Return to Play Updates
At around 3 p.m. ET today, the National Hockey League is set to release its 56-game schedule later today for the belated 2020-21 regular season. Additionally, the league and the NHL Players Association has released their full array of agreed-upon transitional rules and Covid-related protocols for the new season. Flyers general manager Chuck Fletcher will speak to the media via video conference after the schedule is announced.
Yesterday afternoon, Flyers players James van Riemsdyk and Kevin Hayes had media conference calls to discuss the prolonged offseason, the 56-game schedule, the realigned divisions with all regular season games and all series in the first two rounds of the playoffs taking place within each division. Both JVR and Hayes said they are ready to go for the start of training camp on Jan. 3.
A transcript of the two sessions, courtesy of the Flyers' Brian Smith, can be found at the end of today's blog.
WJC Pre-Tourney: USA Defeats Finland
Team USA defeated Finland, 3-2, in a pre-WJC exhibition game in the bubble at Rogers Place in Edmonton on Tuesday night. Two goals by Cole Caufield spaced just 35 seconds apart early in the second period proved to be the difference. Arthur Kaliyev evened the score at 1-1 late in the first period for the Americans. Juuso Pà¤rssinen and Topi Niemelठnotched power play goals for the Finns.
Flyers 2019 first-round pick Cam York played a lot of minutes for Team USA, including first-unit power play duties. He played well but did not figure in the scoring. Fellow Flyers prospect and WJC returnee Bobby Brink also dressed in the game. His best chance came from the top of the right circle after receiving a stretch pass and gaining offensive zone entry.
Today in Flyers History: December 23, 1984 (Christmas Death Skate Eve)
A hat trick by Tim Kerr and a pair of goals by Murray Craven powered the Flyers to a 7-4 home win over the Washington Capitals. The win was the Flyers' second in their last three games, ending a mini-skid.
The next morning, head coach Mike Keenan (unpleasantly) surprised the team with what becomes known as the Christmas Death Skate -- an intense two-hour practice featuring extensive goal-line to goal-line sprints. Players had water breaks but the session was otherwise relentless. Even the most well-conditioned players on the team were on the brink of collapse.
At the end, before the team convened for a holiday party, Keenan told his troops, "Always expect the unexpected. And Merry Christmas."
Flyers Alumni 12 Days of Christmas Giving: Day 12
For the 12th and final day of the 2020 version of the Flyers Alumni Association's 12 Days of Christmas Season Giving program, the Alumni have outdone themselves. They had a $5,000 customized bicycle built for a little girl with cerebral palsy. The Alumni will deliver the bike, hopefully, before Christmas.
The recipient herself, a young Flyers fan, does not know it is coming. As such, her identity and back story are being kept secret by the Alumni until after they can her the special bicycle. Thereafter, the details will be published across the Alumni's website and social media platforms.
Alumni 12 Days of Christmas -- Day 12
— Flyers Alumni (@FlyersAlumni) December 23, 2020
Every kid deserves a bike. The Alumni asked Santa to have this customized $5,000 bike built for a very special liittle girl with cerebral palsy. Santa came through! We will be delivering the bike to her. More details to come.@BradMarshNHL pic.twitter.com/twJzTcKpvr
Note: Although the program is called the "12 Days" of Giving, there are actually 15 recipients this year. There were 14 last year in the first year of the program.
When Alumni Association president Brad Marsh and the organization's board of directors set out to create the 2020 edition of the 12 Days, they set out to meet an ambitious array of goals:
* Supporting both large, well-known charities (such as local chapters of the Boys and Girls Club in the U.S. and KidSport in Canada) and smaller organizations (Say It With Clay, for instance).
* In response to the Covid-19 pandemic and the alarming levels of food uncertainty and hunger this year, the Alumni placed increased emphasis this year on supporting food banks, food pantries and organizations that aid the homeless and low-income populations in danger of homelessness. This year's donation recipients included Philabundance via the Toyota Food Drive), Bucks County Housing Group, St. Francis Inn and Community Food Response.
* Supporting local small businesses amid the pandemic. For the Alumni's "Day 1" donation to the Salvation Army, Brad Marsh and the Alumni purchased and donated $1,500 worth of educational toys, puzzles and games from a small, independently owned store (ExtraordinaryEd) in Collingswood, NJ.
