"We'll have to wait and see what happens," said Clarke, who tried to trade Roussel during the summer after he and Roussel could not come to terms on a contract. Eventually, Roussel signed a one-year pact.
Roussel, 25, who is entering his fifth NHL campaign, was antsy last season
because he wanted a chance to displace Hextall as the No. 1 goaltender. He also was angry because, after playing in 60 games in 1993-94, he made just 19 appearances last season.
Now, however, he says he'll be content to serve as Hextall's backup until he is needed. Snow, he said, is just another training-camp obstacle. Roussel is still looking at Hextall as his main competition.
Beating out a newcomer like Snow is "always a challenge," Roussel said. ''But I think Hexy is even a greater challenge. It's a good competition between me and him. We worked well together last year and also a couple of years ago when he was here. Hopefully, it will be the same this year."
So far, Snow says he is not letting Roussel's situation affect him at all. He knows that Roussel has been a Flyer for four years. But he views this camp as his chance to break into the NHL for good.
"I can't control what other people do," said the 25-year-old native of Wrentham, Mass.
Snow, a 6-foot-3, 200-pound standup goalie who likes to use his body to block shots, played seven games for Quebec in two NHL seasons, and was 4-3 with a 4.07 goals-against average.
He was 32-20-7 and yielded 2.73 goals a game last season for Cornwall of the American Hockey League.
Although Roussel still intends to push Hextall for the top job, he knows that his situation is different from what it was last year. Because of that, he says he still has a lot to prove.
"Maybe it's a step back, but that doesn't matter," Roussel said, referring to his acceptance of the backup job. "This is a good team, and I want to help out. Last year we had a great time, and you don't want to leave a team like this."
Murray said he planned to give both backups plenty of playing time in the preseason to encourage the competition between Snow and Roussel.
"With Hexy being our No. 1 guy coming into training camp, we'll get Snow in some exhibition games, give him a good look, and see what happens," Murray said.
He said that if Snow won the backup job and Roussel wasn't traded, he would carry all three goalies on the roster. But it wasn't his preferred scenario.
"I think it becomes very difficult when you have three goaltenders," Murray said. "You just don't have enough ice time. You need to prepare your guys, and they need the minutes to feel comfortable."
NOTES. The Flyers announced that Steve Carroll had been hired to serve as the club's play-by-play radio announcer. Carroll was a broadcaster for the Nashville Knights of the East Coast Hockey League last season. . . . Defenseman Karl Dykhuis returned to practice after missing Monday's workout with a sore knee. . . . Defenseman Dan Kordic had to leave practice after suffering lower leg cramps. . . . Murray had center Joel Otto playing between Shjon Podein and Kevin Dineen during the morning scrimmage. . . . Saturday's preseason game in Detroit will be televised on SportsChannel Philadelphia. . . . Murray said he planned to use center Eric Lindros for penalty-killing more often this season. The Flyers were ranked 18th in penalty-killing last season in the 26-team NHL.
