This is really something you could not make up if you tried. The Philadelphia Flyers have signed Ray Emery. Well not officially but it appears according to sources to be pretty much a done deal. So Emery will get to see Sean Avery six times a year. These are two guys that surely know a lot about being on the wrong side of Gary Bettman and NHL organizations. It is not automatic that Emery will be the starter either but if this does go down…Antero Niittymaki will most assuredly be heading to Europe. However, even that is not a certainty.
Everyone wants to talk about giving Ray Emery a second chance and honestly I do not think he was that great to begin with. Emery played on a team with a pretty solid defensive corps and though he played well in the KHL this year…that means squat to me! The Flyers are not the organization that exactly comes off as coddling. Just ask Roger Nielsen (sorry he is dead sadly). Needless to say Bobby Clarke probably never sent out Christmas cards to half his team.
This screams a bad fit and I hope it actually does not happen. The Flyers need an elite goaltender and really Marty Biron is more of that than Ray Emery will be. They also need help on defense, offense, and the salary cap. I do wonder how many fishnagels they are paying Mr. Emery to come out of exile. I am curious about that.
However, more than likely this is going to happen because Paul Holmgren apparently likes “career suicide”. Bobby Clarke did it twice and now Holmgren somehow thinks that this could solve the Flyers goalie problem. Really? Ray Emery? I want a whole ton of what Mr. Holmgren is speaking before he comes to his senses and realizes the Sean Avery like headache he will create in Philadelphia. I guess one good thing out of it is that the Flyers will have an enforcer of sorts….just between the pipes.
For potentially a bigger chuckle, time to look at Colorado where Tony Granato and five others were given the axe today by Pierre Lacroix. FINALLY! He then names Greg Sherman GM. Who the bloody deuce is Greg Sherman? Ah a good question. He has served as assistant GM for the past 7 years on Colorado. I guess in that sense he deserves a shot but hey I still thought Craig Billington might have been a better choice. He has NHL experience on several levels while Francois Giguere was set up for failure….this may be a case of outright calamity.
The Avalanche are really against the cap with 14 players committed to the tune of 44 million dollars. If the cap goes down any and it likely will. The Avs have to somehow fill out the roster and hey that does not include Joe Sakic (who I think will retire) but never say never. If Patrick Roy turned down the GM/Coach position or whatever was actually offered…he must have seen something that was not a good fit. I do feel sorry for Sherman…he really has a tough road ahead and realistically could this thing be fixed quickly? In a word…NO!
Basically two once proud organizations….one that is making a bad move and one that has just fallen so far that you wonder if they can get back up. If it is like this now…just wait till the offseason!!! What’s next?
