The Philadelphia Phantoms, who are also reaping the benefits of GM Paul Holmgren's rebuilding, notched their second straight 6-0 win tonight after beating the defending Calder Cup champion Hamilton Bulldogs. Right now the Phantoms have the second-best record in the AHL and are looking a lot like the team that won the Cup in 2005. For all the compliments Holmgren is getting for retooling the Flyers, he deserves equal credit for stacking the minor teams as well. Bob Clarke was a bit too impatient with the young players and traded away a lot of talent to go for the quick fix, which works if you get the right players. Often, he didn't, and those young players came back to bite us. Now, with Holmgren in charge and with the salary cap issue to deal with, I think Holmgren will decide to stay in-house and call up a good number of these Phantoms to play across the parking lot one day (if you don't get the parking lot reference, the Phantoms play at the Spectrum while the Flyers play at the Wachovia Center, which is - get this - across the parking lot. Nice, huh?).
I should have mentioned this before, but I do want to express my sympathies to the family and teammates of Washington Redskin safety Sean Taylor, who was murdered in his home during a burglary attempt. I don't need to remind you how senseless this is, even if he wasn't a famous athlete. ESPN reported that four people were arrested today in connection to his death, and for his family's sake I hope the got the guys who did this. As an Eagles fan, I usually root against the Skins, but that takes a backseat for this.
And finally, RIP to Evel Knievel, who died today at the age of 69. If he tried this today, the man would be hounded by every parents' group in the country on charges of "giving the kids the crazy ideas" or something:
Flyers vs. Stars tomorrow night @ the Wac. I should be here to recap it.
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