Quick Hits: July 3, 2021

1) With the NHL Entry Draft just a couple weeks away, today's a good day to pay tribute to a rarely mentioned but vital figure in shaping the Flyers' glory years: the late Gerry Melnyk.

There has never been an inductee in the Builders Category of the Hockey Hall of Fame whose primary contribution to the game was as a scout. If that were ever to change, Melnyk would be near the front of the line for induction. Melnyk, who passed away at age 66 twenty years ago on June 14, had a 269-game NHL career as a third-line forward, was one of the most prolific, influential and successful scouts in post-"Original Six" NHL history.

The Flyers actually acquired Melnyk with the intention of him being a player. On June 11, 1968, general manager Bud Poile traded team captain Lou Angotti to the St. Louis Blues for Melnyk and a player-to-be-named-later (Darryl Edestrand). Unfortunately, Melnyk never had a chance to suit up for the Flyers. He suffered a heart attack that, while not fatal, forced him retire as active player at age 33.

Poile knew Melnyk well from their portions of four seasons together with the Edmonton Flyers of the old Western Hockey League, where Poile was the player/coach and then solely the coach.
Recognizing that Melnyk had an exceptionally sharp mind for the game and the potential to be an excellent evaluator of young talent, Poile convinced Melnyk to stay on as a scout after the heart attack forced his retirement as a player.

Thus began Melnyk's nearly 30-year scouting career; all of which was spent with the Flyers. Over the years, in tandem with the team's other amateur scouts and often taking the lead in advocating for prospects about whom he felt the most confidence, Melnyk became arguably the all-time most influential scout in franchise history and one of the most respected across the entire league. Most notably, it was Melnyk who advocated for the Flyers to select Flin Flon Bombers center Bobby Clarke in the first round of the 1969 Draft. After the Flyers, like every other team, passed on Clarke due to his Type 1 diabetes, Melnyk pestered and hollered at Keith Allen until the Flyers grabbed the future Hall of Famer with their turn came up again in the second round (17th overall). Normally, Melnyk was a believer in forming consensus but he felt so strongly about Clarke that he wasn't going to let the player be passed up a second time without making his feelings knows.

Years later, Melnyk was the strongest advocate on the selections of Pelle Lindbergh in the 1979 second round and Ron Hextall in the sixth round of the 1982 Draft, among a few dozen future NHLers he advised Keith Allen to select. Lindbergh and Hextall could hardly have been more different in physical profile, goaltending style or demeanor, but Melnyk saw the underlying potential in both future Vezina Trophy winners.

Melnyk, like all scouts, had certain types of players that he gravitated to more than others. However, when all was said and done, he believed that there was no substitute for hockey ability. He passed this simple but vital piece of advice along to the many young scouts he directly mentored in one way or another. Some of those scouts, like the Flyers' Dennis Patterson, are still active and are now senior scouts themselves.

2) On a similar note, I have wondered at times if perhaps Flyers fans took for granted how nearly miraculous it was that the group that shaped the organization's formative years and identities came together. Not only was Ed Snider a one-in-a-million owner, but the Flyers actually upgraded on Hockey Hall of Fame general manager Poile when they moved Keith Allen up from coach to GM; brought about because of clashes between the irascible Poile and Snider. Arguably, "Keith the Thief" ranks among the all-time top five of NHL general managers. Then came Fred Shero; a visionary innovator as a head coach. Meanwhile, Marcel Pelletier as player personnel director was another brilliant hockey man and astute judge of talent.

Until the Vegas Golden Knights came along, the Flyers' 1967 Expansion Draft -- under far less favorable rules for the new teams entering the league than exist today -- was THE gold standard for putting a team together: so much so that there were still four players selected in the Expansion Draft on the roster (plus Simon Nolet, a minor leaguer acquired when the organization bought the Quebec Aces as their first AHL farm team) when the Flyers won their first Stanley Cup seven years later. Add to that several outstanding yields from the NHL Amateur Draft, especially in 1969 (Clarke, Dave Schultz, Don Saleski) and 1972 (Bill Barber, Tom Bladon, Jimmy Watson, Al MacAdam), a serious of brilliant trades (the reacquisition of Bernie Parent, and the additions of Rick MacLeish and Reggie Leach) and some astute signings of undrafted rookie free agents (led at first by Orest Kindrachuk and followed years later by Tim Kerr and Ilkka Sinisalo).

