Quick Hits: August 22, 2022
1) Flyers Daily: It's the usual Monday with Meltzer edition of Flyers Daily on the Flyers Broadcast Network. This week, Jason and I talked about Emil Andrae's performance at the World Junior Championships in Edmonton. What are the expectations moving forward for Team Sweden's captain. We also discussed the potential for the Flyers to sign Travis Sanheim to a contract extension and what that might look like cap hit/ term wise in lieu of trading the defenseman at the deadline. In the final segment, we discuss why adherence to systems and structure will be vital for the team if it is to hold its own in a very tough Metro Division rather than finishing where most of the pundits have them pegged (at or near the bottom).
To listen, click here.
2) Monday is the final day of the 2022 Flyers Alumni Fantasy Camp. I have updated the daily camp journal on the Flyers Alumni's official website through the start of championship game day. Last night was fun. I sat with Joe Watson, Mike Knuble, Danny Briere and Dave Brown at dinner and enjoyed the conversation (which primarily was about non-hockey topics). Afterwards, Steve Coates emceed a Q&A Hot Stove session with Dave Poulin, Keith Jones and Mike Knuble.
Good luck to Team Toyota and Team River Rock in the Fantasy Cup championship game and to Team KLYR and Team Yuengling in the consolation game. To see the Camp Journal, which includes photos and recaps of all the on-ice and off-ice activities at Camp, profiles of various attendees, and reports from every game, click here.
3) Today in Flyers: Aug. 22, 1985, was a sad day in Flyers History although that day's news did not come as a surprise. After sitting out the entire 1984-85 season while dealing with chronic bad knees, Hockey Hall of Fame left wing Bill Barber officially announced his retirement as a player at the age of 33. He had not been a healthy player for several years, missing a combined 33 games in 1982-83 and 1983-84 before being sidelined for the duration of 1984-85.
Although Barber's body increasingly betrayed him, he had still been an effective player when he was able to be in the lineup including 60 points in 66 games during the 1982-83 season and 54 points in 63 games in what proved to be the final season of his active career. In his prime, Barber had been a perennial point-per-game-plus player (with a high of 112 points in 1975-76) , a two-way standout, and a five-time 40-to-50 goal scorer. Many of his contemporaries consider Barber to be the best two-way left winger in the NHL from the time he was 22 to 30 years old. He also frequently manned the left point on the power play.
4) Today in Flyers History: Forced to retire due to a serious eye injury suffered in the 1974 Stanley Cup semifinal series with the New York Rangers, Barry Ashbee was named as a Flyers assistant coach under Fred Shero on Aug. 22, 1974.
5) Aug. 22 Flyers Alumni birthdays: Mitch Lamoureux (1962), Brayden Schenn (1991), Bruno St. Jacques (1980).