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SPORTS Saturday 12 January 2019

Philadelphia Flyers vs. Dallas Stars

and patchwork effort was Ivan Provorov have yielded
a bust, forcing the Flyers inconsistent results instead
to call up Hart (3-4-1) last of serving as significant
month to steady the team. keys to a rebuild.
— The farm system had — The vets have disap-
failed to produce stars af- peared. Claude Giroux, the
ter a string of bad drafts last holdover from the 2010
last decade and expected Stanley Cup final team, is
cornerstones such as Nolan again an All-Star. But Sim-
Patrick (No. 2 pick of 2017 monds, Jake Voracek, van
draft; 22 games without a Riemsdyk and Sean Coutu-
goal), and defenseman rier have been hit by injury
Shayne Gostisbehere and and inconsistency.q

Philadelphia Flyers’ James van Riemsdyk, center, celebrates with Ivan Provorov, right, after van
Riemsdyk scored a goal past Dallas Stars goaltender Anton Khudobin, left, during the second
period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, Jan. 10, 2019, in Philadelphia.
Associated Press
By DAN GELSTON on StubHub on Wednes- duction. Just 30, Simmonds
AP Sports Writer day.Hey, for a night, the could be packaged for
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The discounted ducats were prospects and picks to a
vendor at the Flyers mer- worth the price — the Flyers contender before he hits
chandise kiosk on the main snapped an eight-game free agency.
concourse scrolled through losing streak with a 2-1 win “Right now, you definite-
his phone as disinterested over Dallas. ly can’t look at the big
fans breezed by the $70 But the win was just a rare picture,” Simmonds said.
Stadium Series sweatshirts respite for a franchise bar- “Obviously, the big pic-
and $250 jerseys that sud- reling toward the Feb. 25 ture doesn’t look good, so
denly seem as unwanted trade deadline on the brink you’ve got to start small
as a face value ticket. of another shakeup. The and we’ve got to start
Shortly before faceoff, cus- suit and tie guys are gone. making strides from there.”
tomers! A Flyers fan stops General manager Chuck Hextall’s inability to turn
by and spends $5.39 on Fletcher was hired in No- things around was among
a foam finger that is sup- vember to replace Ron the reasons he was unex-
posed to convey the home Hextall, who could not turn pectedly dismissed Nov.
team is No. 1. the Flyers into contenders 26. Philadelphia hasn’t won
At least one Flyers fan in the after 4½ seasons, and he the Stanley Cup since 1975
stands had a different digit promptly fired coach Dave and was ready to try to
in mind. The scoreboard Hakstol after three-plus contend after several years
cameras caught a man seasons without a playoff of retooling.
in the first period flipping series win. Interim coach They instead enter Satur-
Gritty the bird. Yes, even Scott Gordon is 4-7-2 in his day’s game at New Jersey
the beloved Flyers furball brief tenure. sitting 30th in the NHL stand-
can’t escape the wrath of That leaves the aging vet- ings at 16-22-6 (38 points).
agitated fans in what has erans in the orange-and- How did it get this bad?
become one of the big- black sweaters, and per- — Start in net. The Flyers
gest debacles in franchise haps some of the newer tied an NHL record this
history. The only part of the faces, on the market as week with Mike McKenna
season more surprising than Fletcher decides if the time becoming their seventh
the unexpected popularity is now for a full-blown roster goaltender to play this sea-
of their rookie mascot has revamp. Former All-Star for- son. The Flyers became the
been the dizzying dip in the ward Wayne Simmonds is in fourth team in league his-
standings from a year ago. the last year of his contract tory to hit that ignominious
The Flyers crashed from a and could be traded be- milestone and reached it
98-point team that made fore the Flyers lose him for in just 43 games. The Flyers
the playoffs to the one of nothing. Simmonds, who banked on Brian Elliott and
the worst teams in the NHL; has only 19 points this sea- Michal Neuvirth to man the
they fired the coach, the son, is perhaps the most im- pipes while top prospect
general manager and play portant voice in the locker Carter Hart gained experi-
in front of a half-empty Wells room and losing his leader- ence in the minors. Elliott
Fargo Center where tickets ship would hurt the Flyers and Neuvirth have been
bottomed out at $9 a pop as much as his point pro- injured most of the season