MELTZER'S MUSINGS: AUGUST 22, 2015
1) The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) preseason is underway. Flyers 2014 second-round pick Nicolas Aube-Kubel scored a power play goal to open the scoring and had four shots on goal but also took four separate minor penalties to put his team shorthanded in the Val-d'Or Foreurs' 5-4 overtime loss to the Blaineville-Boisbriand Armada on Friday. Aube-Kubel wore the captain's C for Val-d'Or. The Foreurs led 4-1 after the second period but were unable to protect their lead. The two teams will rematch on Saturday.
Flyers 2015 fourth-round pick Samuel Dove-McFalls won 17 of 24 faceoffs, was plus-one, registered one shot on goal and was credited with one hit in the St. John Seadogs' 8-2 blowout win over the Acadie-Bathurst Titans on Friday night. He did not record a point. St. John will play the Moncton Wildcats on Saturday.
The Ontario Hockey League (OHL) preseason starts on Sept. 4. Flyers 2015 first-round pick Travis Konecny's Ottawa 67s club does not play until Sept. 18, during which time Konecny will be getting a taste of his first pro training camp with Philadelphia.
The Western Hockey League (WHL) preseason also starts on Sept. 4. The Calgary Hitmen, with both Flyers 2014 first-round pick Travis Sanheim and 2014 sixth-round pick Radel Fazleev on the roster, will pay a visit to the Regina Pats on that night. The Brandon Wheat Kings, with Flyers 2015 first-round pick Ivan Provorov potentially playing one game before heading to camp with the Flyers, starts Sept. 11 with a game against Regina.
Flyers rookie camp starts on Sept. 14. The veterans officially have to report on Sept. 17. However, most if not all players typically work out in Voorhees ahead of the reporting date.
2) Adding two more players to an increasingly crowded roster, the American Hockey League's Lehigh Valley Phantoms announced on Friday that they have signed veteran defenseman Logan Pyett and forward Geoff Walker to one-year AHL deals.
Pyett, 27, is a smallish puck moving/ offensive minded defenseman who spent the last two seasons in the KHL after beginning his career in the Detroit Red Wings' farm system. He has played 362 career AHL games with Grand Rapids and the Connecticut Whale. Pyett had a pair of nine-goal seasons while in Grand Rapids. He also had a 39-point season while with the Whale.
Walker, 27, is a big (6-foot-3, 220 pound) and gritty power winger who has shuttled between the ECHL level and the AHL in his career and spent the entire 2014-15 season in the ECHL with the Ontario Reign and Missouri Mavericks. His best AHL season came in 2011-12, when he produced 44 points (18 goals, 26 assists) and 114 penalty minutes in 68 games for the Wilkes Barre/Scranton Penguins.
With a seeming overflow of players on NHL two-way deals and AHL contracts, the Phantoms may end up having some excess roster players who end up getting assigned to the ECHL's Reading Royals. This is especially true on the blueline; a player such as second-year pro Jesper Pettersson may have to start the season in Reading. Up front, Walker will compete for a fourth-line role for new coach Scott Gordon's club but could also end up in Reading.
However, with Flyers general manager Ron Hextall saying that he anticipates some of the Flyers' blueline prospects to start filtering up to the NHL at some point over the next season -- the obvious candidates being second-year pro Shayne Gostisbehere and 2013 first-round pick Samuel Morin with second-year pro Robert Hà¤gg as a possibility if he has a breakthrough and third-year pro Mark Alt as a dark horse -- there could be defense jobs opening in Allentown by the end of the 2015-16 season.
3) Flyers Hall of Fame left winger Brian Propp posted a photo on Twitter of various players from different generations gathering in Atlanta City for the start of the Flyers Alumni Fantasy Hockey Camp, which will feature 40 participants from across North America. Pictured in the photo are the likes of Propp, Bernie Parent, Andre "Moose" Dupont, Joe Watson, Ian Laperriere, Todd "Fridge" Fedoruk, Bob "the Hound" Kelly and Dave "the Hammer" Schultz.
@FlyersAlumni @NHLFlyers @billmeltzer @WCRE1 #watson #laperierre #fedoruk #schultz #kelly #dupont #parent #propp pic.twitter.com/FAgvfxDv3O
— Brian Propp (@guffaw26) August 22, 2015
TODAY IN FLYERS HISTORY FROM FlyersAlumni.org: AUGUST 22
1974: After announcing his retirement as a player due to a serious eye injury, Flyers Hall of Famer Barry Ashbee formally accepts an offer to become an assistant coach under Hockey Hall of Famer Fred Shero.
1985: The Hockey Hall of Fame career of left winger Bill Barber officially comes to an end as he retires due to chronic knee problems. He had not played in over a year.
2005: The Flyers made various depth signings, inking free agent forwards Eric Chouinard, Pat Kavanagh and Ryan Ready as well as free agent veteran goaltender Jamie Storr to contracts.
Flyers Alumni birthdays
Current Flyers forward Brayden Schenn (born Aug. 22, 1991) turns 24 today. He shares a birthday with longtime Hershey Bears standout Mitch Lamoureaux (1962) and hard-checking defenseman Bruno St. Jacques (1980). Current Flyers goalie prospect Merrick Madsen turns 20 today.