[Drew]

Source: phillyBurbs.com

It was business, nothing personal.

At least that's the approach John LeClair is taking to his upcoming 10th season with the Flyers.

After an acrimonious summer, one in which general manager Bob Clarke made no secret of an attempt to trade the high-priced veteran left wing, both sides say they're willing to let bygones be bygones.

The Flyers wanted LeClair, 34, to restructure the remaining three years of his contract (totaling $27 million) to help them reduce their payroll for the upcoming season leading into the expected labor crisis next summer.

When LeClair refused to take deferred money, the Flyers announced their intention to trade him.

In turn, he waived his no-trade clause to four teams - Dallas, Detroit, Los Angeles and the New York Rangers.

As expected, there were few serious takers for a multi-million-dollar player coming off three major surgeries (two back, one shoulder) the past three years.

So the Flyers have been forced to bite the bullet and hope LeClair can return to the form of early last season when he came out of the gate and scored 11 goals in his first 21 games before his right shoulder was dislocated in a game on Nov. 27 at Pittsburgh.

"I look at it like they tried to move me, and it was a business decision," LeClair said yesterday after an informal on-ice workout session at the Skate Zone. "I spoke to Clarkie about it. I understand why it was done.

"A lot of things were going on [being said] that weren't true. I know what happened. I know what went on. You play for your teammates anyway ... you want the respect of your teammates."

Despite 310 goals and 588 points in 574 games with the Flyers, LeClair is faced with another round of "what have you done for us lately?" Coach Ken Hitchcock has already said he's going to give more responsibility to the team's young players this season, so where does that leave veterans such as LeClair?

"I'm hoping my health stays, and I can get off to a good start and a good year," he said. "My role is the role that has to be done. You have to be a team player."

After missing 47 games due to the shoulder injury, LeClair did come back to register seven goals in 14 games. He picked up two goals in 13 playoff games.

"I don't think veterans needed a wake-up," LeClair said of Hitchcock's comments. "We know how to play the game. We're going to do what's expected of us."

Hitchcock said: "Our conversations at the end of the year were strictly about competitive issues. Most of it was health-related. There's a commitment on both sides now that, OK, he's here and he's ready to roll.

"John and I talked. You can have all the conversations in the world but everything related to his performance is health. Nobody had any trouble with John's first 21 games. You just can't expect someone to come back from an injury like that and have any competitive balance that season.

"But he's healthy now, he feels terrific. If he can maintain that level, then he will be a real good player for us. That's been a question mark for a while. We're just hoping he can get rid of that bad luck."

There are times when LeClair must wonder if he's snake-bitten. A consecutive-game streak of 317 ended in 1999, and he hasn't enjoyed a complete season of good health since.

"It's been frustrating," he acknowledged. "Last year was frustrating because I felt pretty good. I felt comfortable again. Now I'm coming back to that awkward stage again where I haven't played in a while, and you're still favoring a little bit of an injury.

"I'm trying to get that behind me and get back to where I was."

LeClair spent a month in Tampa this summer working with a specialist. He's also working on other areas of his game, such as a quicker first step.


You're in the Army now

The Flyers will wrap up training camp with a four-day session at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, N.Y., the week of Oct. 3-7. In previous years the Flyers have completed their camp at Peterborough, Ont., and last year at Banff, Alberta, Canada. The Army rink is 10 feet wider than an NHL rink, which should make for some interesting scrimmages.

"We started with a strong push and focus last year," Hitchcock said. "We really came out of the gate. We want to do the same thing this year. We want a place that was secluded, where the players will be together and there will be attention to detail on the ice. We want to begin with a strong sense of discipline, and that's probably the best place in the world to start."


Short Shots

A number of Flyers youngsters, including top prospect Joni Pitkanen, will participate in a rookie camp beginning this coming week. Camp officially opens on Sept. 9.

[Chris]

Hopefully he can come back in perfect form, if not I think that his stay with the orange and black is going to be cut short.

[Andy]

This is real good to know.