Circumstances, often called "immediate pressing needs," usually dictate trades. Nearly every sports team is vulnerable to a writer compiling a list of traded-away players who could be helping the club today.
Years ago, the Boston Red Sox traded minor-league first baseman Jeff Bagwell for an aging reliever who helped them make the playoffs. They're forever dogged by writers who, forgetting that the Red Sox will always be the 1990 Eastern Division champions of record, lambaste them for letting Bagwell get away.
Philadelphia Flyers fans, who warmed to the Broad Street Bullies 25 years ago, loved the play of banging right winger Sandy McCarthy but were told last March that the team needed a penalty killer and fourth-line checking center, so McCarthy was dealt to Carolina for Kent Manderville.
Besides, the Flyers were loaded with big forwards like Eric Lindros, John Leclair, Keith Jones and Keith Primeau. Now, under coach Bill Barber, the Flyers play an aggressive checking game suited to the play of power forwards Primeau, Daymond Langkow and Rick Tocchet. Jones has retired due to arthritic knees, Leclair is sidelined by back problems, Lindros is recovering from multiple concussions and Manderville hasn't scored in a year-and-a-half.
"I was a little bit disappointed because I thought I had dug in pretty good there and I had a lot of support, a good following," said McCarthy, now playing with his fifth NHL team, the New York Rangers. "But that's the game. They thought they needed something else and went in a different direction. I wasn't part of that plan."
While a lot of Flyers fans and some of his old teammates probably wish he was working the right boards at the First Union Center, McCarthy's Rangers, particularly linemates Theo Fleury, the League's second-leading scorer, and Mike York, are glad he's with them. Fleury played with McCarthy in Calgary and recommended him.
"(President and General Manager) Glen Sather asked about him. I said he would be a great acquisition to have on our team," Fleury said. "Nobody messes with the line when he's out there and he creates room for me and Mike York. I played with him for several years. We're really good friends off the ice as well."
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Sandy McCarthy was a fan favorite in Philadelphia.
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McCarthy is another in a long line of hockey "enforcers" who leave the rough stuff on the ice and display a pleasant, engaging personality off it. He'd like to focus on his pure hockey skills, but he knows his strength and willingness to protect teammates have helped keep him in the NHL for eight years.
McCarthy will get his penalty minutes, always has, but he'll never threaten Dave "Tiger" Williams record of 3,966 penalty minutes. With experience, he has become less likely to take "dumb" penalties. His average of 1.35 penalty minutes per game this year is below his 2.45 career average. Coach Ron Low appreciates that.
"He's been awesome. He's played a role as a 'force forechecker' and done a great job for us," Low said. "He's a very smart player. His majors are going to come, but Sandy takes hardly any minors like slashing or hooking -- just one lazy penalty in the offensive zone all year. He's got a snarl about his game and he's put up some warning flags. He's helped our hockey club a lot."
"I'm not a dirty player. I don't do dirty things," said McCarthy, whose career penalty average is below Tocchet's. "Sometimes, rough stuff happens. I try to play the game. You have to play smart or you won't get the chance to be out there."
Level-headed and mature, McCarthy adds strength and character to the Rangers.
"He's becoming more vocal as he gets to know his teammates," Low said. "Sandy says the right things at the right time. He says what's needed to be said. He has leadership qualities."
McCarthy loved hockey from the git-go, starting at age 3 in Stroud, Ontario, near Barrie.
"I remember that I was always a lot bigger than the other kids and I used to hurt the kids my age so put me into a higher age level," McCarthy said. "After 6 or 7, I stayed with my own age group."
While his big body has helped him enjoy a professional career, it has hindered his skating ability. He spends hundreds of extra hours a year working on his footwork. Not the fastest player off the line, McCarthy is a frightening sight bearing down on a goalie at full speed.
"My skating ability has never been the best. When I was growing up I was long and lanky and it didn't look like I had a very good stride," he said. "Once I get up to top speed it's hard to stop me. I've worked on it every year and taken power-skating classes. I work every summer to improve the strength in my lower body to be a better skater."
"He has definitely improved his skating," Fleury said. "He always had the good hands and could handle the puck really well. Working to improve his speed every year is what is going to take him to the next level."
"I think he's probably a little lighter than at any time he's been in the NHL and he feels better about his skating and his game," Low observed.
McCarthy said he played hockey for fun and never expected to play professionally until he was drafted. He credits Avalanche coach Bob Hartley, his coach with the Hawkesbury Hawks Junior A team in the Tier 2 system when he was 16.
"He helped make me mentally stronger, really worked with me on the mental part of the game," McCarthy said. "I had him again when I was 19 at Laval in Major Junior. He helped me develop the skill part of my game when I was there. When I started in the NHL at Calgary, my coach was Dave King. He was great for the technical part of my game, learning the systems, where I should be when the puck's in our zone and the x's and o's of the game. He helped me a lot in that part of the game.
