QUICK HITS: APRIL 21, 2017
1) Scott Gordon's Lehigh Valley Phantoms open the Calder Cup playoffs on Friday night as they host Troy Mann's Hershey Bears at the PPL Center in Allentown, PA. Game time is 7:05 p.m. EDT. The game will be televised for those with access to Service Electric's TV2 Sports channel, on the radio (ESPN WSAN-AM 1470 and WAEB-AM 790), live audio streamed for free on the
Phantoms' TuneIn.com site and video streamed ($9.99 single-game price) at
AHL Live.
This year's best-of-five series marks the fifth time the Phantoms and Bears have met in the playoffs. For Lehigh Valley, now in their third season in Allentown after five campaigns in Glens Falls, NY as the Adirondack Phantoms, the upcoming series marks their first trip to the Calder Cup playoffs in eight years; dating back to the 2009 first-round loss to the eventual Calder Cup champion Bears in the final season at the Spectrum as the Philadelphia Phantoms.
Over on the Flyers' official website, there is a two-part in-depth preview of the Phantoms vs. Bears series.
Part One is available now while Part Two will go online by Friday afternoon.
2) Pre-series underdog Brynäs IF Gävle took a two games to one lead in their Swedish Hockey League final series against HV71 Jönköping. Despite Oskar Lindblom being held off the scoresheet for a second straight game, BIF claimed a 4-3 road overtime victory in Game Three. Flyers goaltending prospect Felix Sandström's run of starts ended with now-healthy veteran David Rautio returning to the net. Game Four will take place in Gävle on Saturday as BIF looks to move within one victory of its 14th Swedish championship and first since 2012.
3) For those who have not seen it, the
Flyers A-to-Z biography microsite at the Flyers' official website contains profiles of every player -- right up through the recent NHL debuts of Mike Vecchione, Samuel Morin and Robert Hägg in the final week of the 2016-17 season -- in franchise history. In weeks to come, some typos and graphical errors will be cleaned up and information updated on all current Flyers players through the end of this past season. The site also contains a daily
Today in Flyers History synopsis of notable events and Flyers birthdays from each calendar date.
4) There is -- or should be -- no schadenfreude to be derived from the travails of former Flyers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky in the Columbus Blue Jackets' five-game ouster in the opening round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. Just a few weeks ago, many Flyers fans were in "pining for Bob mode". Now, he is suddenly being deemed overrated by the same folks and getting the "Steve Mason treatment" wherein all of his team's collective woes in getting outplayed by the Pittsburgh Penguins are getting pinned on him. The goalie is always the easy scapegoat.
Bobrovsky was not at his best against Pittsburgh. He appeared to be pressing as the series moved along (and perhaps a bit tired at the tail end of the regular season after playing 60-plus games for the first time in his career). The goaltender was over-committing and fighting the puck. His teammates did him few favors, though, by losing too many puck and positional battles that ended up in the net on second-chance opportunities. The Blue Jackets lost the series by getting outplayed as a team, goaltending included.
In the big picture, though, Bobrovsky deserves to win his second Vezina Trophy (keep in mind that all NHL award voting except the Conn Smythe Trophy is completed before the playoffs start). The Blue Jackets nucleus is formidable and young. Although many players got schooled in the first-round debacle, they will learn from it in the long term. The team still has the look of a club that could be a contender for years to come.
Also in the big picture, whatever Bobrovsky does with the Blue Jackets -- whether its winning the Vezina or having a pair of rough playoff series in firs-round exits -- is by no means a parallel to what would have happened if the Flyers had not brought in Ilya Bryzgalov and if Bobrovsky had not quietly demanded a trade a year later. Likewise, whatever Mason did in Columbus years ago -- whether winning the Calder Trophy at age 20 or struggling mightily for the next several seasons -- is irrelevant to his Flyers career and wherever his career may take him next if he departs this summer via free agency.
Besides, Mason and Bobrovsky were not even traded for another. Both needed a change of scenery and both quickly took advantage of their fresh start with a second team.
5) One other note from the Columbus vs. Pittsburgh series. Scott Hartnell, who has two seasons left to run on his $4.75 million cap-hit contract, was a healthy scratch in Game Four and barely played in the elimination game in Game Five.
He's had a bit of a rocky working relationship with John Tortorella ever since the coach's arrival in Columbus. The 35-year-old left winger was often relegated to fourth-line duties this season. It will be interesting to see how the longtime Philadelphia fan favorite fits in the Blue Jackets' plans as they prepare for next season.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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