QUICK HITS: MAY 7, 2018
1) Michael Raffl has arrived in Denmark, where he will join Team Austria (0-1-1) for its third preliminary round game of the 2018 IIHF World Championships. On Tuesday, Austria will take on Slovakia (0-1-1). On Wednesday, the Austrians oppose Sweden (3-0-0).
2) Radko Gudas and Team Czech Republic (1-1-0) return to action on Tuesday against Switzerland (2-0-0). Gudas has been partnered with former Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Michal Jordan on the Czechs' top pairing. Through his first two games, Gudas has not recorded a point or shot on goal. He is minus-one, with a pair of minor penalties.
3) Flyers 2017 fourth-round pick Maksim Sushko has dressed in every game for Team Belarus (0-3-0) at the World Championships. The 19-year-old forward, who led all Belarusian players in ice time at the World Junior Championships, is the youngest player on the senior team. He has held his own so far in the tournament, despite limited ice time and not recording a point. He played 10:27 against Sweden in a 5-0 loss, 6:12 against France in a 6-2 loss, and 12:50 with one shot on goal and minus-in a 6-0 loss to Russia.
4) The American Hockey League has suspended Phantoms forward Nicolas Aube-Kubel for Games 3, 4, and 5 of Lehigh Valley's second-round playoff series with the Charlotte Checkers. The suspension, Aube-Kubel's third of the 2017-18 season, stems from a high hit on Charlotte's Josiah Didier in Game 2. All three of his suspensions this season have been for checking to the head. The series with Charlotte is currently tied at one game apiece. Game 3 is on Tuesday, Game 4 on Wednesday, and Game 5 on Saturday.
5) Flyers 2017 first-round pick Morgan Frost has been named OHL Player of the Week for his seven points in the last three games. He had three points in the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds' series-clinching Game 7 win over the Kitchener Rangers in the Western Conference Finals. That was followed by an assist in the Greyhounds' 4-3 OT loss to the Hamilton Bulldogs in Game 1 of the Ontario Hockey League Finals and a three-point outburst (power play assist, power play goal, shorthanded empty net goal) in Game 2. For more, click here.
6) Game 3 of the OHL Finals is on Monday night in Hamilton. Flyers 2017 fourth-round pick Matthew Strome had one assist apiece in Games 1 and 2, while Frost has four points. Game time is 7:00 p.m. EDT in Hamilton.
7) Game 3 of the WHL Finals between the Everett Silvertips (Carter Hart) and Swift Current Broncos is on Tuesday in Everett. Likewise, Game 3 of the QMJHL Finals between the Acadie-Bathurst Titan (German Rubtsov) and Blainville-Boisbriand Armada is on Tuesday in Bathurst.