The other Flyers story getting some play tonight is the Paul Holmgren interview with Wayne Fish of PhillyBurbs.com and the Bucks County Courier Times. As is often the case in hockey, perhaps more so than any other North American sport, the exec was more than willing to to engage in a light-a-fire interview. Homer was very forthcoming in his responses to some difficult questions, particularly those pertaining to why the players seemed to hit the wall late in the season while other teams got into stride just in time for the playoffs. And it wasn't just youthful inexperience on the ice—there seem to have been some off-ice concerns raised by Homer and John Stevens:
Fish: For the first time since the team moved its practice operations from Philadelphia to Voorhees, N.J., in 1982, a number of players, some in their early 20s, are living downtown. There are whispers that these players have easier access to the city's nightlife. Any concern on your part about that arrangement?
Holmgren: "First of all, if you want to look for nightlife, action or whatever, you can find it whether you live in South Jersey, Delaware or Philadelphia. Am I concerned about it? Let me say this: The issue has been raised by (coach) John (Stevens) and myself with all the players.
"I think this all falls under the umbrella of discipline. It's on-ice discipline - not overstaying-your-shift discipline - it's off-ice discipline, it's night before a game taking better care of ourselves. That's a natural maturation process that a lot of our younger players are still going through. We've addressed that. So am I concerned about it? We'll see how it goes this year. All our players have been talked to about it. Is it an issue? The fact that we've talked about it, I guess it is an issue.''
Fish: Did that "lecture'' come from out of the blue or from a particular incident?
Holmgren: "If you look at our season, I don't know if we were fatigued (at the end) but our record wasn't what it needed to be going into the playoffs. In the Eastern finals, Pittsburgh and Carolina were the two teams playing. They were the best teams over the last 20 games (of the regular season). So did they take better care of themselves as a team? Why did they win and we stubbed our toe? We can't win 82 games but, each loss, you can't just say it's one game. It's unacceptable.''
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Nothing like a little late-June public message sending to stir up the Flyers news cycle and make sure the players won't soon forget their early exit. The team clearly fell off a cliff when crunch time came last season, and that last line from Homer sounds quite a bit like it refers to the sentiment of Mike Richards' dismissive statement after another late-season loss that it was "just one game." Richie was clearly frustrated with the press question in the locker room after the game, but those losses piled up in a hurry, and the team backed into the playoffs, where they were again dismissed by the Penguins.
So did the Olde City party scene have anything to do with it? Who knows. As Homer points out, these guys can party wherever they are in a given night if they want. I mean, Dean Youngblood got blotto in Hamilton, Ontario, and almost got cut. How'd you get so horseshit in one day? But Homer's responses acknowledge a perceived lack of commitment to being game-ready, at least in the eyes of the coach and the GM.
We learned about this story via Puck Daddy, who got it from Flyers blog RonnyBrook. RonnyBrook also took it upon himself to pare out the Flyers' records in games after weeknights versus those after conventional party nights. For what it's worth, the Flyers actually played better in games following Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights, according to Brook. So, it's hard to say.
But one thing is for sure... Homer is putting the young core on notice. Youth should be an advantage in terms of durability, agility, and endurance, rather than a disadvantage related to a lack of overall discipline. Still, as Wyshynski points out, these stories aren't uncommon in the NHL.
Check out the rest of Fish's interview with Homer too. The GM speaks plainly in response to some blunt questions about Stevens, the dreaded salary cap, and Joffrey Lupul.