Why Hitch hung Esche out to dry

[bottlecap]

From the Montreal Gazette: Esche was a pawn in the Hitchcock-Clarke feud:

 

Buffalo might have single-handedly ended Bobby Clarke's unfortunate reign with the Flyers with a spectacularly one-sided 9-1 thrashing a week ago.

 

Flyers coach Ken Hitchcock pulled a Mario Tremblay, hanging poor Esche out to dry for all nine goals because Esche was Clarke's choice as No. 1 goalie, not his. Directly or indirectly, the loss would cost both men their jobs as Clarke paid the price for clinging to his outmoded sense of what the NHL is about.

 

Also: this writer Jack Todd agrees with my concerning that vermin Bobby Clarke:

 

Ed Snider has finally seen enough of Bobby Clarke's sorry act 35 years after Clarke's vicious slash on Valeri Kharlamov should have rendered him persona non grata around the NHL pretty much forever.

Instead, this nasty piece of work has been able to foul up everything from the '98 Canadian Olympic team to his own Flyers, at this point the worst team in the NHL.

 

And this time, Clarke can't even blame it on Carl and Bonnie Lindros.

 

Clarke claimed his "resignation" had nothing to do with the Flyers sorry 1-6-1 record - but if you believe that one, maybe you'd like to buy some shares in the Brooklyn Bridge.

 

http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news...4e-94795422d888

[SDS]

Clarke resigned after game 3 this season...

[bottlecap]

Hitch was fired and Clarke resigned shortly after the Sabres game,

both on the same day, this past Sunday.

[Bmwolf21]

The Vs. pregame mentioned that he actually resigned like 10 days ago, but the Flyers waited until Sunday to announce. I am trying to find a link.

[SDS]

http://cbs.sportsline.com/nhl/story/9743911/rss

 

" Clarke said the Flyers' record played no role in his resignation. He said he began feeling spent during last year's draft and hoped for a renewed passion once the season started. That never happened, and Clarke said he decided to quit after the third game of the season."

[mrjsbu96]

i'm going to miss the sparing lindy and hitch did after each game!

[shrader]

If there was any justice in this world, Clarke will wind up as the GM in Toronto next season.

[blugold43]

http://cbs.sportsline.com/nhl/story/9743911/rss

 

" Clarke said the Flyers' record played no role in his resignation. He said he began feeling spent during last year's draft and hoped for a renewed passion once the season started. That never happened, and Clarke said he decided to quit after the third game of the season."

 

"If you're thinking about retiring, you already have."

 

-Marv Levy

[apuszczalowski]

I actually think Hitch left Esche out there because of the "Its an empty space" comment after being told he was getting the start

[hopeleslyobvious]

If there was any justice in this world, Clarke will wind up as the GM in Toronto next season.

 

:lol:

[Doohicksie]

Shouldn't this thread be in NHL News?

[Knightrider]

Shouldn't this thread be in NHL News?

 

 

I suppose it could be, but, usually only one guy posts there...

[Alaska Darin]

If Clarke did, in fact, resign after the Flyers third game, it's only because he knew Buffalo was coming up. Snider probably made him stick around to see his handiwork completely implode.

 

Screw Clarke, HitchCOCK, and loudmouth Flyer phan. You're only 5 years behind because you can no longer spend 300% more than everyone else.

[Doohicksie]

The quote said "Clarke said he decided to quit after the third game of the season."

 

That doesn't mean he told another living soul, and from what I've seen and read, he didn't. Which means that even though that's what he said, he could be BS'ing because he doesn't want to admit that the slugging had anything to do with his resignation.

[Sabre Dance]

Bobby Clarke's tenure in the NHL as a player, coach or GM should have ended long ago. His team was the last one left that used "goon" mentality (or semi-goon these last couple of seasons). Apparently, Clarkie must have felt that if that style of play brought the Flyers the Cup in '74 and '75 that it would continue to work. Funny, though...the rules of hockey state that the team that scores the most goals wins, not the one who delivers the most hits, slashes and elbows. Clarkie was also lucky that Flyers fans, bloodthirsty lot that they are, went along with his reasoning....until now.

 

Hey, I like a hard-hitting game just as much as anyone, but the Flyers have always seemed to delight in taking it one (or three) steps beyond clean checks. During the '75 Finals, my parents thought I was losing it because every time one of the Flyers hacked, elbowed or cross-checked one of the Sabres, I would scream at the TV, cursing the officiating (well, lack of it). Time has finally caught up with that bloody knuckle style and given it the boot. Long live the new NHL.....and the Sabres!

[jad1]

I actually think Hitch left Esche out there because of the "Its an empty space" comment after being told he was getting the start

 

Actually, Nittymaki has a bum hip which requires surgery, but is taking cortisone shots in an attempt to play out the year. Would you waste him on a game that's 6-0, especially when it's so early in the year?

 

I think people are reading too much into this.

[Corp000085]

seriously, jad1 is right... our team PWNED their team so badly that the coach and GM were fired... end of story. I'm sure it was coming for a while, but 9-1? come on folks... that's a football score, not hockey (at least the 9 part...) People can say a lot of things about this or that, but at the end of the day, hitch and clarke were fired (or told to resign to save face for being a loyal flyer for his entire adult life) because their team sucked and was buried by the sabres. Not a better feeling for me!

 

 

Also, those versus guys were right. when its all said and done, the hockey world will be talking about that 9-1 game for weeks or months to come.

[FogBat]

"If you're thinking about retiring, you already have."

 

-Marv Levy

Gooooooooooood Point...

 

(Leave it up to Marv Levy to say what needs to be said. He has always been on the mark. Just ask him about the "Coach" Dickerson incident about 10 years ago. "'Coach' doesn't deserve to be called 'Coach'. He should be called 'Tokyo Rose'." "'Coach' has been fired more times than a Civil War cannon." 81 years old physically, but he has the razor-sharp mind of someone who's in his early 30's.)

 

seriously, jad1 is right... our team PWNED their team so badly that the coach and GM were fired... end of story. I'm sure it was coming for a while, but 9-1? come on folks... that's a football score, not hockey (at least the 9 part...) People can say a lot of things about this or that, but at the end of the day, hitch and clarke were fired (or told to resign to save face for being a loyal flyer for his entire adult life) because their team sucked and was buried by the sabres. Not a better feeling for me!

Also, those versus guys were right. when its all said and done, the hockey world will be talking about that 9-1 game for weeks or months to come.

Yep. The proof is in the pudding. They still talk about it on Home Ice on XM 204. That was one fine pice of public flogging -- right up to the point of getting their heads put on a platter.