saw this also, but cannot confirm yet...
anyone in philly??
Barber contemplating Little change in goal
By LES BOWEN
bowenl@phillynews.com
By the time you read this, Bill Barber might already have thought better of it, dismissed the idea as too much of a reach.
Or, he might have decided to go ahead, to trust his instincts.
The trick for the Flyers coach is to push some buttons to help his uptight team without pushing the one marked "Panic." Yesterday, Barber pondered the idea of starting Neil Little in net this afternoon at the First Union Center against the Minnesota Wild.
Little, who turns 30 Dec. 18, was drafted in 1991 and has played in the Flyers organization since 1994. He has been the backup goalie for about 40 games over the past six or seven years, he estimated yesterday. But despite leading the Phantoms to the 1998 Calder Cup, Little has never played an NHL minute.
Why consider playing Little today, when Roman Cechmanek might have been the Flyers' best player in Thursday's 2-0 home loss to the Islanders? Little won't score any goals, won't be quarterbacking the power play.
But playing him might shake things up, lift the pressure that has settled heavily across the shoulders of Barber's key forwards.
The Flyers, often uptight lately in front of their understandably impatient fans, will be expected to beat the second-year Wild - even though Minnesota, coached by Jacques Lemaire, is a respectable 11-10-5-2, and had the NHL's second-ranked power play heading into last night's action. (Maybe they'd be willing to put on a pregame clinic for the 27th-ranked Flyers.)
Starting Little might put Barber's players in a little more of an underdog mindset. Some of them might start thinking more about helping out Little, who is popular with his teammates, and less about obsessing over their own struggles.
Barber spoke yesterday of trying to help his team "not get defeated mentally" as it continues to pile up chances without scoring goals.
"It'd be great for Neil," Flyers captain Keith Primeau said. "He's been loyal to the organization."
Little's former Phantoms teammate, winger Todd Fedoruk, apparently will return to the lineup after six games as a healthy scratch. Fedoruk said he would welcome the chance to play in front of Little.
"Think of how long he's been in the organization, and he hasn't played a game yet. It'd be good to be a part of that," Fedoruk said.
"Right now, Cechmanek is going," Barber said yesterday afternoon. "But he's played a lot of hockey lately. . .I'm really going to weigh that out. I'm thinking about starting 'Lits.' Right now, I'm just thinking about it."
Little, close to Barber after their four seasons together in the AHL, said he knows a lot of the Wild shooters, and certainly would welcome the chance.
"It's been 10 years in the works now," Little said. "That's got to be some sort of record."
Cechmanek has played every minute of the last eight games, since Brian Boucher strained his left hamstring Nov. 15 against Washington.
Little has been the backup for each of those games, going down to the Phantoms to play a few nights when the Flyers were off - including a 5-2 victory over Syracuse on Sunday.
Boucher practiced yesterday and presumably will play during the coming week.
Meanwhile, Barber indicated tough guy Fedoruk will get back in the lineup today, just as Chris McAllister comes out, with Luke Richardson returning from a broken foot. McAllister has struck the right tone as an enforcer, something Fedoruk has struggled with.
"I just got to be a bleep out there," Fedoruk said. "I don't think I've lived up to that this year."
Richardson, in his fifth season with the Flyers, has scored just six goals during that span, but he could indirectly help the offense get untracked. Richardson's absence scrambled the pairings; Kim Johnsson, playing with McAllister instead of Eric Weinrich, hasn't scored a point in seven games. Dan McGillis, Richardson's normal partner, has been with Weinrich and has not looked terribly confident with the puck.
