Voorhees - - Flyers Director of Player Development, Don Luce, said it best. Players are here to get better and that’s why you can’t look at this camp hoping to fill a spot on next year’s NHL roster. The odds are against it so with that premise let’s talk about who impressed me today.
Eric Wellwood (brother of Vancouver’s Kyle) - He’s listed as 5-11, 180, but yet he still has to get much sturdier. He can be checked off the puck and he was knocked off his skates during the scrimmage. With all of that said he was the fastest player on the ice and he was the best offensive player as well. He has a lot of talent and the fact that he won the Memorial Cup with Windsor this past season has basically given him even more confidence as he turns pro this year.
“Camp’s been good so far,” he said. “It’s the first time I’ve been out on the ice this season so it went well.
“I’ve been off the ice for a month. The first practice really shocked my lungs.”
He signed a pro contract at Christmas time and now he has his sights realistically set on Adirondack.
“I’m looking to make an impression to make the Phantoms.”
Sergei Bobrovsky - He was signed to a deal and will most likely be vying for the starting position in Adirondack this year. Why? Well he has to get used to playing on a North American hockey surface on a regular basis.
“The hockey is different. I have to get used to it,” he said, when a small crowd appeared at his locker. A Flyers employee was nice enough to be an interpreter much to the delight of the press. “This is the first time, everything is new.”
In 2008 he played on the Russian World Junior Championship squad and the year before he was on the CHL Super Series roster playing quite a bit but this is still his first foray into playing a different style of hockey on a regular basis.
“I have to get used to the game and how they live here and get adapted.”
He is a bit fussy about the ice in the crease, and he crouches a lot exposing some top shelf real estate even though he’s 6-2, but this is quite common among Russian goaltenders.
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