In retrospect, it became easy for Flyers fans to assume that things would ALWAYS be that way when the team won two Stanley Cups, reached the Stanley Cup Final six teams before 1990s and reached the Stanley Cup Semifinals/Conference Final an additional four times in that span. It's easy to overlook the importance of the people behind the scenes but the bar was set incredibly high and is something that cannot be easily replicated or translated into a salary cap/ 32-team-league equivalent.

3) I've done this exercise before but it bears repeating with the Tampa Bay Lightning on the brink of winning their second straight Stanley Cup and the Montreal Canadiens on the brink of seeing their streak of Cupless seasons extend to 28 years (although their drought of not reaching the Cup Final did end at 28 years this season). The only thing harder than winning the Stanley Cup nowadays is to repeat as champion the next year.

Additionally, every organization in the NHL at some point in its history, experiences very long droughts between Stanley Cup championships (if they ever win it all all). Yes, that's right Flyers fans. Everyone goes through the pain at some point or another, not just the Flyers. Let's go team by team:

Anaheim Ducks: Entered the NHL in 1993. They have won one Stanley Cup in 28 years of existence and reach the Cup Final twice. The Ducks are now 14 years removed from their first and only Stanley Cup victory.

Arizona Coyotes: Entered the NHL in 1979 as the Winnipeg Jets after the NHL/WHA merger later and moved to Arizona in 1996. The organization has never won the Stanley Cup in their 42-year existence. The team also has never appeared in the Stanley Cup Final.

Boston Bruins: Original Six team. The team's 2010-11 Stanley Cup (sixth in 87 years) ended a 39-year drought. Team is now 10 years removed for their last Cup championship.

Buffalo Sabres: Entered the NHL in 1970. The team has never won the Stanley Cup. The club made it to the Cup Final in 1975 (lost to the Flyers) and 1999. Buffalo is currently in a stretch of missing the playoffs in 10 straight years. Last won a playoff series in 2007, and has missed the playoffs in 12 of the last 14 years.

Calgary Flames: Entered the NHL in 1972 as the Atlanta Flames. They have won one Stanley Cup championship (1989) in their 49-year history. They are now 32 years removed from that season. The team has reached the Stanley Cup Final three times in its history, most recently 17 years ago when they lost to Tampa Bay.

Carolina Hurricanes: Entered the NHL in 1979 as the Hartford Whalers. They have won one Stanley Cup championship in team history (2006) and are now 15 years removed from that season. They previously reached the Stanley Cup Final in 2002; their only other appearance. Presently a Cup contender again, the franchise endured a stretch of nine straight years of missing the playoffs (2009-10 through 2017-18), overlapping with a span of failing to qualify for the playoffs in 11 of the next 12 seasons after their 2006 Stanley Cup victory.

Chicago Blackhawks: Original Six team. The Blackhawks ended a 49-year Cup drought in 2010 with their six-game victory over the Flyers in the Stanley Cup Final. They began a stretch of winning three Stanley Cup championships in six years. The team is now six years removed from its most recent Cup, and has won but a single playoff series in that span (missing the playoffs twice). Overall, the Blackhawks have won six Cups in their 95-year existence.

Colorado Avalanche: Entered the NHL as the Quebec Nordiques in 1979. The Nords never won the Cup or reached the Finals in their 16 years of post-WHA merger existence before relocated to Denver as the Avalanche. The team won the 1996 Stanley Cup in its first year after relocating and won again in 2001. The club is now 20 years removed from its most recent Stanley Cup championship and its last trip to the Cup Final. Now a championship contender again, the Avalanche endured a 12-year stretch of either missing the playoffs (eight times), losing in the first round (three times) or the second round (once) between 2006-07 and 2017-18.

Columbus Blue Jackets: The CBJ entered the NHL as an expansion team in 2000. In their 21-year history, they have never won the Stanley Cup or reached the Cup Final. They have won two playoff series in franchise history, never advancing beyond the second round.

Dallas Stars: Entered the NHL as the Minnesota North Stars during the 1967 expansion from six to 12 teams. In their 54-year history, the Stars/North Stars have won only one Stanley Cup (1999) and reached the Final an additional four times (1981 and 1991 as Minnesota, 1998 and 2020 as Dallas). After reaching the Cup Final last season and pushing the champion Lightning to six hard-fought games, the Stars failed to qualify for the playoffs in 2020-21.

Detroit Red Wings: Original Six team. Their 1997 Stanley Cup sweep of the Flyers ended a 52-year Cupless drought and was the first of back-to-cup NHL championships. The Red Wings also won the Cup in 2002 and 2008. The team lost to Pittsburgh in the 2009 Stanley Cup Final. The team is now 12 years removed from from its last trip to the Final. The Red Wings have missed the playoffs each of the last five seasons and last won a playoff series in 2013 when they reached the second round. Overall the Red Wings have won 11 Stanley Cup championships in their 95-year history but seven predate the 1967 NHL expansion.

