QUICK HITS: June 12, 2017
1) If signing Jordan Weal was truly the biggest issue facing the Philadelphia Flyers this offseason, the team would be in tremendous position. Alas, they face a lot of tough decisions as they try to get back into the playoffs next season while simultaneously taking the next steps toward building from within. Weal is not a make-or-break player but showed enough last season to suggest that he could be an effective role player.
Impending unrestricted free agent Weal, buoyed by a strong showing (eight goals, 12 points, plus-four) in 23 games with the NHL squad after posting 47 points in 42 games with the Phantoms, finds himself in a unique position. The Flyers may wind up having to overpay to keep a skilled but undersized player who passed through waivers unclaimed back in October and who had played just 14 career NHL games before his recall in the second half of the season. The question is where to draw the line contract wise.
The feeling here is that a deal gets done after the expansion draft and before July 1. If I had to predict the player the Flyers will lose to Vegas in the expansion draft, it would be either Nick Cousins or Scott Laughton.
2) Former Flyers and Spectrum executive Lou Scheinfeld is heading the Philadelphia Museum of Sports (Darien St. and Pattison Ave. near the stadium complex). On Thursday, June 15, there will be a VIP fundraiser for the museum project (running from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m) at The Green Parrot in Newtown, PA. Attendees will have a meet-and-greet opportunity with Flyers Hall of Fame left wing Brian Propp and Philadelphia Eagles 2017 first-round draft pick Derek Barnett.
For a $50 adult ticket (which includes one free child admission), food is included as well as the meet-and-greet with Propper and Barnett. A $100 ticket includes the above plus an open bar, a Museum of Sports pin and an opportunity to win a football autographed by Barnett.
I go to the Green Parrott from time to time -- it is a stone's throw from where I stay during hockey season and offseason family visits-- and they have good food there and a fun atmosphere.
3) One of my favorite obscure hockey sites on the internet is
NHLbackups.com, which is a site dedicated solely to posting mini biographies of players who dressed in one or more NHL games as a backup goaltender but who never appeared in a game. Philadelphia area native Eric Semborski now has a
bio on the site for his two appearances at Wells Fargo Center this past season: Dec 3 as a one-day member of the Chicago Blackhawks and April 1 as the Flyers' emergency backup goaltender on the night Steve Mason (flu) was unavailable, Anthony Stolarz arrived from Allentown just as the game was about to start and starter Michal Neuvirth collapsed in his crease early in the first period.
4) The annual Flyers Alumni Golf Invitational will take place on June 26, 2017 at DuPont Country Club in Wilmington. Yesterday, the Flyers Alumni Association released a preliminary list of confirmed participants. Alphabetically, here's the list of confirmed participants:
Frank Bathe
Brian Boucher
Danny Briere
Terry Carkner
Jeff Chychrun
Bill Clement
Steve Coates
Riley Cote
Doug Crossman
Todd Fedoruk
Ross Fitzpatrick
Larry Goodenough
Al Hill
Ed Hospodar
Paul Holmgren
Mark Howe
Kerry Huffman
Bob Kelly
Orest Kindrachuk
Mark LaForest
Mitch Lamoureux
Reggie Leach
Neil Little
Brad Marsh
Lou Nolan
Bernie Parent
Brian Propp
Don Saleski
Dave Schultz (attending, not golfing)
Al Secord
Chris Therien
Jim Watson
Joe Watson
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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