Bobby Clarke

Eric Lindros, Bobby Clarke and today's Flyers I say the "C" should be stripped from someone in the Flyers organization all right:the "C" being Bobby Clarke! He has mismanaged at every turn situations involving Eric Lindros ("Outspokenness costs Lindros his captain's 'C'," March 28). Lindros has sacrificed practically everything, including his health and more than likely what's left of his sanity, for an organization that seems to delight in disregarding and humiliating him. All he has left to give it is his very soul, and it now appears that they want even that.

IN THE MIDDLE of today's paper is a special page commemorating the Flyers' 1,000th regular-season home win. Since the Flyers were born in 1967-68, only Montreal and Boston have won more at home. It is a franchise accomplishment created by individual feats. One of Mike Emrick's favorites occurred nearly 30 years ago. Before Emrick became the voice of the NHL, he was a Flyers' announcer for a couple of seasons in the early 1980s. He recalled quickly (and with impressive detail)

With about 400 fans cheering loudly, the Flyers unveiled a statue of Bobby Clarke and Bernie Parent hoisting the Stanley Cup during a ceremony Saturday morning outside Xfinity Live. The seven-foot bronze statue commemorates the Flyers' championship teams in 1974 and 1975, and it sits outside the pub Broad Street Bullies, the nickname of those teams. Clarke, Parent, and club officials spoke at the ceremony, which was attended by former Flyers Reggie Leach, Bill Barber, Joe Watson, Don Saleski, Orest Kindrachuk, and Bob Kelly.

Rich Sutter goes to Vancouver with his heart split open, but his mouth shut. Maybe his silence is a reflection of how much he has grown up in his three years with the Flyers. Or maybe he is afraid to create any lingering trouble for the twin brother he is leaving behind. Whichever his thoughts, Sutter would acknowledge his deep disappointment, but would criticize nobody for the deal that made him a Vancouver Canuck on Friday night. "I was totally shocked," he said over the weekend from his in-laws' home in Edmonton.

NICK COUSINS laughed. Surely, the Flyers' third-round pick in 2011 thought his new coach was joking when Sheldon Keefe challenged him in December to lead the OHL in scoring this season. It was Keefe's first day on the job as coach of the OHL's Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, brought in to replace Mike Stapleton midway through the season. His first objective was to meet with Cousins, a player he inherited with plenty of potential but a poor reputation. "He was a guy I'd heard a lot about, from a lot of different people," Keefe said.

Mike Keenan, disposed coach, does not share Bobby Clarke's view that coaches are ultimately disposable. Despite the fact that Keenan had gotten his team to the finals twice in four seasons and won three Patrick Division championships, the Flyers fired him Wednesday because it was general manager Bobby Clarke's perception that the players had stopped responding to the coach. Keenan's theory is quite the opposite. The last three teams that put together runs of Stanley Cups did so because their coach was given time.

Hockey got a double dose of John LeClair yesterday. The Flyers' left wing was in the starting lineup for the first time in more than three months, and USA Hockey named him to the 2002 Olympic team. "I'm incredibly excited," LeClair said. "I really enjoyed it the last time [in Nagano, Japan]. That was something to look forward to and now, with the U.S. hosting it, it's going to be great. " LeClair said the U.S. team feels it has to make up for the poor showing in 1998, especially after expectations were high when the United States won the World Cup preceding the Olympics.

Mike Comrie says there is a sense of relief knowing he is finally under contract for the season. The Flyers signed the 23-year-old former Edmonton Oiler to a one-year deal Friday just hours before the NHL holiday roster freeze. His rights had been acquired Tuesday in exchange for Flyers defensive prospect Jeff Woywitka and two draft picks. "I'm real excited that Bobby Clarke traded for my rights and then got this deal done," Comrie said yesterday morning from his home in Edmonton.

Bob Dailey says he didn't sweat off 30 pounds and ride American Hockey League buses for a week only to abort his comeback after just five games. "I didn't put in 10 weeks with Pat Croce just to say 'see you later,' " Dailey said. But there are considerations that have put his possible return from a four- year retirement on hold. One is torn rib cartilage. Dailey was sore enough to be excluded from the Hershey Bears lineup for their two games this weekend. There are also, apparently, some complications over insurance.

Al Secord, the veteran left wing acquired from Toronto in February, will not be returning to the Flyers this season. General manager Bobby Clarke said the 31-year-old free agent turned down a contract offer because Clarke could not promise that Secord would be included on the Flyers' 18-man protected list for the October waiver draft. Secord, used mostly on coach Paul Holmgren's fourth line, contributed enough to the Flyers' two rounds of playoff victories to perhaps attract other interest.