Ron Hextall

The best team in the NHL showed up at the CoreStates Center last night and was thoroughly outclassed at both ends of the ice by a Flyers club minus Eric Lindros. In what was easily their strongest and most dominant performance of the season, the Flyers shocked the Colorado Avalanche, 2-0. They shut out the second-highest-scoring club with goalie Ron Hextall in the nets. This was a glimpse of playoff hockey. "A wonderful job," coach Terry Murray said. "The defensive effort was there.

The Flyers paid a final visit to the aging Great Western Forum last night, and instead of coming away with an impressive victory, they blew a two-goal lead and fell to the Los Angeles Kings, 4-3, on a long goal by Jozef Stumpel with three-tenths of a second to play. The Flyers had strong goaltending from Ron Hextall until the final minutes, when he gave up a soft goal that tied the score at 3-3 and a 55-footer from Stumpel to win it. The winning shot beat Hextall, who was far out of the net, after Stumpel took a pass in the neutral zone and unloaded a shot that was similar to several that Hextall was beaten on in the Stanley Cup finals two years ago against Detroit.

Ron Hextall still isn't quite sure what to make of the 1989-90 season. All he knows is that it was horrible. Once the best goaltender in the NHL and a favorite of both Flyers management and fans, Hextall encountered problems in just about every facet of his game. And his troublesome season has left even the team president displeased. In a recent interview, Jay Snider gave a blunt, surprising assessment of Hextall's impact on the Flyers' wretched 1989-90 season. "Hextall created quite a stir with his antics, which may have hurt the team more than it helped the team," Snider said.

As the Flyers' veterans and rookies conducted their first combined workouts yesterday, the standoff between the team and its holdout goaltender, Ron Hextall, did not improve. General manager Bob Clarke made his first public statement on Hextall's contention that his contract was invalid, and Clarke offered little room for negotiation. Clarke said he had not spoken with Hextall's agent, Rich Winter of Edmonton. He also said he had no plans to do so, and, when questioners persisted, he added, "Why don't we get off this subject?"

The Flyers have reached a minor league affiliation agreement for next season with the Kalamazoo Wings, of the East Coast Hockey League. The K-Wings will join the relocated Adirondack Phantoms as Flyers' minor league affiliates. The San Jose Sharks also will be an affiliate of the Wings. "We are pleased to have the Kalamazoo Wings as our ECHL affiliate and look forward to a strong working relationship with them," Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren said in a statement announcing the agreement.

The Flyers announced yesterday that they have named Dave Brown as director of player personnel. The former Flyers winger replaces Ron Hextall, who became the assistant general manager of the Los Angeles Kings. "We have always liked Dave and felt that he was a Flyer," general manager Bob Clarke said. ". . . Dave's main job will still be pro scouting, but he will have other responsibilities as well. " Brown, 43, was the New York Rangers' head professional scout for the last three seasons.

Flyers president Jay Snider said last night he had wanted to have a general manager in place for the predraft meetings of the team's scouting department this week, but won't be able to complete the hiring process that quickly. "I expect to have an announcement before the (June 16) draft," Snider said. "In about a week to 10 days. " Snider agreed it would have been nice to have the new general manager present as he and the scouts decide whom the Flyers want to take with the fourth overall pick, their highest drafting position since they took Ron Sutter, also with the fourth pick, in 1982.

Despite two goals by Kimbi Daniels, the Flyers lost their second straight preseason game to the Boston Bruins last night, dropping a 5-4 decision at Knickerbocker Arena. Goals by Rick Tocchet and Pat Murray gave the Flyers a 2-1 lead midway through the second period. But the Bruins scored four unanswered goals - two by Rob Cimetta - in a 5-minute, 6-second stretch of the period to go up, 5-2. Three of the goals were scored against Dominic Roussel, who replaced Ron Hextall at 11:01 of the period.

LOS ANGELES - When the Flyers' group of carefully selected alumni walk out of the Phillies clubhouse and onto the ice at Citizens Bank Park on New Year's Eve to take on the New York Rangers' alumni, they will do so with a goaltender who only a few hardcore fans remember. Mark "Trees" Laforest, who played 38 unremarkable games in Philadelphia from 1987-89 with an 87 percent save percentage, will man the crease for the Flyers. In fact, it's a rather fitting fate for a franchise that has featured a lot of unremarkable names in net over its 44-year history.

Mike Keenan would love to have Ron Hextall in goal. He probably wouldn't mind having Ken Wregget. But Keenan's goalies with the Chicago Blackhawks are Jacques Cloutier and Alain Chevrier. There are times when this is a sore point with Keenan. Every TV station in the Chicago market ran the tape of Keenan's glower the other day, minutes after a 6-3 loss to Boston. A Blackhawks beat writer asked Keenan if Chevrier, who has played in 38 games to Cloutier's 34, could take Chicago to the Stanley Cup finals.