The NHL's Old Road is Rapidly Aging

Perhaps Bob Dylan himself should do one of those "My NHL" ads, setting his creaky protest song to a highlight package of Tuesday's Sabres-Flyers game.

Everyone is talking about the massacre in Buffalo, where the Sabres breezed past Philadelphia, scoring almost at will and running up a 9-1 final score. Credit Flyers center Mike Richards with the Brutally Honest Quote of the Week: "Typical Philadelphia Flyers hockey game there. We got behind the eight ball, we had a little bit of pressure on us, and we folded."

Bob Clarke and his gang surely understand that they better start swimmin' or they'll sink like a stone.

To declare the Flyers a casualty of the so-called new NHL is too simple. Philadelphia is trapped between generations, with too many declining old men, a cache of still-incubating young guys, and not enough players in between. But it's also true that this team was built on size and strength, qualities that the league no longer favors.

If anything, the pre-2005 game is receding even further in the rearview mirror. The anecdotal evidence shows that players' habits are changing: Hooking and holding, especially in open ice, are greatly reduced. A backslide in officiating standards, which many suspected might creep into the league this year, now seems almost inconceivable.

Postscript: In an attempt to "identify this problem and fix it", Philadelphia is planning to throw rookies into the lineup, and has placed about $4 million worth of veteran deadwood on waivers.

"Please get out of the new one if you can't lend your hand..."