Thanks, Keith

A non-political post coming up…

You would be hard pressed to find an individual who was angrier than I was when the Philadelphia Flyers traded Rod Brind’Amour to the Carolina Hurricanes five years ago. I could not believe that even Bob Clarke would trade one of the great heart-and-soul players in the storied sports history in this area (including Clarke way up on that list in his day) for some overrated, narcissistic athlete who had done nothing but hold out for more money from his two previous employers (Carolina, which necessitated the trade) and the Detroit Red Wings.

This has to be it, I thought. Even Ed Snider has to realize that Clarke needs to find another line of work.

Well, Clarke is still in his present job, having done some things well while screwing up countless others (including, most recently, the trade of Michal Handzus to the Chicago Blackhawks, which I believe will be the repeat of the Brind’Amour scenario – I hereby predict that, in five years, Chicago will win the Stanley Cup with Handzus as captain…we’ll see).

But back to the overhyped forward for a minute, OK?

His only distinction in his early tenure with the team was the fact that he was instrumental in getting former coach (and another Flyer legend) Bill Barber fired, and I thought that even if he was right and Barber really wasn’t that good of a coach, he had a hell of a lot of nerve to act the way he did.

But after that episode, I think Keith Primeau got the message, because he totally changed his approach to the game, and it showed in his play. He worked harder than just about anyone, did anything he was told to do by Ken Hitchcock (who replaced Barber), and helped the younger players on the team, particularly the forwards. Also, he became a defensive specialist, trying to neutralize the top players of other teams. Doing well in a role like that is proof positive that you care about the team first and aren’t preoccupied with your own statistics. Basically, he carried the responsibility of team captain as completely as anyone could have asked, and his performance against Tampa Bay in the 2004 playoffs was truly inspirational in a losing-in-seven-game cause (Tampa Bay would win the Stanley Cup, with Barber having joined the organization after leaving the Flyers).

But the head injuries caught up with him in a sport that doesn’t properly value the safety of its own athletes (against Toronto, against Tampa Bay in all likelihood in the playoff series in which he excelled – imagine what it must have taken to accomplish that – and finally against Montreal a year ago from an elbow by Alexander Perezhogin). He has never been able to recover completely from his concussion history, and he is expected to retire in a day or so.

I wish him luck and I want to say thanks for his contribution to the team. Don’t even think about trying to return any more – as much as the Flyers could use you when healthy, I think it’s plain by now that we won’t see that day, and concentrate on the rest of your life with your family instead.

Now if only Eric Lindros would get the message…