The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Dear Editor, The Philadelphia Flyers never seem to learn anything, do they? You can't keep taking chances on unproven goalies and expect to be a team that contends for anything. The Flyers have not had a 'real' starting goalie for many, many years, and why? When they could have signed Curtis Joseph, they went the old and cheap route and got John Vanbiesbrouck, whose best days were behind him, instead. When they could have traded for somebody like Roberto Luongo, they stubbornly held onto guys like Robert Esche and Antero Niittymaki when it was obvious to everyone (except the Flyers management, I guess) that it was not going to work in their favour. The latest disappointment is bringing in Ray Emery, a man with about as checkered a past as you can get and who couldn't even get an NHL contract last year and had to play overseas. Emery got the Senators to the Final a couple of years back, but anyone who watched the team that year knew it wasn't really Emery who was to thank. He was an okay goalie on a really good team. It's baffling to us Philly fans why we have not had a legitimate number one goalie since Ron Hextall in the '80s. With Chris Pronger joining the team, goaltending is the area where Philly is the most lacking. Please, management, learn from your mistakes and bring in a qualified starter at once. Joel Hines Thorold, Ontario
