The Official Account of Sam Donnellon, writer/author and former sports columnist with the @PhillyDailyNews @PhillyInquirer & @PhillyDotCom
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Articles by Sam Donnellon
The Jerks: Ben Simmons, Aaron Rodgers, Phil Mickelson, Novak Djokovic race to the bottom | Marcus Hayes
We find ourselves in an unprecedented vortex of athletes acting as irredeemable idiots. These fellas aren’t exactly evil; just selfish, self-centered, and generally more odious than their peers, and acting in ways that are unprecedented in the annals of athletics. It’s like they’re in a race for decency and competing for last place. Consider this Mount Rushmore of narcissism. Is Ben Simmons, mental-health fraud, the biggest jerk in sports?
A.J. Mleczko, NHL broadcasting pioneer, leaves chauvinists little to complain about
So, you don't like hearing a woman broadcasting your major sporting events? Well, dude, you must have had a particularly bad weekend, because a woman was involved in almost every major sport televised over several major channels. That's nothing new at the Kentucky Derby, and the voice of Doris Burke has become increasingly familiar to fans of the NBA, opening a portal that people such as Kara Lawson have since passed through.
Flyers prospects Isaac Ratcliffe and Morgan Frost have grown as leaders | Sam Donnellon
A lot can slip between the Cup and the lip. That could be the video title for a number of seasons that separate now from 1975, the last time the Philadelphia Flyers won a Stanley Cup. In between, we have been treated and teased by teams that should have won one or two, teams that had no business coming as close as they did, and a maddening number of muddling ones, like the current crew, that suffer an in-season meltdown — or two or three — resulting in end-of-the-season regret and recalculation.
Blooming late, Briere’s son soaks it all in at Flyers camp | Sam Donnellon
There was a time in Carson Briere’s life when hockey did not mean fun. Just the opposite. He would have one of those special days that sons of famous people cherish, doing something, anything with his hockey-playing father during one of those rare moments he could spare from practicing or plying his craft. Or he would be there to watch and wait, wait for the end of a practice or a game so Danny Briere could be dad again.
Finally healthy, Flyers’ Felix Sandstrom eyes a breakthrough year | Sam Donnellon
They poured into the dressing room Tuesday morning, more with smooth faces than stubbly ones. What jumps out annually on the first day of Flyers Development Camp each June is not any flashy skating or surprise mastery of the endless stickhandling drills that takes place. No, what jumps out is how young many of them look, as if their moms or dads will be waiting for them in the lobby or in their cars when it’s all done. And then there are the veterans of these things.
For Flyers GM Chuck Fletcher, the NHL draft was about reinforcements | Sam Donnellon
Patience may be a virtue. But when your professional ice hockey team hasn’t won a championship in 44 years, impatience is your cold reality. And so it was among Flyers fans as the draft unfolded this weekend and they watched players they knew little or nothing about just a few weeks before — but had fallen in love with via pre-draft hype since — bypassed in favor of a U.S.-born defenseman who had been listed as high as five and as low as 20 amid various pre-draft rankings.
Flyers’ GM Chuck Fletcher’s first pick in NHL draft continues trend of unpredictability | Sam Donnellon
The Flyers had a nice dilemma when their pick came up at No. 11 on Friday night. Too many of the guys they were projected to like were still available. Matthew Boldy was still there. Cole Caufield was still there. Peyton Krebs was still there. Alex Newhook was still there. Cam York, an offensive defenseman from Anaheim Hills, Calif., was still there. So they traded the pick. For the 45th and the 14th picks, which after the unusual first 10 selections, was probably going to be their 11th pick anyway.
Flyers GM Chuck Fletcher vowed to be aggressive, and he has been | Sam Donnellon
Shortly after being hired as the Flyers’ general manager, Chuck Fletcher promised to be aggressive this offseason. Many Flyers fans, having tired of Ron Hextall’s patient approach -- and of watching a mistake-prone defense, the struggles of several young forwards, and a perennial goalie carousel --applauded this approach. Fletcher has been true to his word.
NHL mock draft 2019: Alex Newhook might be Flyers pick at No. 11 | Sam Donnellon
The NHL draft will be held Friday (first round) and Saturday (rounds 2-7) in Vancouver. Who will the Flyers take at No. 11? Here is Sam Donnellon’s mock draft. Jack Hughes (5-foot-10, 168), C, U.S. National Development Program A sharp skater with a high hockey IQ, the natural centerman plays at a high pace and has been projected at the top of this list for two years.
For Flyers GM Chuck Fletcher and his assistant Brent Flahr, opposites attract
As the plane emerged from the clouds, Brent Flahr, then a young man from beautiful Vancouver Island, looked below at what appeared to be a lunar landscape. He had been told that Princeton University would be a beautiful place for him to continue his hockey career, but this scene, of the factories and refineries that surround Newark Airport, was something out of a Bruce Springsteen song.
