Flyers

LANDOVER -- Washington Capitals coach Jim Schoenfeld likes to remind his team that these are desperate times. It doesn't matter that the Caps have been winning, that they have been pursuing the Philadelphia Flyers toward the top of the Atlantic Division or even that they have settled quite nicely into the middle of the Eastern Conference playoff picture.The bottom line is that every game matters.After last night's 3-1 loss to the Flyers at sold-out USAir Arena, every game is going to matter a little more.

PHILADELPHIA -- After all this time, the participants in the Ken Wregget salary arbitration case were expecting the decision to be announced with ruffles and flourishes.Maybe arbitrator Monte Harris, who held the hearing in Toronto Oct. 24, would descend into the Spectrum carrying stone tablets. Or, at least, the fax machine would light up with a special emergency missive, announced by warning sirens.For the past five weeks, goaltender Wregget, agent Rick Curran and Philadelphia Flyers general manager Russ Farwell could count on being asked about the case at least once a day. An incredible sense of anticipation was building.

Thanks to left wing Randy Pearce, the Washington Capitals rookies didn't allow the Philadelphia Flyers rookies to ruin the grand opening of the Piney Orchard Arena in Odenton last night.Pearce, who will most likely wind up with the Baltimore Skipjacks of the American Hockey League this season, scored a goal at 10 minutes, 42 seconds of the second period to give the Washington rookies a 2-2 tie with Philadelphia in an exhibition game.It was the third goal in two nights for Pearce in the two-game series between the rookies from Philadelphia and Washington.

FREDERICK -- They are united by their common love of the game and separated by their disparate talents and goals.Some players in the Atlantic Basketball Association still have big dreams -- of the glamour, fortune and status attached to careers in the NBA.Others have more modest aims -- to stay in shape and to supplement their incomes with the $60 to $80 per game pay, plus fringe benefits such as insurance and workmen's compensation.Many teams play in drafty high school gyms with poor lighting, and crowds often can be counted by hand.

PHILADELPHIA -- The question 10 days ago was: Is Ron Hextall the Philadelphia Flyers' No. 1 goalie?The answer now is: Yes.Hextall, who missed 21 games because of a sprained left knee, began reclaiming the job with a stellar performance in his first game back, a 5-4 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks on Dec. 9.After playing well in a tie with the New York Islanders last week and in a victory over the Winnipeg Jets on Sunday, Hextall solidified his grip...

PHILADELPHIA -- Philadelphia Flyers coach Paul Holmgren looks as if he could lace up his skates and go out there and knock a few heads right now.His stomach is flat. His legs are strong. His hands can still make fists big enough to put the fear of a haymaker into your head. And the desire is still there. Oh, yes, the desire is still there. One look at his glazed eyes after a particularly tough loss and you know the man still has the psyche of a player.Holmgren, 35, who ended his 10-year playing career in 1985, uses his head to play hockey these days.

LANDOVER -- The last time a diagrammed play actually worked in a hockey game was the same week Constantinople changed its name to Istanbul.Making the event even more memorable is the fact there were just 13 seconds remaining in the Washington Capitals-Philadelphia Flyers game and the Caps trailed by a goal.The home team had pulled goalie Jim Carey in favor of a sixth attacker about 45 seconds previous and the pressure on the Flyers' goal was only so-so when the whistle blew and a faceoff was called deep in the Philly end of the ice just to the right of goalie Ron Hextall.

PHILADELPHIA -- All those years, Bernie Parent wore a mask the color of sunshine. Painted smile. Twinkling eyes. Arched eyebrows. His "Some fun, eh?" motto scrawled across a wrinkle-free forehead.That was off the ice.On the ice, he wore a generic white mask with the Flyers' logo at the temples, a mask to deflect pucks, a mask to hide the terror he kept deep inside him."Goaltending," Parent said Wednesday, "it's not a pleasant career."They honored Parent at the Spectrum Wednesday night as a "sports legend."

PHILADELPHIA -- The most obvious thing that can be said about Wednesday's deal between the Flyers and the Hartford Whalers is also the truest -- that two guys who needed a change of scenery got one.Just three seasons ago, Kevin Dineen was among the best right wings in the NHL, a feisty 45-goal scorer who started in the All-Star Game for the Wales Conference.But the Whalers didn't win a playoff round that year, or any other year between 1986 and the present. Dineen, Ron Francis and Ulf Samuelsson, the players who formed the Whalers' late-'80s nucleus, took much of the blame for that failing.

LANDOVER -- Center Joe Juneau assisted on all of Washington's goals as the Capitals played to a 4-4 tie with the Philadelphia Flyers last night.Martin Gendron, Keith Jones, Dale Hunter and Calle Johansson scored for Washington, and goaltender Jim Carey made 30 saves.But this tie still was a bitter pill for Washington. The Caps had lost 4-3 in overtime to the Flyers in their first preseason game and last night Johansson's power-play goal 5:07 into the third period had given the Capitals a 4-2 lead.