Quick Hits: July 8, 2021
1) The NHL offseason is now finally upon us after the Tampa Bay Lightning closed out the Stanley Cup Final with a 1-0 victory over the Montreal Canadiens in Game 5 to win their second consecutive championship. Goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP.
Fomer Flyers farmhand Patrick Maroon, a fourth-line winger for the Lightning, has won three consecutive Stanley Cup championships with the St. Louis Blues in 2018-19 and the Lightning the last two years.
There's a lot of revisionist history or forgetfulness among Flyers fans about the circumstances surrounding Maroon's abrupt departure from the Flyers organization during the 2010-11 season. Here's the essential backstory and context:
In the years between the end of the Philadelphia Phantoms (hastened by the closure and eventual demolition of the Spectrum) and the team's relocation to Allentown as the Lehigh Valley Phantoms (following the construction of the PPL Center), the Phantoms were sold by Comcast-Spectacor and relocated to Glens Falls, NY, from 2009 to 2014. The team played in the outdated Glens Falls Civic Center.
These were rough years for the Flyers' top farm team, both on and off the ice. Many Phantoms players were unhappy living and playing in Glens Falls. Some simply couldn't take it, such as once highly regarded defense prospect Joonas Lehtivuori, who left the team and went home to Finland. The others stayed put but some acted out in unhealthy and counterproductive ways. Maroon was one of the guys who had issues at the time that were starting to creep into his day-to-day professional life, although he was actually leading the struggling team in scoring.
In the bigger picture, the Adirondack Phantoms were a rudderless ship from a hockey ops standpoint. From afar, Paul Holmgren tried to establish a semblance of order but it was an uphill battle. There were also problems between head coach Greg Gilbert and many of his players including Maroon. Things boiled before the 17th game of the season.
Holmgren sent Maroon home. This was NOT a hockey-related decision. The player was told that the Flyers would get him a fresh start in a different organization and, in the meantime, to use the opportunity to work on himself. It had already been a long road with trying to get Maroon physically, emotionally, and mentally ready to compete for an NHL job. From a strictly hockey-related standpoint, for example, Maroon had to work on improving his physical conditioning and skating issues that dated back to his pre-Draft years in the NAHL. Things didn't miraculously change overnight: it was a lengthy process with a lot of hard work and self-evaluation.
On Nov. 21, 2010, the Flyers traded Maroon and David Laliberte to the Anaheim Ducks for Danny Syvret and Rob Bordson. Maroon had a couple of cups of NHL coffee with the Ducks before finally cracking the NHL roster on a sustained basis in 2013-14 at age 25. He's since gone on to play 568 regular season games and 121 playoffs games, for which primary credit goes to the player himself for rescuing his endangered career.
In hindsight, perhaps Maroon could have taken off more time in 2010-11 and eventually rejoined the Flyers' organization. Gilbert was fired as head coach not long after Maroon was sent home. John Paddock served an interim stint as head coach before Joe Paterson took over for the next season-and-a-half. More likely, though, the coaching changes alone wouldn't have been enough to turn things around with Maroon remaining in the organizations. Most of the same big-picture problems surrounding the team (including insufficient AHL-proven talent on the roster) were still in place. Maroon needed the change of scenery and the fresh start he received. He eventually made the most of it, to his credit.
2) Would you like to own a piece of history and help support the Flyers Alumni's programs and initiatives? Here's how: The camouflage jerseys worn by the Flyers Alumni Team at our Showcase Game against the Flyers Warriors are up for auction, and autographed by each player.
The following game-worn jerseys are up for auction until July 22, 2021: Jesse Boulerice, Danny Briere, Dave Brown, Jeff Chychrun, Riley Cote, Doug Crossman, Scott Daniels, Robert Esche, Todd Fedoruk, Adam Hall, Mark Howe, Bob Kelly (pregame ceremony), Mike Knuble, Mitch Lamoureaux, Ian Laperriere, John LeClair, Brad Marsh, Carl Mokosak, Kjell Samuelsson, Dave Schultz (pregame ceremony), Al Secord, Jody Shelley, Chris Therien,Jim Watson (pregame ceremony), and Joe Watson.
To place a bid,
click here.
3) Today in Flyers History: On July 8, 1995, the Flyers traded depth defenseman Rob Zettler to the Toronto Maple Leafs for a 1996 fifth-round Draft pick (goalie Per-Ragnar Bergkvist). It was a minor trade but one with an interesting footnote.
Bergqvist was the backup goalie to Johan Hedberg for Leksands IF. The Flyers still held Hedberg's NHL rights at the time, too, so it created an unusual situation. Bergkvist was Team Sweden's goalie at the 1995-86 World Junior Championships, and played well including a game where he outplayed Team USA's Brian Boucher (the Flyers' 1995 first-round pick).
Ultimately, Bergkvist did not pan out as an Elitserien (now SHL) starting goalie after Hedberg came over to North America. The Flyers elected not to sign Hedberg when he came over after the 1996-97 season, so Hedberg played a year in the old IHL and then had his rights traded to the San Jose Sharks.
4) July 8 Flyers Alumni birthday: Karl Dykhuis
Two-tenured Flyers defenseman Karl Dykhuis was born in Sept-Iles, Quebec on July 8, 1972. A standout for the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League's Hull Olympiques, Dykhuis was blessed with a rare combination of size (6-foot-3, 214 pounds in his prime), mobility and skill with the puck. He was drafted by the Chicago Blackhawks in the first round (16th overall) of the 1990 NHL Draft.
At his best, Dykhuis was a highly effective puck-mover who sometimes showed hints of untapped offensive upside at the pro level as well as a periodic mean streak. However, he struggled at times with confidence and decision-making, leading to somewhat inconsistent play both with and without the puck.
Acquired from the Chicago Blackhawks for Bob Wilkie and a 1997 fifth-round pick (Kyle Calder) on February 15, 1995, Dykhuis became a regular on the Flyers' rebuilt blueline. Dykhuis played arguably the best hockey of his career during the 1995 and 1996 playoffs.
After going to the Tampa Bay Lightning along with Mikael Renberg as part of the 1997 agreement for the Lightning to decline to match the Flyers' offer sheet to restricted free agent Chris Gratton, Dykhuis and Renberg returned to the Flyers the next season in separate trades. Dykhuis returned in exchange for veteran defenseman Petr Svoboda - his Flyers' partner for most of Dykhuis' first stint.
Overall, during his time with the Flyers, Dykhuis appeared in 227 regular season games (13 goals, five power play goals, 41 assists, 54 points, 211 penalty minutes, cumulative plus-21 rating). He played in 50 playoff games as a Flyer (seven goals, nine assists, 16 points, 42 penalty minutes, cumulative plus-11).
Dykhuis struggled early in the 1999-2000 season and was placed on waivers by the Flyers. He was traded to the Montreal for future considerations on October 21, 1999. He played three full and two partial seasons with the Habs before winding down his playing career in the American Hockey League and with stints playing hockey in the Netherlands and in Germany's DEL
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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