Finally healthy, Samuel Morin looks to make an impact with Flyers
If Scott Gordon said it once while Flyers coach, he said it a dozen times. Wayne Simmonds made "everybody play braver’’ when he wore the Flyers sweater. And when he left via a deadline trade, some of that intimidation factor went with him. "The energy he brings, whether it’s a hit or a fight or whatever it might be, his enthusiasm on the bench,’’ Gordon said after Simmonds’ final Flyers game, a 4-3 overtime victory over the Penguins at Lincoln Financial Field. "He provides us with a lot.
Flyers defensive prospect Phil Myers is developing quickly
In his news conference after being fired last December as the Flyers’ general manager, Ron Hextall proclaimed no bitterness. He would still root for the team he assembled, he said. He would still hope that what he and scouting director Chris Pryor had started would blossom into the elite team he envisioned when he embarked on what turned out to be an aborted plan.
Flyers trade prize Matt Niskanen’s true worth may come in the locker room, not on the ice
At one time, Paul Holmgren was a celebrated executive in these parts. This was in 2010, after he first traded for 34-year-old defenseman Chris Pronger, then signed him to a seven-year deal – moves that triggered a team previously dubbed fragile to the brink of its third Stanley Cup, derailed only by an impossible angled shot that found its way past a goaltender, Michael Leighton, who had spent much of his career and a chunk of that season playing minor-league hockey.
Joel Farabee, nation’s top college rookie, hopes to muscle into Flyers’ plans
When we last saw Joel Farabee up close at the Flyers’ 2018 development camp, you had to look, well, up close. Then 18 years old, Farabee could disappear out there on the ice, and not just because of the skills that compelled the Flyers to draft him 14th overall in the 2018 amateur draft. At 6-1, 160, he raised eyebrows even before he put his skates on. At the NHL combine two springs ago, he was measured at 4 percent body fat. He could, almost, hide behind a goal post.
Emerging skills of Flyers prospect Isaac Ratcliffe include leadership
When the Guelph Storm fought back from a 3-0 deficit to beat the London Knights in the Ontario Hockey League playoffs in April, Isaac Ratcliffe drew on his training. When they fought back from a 3-1 hole against the Saginaw Spirit, the Storm’s team captain again remembered the lessons learned the previous two summers at the Flyers’ development camp — particularly when former Navy Seals took over for one day. ``I shouldn’t say that, though,’’ Ratcliffe said over the phone this week.
More mature, Flyers prospect Morgan Frost ready for that next step, wherever he lands
It was late last October, and Morgan Frost’s Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds were making an early statement. Or so they thought. Down three goals after one period to Isaac Ratcliffe’s upstart Guelph Storm, the Hounds howled back, scoring once in the second and twice in the third to send the game to overtime. Frost’s goal started the comeback, after Ratcliffe had given his team an early lead.
Flyers GM Chuck Fletcher heads into NHL draft and free agency with something to prove
There is this convenient Flyers narrative that goes something like this: If Ron Hextall were still the general manager of the Flyers, Dave Hakstol would still be their coach and Carter Hart would have spent the season in Allentown. And now, a few drops of reality. Hextall’s plan all along was to promote Hart by January, and if his short-term goaltending plans weren’t so long in hope and short in sight, that would have worked out just fine.
Sam Donnellon: As technology pervades in sports, angst toward officiating grows
The New Orleans Saints should have met the Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl. If not for some awful officiating, the Vegas Knights might be playing the Boston Bruins for the right to hoist the Stanley Cup.
Sam Donnellon: As technology pervades in sports, angst toward officiating grows
The New Orleans Saints should have met the Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl. If not for some awful officiating, the Vegas Knights might be playing the Boston Bruins for the right to hoist the Stanley Cup.
Sam Donnellon: As technology pervades in sports, angst toward officiating grows
The New Orleans Saints should have met the Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl. If not for some awful officiating, the Vegas Knights might be playing the Boston Bruins for the right to hoist the Stanley Cup.
Sam Donnellon: As technology pervades in sports, angst toward officiating grows
The New Orleans Saints should have met the Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl. If not for some awful officiating, the Vegas Knights might be playing the Boston Bruins for the right to hoist the Stanley Cup.
Sam Donnellon: As technology pervades in sports, angst toward officiating grows
The New Orleans Saints should have met the Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl. If not for some awful officiating, the Vegas Knights might be playing the Boston Bruins for the right to hoist the Stanley Cup.
