Quick Hits: April 21, 2021
1) The Flyers will hold a full practice at the Skate Zone in Voorhees on Wednesday, at 12:30 p.m. EDT in preparation to play the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Thursday and Friday. Yesterday, the team held small-group practice sessions with the forwards, defensemen and the Taxi Squad.
Nolan Patrick, who has been skating daily for several days, is slated to practice today. Barring any setbacks, he will play in Thursday's game at MSG. Last Thursday, Patrick took a puck to the side of his head when a rising shot by teammate Phil Myers accidentally struck Patrick near the ear flap of his helmet. As a precaution, given his medical history, Patrick was held out of Saturday and Sunday's games despite self-reporting that he felt OK.
Carter Hart (lower-body injury) remained off the ice on Tuesday. Flyers head coach Alain Vigneault said that Hart's injury is nothing serious. The player tweaked something late in last Thursday's 2-1 shootout win in Pittsburgh, practiced the next day and was the slated starter on Saturday against the Washington Capitals. On Saturday morning, however, Hart did not fee 100 percent as he went through his game-day preparations. Alex Lyon was pressed into starting service in net on Saturday, and then backed up Brian Elliott in Sunday's 1-0 overtime loss to the New York Islanders.
Rookie forward Tanner Laczynski was also out of the lineup on both Saturday and Sunday. He suffered a lower-body injury in the last game in Pittsburgh.
2) Recently signed to an entry-level contract by the Flyers, now-former University of Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs forward Jackson Cates has exited COVID-19 protocol. He was on the ice for the Flyers' practice on Wednesday. Meanwhile, the Duluth News Tribune reported reported on Wednesday that Noah Cates, Jackson's younger brother and a Flyers prospect (fifth round pick in 2017), will return to the Bulldogs for his senior season to serve as team captain.
Last year, both Wade Allison and Tanner Laczynski signed with the Flyers after completing their respective senior seasons at Western Michigan and Ohio State. Both Laczynski and Allison have made their NHL debuts recently for the Flyers.
However, the Flyers lost former University of Wisconsin defenseman Wyatt Kalynuk to free agency after the 23-year-old (now 24) left the Badgers following his junior year. Kalynuk signed instead with the Chicago Blackhawks. This season, Kalynuk has dressed in 11 NHL games for the Blackhawks.
3) Following the postponements of four straight games by the American Hockey League due to COVID-19 protocols, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms (12-3-3) finally return to action tonight. Scott Gordon's club will host Spencer Carbery's Hershey Bears (15-5-2) at the PPL Center in Allentown. Game time is 7:00 p.m. EDT. The game will be streamed on AHLTV.
At the time of the pause, Flyers 2020 first-round pick Tyson Foerster was scorching hot with four goals, two assists and a pair of successful shootout attempt conversions in the three games immediately preceding the stoppage. Flyers 2019 first-round pick Cam York, who skated with the team's Taxi Squad players over the weekend and then was reassigned to Lehigh Valley on Monday, is slated to make his professional debut this week with the Phantoms.
4) On Tuesday, the Ontario Hockey League announced the cancelation of the 2020-21 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In terms of immediate impact, it means that Foerster, Zayde Wisdom and Mason Millman will spend the remainder of this season with the Phantoms.
The Western Hockey League season underwent a lengthy delayed start of its own but finally got underway at the tail end of February. The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League season has been a disjointed one, with an early hold on games in Quebec while teams in the Maritimes were playing and then a pause in the Maritimes after portions of the Quebec segment got the go ahead to play. The QMJHL playoffs are now underway.
Flyers 2020 fifth-round pick Elliot Desnoyers (Halifax Mooseheads, QMJHL) has had a breakthrough offensive season in the Q after switching teams in the offseason. In 37 regular season games this season, Desnoyers posted 49 points (21 goals, 29 assists) while keeping up the strong two-way play that got him selected in the NHL Draft last fall. Over in the Western Hockey League, Flyers 2020 seventh-round pick Connor McLennon has excelled on a line with Vegas Golden Knights 2019 first-rounder Peyton Krebs. In 20 games played to date, the pint-sized McLennon has posted 30 points including a team-high 13 goals.
5) April 21 Flyers Alumni birthdays: Reg Fleming (1936-2009), Vincent Lecavalier (1980), Stew Malgunas (1970), Roman Vopat (1976).
6) On Sunday, April 25, the Flyers Warriors team will play the Camden County Warriors at the Skate Zone in Pennsauken in a fundraising game for the Flyers Alumni Association's Every Child Deserves a Bike initiative: a program that builds and presents adaptive bicycles to special needs children in the Delaware Valley.
#FlyersWarriors and Camden County Warriors are facing off Sunday April 25th at 130pm for a great cause! “Every Child Deserves a Bike…, started by the #FlyersAlumni. Follow the link for more information on how to help! https://t.co/zKqvMA6KK0 pic.twitter.com/QWZIrosoM0
— Philadelphia Flyers Warriors (@FlyersWarrior) April 13, 2021
Earlier this month, the Flyers Alumni Association announced the launch of the "Every Child Deserves a Bike" program. Each month, the Alumni will have an adaptive bicycle custom-built for a Delaware Valley child with special needs. Members of the Alumni with then personally present the bike to him or her.
Each bicycle is quite expensive, costing roughly $5,000 to construct. Thus, the Alumni must rely on individual donations as well as corporate sponsors in order to maintain the program.
To learn more about the Every Child Deserves a program, visit the Flyers Alumni's brand new official website, FlyersAlumni.net, or click here to jump to the program overview page. To make a donation, click here.