QUICK HITS: MAY 30, 2017
1) A question was asked on Twitter about how many former Flyers head coaches later steered a different team to the Stanley Cup Final. The answer is four.
Fred Shero took the New York Rangers to the Final in 1978-79. Pat Quinn brought the Vancouver Canucks within one win (a 4-3 loss in Game 7) of the 1993-94 Stanley Cup against Mike Keenan's New York Rangers. Previously, Keenan coached the 1991-92 Stanley Cup finalist Chicago Blackhawks. This season, of course, Peter Laviolette has reached the Final with the Nashville Predators.
In terms of Flyers head coaches who took their team to the Final before they took the job in Philadelphia, Laviolette won the Stanley Cup with the Carolina Hurricanes in 2005-06. Ken Hitchcock, who had previously been a Flyers' assistant coach in the early 1990s before becoming the team's head coach in the 2000s, was behind the Dallas Stars' bench when the team won the Cup in 1998-99 and then reached the Final again the next year before losing to New Jersey. Roger Neilson coached the Canucks to the Final in 1981-82 after starting out the season as an assistant coach and then taking over for Harry Neale as head coach in March.
Other former Flyers head coaches have been subsequently associated with Cup finalist teams in other capacities. John Stevens was an assistant coach with the LA Kings' 2011-12 and 2013-14 clubs that won the Cup. After being let go by the Flyers as coach/GM, Bob McCammon served as a scout and then an assistant coach with the Edmonton Oilers during their 1980s dynasty.
Terry Murray was relieved of his duties as LA Kings head coach midway through the 2011-12 season before the club went on to win the Cup. However, the organization was so grateful to Murray for the job he had done nurturing the team through its years of rebuilding through youth that he received a Stanley Cup ring for the important role he'd played in building a champion even if he wasn't there when the job was completed.
Broad Street Bullies era checking center Terry Crisp, who later served as a Flyers assistant coach under Shero, coached the 1988-89 Calgary Flames to the Stanley Cup championship.
2) Flyers forward prospect Oskar Lindblom was named to the Swedish Ice Hockey Federation's All-Star Team of Swedish players in European leagues (SHL, KHL, Liiga, etc.) during the 2016-17 season. The 20-year-old was recognized by SIF for his outstanding season with Brynäs IF Gävle. The rest of the All-Star Team consisted of forwards Linus Omark (Salavat Yulaev Ufa, KHL) and Joakim Lindström (Skellefteå AIK, SHL), defensemen Henrik Tömmernes (Frölunda HC Gothenburg, SHL) and Philip Holm (Växjö Lakers, SHL) and goalie Oscar Alsenfeldt (Malmö Redhawks, SHL). Lindblom is expected to sign an entry-level contract with the Flyers this offseason.
Speaking recently to Sydsvenskan, Lindblom
was asked if he wants to take his shot at the NHL next season.
"We'll see how it goes. Obviously, everyone wants to play in the NHL," Lindblom said. "If I go over, there'll be a battle to take a roster spot [on the NHL team]. But there's a hard summer [of training] first."
3) If the Flyers do not sign 2015 fourth-round pick Samuel Dove-McFalls to an entry-level contract today, the team will lose the checking forward's rights on June 1 and he can re-enter the NHL Draft. According to Cap Friendly's list of impeding expired-rights players, Dove-McFalls would be the lone CHL-affiliated top 100 pick in the 2015 Draft to not be offered an entry-level contract. If this comes to pass, however, it won't so much be an indictment of Dove-McFalls as a potential future pro role player as it is an indicator of how the depth of Flyers' recent drafts have enabled general manager Ron Hextall to be more selective about whom he signs to an ELC.
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UPCOMING EVENTS
The Flyers Alumni will be very active this summer, taking part in three major events. Below is more information on each:
2017 Flyers Alumni Golf Invitational benefiting the Flyers Alumni Association, Flyers Charities and BLOCS. The event will take place at DuPont Country Club in Wilmington on June 26.
Flyers Charity Classic on July 16. Jointly organized by the Flyers and the Flyers Alumni. Participants can sign up for any of four events -- a 5k run/walk from the Wells Fargo Center to the Navy Yard and back, a 10k family bike ride (Wells Fargo Center to Art Museum and back) or individual bike ride (same route), a 50k scenic bike ride through Philadelphia or a 100k bike route. Participating Flyers Alumni include Brad Marsh (team captain), Bernie Parent (team captain), Tim Kerr (team captain), Paul Holmgren, Bob Clarke, Ian Laperriere and Joe Watson. The public can join the teams captained by Flyers Alumni (such as Brad's
Ides of Marsh team), captain or join another team or participate individually. More information on teams involving the Flyers Alumni will be coming soon.
2017 Flyers Alumni Fantasy Camp in Atlantic City on Aug. 18-21, benefiting the Flyers Alumni Association and Flyers Charities. Participants will stay at the Tropicana Hotel and Casino and the on-ice activities will be at the Skate Zone in Atlantic City (transportation will be provided). Participating Alumni instructor/coaches include Hockey Hall of Famers Mark Howe and Bernie Parent, Danny Briere, Dave Poulin, Brian Boucher, Brad Marsh, Bob Kelly, Ian Laperriere, and Joe Watson.
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