Edmonton Oilers: The Oilers entered the NHL in 1979 as part of the NHL/WHA merger. The team enjoyed one of the NHL's all-time great dynasties, winning the Stanley Cup in 1985, 1987, 1988 and (after the departure of Wayne Gretzky, who never won a subsequent Stanley Cup) in 1990. The team is now 31 years removed from their last Stanley Cup and 15 years removed from their last trip to the Final. In the years that have followed, despite often holding the first overall selection of the NHL Draft and being able to select Connor McDavid with the first overall pick of the 2015 Draft, the Oilers missed the playoffs in 10 straight and 12 of 13 seasons. Over the last 15 years, the Oilers have gotten past the first round of the playoffs only once (2017) and have not reached a Conference Final in that span.

Florida Panthers: Florida entered the NHL in 1993. They have not won the Stanley Cup in their 28 years of existence. The team reached the Cup Final in their third year of existence (1995-96) but have not been back since. In fact, the Panthers have not won a single playoff series in that same 25-year span; a quarter century at this point. They missed the playoffs in 18 of those 25 years, including a 10-year stretch and a pair of three-year playoff droughts.

LA Kings: The Kings entered the NHL as part of the 1967 expansion. They have two Stanley Cup championships in their 54-year existence: 2012 and 2014. The club has not won a single playoff series in the last eight years, and missed the playoffs in five of the last seven seasons including each of the last three. Prior to their early 2010s glory years, the Kings' only previous trip to the Stanley Cup Final came in 1993, when they were favored to beat the Montreal Canadiens but lost the series in six games.

Minnesota Wild: The Wild entered the NHL in 2000. They have never won the Stanley Cup or reached the Cup Final in their 21 years of existence. The closest they've gotten was a trip to the Western Conference Final in 2003 before getting swept by Anaheim.

Montreal Canadiens: The Habs are the NHL's most storied franchise, having won a record 24 Stanley Cup champions. Largely due to a longtime pre-NHL Draft monopoly on prospects from Quebec-based junior programs, the Canadiens had dynasties in the 1920s, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s to early 1970s and mid-1970s to the end of the decade. However, the current-day team is one loss away from being Cupless in 28 years and having just one Cup in the last 35 years. The team's trip to the 2021 Cup Final is their first since their 1993 championship: from which there are no remaining active players in the NHL. So, yes, even the vaunted Canadiens now know what it's like to have to wait a long time in between championships and there are no guarantees of the drought ending in the next few years.

Nashville Predators: The Predators entered the NHL in 1998. They have never won the Stanley Cup in their 23-year history. The team's run to the 2017 Stanley Cup Final was the only team in franchise history that the Preds have gone beyond the second round.

New Jersey Devils: Entered the NHL in 1974 as the Kansas City Scouts and became the Colorado Rockies for six seasons before moving to northern New Jersey. The team was a perennial doormat in all three locations until the early-to-mid-1990s. The Devils won the Stanley Cup in 1995, 2000 and 2003 (beating the Flyers in six games and seven games in the 1995 and 2000 Eastern Conference Finals respectively). The team is now 18 years removed from its last Stanley Cup championship and is now nine years removed from its most recent trip to the Stanley Cup Final (the Devils upset the favored Flyers in five games in the 2012 Eastern Conference Semifinal). Since that time, the Devils have missed the playoffs in eight of the last nine years and have not won a playoff series in that span.

New York Islanders: The Islanders entered the NHL in 1972. Most recently, they have lost to the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Eastern Conference Final in back-to-back years, including a seven-game series this year. Prior to that, the team hadn't been past the second round in 24 years including missing the playoffs 16 times and losing in the first round six times. The Islanders are now 38 years removed from the end of their dynasty of four straight Stanley Cup championships and five straight trips to the Cup Final.

New York Rangers: Original Six team. The Rangers have won just one Stanley Cup (1993-94 under Mike Keenan) in the last 80 years. The taunting chants of "1940! 1940! 1940!" came to an end at long last when the Rangers between the Vancouver Canucks in seven games in the 1994 Stanley Cup. The drought since that time is now up to 27 years. The Rangers reached the Stanley Cup Final under Alain Vigneault in 2013-14 but have not been back in the seven years since they. They have missed the playoffs in three of the last four years and last won a series (under Vigneault) in 2017. However, the Rangers appear to be a team back on the rise again.

