Source: Philadelphia Enquirer, Tim Panaccio Article
Pat Morris picked up his phone at 12:06 p.m. Monday afternoon in Mississauga, Ontario, outside Toronto.
It was Bob Clarke.
The Flyers general manager needed a stud defenseman, and coach Ken Hitchcock had won a Stanley Cup in Dallas with Morris' client, Derian Hatcher.
Morris' office had already taken offers from the Islanders and Dallas Stars minutes earlier. Clarke told Morris he'd offer $14 million for four years.
"His agent assured that the numbers we gave him, he would be coming here," Clarke said. "Hatcher had to think things through."
Hatcher was seriously considering returning to Dallas.
"He had to mull things over," Morris said.
As it would turn out, he wasn't the only one. Little did Clarke realize how the face of the Flyers franchise was about to change over the next 72 hours.
?
There is an obvious comfort level between Morris' firm and Clarke.
Morris and partner Don Meehan had represented 12 other players the Flyers had either signed in free agency or traded for since 1996, including Luke Richardson, a major talent in the 1997 free-agent period. Newport Sports Management also represented Flyers rookie Mike Richards.
As the wait began at Skate Zone in Voorhees, Clarke, club president Ron Ryan, assistant general manager Paul Holmgren, pro scout Dean Lombardi, and personnel director Ron Hextall discussed their next move in Clarke's office.
Clarke had been given one mandate by club chairman Ed Snider.
"When the lockout is over," Snider had told Clarke, "make sure when we start up, we have a good team for our fans. Do whatever you have to do, but do it within the rules."
It was 2 p.m. when Holmgren, back from an errand, rushed into his office to pick up a ringing telephone. It was Art Breeze, who represented Mike Rathje, a defenseman that Lombardi had drafted in San Jose.
Breeze told Holmgren that Rathje wanted a five-year deal because he needed stability for his young children. Five years, with the NHL's new salary cap, was dangerous, Clarke realized, unless the money was manageable.
The Flyers offered Rathje the same average salary as Hatcher: $3.5 million a year. Clarke rationalized that a player making that amount was something "we could always work with."
As the wait on Hatcher dragged on - he couldn't reach his wife to see if she would agree to move to Philadelphia - Clarke was taking no chances. He planned to try to re-sign Vladimir Malakhov, who had spurned the Flyers' previous offer, if Hatcher declined.
Holmgren placed a call to agent Larry Kelly about Adrian Aucoin, who topped the Flyers' "B" list of defensemen, only to find that the asking price was too high. Clarke wanted to know about Brian Leetch, as well.
"We didn't go much deeper than that," he said.
Scott Niedermayer was the best available talent. Yet the consensus in the Flyers' war room was that the team needed a more physical presence, not someone who would control the back end with the puck.
Rathje agreed to terms late Monday afternoon. At 11 p.m., when Hatcher accepted his deal, the quintet's work seemed finished.
The group then raised the issue of scoring and creativity. In earlier conversations, Peter Forsberg was considered too expensive under the salary cap, even if he left Colorado.
By 11:30 p.m., most of the party had left Skate Zone to prepare for Tuesday's news conference to announce the deals with Hatcher and Rathje. Holmgren left at midnight.
As he walked to his car, the thought of getting Forsberg seemed "like a pipe dream," he said.
?
Forsberg's agent, Don Baizley, had been talking with Pittsburgh, Vancouver, Chicago and the Rangers.
Over the winter, when the Flyers drafted a list of people who might be available in free agency, Forsberg's name "never crossed our mind," Clarke said.
Wednesday morning, Forsberg was still unsigned. Clarke wondered why.
"We didn't know anything else except a lot of teams would be after him," Clarke said.
Clarke phoned Baizley, who works from his office in Winnipeg and not on a cell phone. It was noon here.
"What's happening with Peter?" Clarke asked Baizley.
"We're close with one team," Baizley replied.
"Would Peter be interested in coming here?"
"I don't know, Bob. But I'll call him."
