QUICK HITS: MAY 13, 2017
1) Team France continued its Cinderella story at the 2017 IIHF World Championships on Friday, picking up its third win of the preliminary round in a 4-3 shootout win against Belarus. Previously, the French team upset Finland and Switzerland before giving Canada a scare in a game the Canadians ultimately won, 3-2. In Friday's game, Pierre-Edouard Bellemare forced overtime with a goal at 12:35 of the third period that tied the score at 3-3. Bellemare logged 22:21 of ice time for the game.
2) In other Friday action at the Worlds, Team Czech Republic breezed to a 5-1 win over Slovenia. Team captain Jakub Voracek and defenseman Radko Gudas chipped in an assist apiece. The Czech squad plays France on Sunday.
3) On Saturday morning (U.S. time), Finland shrugged off an early deficit and a later blown lead to defeat Norway in overtime, 3-2. Valtteri Filppula did not get on the scoresheet in this game. The Finns play Switzerland on Sunday. In later-day Saturday action, Team Russia (Ivan Provorov) played Slovakia.
4) Divisional realignment is coming to the American Hockey League in 2017-18. The league will remain at 30 clubs, meaning the NHL's new Vegas Golden Knights will not have an exclusive affiliate next season. Most notably for the Flyers' affiliate, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, there is a change in the Atlantic Division. The Charlotte Checkers (Carolina Hurricanes' affiliate) have switched from the Western Conference to Eastern Conference and have been placed in the Atlantic. The Albany Devils (New Jersey Devils) have relocated to Binghamton, NY and will remain in the North Division. The Binghamton Senators (Ottawa Senators), also in the North Division, have relocated to Belleville, Ontario. The St. John's IceCaps (Montreal Canadiens) are moving from Newfoundland to Laval, Quebec and the team name will be changed to the Laval Rocket.
The Atlantic Division for next season will consist of the Phantoms, Wilkes Barre/Scranton Penguins (Pittsburgh Penguins), Hershey Bears (Washington Capitals), Bridgeport Sound Tigers (New York Islanders), Hartford Wolf Pack (New York Rangers), Providence Bruins (Boston Bruins),
Springfield Thunderbirds (Florida Panthers) and Charlotte.
5) One of the neat features of the upcoming Flyers Charity Classic (July 16, 2017) is the ability for people participating in any of the four events to join an existing team (including the ones captained by Flyers Alumni), start their own team or compete individually.
I am still deciding which event I will do, but I will be joining Brad Marsh's "Ides of Marsh" team, which will also feature Flyers Hall of Fame defenseman Joe Watson and various members of Brad's family. Brad will be doing the 100K bike ride, while Joe will be walking the 5k run/walk course from the Wells Fargo Center to the Navy Yard and back. More information is available on
Brad's Charity Classic page and on the
Ides of Marsh team page.
Other Flyers Alumni participating in the Charity Classic include Tim Kerr (captaining a team, and raising money for his own charity foundation,
Tim Kerr Charities), Bernie Parent (also captaining a team), Ian Laperriere, Bob Clarke and Paul Holmgren. More additions are pending.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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