Ron Hextall

Reminded that the Flyers have established the practice of passing out automobiles for first NHL goals, Kerry Huffman thought he would put in an order. "I'm sure there will be a ceremony Thursday night and I'll get one just like Hexy's (Ron Hextall)," said the rookie defenseman, laughing. In last night's 4-3 win over the Jets, Huffman landed No. 1 in what the Flyers feel will be a long and successful association with the net. At 19, the kid is barely old enough to drive. And for 20 games he looked underage to play in the NHL, too. Huffman, the Flyers' No. 1 pick in 1986, is what Bobby Clarke had in mind when he traded Brad McCrimmon.

"Now, we'll go to Ron Hextall in the studio. " ESPN viewers should be hearing those words as the Stanley Cup final four gets under way Saturday night. Flyers goaltender Ron Hextall has accepted an invitation to be a studio analyst on ESPN2's "NHL 2Night. " Hextall will work with host Bill Pidto and analyst Barry Melrose. Don't expect Hextall to be a snarling critic. But he will be honest, as he's always been dealing with the Philadelphia media. Hextall isn't using the ESPN work as an audition for a TV job after he retires from hockey.

Ron Hextall's status with the Flyers remains muddled. Yesterday was 48 hours from the time the Flyers said they placed the veteran goalie on NHL waivers. Yet when the club called the league office at noon to see if Hextall had been claimed or had cleared waivers, they were informed that Hextall wouldn't clear until noon on Sunday, July 4. "I guess we were all under the wrong assumption on the timing," said assistant general manager Paul Holmgren. Under the league's collective bargaining agreement, the 48-hour waiver rule applies only between Sept.

The team that carried Philadelphia's long-dormant championship hopes wilted in the Florida heat last night and dashed the city's Stanley Cup dreams. Rats! In a disquietingly uninspired effort, the Flyers fell, 4-1, at Miami Arena and the Panthers advanced to the Eastern Conference finals in their first trip ever to the playoffs. The Flyers lost three straight games to the opportunistic Panthers, giving away each victory with critical mistakes. The Panthers' first goal last night came while the Flyers were on a power play and mishandled the puck - again - allowing their shorthanded opponents to score off beleagured goalie Ron Hextall.

Bob Clarke watched the Flyers' sloppy first-period performance in a 4-3 loss to New Jersey Thursday night. And the Flyers' president/general manager heard many fans in the CoreStates Spectrum vehemently place all the blame on goalie Ron Hextall. Clarke advises everyone to relax. "We won eight in a row and everybody got real excited, like we were a Stanley Cup-champion team or something," he said yesterday before the Flyers left for today's game in Pittsburgh. "We kept saying let's not overreact to that, and we're not going to overreact to this.

Dominic Roussel dropped one notch on the Flyers' depth chart last season when Ron Hextall came aboard. Now heralded prospect Garth Snow is part of the goaltending mix, leaving the Flyers with hard decisions. Roussel isn't making the choice easy for the team. He had a solid, if unspectacular, performance in Philadelphia's 3-2 victory over the Detroit Red Wings at Joe Louis Arena to open the preseason last night. The Flyers rallied from a 2-0 deficit on goals by Yanick Dupre, Todd Nelson and Russ Romaniuk for the victory, which came with Eric Lindros and the Legion of Doom back home.

The focus was on the Dale Hunter-Pierre Turgeon matchup, but goaltender Ron Hextall grabbed the spotlight by game's end. Hextall stopped 26 shots for his second consecutive shutout as the New York Islanders ended the visiting Washington Capitals' seven-game unbeaten streak with a 4-0 victory yesterday. Turgeon picked up a goal and an assist in his first game against Hunter, who knocked Turgeon out of the playoffs last spring with a blindside hit on April 28. Turgeon downplayed the first clash with Hunter, facing off against him 2:37 into the game.

Former Flyers goalie Ron Hextall still might have a chance to play hockey next season, but he will be starting from scratch when it comes to a new contract. Hextall, who was placed on waivers by the Flyers last week, went unclaimed over the weekend. According to team president and general manager Bob Clarke, the team will buy out the last year of Hextall's existing contract. "He cleared waivers and he's been removed from our reserve list," Clarke said yesterday. "Now we buy out the last year of his contract.

After the Flyers' stirring victories last week in the Stanley Cup finals, they definitely can't be counted out as they take the ice for the championship tonight in Edmonton, Alberta, against the favored Oilers. What the Flyers did in winning games five and six can best be described as a gutty performance, but the truth is that it was characteristic of their solid play all season. Nevertheless, the Flyers entered the playoff rounds under the gun. It's a young team with a rookie goaltender, Ron Hextall, and three key starters - Dave Poulin, Tim Kerr and Ron Sutter - were injured.

One day after they traded Ron Hextall and four other players to the Quebec Nordiques, the Flyers picked up a young but experienced goaltender they hope will compete with Dominic Roussel for the No. 1 job next season. The Flyers signed Tommy Soderstrom, 22, a native of Stockholm, to a contract yesterday. Terms were not announced. Soderstrom was drafted by the Flyers in the 11th round of the 1990 entry draft and is highly regarded by general manager Russ Farwell. Soderstrom played for Team Sweden in last year's Canada Cup and again in the Winter Olympics in February.