QUICK HITS: SEPTEMBER 30, 2017
1) After an off-day on Friday, the Flyers have an 11 a.m. practice today at the Skate Zone in Voorhees, NJ. Final roster cuts will come before the team departs on Monday for California; possibly even today. Earlier in the week, Flyers head coach Dave Hakstol indicated that those decisions might come right down to the wire. The plan now seems to be that the lineup that will dress in tomorrow's home against the Islanders will essentially be the roster -- plus two additional forwards and one additional defenseman -- who will break camp with the team. For an overview of the weekend objectives, click here.
2) The Lehigh Valley Phantoms got smoked by the Charlotte Checkers, 8-1, in an AHL exhibition game at the PPL Center in Allentown on Friday night. Derek Whitmore scored the lone Phantoms goal, assisted by Russian rookie Mikhail Vorobyev. The teams will rematch on Saturday.
3) OHL: Flyers 2017 first-round pick Morgan Frost had a rough night on Friday (three minor penalties, held off the scoresheet for the second straight game) but his SSM Greyhounds team defeated the North Bay Battalion in overtime on Friday, 2-1.
4) OHL: Kitchener Rangers captain Connor Bunnaman was not in the lineup on Friday. He is ill with the flu. Kitchener defeated the Windsor Spitfires, 4-2.
5) OHL: Flyers 2017 second-round pick Isaac Ratcliffe (one goal, one assist, five shots) took third-star honors on Friday night in the Guelph Storm's 5-4 win over the Oshawa Generals.
6) QMJHL: Flyers 2016 second-round pick Pascal Laberge (one goal, five shots, 5-for-11 on faceoffs) was selected the game's third star in the Victoriaville Tigres' 5-1 blowout win over the Val-d'Or Foreurs. Former Flyers training camp tryout Ivan Kosorenkov was the game's second star (one goal, one assist, four shots).
7) QMJHL: Flyers 2016 first-round pick German Rubtsov remained out of the Chicoutimi Sagueneens lineup on Friday night. Last weekend, his absence was attributed to paperwork/transfer issues. It has been said for months that, if the Flyers assigned Rubtsov back to the Quebec League rather than the AHL this season, there was a strong possibility that Chicoutimi would trade the Russian forward to another team. Time will tell.
8) WHL: Recovered from a bout with the flu, Flyers goaltending prospect Carter Hart took first-star honors as he stopped 35 of 38 shots in regulation and thne backstopped the Everett Silvertips to a shootout win in a 4-3 road victory over the Kelowna Rockets on Friday.
9) Flyers Alumni: The Flyers Alumni are part of the NE Skate Zone' Youth Hockey Weekend celebration on Saturday. At 12:20 PM, the Flyers Alumni play the Blazers coaches. At 2:20, the Flyers Alumni will remain around for an autograph session. Tickets are $10 for adults, and $5 for kids (free for all current Blazers players and their siblings).