* Getting Alumni from every generation of team history and living across the United States and Canada involved in suggesting charities in their own communities. Rather than just Brad and the board of directors coming up with the recipient list, input was sought -- and received -- from a host of different Alumni. Among those who assisted in the process were the likes of Kerry Huffman, original Flyer Garry Peters and Shjon Podein, along with Alumni spouses (Bob Kelly and Joe Watson's wives).
* While the Alumni Association generally focuses on supporting the Delaware Valley area and most of this year's recipients are local, the recipients considered this year were expanded to the surrounding communities of where ALL Alumni Association members live. Hence, the Alumni were able to donate to KidSport in Saskatoon at Peters' suggestion and to the food pantry in Rochester, Minnesota, at Podein's suggestion.
The 12 Days of Giving recipient list, as with last year, was designed to be a mix of organizations and specific individuals and families, Listed below is the recipient, the amount donated and the Alumni who suggested the recipient. It was a true team effort:
* Salvation Army (Donation of $1,500 worth of Toys, Brad Marsh) * Busansky Elementary School Toy Drive in Pemberton, NJ ($1,500 check. Bob and Stacey Kelly) * Maryville Treatment Center ($1,500, Brad Marsh) * Yellow Ribbon Fund in Bethesda, MD ($2,000, Jamie Comiskey and husband Joe Watson) * KidSport Saskatoon ($1,500, Garry Peters) * Boys and Girls Club of Camden County ($2,000, Todd Fedoruk) * Williams Family Fund ($3,000, Orest Kindrachuk) * St. Francis Inn ($3,000, Bob Kelly and Brad Marsh) * Toyota Food Drive for Philabundance ($1,000, Brad Marsh) * Say It With Clay in Collingswood, NJ ($1,500, Bob Kelly and Brad Marsh) * Bucks County Housing Group ($1,500, Kerry Huffman) * Community Food Response in Rochester, Minn. ($1,500, Shjon Podein) * Montgomery County Children's Advocacy Project($1,500, Brad Marsh) * $5,000 customized bicycle for a special needs child, arranged in conjunction with Bring Hope Home (Brad Marsh).
Flyers Alumni Christmas Party: The Virtual Edition
On Monday of this week, the Flyers Alumni held their annual Christmas party. Due to Covid-related concerns and limits on indoor gatherings, the event was held virtually this year rather than in person. The bright side of the format change was that it enabled Alumni who live far from Philadelphia to participate. More than 50 Alumni players, family members and associates to the organization (including myself) took part. Comcast-Spectacor president David Scott also took part, and spoke to the group.
The night included music, a visit from Santa Coatesy, a stand up comic, specially produced video segments and a post-event open chat session for those who stayed logged on after the end of the scheduled events
Participating Alumni included Jesse Boulerice, Danny Briere, Dave Brown, Steve Coates, Bill Clement and his family, Terry Crisp and his wife, Rick St. Croix and his wife, Andre Dupont, Scott Hartnell, Paul Holmgren, Orest Kindrachuk and family, Eric Lindros, Neil Little, Brad Marsh and his wife, Mike McKenna, Phil Myre, John Paddock, Garry Peters, Dave Poulin, Brian Propp and his wife, Rob Ramage, Kjell Samuelsson and his wife, Dave Schultz, Ron Sutter, Jim Watson and Joe Watson. Joe Kadlec, Lou Nolan, Zack Hill, Rob Baer, Bob Baer, Celie Baker and Dr. Gary Dorshimer were among the others logged on for the party.
The Alumni Christmas party participants literally spanned the entire history of the Flyers organization, with players whose Flyers stints ranged from the inaugural 1967-68 season, the Broad Street Bullies era, the Pat Quinn and Mike Keenan teams, the early 1990s, the Terry Murray years, and the 2000s straight up through the 2018-19 team (McKenna).
Transcripts: JVR and Hayes
James van Riemsdyk
Can you talk about the challenges in a shortened season? Does it magnify each game because each game will be a little more?
I think you teed it up right there. Obviously the less games there are, kind of the less margin for error there usually is. You have to get off to a good start and go from there. When you are playing teams only in your division, you are jockeying for a position for playoffs. Each game becomes that much important because there can be bigger swings within the standings. James, you have friends and family in the area that may be Devils and Rangers fans. Have you thought about the eight games against the Devils and the Rangers and how it would build the rivalry between the teams?