Sam Donnellon: As technology pervades in sports, angst toward officiating grows
The New Orleans Saints should have met the Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl. If not for some awful officiating, the Vegas Knights might be playing the Boston Bruins for the right to hoist the Stanley Cup.
Sam Donnellon: As technology pervades in sports, angst toward officiating grows
The New Orleans Saints should have met the Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl. If not for some awful officiating, the Vegas Knights might be playing the Boston Bruins for the right to hoist the Stanley Cup.
Sam Donnellon: As technology pervades in sports, angst toward officiating grows
The New Orleans Saints should have met the Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl. If not for some awful officiating, the Vegas Knights might be playing the Boston Bruins for the right to hoist the Stanley Cup.
Sam Donnellon: As technology pervades in sports, angst toward officiating grows
The New Orleans Saints should have met the Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl. If not for some awful officiating, the Vegas Knights might be playing the Boston Bruins for the right to hoist the Stanley Cup.
Sam Donnellon: As technology pervades in sports, angst toward officiating grows
The New Orleans Saints should have met the Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl. If not for some awful officiating, the Vegas Knights might be playing the Boston Bruins for the right to hoist the Stanley Cup.
Sam Donnellon: As technology pervades in sports, angst toward officiating grows
The New Orleans Saints should have met the Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl. If not for some awful officiating, the Vegas Knights might be playing the Boston Bruins for the right to hoist the Stanley Cup.
Sam Donnellon: As technology pervades in sports, angst toward officiating grows
The New Orleans Saints should have met the Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl. If not for some awful officiating, the Vegas Knights might be playing the Boston Bruins for the right to hoist the Stanley Cup.
Sam Donnellon: As technology pervades in sports, angst toward officiating grows
The New Orleans Saints should have met the Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl. If not for some awful officiating, the Vegas Knights might be playing the Boston Bruins for the right to hoist the Stanley Cup.
Sam Donnellon: As technology pervades in sports, angst toward officiating grows
The New Orleans Saints should have met the Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl. If not for some awful officiating, the Vegas Knights might be playing the Boston Bruins for the right to hoist the Stanley Cup.
Sam Donnellon: As technology pervades in sports, angst toward officiating grows
The New Orleans Saints should have met the Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl. If not for some awful officiating, the Vegas Knights might be playing the Boston Bruins for the right to hoist the Stanley Cup.
Sam Donnellon: As technology pervades in sports, angst toward officiating grows
The New Orleans Saints should have met the Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl. If not for some awful officiating, the Vegas Knights might be playing the Boston Bruins for the right to hoist the Stanley Cup.
Sam Donnellon: As technology pervades in sports, angst toward officiating grows
The New Orleans Saints should have met the Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl. If not for some awful officiating, the Vegas Knights might be playing the Boston Bruins for the right to hoist the Stanley Cup.
Sam Donnellon: As technology pervades in sports, angst toward officiating grows
The New Orleans Saints should have met the Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl. If not for some awful officiating, the Vegas Knights might be playing the Boston Bruins for the right to hoist the Stanley Cup.
Sam Donnellon: As technology pervades in sports, angst toward officiating grows
The New Orleans Saints should have met the Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl. If not for some awful officiating, the Vegas Knights might be playing the Boston Bruins for the right to hoist the Stanley Cup.
As technology pervades in sports, angst toward officiating grows | Sam Donnellon
The New Orleans Saints should have met the Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl. If not for some awful officiating, the Las Vegas Knights might be playing the Boston Bruins for the right to hoist the Stanley Cup.
Sam Donnellon: For Flyers GM Chuck Fletcher, a philosophical shift
PHILADELPHIA — As you watch Chuck Fletcher in his second go-around as an NHL general manager, a natural thought is this: What would Ron Hextall do differently if given a second chance to construct and oversee a team? Because there’s been a philosophical shift for Fletcher from Minnesota to here. First in hiring Alain Vigneault as his head coach, and this week, adding not one but two former head coaches — Michel Therrien and Mike Yeo — to Vigneault’s staff.
Sam Donnellon: For Flyers GM Chuck Fletcher, a philosophical shift
PHILADELPHIA — As you watch Chuck Fletcher in his second go-around as an NHL general manager, a natural thought is this: What would Ron Hextall do differently if given a second chance to construct and oversee a team? Because there’s been a philosophical shift for Fletcher from Minnesota to here. First in hiring Alain Vigneault as his head coach, and this week, adding not one but two former head coaches — Michel Therrien and Mike Yeo — to Vigneault’s staff.
Sam Donnellon: For Flyers GM Chuck Fletcher, a philosophical shift
PHILADELPHIA - As you watch Chuck Fletcher in his second go-around as an NHL general manager, a natural thought is this: What would Ron Hextall do differently if given a second chance to construct and oversee a team? Because there's been a philosophical shift for Fletcher from Minnesota to here. First in hiring Alain Vigneault as his head coach, and this week, adding not one but two former head coaches - Michel Therrien and Mike Yeo - to Vigneault's staff.
