RJ Umberger will never be forgotten in Philadelphia for leading the Flyers back to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2008.
I have a little bit of unfinished commentary to post about the Flyers big win against the Columbus Blue Jackets the other night. The Flyers are of course 2-2 in their last four after a convincing shutout by Emery tonight at home over the Rangers, and after a few terrible losses to the Maple Leafs and Capitals, they seemed to have turned themselves back around quickly.
But, for now, the focus is on RJ Umberger. Umberger was loved in Philadelphia, and it was a really hard decision to make between him and Jeff Carter at the 2008 NHL Entry Draft. Of course, Umberger was traded for a 1st round pick that was used to select Luca Sbisa. Sbisa, along with some other things, eventually became Chris Pronger, but Umberger feels no hard feelings for being dealt a cruel fate in Columbus, away from the city where the fans loved him.
Umberger of course was a Pittsburgh native, but won the Calder Cup during the lockout with the Philadelphia Phantoms. He was a well liked guy in the locker room and in the stands, but following his moment of glory in the 2008 Stanley Cup Playoffs against the Montreal Canadiens, cap issues forced his departure.
I am now going to re-post ANTHONY SANFILIPPO’s blog about RJ Umberger and the Columbus game, because I think it really deserves a read.
Delaware County Times -- Umberger: A Young Player Who Got It
Tomorrow, when newspapers publish my two stories from the Flyers 5-3 win over Columbus, you’re going to read a lot about R.J. Umberger.
It helped that the former Flyer scored two goals, and nearly a third, in his first game back since being traded from Philadelphia to Columbus, but the fact is, I likely would have devoted a good chunk of my space to Umberger because he’s such a quality human being who was well-liked during his four years in Philadelphia (I include the season with the Phantoms during the lockout).
The fact that he had a big game only made his prominence in stories more applicable.
So, why dedicate so much space to a former player who is now doing his thing for the opposition?
Because he is everything you want in your locker room and on your hockey team and the Flyers really miss that kind of player.
There is a reputation, deserved or not, that the Flyers younger players, for the most part, are bratty.
Umberger, while he was close with all of them and remains friends with all of them, always seemed a bit more mature, a bit more refined.
When the young Flyers were moving into homes in Voorhees, NJ or transplanting themselves onto the Philadelphia side, Umberger was buying a home for himself and his lovely young wife in secluded Medford, N.J. -- near then coach Ken Hitchcock.
He was always a player who was willing to buy into Hitchcock’s system, something a lot of young players are not apt to do.
Mike Richards and Jeff Carter speak politely about Hitchcock, but they don’t ever say anything glowing about their former coach who rode them very hard.
Patrick Sharp, now starring for the Chicago Blackhawks, also struggled under Hitch as a young player, but learned to appreciate Hitch’s lessons after he was traded from Philadelphia.
Simon Gagne grew up from being a pure scorer to one of the best two-way forwards in the NHL under Hitchcock.
So, when Hitchcock had the opportunity to bring Umberger into Columbus, he jumped at the chance.
“R.J. has really grown into the kind of player who I can sit down and talk to and have him get the message across to the other players that I want to get across through him as a leader,” Hitchcock said.
He’s on pace to have the best year of his career. He has 17 goals and 18 assists for 35 points. That would be third best on the Flyers right now.
But it’s so much more than that with him. He gets the fans. He gets the media. He knows how to be communicative. He can express his feelings properly without sweating the small stuff. If he has a bad game and gets criticized for it, he’s not going to let the printed words eat away at him. His Teflon personality works.
Here’s all you need to know about the guy.
After the game tonight, rather than go immediately to the team bus, he sought me and another writer out and asked us to do him a favor.
He wanted us to let the fans of Philadelphia know that he wanted to come onto the ice to thank them for the way they’ve treated him, both in the past and tonight, but couldn’t because there was an immediate team meeting after game.
“I don’t want them to think I’m blowing them off or anything,” he said.
He could have simply got on the bus to the airport. He could have popped in his I-pod and drowned out all distractions. He could have just ho-hummed his way through another loss and looked forward to a little nap on his short flight home.
Instead, he wanted to find a way to say thank you to the fans of Philadelphia and made it his mission.
He got to a couple of us. I spread the word through the press box in hopes that all in attendance at this game as well as all those who follow the FLyers from home get to see how genuine Umberger really is.
And who knows, maybe one day when he’s a free agent, this organization will bring him back.
Because he always wanted to be a Flyer for the rest of his career. He has a tattoo of the logo to prove it.
And he is a model of what a class act is in the sport of hockey.
I want to thank RJ Umberger for everything he did in Philadelphia and for his devotion to the fans. If there is justice in this world, Umberger will return to Philly soon, finish off his career, and retire a Flyer. Just think of what our lineup would be without a salary cap right now. It’s a scary thought, but even so, I wish Umberger the best of luck in his future. I hope Umberger and the Flyers’ paths cross again, but it’s not likely that the Blue Jackets will trade him even if we had the cap space to seek him out at the deadline.
You’re starting to get glimmers of the 2007-08 season, and just how magical it was. The 2004 playoffs were just incredible, but 2008 was close.
Thank you RJ.
Flyers Pummel Rags
The following video tells just about the entire story:
Gaborik decided to fight Carcillo; a very unwise decision. Hartnell then pummeled Avery. There were a few more draws later in the game as the Rangers tried to claw their way back.
The Rangers’ head coach John Tortorella had some over-reactive post-game gold about Carcillo’s bout with Gaborik, but Laviolette defended his player:
“Well, there’s no honor in that,” said the Rangers’ head coach of Carcillo after the game. “I don’t play the game, I don’t wear the uniform. I don’t want to say too much about it, but there’s simply no honor in that.”
Predictably, Flyers head coach Peter Laviolette saw it differently. In fact, anyone who saw a replay of the fight would agree with Laviolette that it was in fact Gaborik who started the whole thing.
“We were out numbered, Danny came in and picked somebody off the pile and Gaborik dropped his gloves first,” said Laviolette, stating the obvious. “So, Danny can either get punched or he can drop his gloves and fight. I think the ref saw it that way as well, because they [each] got five minutes for fighting.
“I don’t think [Carcillo] makes a habit of going after the other team’s top players and skilled players. He does a lot of dirty work that other people don’t want to do and usually it’s with guys like a [Sean] Avery or a [Aaron] Voros; guys that are pretty tough on the other side as well. I didn’t see it happen the way [Tortorella] did.”
Despite some last second dramatics, Emery gets the 2-0 shut out with a pretty goal by vanRiemsdyk, a buzzer beater by Richards, and some more golden chances from Giroux botched by various recipients. Eventually someone’s going to expect Giroux to sneak a pass across the paint, and it’s not going to end pretty for the other colors.
There’s some good games coming up this weekend as well. Saturday the Flyers play the Eastern basement Carolina Hurricanes at home at 1:00 PM followed by a welcome party for Sidney Crosby on Sunday at 12:30 PM on NBC. They are definitely some big games for the Flyers. A couple more wins this weekend would give us a nice foothold in the playoffs; a place where we want to be headed into the Olympic break.
Just a couple days after the Olympic break is the trade deadline, so discussions and scouting have already begun all over the NHL. Carolina and Edmonton have declared firesales, and impending veteran UFA winger Ray Whitney of the Carolina Hurricanes may be a option if the Flyers can figure things out. I love Asham, but I’d very much enjoy a stacked top 9 going into the playoff push.
