Face It: Fighting Helps the Flyers
(from the Philadelphia Inquirer)
By Sam Carchidi
Inquirer Staff Writer
January 31, 2010 - Based on e-mails, some fans took offense to this sentence that appeared in my game story in last Sunday's Inquirer: "For the second time in the last three games, Ian Laperriere energized the Flyers with a fight as he helped them outlast the lowly Carolina Hurricanes..."
My message to the e-mailers, with all due respect, is to take the advice offered by the late, great Fred Shero many moons ago: "If it's pretty skating they want to see, let them go to the Ice Capades."
When Laperriere got into a scuffle with Carolina's Tom Kostopoulos, it was simply because he wanted to wake up his listless team. It worked. The Flyers scored two goals in the next 2 minutes, 30 seconds to pull away from a 1-1 tie en route to a 4-2 win.
Some purists thought it was a primitive move and were offended that Laperriere admitted he started the fight because he felt the team was playing "soft" and needed a jolt.
The same purists overlooked the fact that it was within the rules. And if you think the NHL doesn't like fighting, you haven't been paying attention.
Fighting sells. It's why the league doesn't outlaw it and one of the reasons the Flyers' national TV ratings are always high. And don't kid yourself. It also played a role in their being selected to play in the Winter Classic at Fenway Park earlier this month.
Those who deplore the rough stuff point out that the Flyers haven't won a Stanley Cup since 1975, and those same folks believe the long drought is because management has been too concerned about having brawlers, lots of brawlers, on their roster. (It says here they haven't won a Cup because they rarely have had a shutdown goalie, but that's a story for another day.)
But there's a difference between goons and those who fight but also contribute in other ways.
This year's team has three regulars who fit the latter description: wingers Laperriere, Dan Carcillo, and Arron Asham. All three also have some skill and, to their credit, have contributed mightily and given the Flyers a gritty identity.
Consider:
Carcillo has a history of being out of control, but he has been much more disciplined this season. He led the league with 254 penalty minutes last year, but is on pace for 208 minutes this season. In addition, he and Darroll Powe usually lead the team in hits per game, and Carcillo supplies as much energy as any of his teammates. One more thing: He is plus-6, which, entering yesterday, was tied with James van Riemsdyk and Blair Betts as the highest plus-minus rating among Flyers forwards.
Asham, like Carcillo, likes to mix things up with his fists. But there's more to his game than fighting. Much more. Entering yesterday, Asham had 10 points in his last 12 games, and he has had a steadying influence on his young linemates, Claude Giroux, 22, and van Riemsdyk, 20. Asham, called the line's "sandpaper" by coach Peter Laviolette, helps give the flashy-skating Giroux more room because of his protective nature.
If you took a vote in the locker room, the comical, self-deprecating Laperriere - he of the crooked nose and quick one-liners - would be named the team's most popular player. He'll fight anyone to ignite a spark; he'll recklessly throw his body to the ice to thwart an opponent's power-play pass; he'll block a shot with his face - as he did earlier this season, losing seven teeth, breaking a bone above his lip, requiring nearly 100 stitches in the first period and returning to play the third period. ("My modeling career is on hold," he cracked.)
"Lappy," defenseman Chris Pronger said the other night, "is the consummate teammate."
Laperriere, 36, who is among the NHL leaders with 16 fights, Carcillo, and Asham usually take an opponent to the penalty box with them, a fact that usually gets lost among their detractors.
Those folks who claim the Flyers and team chairman Ed Snider are still living in the 1970s - when the Broad Street Bullies captivated the city and won consecutive Stanley Cups - have had some valid points in the past. But with this year's team, they are misguided.
Players like Laperriere, Carcillo, and Asham, though far from stars, are key ingredients who help give the Flyers a blue-collar personality.
Now it's up to the marquee players to blend with the hard-nosed trio and show that a versatile mix can challenge for the Stanley Cup.