For Flyers GM Chuck Fletcher, a philosophical shift | Sam Donnellon
As you watch Chuck Fletcher in his second go-around as an NHL general manager, a natural thought is this: What would Ron Hextall do differently if given a second chance to construct and oversee a team? Because there’s been a philosophical shift there for Fletcher from Minnesota to here, first in hiring Alain Vigneault as his head coach, and this week, adding not one, but two former head coaches — Michel Therrien and Mike Yeo — to Vigneault’s staff.
Former Flyers Rod Brind’Amour, Justin Williams leading Hurricanes through wild playoff run
RALEIGH, N.C. – Justin Williams was on the ice yukking it up with former teammates. Nothing unusual about that in the transient world that now defines professional sports. But factor in that this was a Game 7 of a hotly contested first-round playoff series against the defending Stanley Cup champions, and that just over three minutes remained in regulation time in a tie game -- well, that’s the definition of unusual.
A coach’s son
The basement was Bob Brown's office. His desk, recalls his son, was "an eight-dollar card table." There he would sit night after night and scribble plays, thoughts, whims. Index cards, torn sheets of paper, anything that was handy. "Notes all over the place," Brett Brown recalled. "A knock at the door, all hours of the day, holidays, Christmas. It's the sixth-grade coach. And he needs an out-of-bounds play.
Flyers’ GM Chuck Fletcher makes case that new coach Alain Vigneault can quickly return team to playoff contention
That’s the word on the streets, mostly from Philadelphia fans who barely noticed the little run their hockey team made over the months of January, February and early March, distracted as they were by the Bryce Harper watch and the respective back healths of Joel Embiid and Carson Wentz. "I don’t think we are,’’ Flyers General Manager Chuck Fletcher was saying after introducing Alain Vigneault as the latest coach attempting to solve what has become hockey’s answer to the Rubic’s Cube.
In hiring Alain Vigneault, Flyers GM Chuck Fletcher chooses the road well traveled | Sam Donnellon
From the moment he was hired to finish what Ron Hextall started, Chuck Fletcher has approached the Flyers general manager’s job with hard hat, goggles and protective fencing all around the rebuilding project.
Claude Giroux’s challenge: Getting young Flyers to believe | Sam Donnellon
For Claude Giroux, Groundhog Day occurs each year in April, not February. That’s when he looks up and sees the signs of spring in 16 playoff-bound cities, while he and his Flyers teammates brace for another six months of cold, unforgiving reality. “It’s been disappointing every year,” he was saying earlier this week, as the team he captains again emptied its belongings from the Skate Zone in Voorhees and made plans for yet another longer-than-anticipated summer. “It’s tough.
Despite successful stretch, Scott Gordon’s future with the Flyers is in limbo
Scott Gordon can be comfortable any place you put him. As the coach of the Phantoms. As the head coach of the Flyers. That’s where the Flyers’ interim coach is currently, a point both he and general manager Chuck Fletcher made perfectly clear in back-to-back interviews Monday, as the team began the process of addressing and filling the team’s needs after yet another unfulfilling season. Fletcher and Gordon met for 10 minutes before meeting with the media Monday.
Jake Voracek’s high expectations for Flyers make him frustrated, but he’s not going anywhere | Sam Donnellon
Sometimes you absolutely love Jake. Sometimes you absolutely hate Jake. Sometimes he feels absolutely the same way about you. "I’m the kind of guy who fights with someone and moves on in 10 seconds," Flyers forward Jake Voracek was saying as he met with – and entertained – reporters one last time for this season Sunday afternoon in Voorhees. "I think that’s the way it should be.
Observations from the Flyers’ loss to the blues, and some advice for Chuck Fletcher | Sam Donnellon
The Flyers surrendered five first period goals in a lifeless, embarrassing 7-3 loss to the Blues in St. Louis on Thursday. Here are some observations: Here’s an exercise Chuck Fletcher can do right now that might be informative: Google “Slow starts Flyers Craig Berube.” Then look for “Slow starts Flyers Dave Hakstol.” Finally, check out “Slow starts Flyers Scott Gordon.” There will be plenty of material there.
The Flyers are ending another season with more questions than answers
“It was the worst game that I was part of in 11 years,” Jake Voracek said after the Flyers’ Friday practice of Thursday’s loss to the Blues. Given the disappointments and inconsistencies surrounding this team over his last seven seasons here, that’s saying something. It wasn’t just the 7-3 score that the Flyers were on the wrong end of in St. Louis.
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