Baizley was taken aback. Hadn't Clarke said he was through signing players?
"Bob was kicking tires, just in case," Baizley said. "He wanted to know if he could do something. We just assumed the Flyers were done."
Baizley phoned Forsberg in Sweden. The center was thinking a deal had been reached with one of the four other teams.
"I said to Peter, 'The Flyers want to know if you're interested in coming to Philly,' " Baizley said.
Even on a long-distance call to Europe, Baizley could sense the excitement on the other end.
"Peter said something like, 'Wooooah,' " Baizley said. "He was pretty excited."
Back in Voorhees, Clarke didn't know it, but the landscape in the Eastern Conference was about to change dramatically.
Baizley phoned Clarke back around 1 p.m.
"He said Peter was very interested and this would be the numbers," Clarke said. The numbers were acceptable: $11.5 million over two years, for an average of $5.75 million.
"If we're going to do that, Don, I need a couple of hours to try and trade [Jeremy] Roenick," Clarke told Baizley.
Baizley gave Clarke until 4 p.m. It was a three-hour window.
Clarke phoned Roenick in Phoenix and asked J.R. if he would waive his no-trade clause to get Forsberg. Roenick told Clarke the Flyers would have a better chance to win the Cup with Forsberg than him. He then asked Clarke to trade him out west so he could be near his family.
Clarke and Ryan then called Snider for permission to exceed the $39 million salary cap by $2.7 million to sign Forsberg. They would worry about trading Roenick after the fact, to get back under.
"I told Mr. Snider we'd be over by 10 percent, but I promised it wouldn't stay that way for long," Clarke said. "You had to take a chance. But I felt we could. We had no fear we couldn't get under the cap. If I couldn't trade J.R., we had other options."
Snider approved the deal. Forsberg was an impact player who could change a franchise's destiny. He had proven that in Colorado.
"We want to win the Cup," Snider said.
Clarke then called Pierre Lacroix, general manager of the Avs, and gave him the bad news.
"We're going to try and sign Peter," Clarke told Lacroix. "We'd like to trade Roenick before we do that."
Lacroix said he didn't have the money to take on Roenick's salary.
"Peter is like a son to me," Lacroix told Clarke, conceding he could not re-sign him.
What Clarke didn't know was that Lacroix had offered Forsberg a four-year, $13.5 million contract but with just $1.5 million in the first year. Baizley had turned it down.
Clarke phoned Baizley shortly after and said he would sign Forsberg. The wheels were already in motion to move Roenick to the West Coast.
Kings GM Dave Taylor showed interest. Taylor wanted to deal a player in return. Clarke replied he didn't have cap room. Clarke then called Phoenix GM Mike Barnett. Again, the holdup was players in return. Moving Roenick now seemed in jeopardy, although San Jose and also Columbus had jumped in by 9 p.m.
It was still light outside when Clarke reached Hitchcock, vacationing in Kamloops, British Columbia, and told him he was signing Forsberg. Hitchcock giggled.
"I thought he was joking," Hitchcock said. "Then I thought he was screwing with me because he knew I was taking a break."
Clarke hung up on his coach in frustration. Hitch didn't believe him.
On Thursday morning, Clarke's cell phone rang. It was 5:30 a.m. Pacific time. Taylor agreed to take Roenick and give the Flyers future considerations.
A few hours later, it was over. Forsberg, Hatcher and Rathje were all Flyers, Roenick was an ex-Flyer, and the club was back under the cap at $36.8 million.
Clarke had rolled the dice and won.
"I don't compare myself to any other GM in the NHL or any other league," Clarke said. "In our business, we try our best to be prepared and know what we want to do. If we get the chance, then act on it. We don't like to second guess ourselves. This is what we want to do. If that fails, we go to the next plan.
"Usually, the best deals you make are the ones you make with yourself. In this case, it fell into place for us."
All within 72 hours.
Thought this was a great behind-the-scenes article by Tim Panaccio. -- Rob 
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