Flyers GM Blames Himself

May 13, 1998 / 2:58 AM EDT / CBS/AP

He took his time before giving his thoughts on why the Philadelphia Flyers aren't in the playoffs anymore. Then general manager Bob Clarke took the blame.

"I screwed up more than anybody on this team," he said. "A lot of it is my own fault."

Clarke, who finally met with the media 10 days after the team's first-round, five-game playoff loss to Buffalo, said the many changes he'd made in the interest of helping the team had backfired.

"We had older players who weren't playing very much, and we brought in some young players, and we probably ended up with a poor combination," Clarke said Tuesday.

Less than a year ago, Clarke was also dealing with the Flyers' playoff failure, but at least the team made it to the Stanley Cup finals before collapsing against the Detroit Red Wings.

With young superstar Eric Lindros seemingly poised to deliver the championship the Flyers promised when they gave up six players, two draft choices and $15 million to get him in 1992, Philadelphia instead sputtered during the regular season, then was sunk by the Sabres.

Clarke didn't absolve Lindros "We all deserve some (criticism), including Eric" but acknowledged the changes he made after the Flyers were swept by Detroit in last year's finals had a negative impact on the team's identity and esprit de corps.

The changes came at a regular clip. First Terry Murray was removed, replaced by novice head coach Wayne Cashman. Then two free agents were signed, defenseman Luke Richardson and forward Chris Gratton. That's where Clarke's disappointment started.

Cashman's shortcomings became so apparent that Clarke felt compelled to replace him with Roger Neilson with 21 games left in the season.

Richardson and Gratton didn't play up to expectations. Clarke said the $9 million signing bonus it took to snag Gratton created unrealistic expectations for a 22-year-old player.

"We never viewed Gratton as a star," he said. "We felt he was going to be a good, solid player for us."

Clarke kept tinkering with the roster, with the Flyers having 28 players skate in at least 10 games this season. Out went Pat Falloon, Janne Niinimaa, Vaclav Prospal and Garth Snow. In came Alexandre Daigle, Mike Sillinger, Dave Babych, Dan McGillis and Sean Burke.

The Flyers also carried more players than most teams, and the competition among teammates for ice time created animosity.

"One of the biggest mistakes I made was having too many people around," he said. "If they are not playing, they can't be happy, and it just becomes a drag on everybody."

The result is the Flyers never came together as a unit. Clarke said he has talked with Lindros, the captain, about the need for both of them to work harder off-ice to create more of a sense of team next season.

"All players aren't going to lie each other, but when you put on that uniform, you have to care for each other and play for each other," he said.

Although he denied them before, Clarke again dismissed rumors that he'd consider trading Lindros, who is in the last year of a contract that will pay him $8.5 million next year.

He said new deals for Lindros and Rod Brind'Amour, the solid two-way forward whose contract is up, would be his main offseason priorities, along with signing a top-notch free agent goaltender.