Flyer Road Show Becomes a Revelation, Even to Them

General Manager Bob Clarke of the Philadelphia Flyers was shocked when he first looked at his team’s schedule, which included an 11-game tour of the Eastern Conference.

Disney’s “Incredibles on Ice” show was booked into the Wachovia Center, so the Flyers, left without a choice, left town on their odyssey Dec. 23. And suddenly, they became incredible on the ice.

After 20 days the Flyers had finished a Johnny Cash-like song tour -- Pittsburgh, Florida, Atlanta, Carolina, Washington, Boston, New York, Washington (again), New Jersey, Chicago, Detroit, I’ve been everywhere, man -- and brought home an 8-2-1 record as a souvenir. That kept them in lock step with Ottawa and Carolina atop the Eastern Conference.

“Definitely, mentally to play 11 in a row on the road, it’s something new,” center Peter Forsberg said. “But it makes it easy when you win, so it was OK.”

The Flyers are supposed to be a little more than OK.

Stanley Cup expectations were heaped on them before the season began, after they signed Forsberg to a two-year, $11.5-million contract. Clarke redesigned a team that was one victory shy of the 2004 Cup finals, a plan that had the Flyers tiptoeing around the $39-million salary cap even after shipping Jeremy Roenick and his $4.95-million contract to the Kings, COD (Cash Out the Door).

But there are times you get what you pay for, and the Flyers are among the top teams in the NHL. That was clear during the trip.

“When the schedule came out, I called the league, but at that stage it was too late,” Clarke said. “It wasn’t too bad, we did get to come home a couple times.

“The worst part was the game in Florida on Dec. 26. That’s a 2-hour 40-minute flight from Philadelphia and you’re not supposed to fly more than two hours the day after Christmas. I called the league and they said it was a two-hour flight. I said, ‘Send us the plane you use because it seems to get there faster.’ ”

Still, the Flyers won that game, 3-2, one of six one-goal victories during the trip.

“Good teams find a way to win on the road and win close games,” Forsberg said.

That’s what the Flyers remain, a good team teetering on great. There were ooohs and aaahs when the Ottawa Senators burst to a 13-2 start this season. The Flyers were in tow, with an 11-4-1 record, despite struggling under the new rules.

“I think we got blindsided a little with the way the game was being called,” Clarke said. “We tried to put this team together to be good five on five. What we found out is, you better be good on the power play and you better be good penalty killing.”

Basically, the effort to create an obstruction-free game obstructed the Flyers.

“All of a sudden, putting a stick on someone became hooking, clearing the net became a penalty,” Clarke said. “A lot of players who play what I call the Canadian-style -- tough in front of the net, tough in the corners -- were hurt by it.”

So the Flyers had a general manager who cherished old-school-Canadian play, a coach in Ken Hitchcock whose bump-and-grind philosophy won a Stanley Cup in a trap-first, score-later NHL, and epitomizing that style, the Flyers had rugged but slow defenseman Derian Hatcher. Not exactly perfect ingredients for success in the sleek, “new” NHL, but as Clarke said, “We’ve adjusted.”

The Flyers are a so-so 10th on the power play and a woeful 25th at killing penalties, but they remain so strong, skating five on five, that those things hardly seem to matter.

Clarke let Roenick and John LeClair go and brought in free agents Forsberg, Hatcher, forward Mike Knuble and defenseman Mike Rathje, and counted on the development of young players, forwards Jeff Carter and Mike Richards, and goaltender Antero Niittymaki, who gave the Flyers depth to wade through injuries.

Niittymaki, who helped the AHL Philadelphia Phantoms win the 2005 Calder Cup, has a 10-2-2 record since Robert Esche went down because of a groin injury on Dec. 16.

But as to how the Flyers keep winning -- on the road, with the injuries, under the new rules -- Forsberg said, “I don’t know why, but I think everybody bought into the system right away and we have one focus.”

Along with a lot of frequent Flyer miles.

Broad Street Ballerinas?

Clarke has noted how drastically the NHL has changed since the days of the Flyers’ “Broad Street Bullies” teams.

“We had some skilled players on those teams, but I don’t think we would do too good the way the game is being called now,” Clarke said. “We have had five fights as a team this season. That was one game a lot of times when I played.”

Long (Island) Goodbye

New York Islander General Manager Mike Milbury was “promoted” to senior vice president for owner Charles Wang’s sports properties, ending a wild ride of strange comments and strange deals that lasted a decade.

A sampler:

During last season’s lockout, Milbury personally called season-ticket holders to thank them for their support, later saying: “Whether someone spends $1,000 or $10,000 on us, they’re all supporting us. And we’re just punching the fans right in the mouth with this. I mean, talk about a scam. We took their money and didn’t give them a product for their dollar?”

During a difficult contract negotiation, Milbury said it was a shame that Ziggy Palffy’s agent, Paul Krauss, lived in the city because he was “depriving some small village of a really good idiot.”

And once, he called former Islander center Travis Green a “gutless puke.”

But his legacy on Long Island probably will be actions, not words. Milbury traded away a bushel of talent, with Todd Bertuzzi, Roberto Luongo, Wade Redden, Zdeno Chara and Bryan McCabe topping an all-star list. The Islanders did not win a playoff series during Milbury’s tenure.

Luongo and Short of It

Luongo turned down Florida’s five-year, $30-million offer last week. He told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, “I just want to make sure we’re a playoff team for many years to come. I don’t want to spend another five years here just watching the playoffs on television.”

Luongo, the subject of trade rumors, becomes a restricted free agent after this season, giving the Panthers the right to match any offer he receives.