with veteran defender Eric Weinreich (trade for draft picks) would’ve made a difference.
Flyers: The Playoff Run
In the first round, the Flyers faced off against the hated New Jersey Devils. They were the defending Stanley Cup Champions and had repeatedly been a thorn in the side of the Flyers. The Flyers never ever seemed to be able to break that neutral zone trap nor could they get through to Brodeur. It was like the Eagles constantly running into Dallas in the playoffs and constantly being beaten by your divisional rival. It sucked every single time.
Except in 2004! That year, the Flyers finally got over the hump. The Flyers won the first two games at home with scores of 3-2. Primeau had the game-winning goal in the first game while Recchi broke a 2-2 tie with a power play goal. After Jersey won game three, the Flyers would take the next two contests 3-0 and 3-1. Esche had a solid series and the Flyers advanced to the second round to play Toronto.
Ugh…the Maple Leafs. Again. These two teams were mirror images of each other. Big bruising teams that could also score. Toronto was the fourth seed and they would give everything they had to the Flyers. Philly won the first two contests 3-1 and 2-1, with Toronto winning their two home games 4-1 and 3-1.
In game five, Primeau had a hat trick sending the Flyers to a 7-2 victory. The Flyers ended the series with a 3-2 victory in overtime. Esche had to leave the game due to an injury, being replaced by Sean Burke. Roenick would be the hero as he scored a little over seven minutes into overtime. Now….onto Tampa!
Esche would get the starts in Tampa, but it was clear he was a little banged up. But hey, by the time you get to mid-late May, who isn’t? Also, the Toronto series was very physical, as it tended to be with players like Owen Nolan, Tie Domi, and Darcy Tucker. A lot of Flyers players were nursing injuries coming into that Eastern Conference Finals against the Lightning
Tampa Bay was not Toronto. They were a young team based on skill, speed, and finesse and led by a new, hot-shot coach, John Tortorella. They had young studs like Brad Richards, Martin St. Louis, and Vincent Lecavalier. They also had former Flyer Ruslan Fedotenko and future Hall of Famer Dave Andreychuk. This was a good team that was the top team in the East and just three points shy of winning the President’s Trophy.
Tampa was also well rested. They dispatched the New York Islanders in five games in the first round and then swept the Montreal Canadiens in the second round. Nikolai Khabibulin was a brick wall in the playoffs that season. Until facing the Flyers, he had four shutouts in nine games. Overall, he would sport a 1.71 GAA with a .933 save percentage. So with a rested, young team and a super-tough goalie, it would be hard for the Flyers to overcome.
The first game was just that. Tampa struck first just two minutes into the second period with a goal by Andreychuk. Handzus would tie it up just a few minutes later. However, Game One would go to the Lightning as Richards and Chris Dingman scored.
Game Two was all Flyers. Philly scored six goals with LeClair getting his first goal of the playoffs. Fedotenko would be the first Lightning player to score with St. Louis coming up after. However, with a 6-2 score, the game was safely in Philly’s hands as the series shifted back to the Delaware Valley.
Being in the friendly confines of the Wells Fargo Center did not help the Flyers in Game Three. Tampa scored twice to start the game before Primeau put the team on the board. The Lightning would add two more goals to win 4-1 and take a two-to-one lead.
In Game Four, the Lightning struck first with Frederik Modin scoring on a power play in the first period. The Flyers would rally with goals by LeClair and Recchi with Primeau adding one in the second. LeCavalier made things scary with a goal with 33 seconds left in the game. Still, Esche and the Flyers held on for a 3-2 lead.
As the series shifted back to Tampa for Game Five, the Flyers fell apart a little bit. The Lightning scored three power play goals to start the game; two of them by Richards. Handzus and Sharp would help to rally Philly, but Tim Taylor would score an empty netter to secure a 4-2 game and give Tampa a three-games-to-two lead.
With their backs to the wall, the Flyers had to win Game Six. LeCavalier scored his eighth goal of the playoffs at just 1:28 into the game. His goal ignited something in the Flyers. Gagne and Primeau would score in the first period to take the lead. LeCavalier tied the game 45 seconds into the second, but Kapanen would give the Flyers the lead again. Fedotenko, who must’ve been upset that the Flyers had traded him for draft picks two years earlier, scored two goals to give Tampa a lead.
Primeau, as he had often done, conjured up some playoff magic and tied the game with less than two minutes to go. And as the game went into overtime, Gagne was the one to become a hero a scored. The Flyers had tied the series up. Game Seven would be in Tampa.
But it was obvious that the Flyers were out of gas at this point. They had given everything they had. Fedotenko had scored his ninth playoff goal in the first period. About five minutes into the second, Modin struck again. Philly was down 2-0. Johnsson would score just a few minutes later to put the Flyers down by one goal. And as the third period wore on, the Flyers did everything they could to score. However, Khabibulin could not be beaten. Tampa won the game 2-1. The Flyers season was over.
Flyers: Epilogue
The Lightning would go on to win the Stanley Cup that year. They faced the Calgary Flames. The Flames took the Lightning to seven games. I’m not sure if the Flyers would’ve dropped Calgary or if the Flames would’ve taken the Stanley Cup home. I’m sure the Flyers would’ve been tired from everything they faced. It wouldn’t have helped that the Flames were similar to the Lightning in many respects. But I’m sure that players like Roenick and Primeau, hungry for their first Stanley Cup title, would’ve found something in reserve to play as hard as they could and bring a parade to Broad Street.
A few months later, the NHL went into a vicious lockdown. The 2004-05 season was lost. No games were played. The Flyers, many of them already veterans, all became a year older. Some may have been ready to go. Others may have been rusty. For some, it was time to move on. New rules eliminated the center line opening up the pace of the game.
Gone were Recchi, Roenick, and Leclair. Primeau was good for only nine games before being forced to call it a career due to injuries. It would also be the last year for Handzus and Desjardins. The old guard was gone. As the Flyers retooled for another run, Bobby Clarke, the GM, made the mistake of building as if it were the 90s.
Newcomers Derian Hatcher and Mike Rathje were relics of a pre-lockout NHL. While they were still solid players, they were not the players the team needed to advance. Peter Forsberg would rejoin the team, but he was a shell of what he once was. And it is hard to tell what would’ve/could’ve happened because the year-long lockout ruined everything.
All of this would be shown on the ice in that the 2006-07 season was, by far, the worst season in the history of the team; yes even worse than 2021-22. The team would go 22–48–12 and have the biggest drop off in team points in NHL history (101 points to just 56). Ouch!
And yes, the Flyers would end up going to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2010, but that was different. The 2004 Flyers team was the end of an era. The remaining Lindros Era players were done. The team would soon be transitioning from the post-Lindros Era to the Mike Richards-Jeff Carter Era/post-Primeau Era.
Had the Flyers won the 2004 Stanley Cup, even with the lockout, it is possible that some of the older vets, like Recchi or Roenick, may have been kept around in order to create a dynasty. The 2010 Flyers, as talented as they were, were not strong enough to create a dynasty. They caught lightning in a bottle and created something magical.
The collection of stars and talents in Philly would not be seen again. The Flyers have had other stars play and some good teams, but would never be that dominant again.