The way I see it is that Homer had a very good grasp on building a good competitive Team from Season to Season... but couldn't or wouldn't tie that into the 'New' Cap and 'New' NHL... Sans a Cap Homer could probably have continued to entice and/or obtain the right players to compete each year. With a Cap that he could not grasp... or refused to hassle with on a down the road basis... he just hit a point where the toll paid the Piper was too costly to maintain a competitive Team... Plus with the Cap hassling all the other GMs, he could no longer deal the Players he no longer wanted/needed to restock. Homer was a Pre-Cap GM lost in a Cap Era NHL... With that I find it hard to dislike Homer... and/or hate what he did as GM... but easy to dislike the position the Flyers find themselves in.
That said, Homer did Draft well... with the Picks he did not move... and started the rebuild that Hexy has continued... He was a good bridge between Clarke, who didn't have the stomach to play the 'Business' game that no longer could side with the Players... and Hextall who is definitely more adept to play hard and cool within the highly restricted NHL Business Organizations... that has a matrix of Player Evaluation/Development, Cost Budget Analysts and hard nosed Businessmen.
So yeah... let's move on without being too hard on Homer.. and Clark who had much success in their Times.
JMO
