Best of luck to former Flyers forward Sami Kapanen as he attempts to come back this season as an active player for KalPa Kuopio of Finland's SM-Liiga. Bothered by back problems, Kapanen announced his retirement after the 2009-10 season to focus solely on his responsibilities as the team's majority owner.
Spending a year off the ice did him a lot of good physically, but Kapanen felt the itch to play again and he announced this summer that he was going to be returning to the ice. Yesterday was his first game, as KalPa took on Slovakian Extraliga team Slovan Bratislava in the first game of the
2011 European Trophy tournament.
Kapanen did not register a point against Slovan but he was the best player on either side; the smallest player on the ice was also the only one playing with any real degree of intensity. KalPa nursed an early 1-0 lead late into the third period before Slovan tied the game. After a scoreless overtime period, the game went to a shootout. Kapanen had a chance to win the game and beat the goaltender cleanly on a forehand wrister but ticked the shot off the post. Slovan ultimately won (2 goals to 1) in a seven-round shootout.
Apart from Kapanen, there were several other players with past Flyers' ties involved in yesterday's game. Ex-Phantoms and Flyers defenseman Jussi Timonen (whose older brother Kimmo is a minority owner of the club) and former Flyers draft pick Marko Kauppinen are starters on the KalPa blueline. On the Slovan side, former Flyers draft pick Jan Lipiansky assisted on the game-tying goal late in regulation and was denied on a backhander during the shootout.
For those who are interested, webcasts of upcoming tournament games -- including tomorrow's game between defending Swedish champions Farjestad and defending German champs Eisbaren Berlin -- will be available
here. Even if you are not a fan of European hockey, at least there are some live pro games to watch this month. There are no games online today.
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There was a nice
article last week in the Edmonton Journal about Flyers' first round pick Sean Couturier. Among others, Tampa Bay Lightning scout Al Murray was dumbfounded as to how the player wound up sliding to eighth in the draft after he entered last season tabbed as a top two pick. Murray said that he sees Couturier's NHL offensive upside being much higher than some have predicted, and the player is a two-way standout to boot.
Assuming that he does not make the NHL lineup and remain in Philadelphia beyond 10 games, Couturier stands an excellent chance of playing in his second straight World Junior Championships for Team Canada. He played last year and has earned praise for his performance at Team Canada's evaluation camp this month.
Meanwhile, today at the Ivan Hlinka Tournament (a U18 event), Team Canada will play Russia in the semifinals. The game can be tracked
here.
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During the rookie camp portion of the Flyers' training camp in September, one of the invited attendees will be 18-year-old Everett Silvertips left winger
Campbell Elynuik. Injuries limited the 6-4, 190-pound checking winger to 28 games last season (3 G, 2 A, 5 PTS, 54 PIM).
He is the son of former NHL player Pat Elynuik.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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