Rock Posted March 11, 2003 Share Posted March 11, 2003 Stakes high in Leafs-Flyers poker game http://waymoresports.thestar.com/NASApp/cs...eafs/MapleLeafs Mar. 11, 2003. 01:00 AM Damien Cox They are two big-market, wealthy franchises who measure the separation from their most recent Stanley Cup titles in decades, not years. But as much as the Philadelphia Flyers and Maple Leafs have their respective eyes on the big prize, they are also closely eyeing each other. Those two clubs have been the most flamboyant buyers of NHL talent heading into today's trade deadline, no coincidence perhaps since they appear to be on a collision course for a playoff meeting in about four weeks. The Flyers haven't won the Cup since 1975, the Leafs since '67. Given those lengthy droughts, the size of their payrolls and the heightened expectations in both towns, a first-round ouster would be disastrous news for both teams. Not surprisingly, then, they seem to have been waging a private game of personnel poker over the past month. First, Philly snagged winger Sami Kapanen from Carolina, then grabbed rearguard Dmitry Yushkevich from Los Angeles earlier this month. The Leafs responded, finally, by hitting an apparent home run with Owen Nolan last week, then essentially matched the Yushkevich move by picking up veteran D-man Glen Wesley from Carolina on Sunday. Yesterday, the Flyers upped the ante again, swallowing a huge contract to add underachieving winger Tony Amonte from Phoenix. It addressed their injury concerns with forwards John LeClair, Simon Gagne and Justin Williams, but also was a viable, if not equivalent, response to Nolan's move to Toronto. Other Eastern teams have made moves Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
devildoggie Posted March 11, 2003 Share Posted March 11, 2003 great article. I'm in SJ and have been reading and hearing that the Flyers may not even be done dealing yet. They had an over-abundance of draft picks this year which they seem to have had no problems dealing to small market teams Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nieuwy25 Posted March 11, 2003 Share Posted March 11, 2003 Those two are on a collision course. There's almost no chance they won't play each other in the first round. Here's hoping for 7 bruising, hard-fought games with lots of OT! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sammyk Posted March 11, 2003 Share Posted March 11, 2003 Worst part is that one of them actually has to win. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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