It reminds me when I first came into the league. It was more of a schedule like that for my first couple years before we shifted to where we play teams twice, home and home, even in the Western Conference. I remember playing a lot of those teams a lot more times earlier in my career. It will definitely make for a different sort of challenge. It’s hard enough to beat a team twice in a row, let alone when you play them that many times. You need to be sharp. Like you mentioned too, there can be little extra rivalry and competitiveness that get fought out. That’s how it goes.
How important was it to get the financial negotiations out of the way and get the season off the ground?
Well, I think at the end of the day, we all want hockey to be back. As players, we definitely want to be out there playing. It’s what we all love to do. It’s our passion. For our team in particular, we like a lot of the pieces that we have. We think we can do some things to build on some of the success we had last year. We are super excited to get started. I think everyone wants there to be hockey and loves everything around the game. We’re all excited to have a date here. Hopefully, we’ll be ready to roll here shortly.
Does the Return-To-Play training camp prepare you for this shortened camp this time around? What can you take away as lessons from that experience that can be used for this camp?
That was a little taste of what this camp will be like. The lockout year also was a nice way to prepare us for a shortened window and less days together. Obviously no exhibition games for that one. I think with the way a lot of guys train now and stay pretty sharp for most of the year, that time to transition into playing games can be abbreviated to get back up to the speed and level we want to be at. Ultimately, all the teams are in the same boat. All the players are in the same boat. We’ll make the best of it and go from there.
How difficult will it be to play at the high level this year losing one of the top defensemen on the team in Matt Niskanen?
A guy like Nisky, just the fit that he was with our team couldn’t have been more perfect. Just the style of the play he played complemented Provy really well. Just that presence that he brought to the locker room and things like that. All those intangible things sort of meshed well with the group and was definitely what we needed. Certainly a tough guy to replace. When stuff like that happens, there’s opportunity for other guys to take on a bigger role and get more responsibilities. I’m sure there’s some guys excited for that opportunity. We’ll see how things shake out in training camp and into the season.
How exciting is it to have Oskar Lindblom back healthy and able to bolster your depth?
I couldn’t be happier for him that he is at this point now in his life. I’m sure everyone saw the posts on social media with him getting another clean bill and clearance. Everything is looking good with this health. First and foremost, we’re really happy with that aspect for him. Obviously we all know how much he loves to play and loves to be a hockey player. He loves being out there with the guys and stuff. He is a huge part of our team. He was off to a great start to the season last year before he had to deal with the extra health stuff. I’m sure he is excited to kind of get into a season, starting with training camp and going on from there.
AV talked about wanting guys to come into camp in top shape. Where are you with your conditioning? Do you feel like you are the guy we are used to seeing when camp starts?
For me, that’s a part of my game that I take a lot of pride in. Preparing right, always being ready to roll and looking for things to improve upon each and every offseason. As far as that goes for me, it’s something that I’ve always prided myself on. Something that I will continue to do. I’m ready to roll and get the season started.
Kevin Hayes
Can you talk about how the experience in the two playoff rounds will help with this upcoming season?
Anytime you play important games, I think it helps everyone. The older guys are used to it. The younger guys like Hartsy, Joel, Kubes, Mysey and guys that have played a lot of playoff games, it obviously helps them. It was a weird year. I felt like we had a lot of momentum and then the season stopped. We started playing really good in the bubble and then played against two good defensive teams. We fell one game short to the Islanders. Anytime you play in games that are very important and every player needs to be invested in, it can only help in the long run.
How close to normal was the offseason for you in terms of preparation and skating?
I have a pretty good set-up here in Boston with a lot of the Bruins guys and local guys that live here. Besides wearing a mask, it’s been pretty much the same for me. I’ve known my trainer for a long time. Everything is pretty much status quo like last summer and doing the same stuff. Been on the ice a lot lately. For me, I feel great. Obviously not playing games is tough this time of year. This is the first time I’ve been home in October, November and December. I feel great. I think a lot of guys are working out. Once camp comes, it’s a quick 10-day camp and then we get back into it.
Are you back in Philly? If so, are you skating with any of your teammates?
Not back in Philly, no. I’m going to be back there on Saturday and skating with those guys on Sunday.
Have you thought about what it’s going to be like to play Boston eight times this season?
