Flyers Trade for Lebron

It's only been 4 weeks since the Flyers season ended and I'm already tired of hearing about what the Flyers may or may not do this off-season. Paul Holmgren and his technicolor dream shirt were even kind enough to sit down with Tim "Tiny Tim Saunders" Saunders and discuss the future of the club this week, but I'm not going to listen to it. Not because all hockey-related interviews are boring and composed of about ten stock responses about work ethic, how great every other team is, and how your team is pretty good too, but because he's not going to say anything definite about roster moves. That's all it comes down to. I don't care how anyone is feeling or whether or not he knows we have no goalies signed, I'm perfectly content sitting back and waiting to see what he actually does.

Because what he might do leads to rumors of Robert Luongo playing forward for us next season, and they all basically end up here:

(from hockeybuzzhogwash, a great site that just blows up this idiot Flyers fan's bullshit subscription website)

I can sit around and imagine crazy shit all day and then Holmgren will go and get an Eminger and a Vaananen. While I'm imagining, why not shoot for the stars.

So I was dvr-ing some shows (Food Network and Travel Channel) last night in anticipation of a long, sunny(?) weekend coming up and while I was scrolling through my guide Sports Center ended and a show called Dream Season came on. It's basically a show that follows Kobe Bryant and Lebron James from the Olympics last summer, through the regular season this year, and into the post-season. I honestly thought it was just a commercial for a playoff series (which one I did not know - the BJ's are in the West remember) and then I found out these two teams are from opposite conferences and just starting their Conference Championships...talk about jumping the gun NBA! Either way, when I was done recording episodes of Guy's Big Bite I actually continued watching Dream Season through to the end. It was pretty amazing. I am by no means a basketball fan, but I was drawn in by what giant stars these two guys are - I never really knew the extent until yesterday. But obviously, my thoughts returned to hockey. And the Flyers.

The Flyers haven't had a player finish in the top 10 in scoring since Mark Recchi posted 91 points in the '99-2000 season (can't count Oates' 14 games in '02). 91 points, which was good enough to land Recchi third in scoring, isn't exactly domination. So, who was the Flyers last dominant player? (Before you answer that I'll concede that Peter Forsberg was amazing during his career, and when he was on the ice for the Flyers he was a good player who had some flashes of Peter the Great-ness, but he was winding down.) The answer's easy, even though a lot of you probably don't want to admit it for some misguided reason. Do you remember this era?

Maybe part of it's because I was younger back then and absolutely loved hockey. I didn't even know what a parking ticket was or how those stains got out of my shirts, I just knew I loved watching and playing hockey. But the other part is that it felt like performances like these might happen every game. Eric Lindros, from 1992 -1998, was the most dominant forward in hockey. My definition of "dominant" includes a power forward aspect that Lemieux, Jagr, Selanne, Kariya, and others who were perennially in the top ten in scoring lacked. Because it wasn't just about scoring, like it isn't with Kobe and Lebron, it was that feeling that something was going to happen. Every single shift.

The Flyers certainly don't have a player like that now. I tend to notice Carter and Richards each shift, but I'm not waiting for every one of there shifts like 20k Flyers fans were doing every game in the '90's. And they're certainly not dominating - just kind of....around and playing well. But then I look around the NHL and wonder who would be a Lindros-esque kind of player that could deliver that kind of excitement. Ovechkin is the obvious choice, and would look great in a Flyers jersey, but it's never going to happen. Crosby and Malkin are too ugly and play too gentle of a game. Datsyuk might be a good fit, but is lacking that physical element as well.

It's difficult, if not impossible, to say when we'll have our next Lebron or Kobe. And maybe we don't need one. Maybe a cast with a few very good players will be good enough to get us back on top. But it would be exciting to have that one great player to rally around, and a few good players to support him. Philadelphia is a city that places a lot of expectations on its players individually. Even when the Eagles are in first place Donovan can still be getting torn to shreds. Same goes for Ryan Howard or J-Ro. It'd be fun to have a player in the Orange and Black that could exceed those expectations and lift the city onto his back. Who knows what moves could happen in the next couple years to make this happen. Bobby Clarke was drafted in 1969. Eric Lindros was traded for in 1992. Maybe somewhere in Ontario, or Switzerland, or New Jersey some 13 year-old is shooting pucks against a wall right at this very moment, unknowingly preparing for his life as the Flyers center piece and the NHL's most dominant player.