Ottawa Senators: The modern-day incarnation of the Senators entered the NHL in 1992. They have not won the Stanley Cup in their 29 year existence. The Senators reached the Cup Final for the first and only time in 2008 and have not been back in the 13 years since then. Ottawa is currently in a spell of missing the playoffs four straight years and five the last six.

Philadelphia Flyers: As stated earlier in this blog, Flyers fans basically got spoiled to being a perennial contender with the exception of a five-year stretch out of the playoffs from 1989-90 to 1993-94. The team won the Stanley Cup in 1974 and 1975 -- now 46 years ago -- and also reached the Stanley Cup Final in 1976, 1980, 1985, 1987 and 1997. The club made it the Stanley Cup semifinals/ Conference Final in 1973, 1977, 1978, 1989, 1995, 2000 and 2004. It's been much tougher since the implementation of the salary cap in 2005 and the continued expansion of the league. The Flyers reached the Eastern Conference Final in 2008 and the Stanley Cup Final in 2010. Over the least 11 years since then, the Flyers have reached the second round in 2011, 2012 and 2020. Since 2012-13, the club has been stuck in an alternating-year pattern of missing (2012-13, 2014-15, 2016-17, 2018-19, 2020-21) and making (2013-14, 2015-16, 2017-18, 2019-20) the playoffs but has only a 2020 Eastern Conference Quarterfinal win over Montreal to show for the time period.

Pittsburgh Penguins: The Penguins entered the NHL in 1967. No team's history, except perhaps Washington's, breaks down more concretely into distinct eras than the Pens.

Pre-1990s, although the team periodically made the playoffs, they were never a top contender. In fact, for the majority of that span, the club was a financially trouble organization, and went through its first bankrupcty. The team, which endured a span of 15 years without winning a single road game in Philadelphia, openly tanked in 1983-84 in order to be able to select Mario Lemieux in the 1984 Draft.

Lemieux was an instant superstar but it took until the end of the decade and the start of the 1990s to assemble enough pieces around him to the become a contender. The team went through a bankruptcy (in fact, Ed Snider's Spectactor became their landlords, and the Penguins continued to pile up debt in unpaid deferred compensation). The Penguins won back-to-back Stanley Cups in 1990-91 and 1992-93 and remained a contender through the rest of the decade.

In the early 1990s, renewed financial problems and Lemieux's on-again/off-again retirements took the team back to doormat status. The team was in deep trouble until Lemieux leveraged the organization's debts to him to become the majority owner. Even then, it took a threat to move to Kansas City to get a taxpayer funded arena built plus a series of years selecting at or near the top of the NHL Draft (most notably, the heavily weighted 2005 lottery on the heels of the cancelation of the 2004-05 season and the implementation of a salary cap that took away the advantages that teams like the Flyers, Rangers, Bruins, Maple Leafs and Canadiens had in being to outspend the opposition to acquire most any player of their choosing.

The Penguins had one additional last-place season in 2005-06 and then began to re-emerge as a contender. The team lost to Detroit in the 2008 Stanley Cup Final and then returned the favor by beating the Red Wings in the 2009 Cup Final.

In the 2010s, the Pens were a perennial Cup contender, even a regular preseason favorite to go all the way. The team won back-to-back Cup championships in 2016 and 2017.

Since that time, the Penguins have lost in the first round three times and the second round once. Today, the Penguins are a crossroads. The farm system has been compromised by year-after-year of trading first-round picks and the nucleus of Crosby (who will turn 34 in August), Evgeni Malkin (who will turn 35 on July 31) and Kris Letang (now 34) is getting perilously close to the downward portion of their stellar careers. How much longer can new general manager Ron Hextall extend the team's Cup window before it underdoes a multi-year rebuilding program?

San Jose Sharks: The Sharks entered the NHL in 1991. Although often a well-regarded contender in the Western Conference until recent years, the team has never won the Stanley Cup in its 30-year history. San Jose reached the Stanley Cup Final for the first and only time in 2015-16 but had four other trips to the Western Conference Final. More recently, the Sharks have missed the playoffs in back-to-back seasons.

Seattle Kraken: The Kraken haven't felt the pain yet because they are a brand-new expansion team in 2021. We'll see how long it takes until their first trip to a Stanley Cup Final and their first Stanley Cup championship; and then how long it takes to get back again.

St. Louis Blues: The Blues entered the NHL in 1967. They won their first and only Stanley Cup championship in 2018-19. That season was also the Blues' lone trip to the Stanley Cup Final in the last 51 years; dating back to when the NHL eliminated the format of having the Western Divsion (consisting of the six expansion teams) champion having a guaranteed trip to the Final against the surviving Original Six team from the East Division. The Flyers were the first Expansion Team to win the Stanley Cup.