Obviously, the re-alignment of the divisions is weird. Experts are saying it’s the safest route possible. It’s going to make for some interesting games. Playing the same team over and over again, eight times, there’s bound to be bad blood. There’s bound to be some big hits and bit plays. There’s a lot of chance for some bad blood to turn over into the next game. Obviously we’re going to get used to each other, system-wise. Come the third or fourth time we play each other, everyone is going to know every player on the ice and the ins and outs of the systems they run. What I’m excited about is that it’s all going to come down to work ethic and making sure whoever works harder is going to be winning at the end of these games.
Is there going to be a lot of good-natured trash talk from friends and family who are fans of the Bruins since you are going to be playing them so many times this year?
Yeah, well, all my childhood friends and my neighbors. My brother played for them. I know a lot of people who are Bruins fans. I go out to dinner and see people. They know who I am. It’s just exciting honestly. I know my hometown of Dorchester, a lot used to be Bruins fans that turned into Flyers fans. It’s going to be exciting. Obviously we’ll be coming to their building four times and they come to us four times. It’s always fun playing the Bruins. It’s the team that I grew up watching. I got some really good childhood friends on that team that I’ve been playing with since I was eight, nine years old. It’s pretty exciting to come back to your hometown. Whenever you do that, it’s really cool. I don’t know if people are going to be allowed in the building, but if they are, I know there will be 200 Hayes fans in there.
With the 56 game schedule, how important is it to get off to a good start?
Yeah, that’s huge. Every year I feel like you see these teams that go on these 10 to 15 stretch wins where they get points. If that’s the case this year, they have a serious case to make the playoffs. It’s very important to start the season the right way. It’s very important for the guys on our team to show up to camp in shape and ready to go. I know in the past, the first ten games is kind of a walk in the park. It’s still tough NHL games, but everyone kind of knows, ‘oh he’s not playing very good, but he’ll figure it out come week 5 or something.’ That’s not the case right now. Everyone needs to be at the top of their game. I know coaches are working hard. We’re going to have a lot of meetings and a lot of film. There is going to be a lot of battling in that short ten-day camp.
You finished 6th in the league in points. Can you talk about the challenge of being as good as that or better while losing Niskanen, one of your top defensemen?
Nisky is hard to replace. What he brings on the ice, everyone knows. It’s more so what he brings off the ice. He doesn’t say a lot, but the way he plays, if you can’t get behind that guy and if you can’t work your hardest in order to look that guy in the eye in the locker room, this isn’t the right locker room for you. He’s definitely going to be missed. He’s a great guy. It’s a personal decision that he wanted to make. I’m happy for him. He’s had an incredible career. I signed with the Flyers last year because I knew they had a great team. Some could argue that we did a little better than expected. I thought we were going to be a great team.
Now, we’ve kind of put our names out there for the league. Everyone knows when they enter our building, in front of our fans, obviously there’s no fans this year, but it’s a tough building to get two points in. Hartsy feels comfortable playing on that ice. We’re a tough team at home. Obviously we have some shoes to fill that we didn’t last year. We put our name on the map. I think everyone kind of relished it. They were really excited with how our season went. I think AV said yesterday that everyone should be really, really excited, players, coaches, fans and media. Philly is a sports town when your team is winning and I don’t see anything different this year.
How much do you know about Erik Gustafsson? What do you like about his signing?
He’s a great player. He’s known for his offensive game. Johnny Gaudreau was telling me that he plays a good defensive game as well. I think he’s going to fit in real well with our team. We have a real good defense back there. We have a really good goalie, who obviously helps them out. He seems really excited. I talked to him when he signed. He’s been in Philly for a bit now. I think he will help our blue line tremendously.
When a guy like Nisky leaves, does someone step up to take over that role? Or is it more that his particular personality just can’t be replaced?
Nisky wasn’t that big of a vocal leader, honestly. He was a lead-by-example type of guy. You guys saw that all year. I think we have players that will play like him. I always said this last year, every player in our locker room should want to be a leader, whether it’s saying the right things and doing the right things or just going on the ice and working our bag off until everyone notices.
It is guys like that that are really easy to follow into battle. G is one of the hardest working guys. That’s a thing I didn’t know about him before I signed here. You see him in practice and he’s easy to follow. Jake’s the same way. Our core group there, they all lead differently but they do a great job and in a great manner. I try to help and do the same thing. We still have older guys that lead the way and young guys that want to learn from that. We have young guys that believe in year one and want to do more and produce more in year two. Should be a good combination.