Flyers GM Bob Clarke has had enough. Two years in a row his team has bowed out in the first round of the playoffs. He's tried everything he can think of. He got rid of Eric Lindros. He upped his payroll to $55 million and signed superstar Jeremy Roenick. He brought in Czech star Jiri Dopita to babysit his temperamental Czech goaltender, Roman Cechmanek. He tried putting a former Broad Street Bully, Bill Barber, at the helm of his club.

	2001-02 by the numbers
	Record: 42-27-10-3, 97 points (7th overall, 3rd East, 1st Atlantic) Goals for: 234/2.85 (8th overall) Goals against: 192/2.34 (7th overall) Differential: 42 (6th overall) 20-goal scorers: Simon Gagne (33), John LeClair (25), Mark Recchi (22), Jeremy Roenick (21) 50-point scorers: Roenick (67), Gagne (66), Recchi (64), LeClair (51)

But Clarke's plans backfired. Nothing worked.

Roenick didn't produce and then got hurt. The egos of goaltenders Cechmanek and Brian Boucher, who both believed they were No. 1, divided the locker room. Clarke's Czech contingency griped on the bench, in Czech, about how much they disliked America. His players publicly criticized Barber's coaching tactics. The Flyers' stacked offense produced a power play that finished a dismal 28th in the league. They skidded through March and April and gave up the top spot in the Eastern conference to the Boston Bruins.

The Flyers then lost an embarrassing first-round series to the Ottawa Senators in which their stacked roster could manage only two goals. Clarke promptly fired his old buddy Barber and hired former Dallas head coach Ken Hitchcock before the Rangers could lure him to New York.

"If this team can't win under Ken Hitchcock, then I am convinced it can't win under anyone," said Flyers chairman Ed Snider.

It was Hitchcock who brought the Stanley Cup to Dallas. It was Hitchcock who told Ed Belfour to quit his mood swings and get in the net. It was Hitchcock who convinced superstar center Mike Modano to give up goals to become one of the best two-way forwards in the league. Hitchcock is a disciplinarian who will not tolerate egos, griping superstars, lax defense, lockerroom divisions, lazy practices or early exits. If a player doesn't like Hitchcock's system, he's in the doghouse until he conforms or until he runs screaming from the rink. Hitch is not a player's coach, but he gets results. And that's what Bob Clarke needs if he wants to keep his job in Philly.

Looking at next season
The Flyers are so confident that their team is talented enough to remain at the top of the Eastern Conference that they have remained virtually idle so far in the free-agent market. Clarke and Snider are content that putting all of their eggs in the Hitchcock basket will be enough.

"We want to see how everything plays out this season with this particular group of players," said Snider. "If it doesn't work out his year, then it's time to go in a different direction."

As far as goalies go, Clarke has added by subtracting. Boucher was sent to Phoenix for big (6-foot-5, 220 pounds), two-way center Michal Handzus and clear-cut backup goalie Robert Esche. Now Cechmanek is the hands-down No. 1, stabilizing the Flyers situation. It is up to Cechmanek to prove it's a title he deserves.

Offensively, the Flyers have talent to spare. It is simply a matter of playing up to their potential. Veterans Roenick, John LeClair and Mark Recchi are all 50-goal scorers. Keith Primeau has scored 30. Simon Gagne, the Flyers 22-year-old speedster, is one of the most talented young wingers in the league and 20-year-old Justin Williams is developing into another offensive spark. He had 17 goals and 40 points in 75 games and was named the team's most improved player. Handzus will fit nicely behind Roenick and Primeau as the third center and should get some points (he had 15 goals and 45 points last year).

Defense is the Flyers' only ongoing woe. Eric Desjardins underwent shoulder surgery in July to repair cartilage, and he, Dan McGillis, Chris Therien and Eric Weinrich are all on the far side of 30. Kim Johnsson is the youngest blueliner at 26. Regular Luke Richardson signed as a free agent with Columbus and the only other defenseman on the roster, John Slaney, played only one game last year. Clarke maneuvered his way back into the top round of this year's draft by trading LW Ruslan Fedotenko and two draft picks to Tampa Bay for the fourth overall pick. The Flyers selected Finnish defenseman Joni Pitkanen, the top-ranked European skating prospect. But neither he nor defenseman Jeff Woywitka, the Flyers highly anticipated 2001 first round draft pick who was just signed to a three-year, entry-level contract, appear ready to make the jump to the NHL.

It will be up to Hitchcock to preach team defense and make his players believe enough to make up for the Flyers weaknesses on the blue line.

Philadelphia's ultimate, and obvious, goal is to win its first Stanley Cup since Clarke and Co. raised it in 1975. This may be Clarke's last shot.