Flyer Win Is Dawn of a New Era in the East

The New York Rangers’ loss to the Philadelphia Flyers in the Eastern Conference finals was more than a playoff defeat. “It’s the end of an era,” Ranger Coach Colin Campbell said after his team of aging stars was eliminated by the younger, bigger Flyers.

As Mark Messier wore down from overwork and Wayne Gretzky was injured by the Flyers’ relentless pounding, the Flyers’ Eric Lindros gained poise and strength, scoring five goals in the last three games. He had five goals and nine points in the series, tying Gretzky and outstripping Messier, who had four points.

“We threw Eric off his game early in the series but he stuck to hockey after that,” Campbell said. “You can try to drag him down to the gutter, but he stepped up his game against us.”

Said Gretzky: “He’s a guy that fights and battles, he’s got charisma and he’s good for the game. It would be nice to see a guy like that win a championship.”

It was interesting to see Lindros decline to lift the Prince of Wales Trophy, awarded to the winner of the East (formerly the Wales Conference). “We’ve made it through three steps, but it takes four to win it all,” he said. “We’re happy about going to the finals but our mission isn’t accomplished yet.”

They have accomplished this much because of Lindros and their depth. Rod Brind’Amour, Trent Klatt and Shjon Podein were exceptional against the Rangers, thriving on the intense physical pace. The Rangers’ penalty killing might have been better than 71.4% if forwards Patrick Flatley, Bill Berg and Niklas Sundstrom hadn’t been hurt, but role players such as Dallas Eakins and Mike Eastwood performed well. They weren’t the reason the Rangers lost.

Messier, fatigued by a season that began nine months ago with the World Cup and by playing too much because other players were hurt, had little to give. He couldn’t dominate a game or a series as he used to do.

Messier, 36, can become an unrestricted free agent July 1. If you’re Ranger General Manager Neil Smith, do you invest $6 million or more a year in someone his age and with his mileage? Don’t forget, next season will be interrupted by the Olympics, and if Messier is picked for Team Canada he may run into the same late-season exhaustion again. His presence lightened the load on Gretzky, but that’s an awfully expensive reason to re-sign him.

Yes, the Flyers have caught some breaks. In the first round they played the Pittsburgh Penguins, who were terrible defensively and seemed distracted by Mario Lemieux’s retirement. They next faced the Buffalo Sabres, who lost goaltender Dominik Hasek to injury and a suspension, and then faced the injury-depleted Rangers. Sometimes being lucky is as important as being good. “They deserved to win,” Gretzky said, and he’s right.

EVERYTHING ISN’T DUCKY

The Mighty Ducks’ decision to let Coach Ron Wilson go boils down to a clash between two stubborn, emotional people. Wilson resented the constant criticism of club president Tony Tavares, whose slave-driver mentality has created a tense atmosphere in the front office, and Tavares hated Wilson’s flamboyance. General Manager Jack Ferreira, caught in the middle, fired Wilson to save his job and his remaining peace of mind.

As his bosses, Ferreira and Tavares were entitled to fire him. However, the spin management tried to put on it insults anyone with a speck of intelligence.

* Wilson couldn’t develop young talent--Ferreira and Tavares are defending their own mistakes. They habitually overestimate their talent--they loved the defense at the start of the season and then had to overhaul it for the fourth consecutive season--and they’re doing it again. Without fortifying the second and third lines and adding a muscular defenseman, the Ducks will do no better next season than this spring, no matter who’s coaching. Wilson wasn’t given much to develop. That’s Ferreira’s fault, not his. Where are the draft picks who should be coming up through the system and providing depth?

* Wilson played Paul Kariya and Teemu Selanne too much--That’s a joke. Do the Philadelphia Flyers play Lindros and John LeClair too much? Did the Pittsburgh Penguins play Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr too much? Both have better support players than the Ducks do, making it imperative for the Ducks to play Kariya and Selanne a lot. The game is on the line. Do you want Kariya and Selanne out there or Sean Pronger and Joe Sacco? Pronger may become a decent player, but he’s not in Kariya’s and Selanne’s league.

* Wilson didn’t help Dan Trebil--Absurd. If Ferreira and the farm system had provided better talent, Wilson wouldn’t have had to play Trebil more than the rookie’s inexperience warranted.

* Wilson didn’t get along with Russian players, specifically Roman Oksiuta--That’s a compliment, not condemnation. Oksiuta was a lug who didn’t exert himself in Vancouver before the Ducks got him and wouldn’t work hard in Pittsburgh after the Ducks dumped him. Wilson had no quarrel with Dmitri Mironov or goalie Mikhail Shtalenkov. He played Mironov a lot and didn’t play Shtalenkov often because Guy Hebert had a career year.

Wilson is egotistical. He didn’t get along with every player--no coach does--but he got a lot out of a limited team last season. Although some players supposedly were unhappy he didn’t play Shawn Antoski in response to the battering the Ducks got against Phoenix, more toughness wouldn’t have changed the outcome against Detroit. The Ducks weren’t deep enough. Period.

Wilson’s replacement will do fine if he remembers one basic principle: Tavares is always right, even when he’s wrong, as he was in this situation.

SCRATCH THESE GUYS

Here’s who won’t coach the Ducks next season:

Pat Burns--They called him the night before he was announced as the Boston Bruins’ new coach. Good timing.

Mike Keenan--Tavares thought Wilson had an ego problem; Keenan is the epitome of conceit.

Cap Raeder--They liked him more before he was let go by the Kings and the Boston Bruins.

Walt Kyle--Lack of NHL experience takes him out of the picture.

Butch Goring--Successful in the International Hockey League, but he has been out of the NHL for too long.

Wayne Cashman--Will probably get the coaching job in San Jose.

Roger Neilson--Too conservative for a team with two offensive talents.

Ted Nolan--The Sabres are letting him talk to other clubs, but they intend to match any offer he gets.

SLAP SHOTS

What did Detroit Coach Scotty Bowman say to Colorado Coach Marc Crawford after Crawford screamed at him during Game 4 of the Western Conference finals? “I knew your father before you did. And I don’t think he would be too proud of what you’re doing right now,” said Bowman, who knew Floyd Crawford as a “tough competitor” during his junior hockey days.