The Rise and Fall of a Flyers Career That Was Short Lived

Primeau held out after the club signed Igor Larionov and after playing for Canada in the 1996 World Cup of Hockey, Detroit traded him (along with Paul Coffey and a 1997 first-round draft pick, ultimately used to select Nikos Tselios) to the Hartford Whalers in exchange for Brendan Shanahan and Brian Glynn a few days following the start of the 1996�97 season.

The Philadelphia Flyers were looking to shake things up in their lineup and made the trade with Carolina to acquire Keith Primeau for Rod Brind'Amour, Jean-Marc Pelletier and a 2000 second-round draft pick (Agris Saviels) on January 23, 2000. The key parts being the departure of beloved Brind'Amour, who would go on to win a Stanley Cup with the Hurricanes and now has become the head coach of the Canes.

Impact was made immediately as he led the team in goals with 34 and points in 73, both career highs. A pivotal moment was when he scored the Game winning goal against the Pittsburgh Penguins in a 5-overtime game. Only two games were longer.

Showing great leadership and with the resignation of captaincy in Eric Desjardins, Primeau became the team's captain. In 2004, Primeau took over in the playoffs against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Primeau recorded nine goals and seven assists for a total of 16 points; it was the best playoff year of his career. In Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals, against the Tampa Bay Lightning, Primeau scored the game-tying goal with 1:49 left in regulation. The Flyers won the game, 5�4 in overtime, sending the series back to Tampa for Game 7. The Flyers went on to lose that game by a score of 2�1.

Hockey legend Phil Esposito later told Primeau that this.

"During the '04 playoffs, when you and the Flyers took the Lightning to seven games, you were the most dominating player I ever saw. More than Orr, Howe, Gretzky, or anyone"