Meltzer's Musings: August 9, 2016
1) Twenty years ago, the first official event held at the brand new CoreStates Center (now Wells Fargo Center) was the 1996 World Cup of Hockey: three separate thrillers as Team USA downed Canada in a preliminary round game, Canada claimed a double-OT victory over Sweden in the single-elimination semifinals and, after a late USA goal by John LeClair to force OT, Canada prevailed in overtime in the first game of a best-of-three finals.
Overall, the 1996 World Cup was a spectacular tournament that featured some of the best hockey played since the 1972 Summit Series and 1987 Canada Cup. Ultimately, of course, Team USA prevailed in what may have been the second biggest crowning achievement for American hockey; surpassed only by the Miracle on Ice in Lake Placid but surpassing Team USA's gold medal back in the 1960 Olympics in terms of its lasting impact.
Twenty years later, the victorious 1996 Team USA squad from the World Cup of Hockey will be collectively inducted into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame. The roster had many Flyers connections, both at the time (players LeClair and Joel Otto as well as Team USA assistant coach Paul Holmgren) and in the years that followed (Derian Hatcher, Tony Amonte). Future Flyers center Jeremy Roenick was unable to play in the tourney because of the injury risk at a time when he was unsigned in the NHL.
The date and location of the induction ceremony are not yet official. However, it has been rumored for months that the ceremony will take place in Philadelphia at the end of November or in early December. We shall see.
2) Over on the Flyers' official site, fan voting is underway to select three former Flyers goaltenders to be honored on Goalies Heritage Night on December 8 when the current Flyers take on the Edmonton Oilers at the Wells Fargo Center. To be quite honest, the probable top three vote-getters in the fan balloting -- Bernie Parent, Ron Hextall and Pelle Lindbergh -- are pretty much shoo-ins but there are other worthy candidates in the bigger picture of honoring Flyers' goalies of the past.
* Doug Favell may not have been a superstar, but he served the team well in his own right during its first six seasons of existence.
* The late Wayne Stephenson played in a pair of NHL All-Star Games in years (1975-76 and 1977-78) where he had to step up and play frequently with Bernie Parent unavailable.
* Pete Peeters played in a couple All-Star Games as a Flyer and was later a Vezina winner in Boston.
* Bob Froese was a Vezina first runner-up in 1985-86 after the death of 194-85 Vezina winner Pelle Lindbergh and the ascension of 1986-87 Vezina winner Ron Hextall.
* Brian Boucher had some great moments in his career, including arguably the second-best rookie season by a Flyers goalie.
* Roman Cechmanek was a Vezina finalist and fourth in the Hart Trophy ballot in 2000-01, shared a Jennings Trophy with Robert Esche in 2002-03 and was a two-time Bobby Clarke Trophy winner.
To vote,
click here.
3) Happy 46th birthday wishes go out to Flyers Hall of Famer Rod Brind'Amour. Also celebrating August 9 birthdays are Harvey Bennett and Andy Brickley.
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2016 Flyers Alumni Fantasy Camp
The 2nd annual Flyers Alumni Fantasy Camp is sold out.
The camp will be held Aug. 19 -22, 2016 in Atlantic City. The Alumni have assembled an excellent group of instructor/coaches this year, including Hockey Hall of Famers Bernie Parent and Mark Howe, along with the likes of Danny Briere and Flyers assistant coach Ian Laperriere.
The official Flyers Alumni website will soon have a camp preview and exclusive photos afterwards of the various on-ice activities, end-of-camp tourney and off-ice festivities.
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