Quick Hits: June 14, 2019
1) Upcoming on the Flyers official website, there will be an article on Paul Holmgren, who is going into semi-retirement while being available on-demand to Comcast-Spectacor CEO David Scott in a senior advisor capacity. Executive vice president Bob Clarke is also available to Scott as needed, but works more closely with general manager and new president of hockey operations Chuck Fletcher. Bill Barber also remains around in an advisory capacity to Scott, with a focus on the game itself.
There are many firsthand personal stories about Homer that I wanted to share but did not have an appropriate space to use either in my HockeyBuzz blog from Friday or the Flyers website article. On a slow news day, today seems like a good day for a few of them.
My first-ever direct dealings with Paul came back when he was the Flyers assistant GM under Clarke and the de facto general manager of the Philadelphia Phantoms. I hadn't "gone pro" yet, serving as a writer for Hockey's Future and a correspondent for the now-defunct Pro Hockey Euro Report and Rivals.com. I was not paid for any of the work, but it was a way to get credentials to cover games. Homer always took the time to answer questions about the Flyers prospects, whether by email or at games.
One thing I quickly learned about Homer is that he was never given to hyperbole about prospects -- everything was "wait and see" in tone. On the flip side, he didn't sugar-coat what aspects he felt certain players needed to work on to take their game to the next level. If he said it was "a reach" to predict a certain player being NHL-ready within the next year or so -- or to immediately expect a role near the top of an NHL lineup -- it was wise to try the pump the brakes on people's tendency to expect too much and too soon. Sometimes, Paul would say more by what he DIDN'T say about a prospect. He never trashed anyone just as he never gushed, but if certain key descriptors were omitted -- character, "we're happy with what he's been doing this season", etc. -- you could read between the lines and usually be right.
It is almost ironic that Paul as a GM became known for trading away a lot of picks and prospects to fill holes at the NHL level -- sometimes through aggressiveness (perceived opportunity to add an impact player), sometimes through his hard-wired competitiveness (he hates giving up on a season), and sometimes through necessity (such as the sudden and permanent loss of Chris Pronger after his career-ending injury). Homer actually is someone who enjoys the scouting and development sides of the NHL business.
Years later, I would estimate that the majority of my conversations with Homer -- typically before a game or during intermission -- centered around Flyers prospects and scouting. In more recent times in particular, it would sometimes be Paul himself who would initiate the conversation. I can truthfully say that I always walked away feeling like I'd learned something new or was pointed in the right direction to where to direct my observations of the nuances of various guys in the system.
For example, during the 2017-18 season, he suggested I focus on Oskar Lindblom's feet when he's in battles on the boards. Although the Swede was a rookie in the NHL, he already knew how to use his feet to his advantage to shield, dig and kick free pucks to win a large percentage of the battles. Holmgren also told me that Tyrell Goulbourne's improved use of his feet -- something that development coach John Riley had spent many hours over several years working with him upon -- was one of reasons why eventually earned his NHL call-ups.
It's also great to talk hockey in general with Paul, whether the subject is why taking away the red line for two-line pass offsides ultimately had the opposite effect on scoring than what was intended or why many players arrive in the NHL without the know-how on receiving body checks in a way that minimizes their vulnerability. He also points out areas where he feels the game is better, whether it's on the playing or coaching side. He's seen the game -- and the changes in time -- over 40 years of playing, coaching and being an executive and he also has good listening ears to learn from others.
In my previous blog, I talked a bit about the human side of Paul Holmgren as well as the hockey side. Paul dislikes receiving attention for the many good deeds that he does on behalf of others, and I will respect those wishes here. What I will say is that he believes in giving people a hand up, believes in providing or helping people find new opportunities, and believes in paying forward the second chance he got in his own life.
I will also say that Homer is very much a family man. His family is everything to him -- the Flyers family being part of that -- and especially adores his grandchildren. When he sees you, he often asks first about your spouse and kids. He'll remember their names, too, even if he's never directly met them or only met them in passing. Also, if you have never read Paul's Players Tribune homage to his late brother, Dave,
it's a must read.
