- Yes, I was informed the day before the draft here in Ottawa. We had discussed an extension, but they had come to the conclusion that they wanted a new voice and we have therefor decided to go separate ways, says Inge Hammarström.
Hammarström, who played NHL hockey in Toronto and St. Louis in the 70s, has had the position since 1990 to be exact. He was the scout that pushed the hardest for the Flyers drafting Peter Forsberg, who was actually only ranked at number 25 before the draft by The Hockey News. This is something he obvious is proud of.
Inge Hammarström thinks his biggest accomplishment was when he found Peter "Foppa" Forsberg and convinced Philadelphia to draft him in the beginning of the 90s. But also thinks that it was weak by the club to trade him away with a bunch of players for Eric Lindros before he even came over to the NHL.
- The club missed a chance to win a couple of Stanley Cups there. It was also sad that they didn't pick Jaromir Jagr, even though I really tried to convince them to draft him, says Inge.
He also thinks that the Flyers not being able to win any titles, during his time with the team, have been the toughest.
- But at the same time I've been well faoured to be able to be in the same organization for such a long time and been part in helping rebuilding the team again.
Swedish goalie Joacim Eriksson ended up being Hammarström's last pick as a Flyers scout. Inge says though that he has already gotten interest from other NHL clubs with few scouts in Europe, so he will probably find a new team soon.
Interesting with the Forsberg/Jagr part - that would have been a fun duo to watch. On the other hand, Forsberg won 2 Cups with Colorado, Jagr won 2 with Pittsburgh and Lindros led Flyers to a Stanley Cup final before his concussion problems started, so it turned out pretty good for the teams.
By the way, Mike Ricci was the player that they picked instead of Jaromir Jagr.
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1 comment:
More Swedes for Detroit!
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