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Quick Hits: Phantoms Update, Memorial Cup Schedule, IIHF Worlds Update |
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PHANTOMS UPDATE
The Lehigh Valley Phantoms will have their hands full in the upcoming Eastern Conference Final series against the Toronto Marlies. Toronto was the only team in the American Hockey League that had a better regular season record than the Phantoms this season. A perennial Calder Cup contender, the Marlies (top farm club of the Toronto Maple Leafs) have reached the Eastern Conference Final for the fourth time in the last seven years. The Marlies reached the Calder Cup Final in the spring of 2012, losing to the Norfolk Admirals.
The Phantoms expect to have 2017-18 American Hockey League Most Valuable Player (Les Cunningham Award) winner Phil Varone back in the lineup in time to start the upcoming series against Toronto. Varone was injured in Game 3 of the first-round series against the Providence Bruins and missed the clinching game of that series as well as all five games against Charlotte. His return could be a boost for what has been an inconsistent offensive attack for the Phantoms in the postseason.
Another boost could come from the impending return of second-year forward Nicolas Aube-Kubel, who will be returning from his third suspension of the season for checking to the head. When he hasn't been off serving suspensions, Aube-Kubel has taken big steps in his game compared to his rookie year. While his basic offensive stats (18 goals, 46 points) may look pedestrian, he compiled them without the benefit of power play time. At 5-on-5, he was one the American Hockey League's most productive offensive players this season in addition to improving various aspects of his all-around game.
Travis Sanheim is dealing with a sprained left MCL, according to longtime Flyers beat writer Tim Panaccio. It will not require surgery, as was also the case with Flyers top-line center Sean Couturier. It is possible that Sanheim could play at some point in the Toronto series. He was only ruled out for the series against Charlotte, and the upcoming series against the Marlies does not start until May 19.
There is no official status update on Samuel Morin, but the circumstantial evidence does not look promising. Replays of his right knee injury in Game 4 in Charlotte are pretty gruesome. Video appears to show the 6-foot-7 Morin catching his skate in the ice as he went into the boards on a routine check. Morin was in immediate distress as he clutched his knee, howling in pain.
Unlike Sanheim, who did not need crutches after his injury and walked without a limp ala Couturier, Morin was seen walking on crutches after the 5-OT marathon. Also unlike Sanheim, there is no talk about Morin potentially being available to play again anytime soon. It's been a brutal season for Big Sam, injury-wise. He spent virtually the entire season working through a recurrent nagging injury (believed but never officially confirmed to be a groin or abdominal muscle strain with overcompensation-related subsequent issues) that kept him out much of November and ruined a recall to the Flyers, later caused him to be shut down for most of December and eventually kept him out from Jan. 20 until Game 2 of the Charlotte series.
On a brighter note, Phantoms goaltender Alex Lyon enters the Eastern Conference Final with a 6-1-0 record, 1.49 GAA and .959 save percentage. For the Charlotte series, Lyon posted a 4-0 record, 0.73 GAA, and .979 save percentage. Although he went eight straight shutout periods between Games 4 and 5 without allowing a goal, he didn't record a shutout in the series. That was just about the only thing Lyon didn't accomplish in that series.
Flyers 2017 first-round pick Morgan Frost celebrated his 19th birthday on Monday although he'd have preferred to have been playing Game 7 of the OHL Finals. Now that Frost's OHL season is done, he is eligible to join the Phantoms for the rest of the playoffs, and Flyers general manager Ron Hextall said it is likely Frost will do so. However, after playing 91 games this year -- and by far the most all-situation minutes of his OHL career, with an apparent wear-down effect on him as the playoffs progressed -- odds are that he won't appear in game action for the Phantoms barring injuries.
Top Flyers goaltending prospect Carter Hart who saw his own season -- and junior hockey career -- come to an end with a Game 6 loss in the Western Hockey League Finals on Sunday evening, is also expected to join the Phantoms for the rest of the playoffs. However, with Lyon playing lights-out hockey and two veteran goalies (Dustin Tokarski and John Muse) available as backups, Hart likely will not dress in any games for Lehigh Valley.
When the Phantoms returned home to Allentown before beginning preparations for the upcoming series with Toronto, they were greeted by a sizable crowd who congratulated them for the second-round victory over Charlotte.
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MEMORIAL CUP SCHEDULE
Flyers prospects Matthew Strome of the OHL champion Hamilton Bulldogs and German Rubtsov of the QMJHL champion Acadie-Bathurst Titan will now turn their respective focus from their league playoffs to the Memorial Cup tournament at the Brandt Center in Regina, Saskatchewan. Hosted by the WHL's Regina Pats, the 100th edition of the tourney also includes the WHL champion Swift Current Broncos.
The schedule for the round-robin portion of the tournament is as follows:
Fri May 18: Regina Pats vs. Hamilton Bulldogs
Sat May 19: Acadie–Bathurst Titan vs. Swift Current Broncos
Sun May 20: Acadie–Bathurst Titan vs. Regina Pats
Mon May 21: Hamilton Bulldogs vs. Swift Current Broncos
Tue May 22: Hamilton Bulldogs vs. Acadie–Bathurst Titan
Wed May 23: Swift Current Broncos vs. Regina Pats
Thu May 24: Tiebreaker game (if necessary)
The semi-finals will take place on Fri, May 25. On Sun., May 27, the 2018 Memorial Cup champion will be crowned.
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IIHF WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: TUESDAY UPDATES
1) Flyers defenseman Radko Gudas and Team Czech Republic (6-1-0, 3 OT/SO wins) have completed the round-robin preliminary round portion of the 2018 IIHF World Championships in Denmark. They are awaiting the finalization of the medal round quarterfinal brackets. Gudas is plus-six with one assist and 4 PIM through seven games.
2) Flyers winger Michael Raffl and Team Austria (1-5-1) is done at the Worlds. They will neither advance to the medal round nor be relegated. Avoiding the latter was their main goal in the tournament. Raffl almost single-handedly willed the Austrians into a comeback point against the Czechs with two goals in the third period but the bid fell short in a 4-3 loss. Raffl finished the tournament with five points (four goals, one assist) in five games.
3) Flyers prospect winger Maksim Sushko and winless Team Belarus (0-6-0) finish their bracket on Tuesday with a game against Slovakia (2-2-2). Only South Korea (0-7-0), playing in its first top-level tournament, has had a rougher tournament than Belarus. The Korean squad has been outscored by a 48-4 margin in seven games, while the Belarusians fired head coach Dave Lewis three games into the preliminary round and have been outscored 29-4 through six games. The youngest player on Team Belarus, Sushko has dressed in five of his team's six games but did not skate a single shift in one of the games where he was on the bench. He is minus-three and has not recorded a point. Lewis had advocated for Sushko's inclusion on the senior national team after he was by far the Under-20 national team's best player at the World Junior Championships. However, since assistant coach Sergei Pushkov took over as head coach, Sushko has barely seen the ice as he's gone with veterans in an effort to pull off an upset win.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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