During the Flyers final road trip of the 2018-19 season, the last game was in St. Louis against the eventual Stanley Cup champion Blues. It was an ugly game for the Flyers, who got blown out and barely competed, and a none-too-fun trip in general from a hockey perspective and in terms of some travel-related inconveniences. Even so, I took away some things that I'll always look back on fondly and be grateful that the Flyers sent me on the road to Dallas and St. Louis write about the trip. Two of them relate to Paul.
At the morning skate in Dallas, Homer sat down next to Sam Carchidi and me -- the only two reporters covering the trip -- and we talked most of the time. Some of it was hockey and current team or top prospect related. Some of it was non-hockey. Some was about the late Ed Snider and Mr. Snider's fierce loyalty to Flyers' fans and the different forms that it took. It was a great conversation and I hated for it to end.
During the St. Louis game, Heather Lonsberry Kemp and her daughter Brooklyn -- the daughter and granddaughter of the late Ross Lonsberry -- visited the press box during the second intermission through the kind last-moment permission of the Blues and the Enterprise Center security staff.
Heather and Brooklyn were warmly greeted first by Paul Holmgren and then by Bill Clement and Steve Coates. All of them, of course, knew "Roscoe" well. They introduced themselves to Brooklyn, caught up with Heather and reminisced about a couple of favorite stories from their days playing with Ross.
In my previous blog, I talked a little bit about Paul's extremely dry sense of humor. Here are a few examples. Mark Howe once told me a story about how, during his first game as a Flyer, a deflected Holmgren pass jumped up and struck Howe in the face, cutting him. Bleeding (but waiting until the end of the period to get stitched), Howe said down on the bench.
As Holmgren sat down at the end of his shift, he looked over at Howe and deadpanned, "Howie, if you're going to play with me, you've GOT to learn how to take a pass."
During my early years in the Flyers press box, there was a pregame in which a bunch of us gathered around watching an old highlight video that included some of Holmgren's fights and a clip of Homer as Flyers coach, in a heated argument with a referee. Glancing at what we were watching, Homer shook his head and said, "You people need to get a life," and walked off.
This past season, I was in Zack Hill's office at the Skate Zone awaiting a podcast taping with Chris Therien. Homer was in Zack's office, having a wry chuckle at the old Beanpot Trot video, featuring Scott Gordon and the other pseudo-rapping, dancing Boston College players. The old clip, which featured Gordon dropping into a full split and popping back up, had just had a revival after he had been promoted from Lehigh Valley to Flyers' interim head coach.
"The song sucks, but that's one hell of a move there," Holmgen critiqued aloud.
Gordo, by the way, is understandably sheepish that "Beanpot Trot" can still be found online. He puts up with the good-natured teasing and questions about it but, if he reads today's blog, I'm sure he'd be thrilled that its existence is being mentioned yet again.
2) During the upcoming 2019-20 season, the Flyers will have 10 or 11 (depending on where 2018 first-round pick Jay O'Brien plays) of their prospects playing in NCAA hockey. By comparison, they will have only five in the CHL and six in Europe. With that in mind, I authored for the Flyers official site a new addition to my 411 series on hockey rules and regulations.
In this article, using Flyers-related examples with collegiate draftees and signees, I covered issues such as the length of holding NCAA and NCAA-track players' rights, AHL eligibility, the slide rule, NCAA rules for attending Development Camp in July and/or Rookie Camp, how the NCAA transfer protocol works, and more.
Hopefully, the article will answer frequently asked questions about Flyers prospects Wade Allison, Tanner Laczynski, O'Brien, Joel Farabee and others.
3) Best of luck to the Flyers PowerPlay hockey team, the power wheelchair hockey team sponsored by the Philadelphia Flyers, in the finals of the Power Hockey Canada Cup. On Sunday, the defending Power Cup champion Flyers PowerPlay will take on the Toronto Toros in the championship round of the Canada Cup tourney.
4) Another Flyers-sponsored team, the Flyers Warrior Hockey squad, will be holding a practice and a board meeting on Sunday. Launched in conjunction with the Flyers and Flyers Alumni during the Stadium Series week, the Warriors are preparing for their first season of play.
5) July 14 Flyers Alumni birthdays: two-stint defenseman and former assistant coach Kevin McCarthy (1957), forward Mark Freer (1968).
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