Tampa Bay Lightning: The sting of the President's Trophy winning Lightning being swept by Columbus in the first round of the 2019 playoffs has since faded with the team winning the 2020 Stanley Cup and being on the brink of back-to-back championships. Prior to that, though, there was a lot more rough seasons than glorious ones apart from the (pun intended) lighting in a bottle, virtually injury-free 2003-04 campaign that resulted in their first Stanley Cup championship. Founded in 1992, the Lightning reached the playoffs only once in their first nine years of existence and lost to the Flyers in the round round in Tampa's lone postseason appearance. After the 2003-04 Cup championship, the Lightning quickly returned to being a playoff bubble team (93 and 91 points) and then missed the playoffs in five of the next six seasons. The Lightning re-emerged as a high-end team in the latter 2010s, reaching the 2015 Stanley Cup Final and the Eastern Conference Final in 2016 and 2018 after a one-year slip of missing the playoffs in 2016-17. Tampa figures to remain a top contender for some years to come before they hit their next crossroads.

Toronto Maple Leafs: The Leafs were an elite team in the Original Six era, surpassed only by the Canadiens. Toronto has experienced a whole of futility and frustration ever since. Winners of 13 Stanley Cup championships from 1917-18 through 1966-67, the Leafs have not won the Stanley Cup in the last 54 years. Moreover, they have not even reached the Stanley Cup Final a single time in that same span. It's the longest current drought in the NHL, despite the Leafs regularly being a high spending team both in the years leading up tot the establishment of the salary cap and in many of the 16 years since there's been a cap floor and ceiling. Critics have wondered if the team miscalculated in tying up nearly $39 million of cap space in just four players (Auston Matthews, John Tavares, Mitch Marner and William Nylander).

Vancouver Canucks: The Canucks entered the NHL in 1970. They have not won the Stanley Cup yet in their 51 years of existence. The team reached the Stanley Cup Final in 1982, 1994 and 2011. They fell one win shy of hockey's ultimate prize in 1994 under Pat Quinn and 2011 under Alain Vigneault. The team has not been back to the Cup Final in the last 10 years and has missed the playoffs in five of the last six seasons but did win two series in the Bubble in 2020.

Vegas Golden Knights: Founded in 2017, the Golden Knights became an instant and perennial Cup contender as they reached the Stanley Cup Final in their inaugural season and reached the Conference Final in 2020-21. They have yet to win the Stanley Cup, however, and it remains to be seen how long the team's run as a yearly contender lasts under the pressure of the salary cap and quite a few veteran contracts with significant remaining term.

Washington Capitals: Founded in 1974, the Capitals were a perennial doormat in their first decade of existence and very nearly went out of business in 1982 (among others, Ed Snider lent assistance to the Save the Capitals campaign, including having Flyers players record fundraising commercials geared toward fans in the Mid-Atlantic corredor). The team emerged as a solid, playoff-caliber club for most of the 1980s and 1990s. After a rough spell in the early 2000s, the Capitals reemerged with Alex Ovechkin as the face of the franchise. Overall, the Capitals have won one Stanley Cup (2017-18) in their 47-year existence and made two trips to the Cup Final (1997-98 when they were swept by Detroit plus the victorious 2018 run). They've been a perennial contender for most of the last 12 years but hit a postseason snag all but once.

Winnipeg Jets: The current-day version of the Jets began life as the Atlanta Thrashers in 1997. In its combined 24-year existence, the team has never won the Stanley Cup or reached the Cup Final. In their 11 years in Atlanta, the team missed the playoffs 10 times and lost in the first round once (2006-07). Since moving to Winnipeg, the team reached the Western Conference Final in 2017-18 and got to the second round this year for their only playoff series victories. They missed the playoffs in five of six years between 2010-11 and 2016-17.

SUMMARY: We've gone through all 32 NHL organizations, of which 30 have histories that date back at least 20 seasons and many who have around 50+ seasons. What every franchise has in common: At some point along the way, they've had spells of failing to win the Cup that have stretched two decades or, sometimes, considerably longer. It's just how it goes in hockey. If your team is on top for awhile, savor every bit of it because the glory days won't last forever, and the next significant downturn could prove to be very long-lasting when it arrives. Beyond good design, it takes a bit of good luck (healthy and peaking at the right time, some favorable matchups along the way) to go all the way.

4) July 5 Flyers Alumni birthdays: John LeClair (1969), Chris Gratton (1975).

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