Flyers Deny Reports of Trouble in Locker Room
(from the Philadelphia Daily News)
By Frank Seravalli
Philadelphia Daily News
April 6, 2010 - TORONTO - Ian Laperriere knows tension.
Being one of the most affable players on the Flyers' roster, Laperriere is pretty good at diffusing it.
Since he first broke into the league in 1994, Laperriere has been through 15 offseasons, 15 training camps and 15 trade deadlines. It's a safe bet to say he has seen his fair share of locker-room turnover, locker-room turmoil and locker-room tension.
Being a newcomer this year, Laperriere, 35, was thrown into a circle of admitted tight-knit friends in the Flyers' locker room, with a core of players 10 years his junior.
Laperriere has heard the rumors and reports that have been out there all season, saying the Flyers' locker room is split between players closer in age to him and alternate captain Chris Pronger and a faction closer to captain Mike Richards.
The first shots about the Flyers' off-ice issues were fired last summer by general manager Paul Holmgren, who went on-the-record about his concerns with his team's lifestyle choices. They have evolved from there.
So far, no Flyer has confirmed any report of locker-room dissension.
Laperriere was asked to address those reports again yesterday, after New York Post columnist Larry Brooks on Sunday anonymously quoted two NHL general managers who said Pronger is the root of the Flyers' on-ice trouble.
Brooks said Pronger is "known for splitting locker rooms as well as heads."
But Laperriere isn't buying it.
"I've heard that all year, that we have tension in the room," Laperriere said. "I haven't seen any and I think I'm pretty involved with everyone. It's a good mix of old guys and young guys. When you don't produce on the ice, people look for something.
"People have concluded that it must be in the locker room, which it's not. I don't know where people get that from."
With just three games remaining, it's a little late to be addressing these "problems" - especially with the team hanging on for its playoff life.
When Peter Laviolette was hired on Dec. 4, he said he would root out any chemistry issues. Laviolette said yesterday he hasn't found any. Truth be told, if the Flyers were in first place in the Atlantic Division, there wouldn't be any "problems" to write about.
"Since I've been here, the players seem to be dialed in as a team," Laviolette said. "I think when you bring new players together, [chemistry] is something that you constantly look at. You don't necessarily get team chemistry overnight.
"Sometimes people just take a dart and throw it down the hall and see if it hits a balloon."
Laviolette said he "didn't agree" with Brooks' underexplained and well-timed report, with the Flyers and Rangers set to clash twice this weekend with the final Eastern Conference playoff berths on the line.
"I don't know where [those GMs] sit in the standings or if they are playoff teams or not," Laviolette said. "If they're not, they should probably look at their own teams."
Sunday wasn't the first time Brooks attacked Pronger in print. In a May 19, 2002, Post story, Brooks wrote that Pronger was "neither a leader nor a winner." Pronger went on to lead Edmonton to the Stanley Cup finals in 2006 and Anaheim to a 2007 Stanley Cup title.
Only time will tell which side is closer to the truth.
For now, Laviolette and Laperriere are looking at the Flyers' matchup tonight at the Air Canada Centre against a Maple Leafs team that is 9-3-2 in its last 14 games. Like the Islanders last week, the last-place Leafs would love nothing more than to play spoiler.
Facing the Rangers tomorrow night, too, the Leafs will have a lot to say about the Eastern Conference's final seedings.
"If we don't take games seriously, we've got a serious mental problem right now," Laperriere said. "We're not out of the woods. It doesn't matter who we play right now. Toronto is not where they want to be [in the standings], but they're playing like they're the best team in the league right now."
seravaf@phillynews.com