The Daily News was also disappointing when they took Les Bowen off the Flyers coverage.
Kevin Cahill, Philadelphia
They've gotten five coaches fired. They blamed John Vanbiesbrouck for allowing nine goals in six games against Toronto. They blamed Eric Lindros for disrupting them against New Jersey,even though he was the only one who showed up in game six.
"They" are Mark Recchi, who only won when riding Mario Lemieux's coattails. Keith Primeau, one of the biggest playoff failures in NHL history. John LeClair, who has proven he is a zero without No. 88. And Bob Clarke, who manages to keep his job despite consistent failures.
Chris Checchia, Trevose
I nearly puked when I heard Ed Snider on WIP Sports Radio making comments about how great a general manager Bobby Clarke is after being eliminated in 4 out of 5 quarterfinal rounds. Twenty-eight years is a long time to wait for a Stanley Cup.
Robert F. Schaffer, Philadelphila
It is time for Clarke to GO! He has made way too many mistakes, and the players are a bunch of overpaid crybabies.
Frances Ferlaino, Philadelphia
This hockey team is a disgrace from the very top down to the bottom. Its plainly obvious Mr. Snider doesn't give a damn about winning, because if he did, Bobby Clarke would be GONE.
How many different coaches can one team go through with the same cast of characters on the ice who never get the job done? This team is filled with a crew of gutless whining babies.
Eric Cholminski, Philadelphia
I am completely perplexed over the firing of Bill Barber. He was a great player, and now he is a great coach. He didn't lose in the playoffs - the players did. If anyone should have been fired it should have been Bobby Clarke.
Donna Elenbark, Philadelphia
Well, it is now painfully obvious that players running sports teams is the way it's gonna be.
The way Barber got shown the door is the new style that can be expected from a poor Flyers organization, full of players who have more excuses for bad play than the Mideast has flying bullets.
John B. Monahan, Philadelphia
Mr. Snider: You are making it very difficult to continue supporting the Flyers. Open your eyes, make Clarke accountable!
Mark Pucker, Philadelphia
I am not a traitor - this team and organization turned on me.
When they built that new arena, they turned their backs on the "lower-class" fans who don't wear suits to games and arrive halfway through the first period.
Watch the next Red Wings game in Detroit. The fans are nuts. Everyone is screaming - and you can't see an empty seat when the first puck is dropped. Not so at the FU Center.
The noise at a Flyers game is nothing compared to the Sixers noise because the Sixers care about their fans. The Flyers care about their fans' money.
Matt Sprang, Sicklerville, N.J.
Once again, the Flyers do an embarrassing first-round flame-out, scoring all of two goals in five games. Once again, another head coach is sacrificed because the players failed to win, then bitched like children about him.
And once again, Bobby Clarke, the architect who assembled this gang of idiots that couldn't shoot straight, has gotten off scot-free.
Clarke, still living in the '70s, still reluctant to import swift, talented Europeans (Yo, Bob! In case you haven't heard, the Cold War's over!) will continue to drag this once-proud franchise down until Snider finally buys a clue and sends Clarke packing.
Jeffrey C. Branch, Philadelphia
In defense of Bob Clarke
I appreciate the intelligent analyses of the complex Flyers situation by Rich Hofmann and Les Bowen, as opposed to the shots taken by Sam Donnellon in his lynch-Bob Clarke campaign.
Clarke is one of the top GMs in the NHL. I don't recall Donnellon criticizing Clarke at the time of the LeClair signing, or when Roenick cited that signing as an indication the Flyers were committed to winning, and as one of the reasons Roenick elected to sign here rather than elsewhere.
I wonder what Donnellon would have said about Clarke had the Flyers not signed LeClair. Did he criticize Clarke for his coup in signing Dopita? Did he criticize Clarke for signing Cechmanek the year before?
How clever that the Daily News fires a broadside at Clarke, demanding he be fired, then follows it up with a readers poll that - surprise - agrees with the one-sided pap the readers have been fed!
Had the Daily News given a fair presentation of the pros and cons of firing Clarke before taking its poll, the poll might have had some merit.
Gil Stein, Villanova
