Quick Hits: September 6, 2018
1) Flyers Rookie Camp officially starts in three days at the Skate Zone in Voorhees. This year's camp roster composition will have a bit of a different feel to it than most years, for the simple fact that the organization has a single-year franchise record 10 prospects in the U.S. collegiate ranks, including 2018 first-round picks Joel Farabee and Jay O'Brien.
For both scholastic and NCAA eligibility (i.e., none are permitted to be under entry-level contract or they will forfeit their remaining college hockey eligibility) reasons, none of these players will be in camp. Likewise, the Flyers have a franchise record-tying six prospects in the Swedish Hockey League including NHL entry-level contracted goalie prospect Felix Sandström, one in Allsvenskan, and two goalie prospects in Russia. None of these players will be in camp either, as the Russian regular season is already underway and the Swedish regular season starts on Sept. 15.
However, that does not mean this year's camp lacks some intrigue. It will be the start of the rookie pro year for both goaltender Carter Hart and center German Rubtsov, as well as Pascal Laberge, Connor Bunnaman and Carsen Twarynski. Fellow rookie David Kase will be playing in his first September camp in North America, which has a different purpose (evaluation) and higher level of pressure than the Development Camp each July. Bunnaman and Kase both rehabbed injuries this summer and were unable to take part in drills at this year's development camp.
Meanwhile, 2017 first-round pick Morgan Frost and second-round pick Isaac Ratcliffe will draw much more attention and scrutiny in their second camp, as opposed to last year when most eyes were on Nolan Patrick. Those two players will look to assert themselves in the Rookie Game vs the New York Islanders' prospects on Sept. 12.
Returning second-year and third-year pros will be expected to step up into prime roles at Development Camp. This includes prospects such as Philippe Myers, Mikhail Vorobyev, Nicolas Aube-Kubel and Mark Friedman. As the main Flyers camp starts next week, these are among the players who will try to start building a case for an NHL recall during the season or perhaps even a spot on the opening night roster. Others who will seek to make an NHL callup push include older prospects such as Mike Vecchione, Cole Bardreau, goalies Alex Lyon and Anthony Stolarz, Danick Martel, Tyrell Goulbourne and Reece Willcox.
There will also be five amateur tryout (i.e., undrafted free agent) players in camp with the team for Rookie Camp: 18-year-old Calgary Hitmen defenseman Yegor Zamula, 19-year-old Seattle Thunderbirds goaltender Liam Hughes, 18-year-old Flint Firebirds center Hunter Holmes, 20-year-old Cape Breton Screaming Eagles forward Mitchell Balmas,and 21-year-old offensive-minded former QMJHL defenseman Bradley Lalonde (slated to play Canadian collegiate hockey at Concordia University).
A note on Lalonde: Canadian universities have different eligibility rules than the NCAA in the United States. In the NCAA, even playing major junior hockey prior to college enrollment means forfeiting eligibility due to the (relatively meager) stipend that CHL players receive. In Canada, it is not a violation to play collegiate hockey after major junior.
2) Flyers Charities announced today that tickets for the 2018 Flyers Wives Carnival (Nov. 18 at the Wells Fargo Center) are now on sale. This year marks the 42nd annual edition of the charity fundraising event. For more information, click here.
3) On the Flyers official site's Flyers TV page, broadcasters Tim Saunders and Steve Coates present the first part of a series of a training camp previews. Part one looks at the forwards in camp.
4) On Wednesday, the American Hockey League announced that the AHL Live game streaming package has given way to a new service called AHLTV. In partnership with HockeyTech, the service would feature various upgrades from its predecessor plus a dramatic price reduction to make it more affordable to fans. Below is a technology synopsis and pricing schedule culled from the press release:
Available at theahl.com/AHLTV, AHLTV will feature live streaming of every AHL game in high definition on desktop, laptop, tablet and mobile devices, as well as over-the-top (OTT) platforms such as Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Chromecast and Android TV. AHLTV subscriptions, which include live and archived games, will begin at just $79.99 (US) for the entire 2018-19 regular season.Subscription Package Price (USD) 2018-19 regular season - All teams, all games $79.99 2018-19 regular season - One team, all games $59.99 2018-19 regular season - One team, home or away $39.99 2018-19 regular season - All games, one month $19.99 2018-19 regular season - All games, one day $6.99
More than simply a means to watch games, AHLTV will use HockeyTech's leading technology to form a full digital ecosystem in which data and video are integrated to create an experience unique to each user. Game feeds will be seamlessly combined with the AHL's statistical database from LeagueStat, providing real-time scoring updates for fans as they watch, and viewers will also be able to capture and save their own highlight clips to share with other AHLTV users within the platform.
In addition to the standard produced video feeds, AHLTV games will also feature HockeyTech's ViPr system of video production, with every arena outfitted with a camera that will capture the entire sheet of ice in one high-definition, undistorted, panoramic view that lets mobile viewers control what they see by pinching, zooming and tilting their phone.
5) The CHL Leagues will maintain the same streaming platform (OHL Live, WHL Live, QMJHL Live) as in recent seasons. The NCAA leagues have various streaming packages and TV broadcast schedules, with many of them specific to a particular university. For example, Farabee's Boston University team streams via GoTerriers.com. The best bet for catching the Flyers' Swedish league prospects is through the Eleven Network if your subscription TV package (cable, Fios, Sling, etc.) carries that channel.
6) Sept. 6 Flyers Alumni birthday: Bill Root(1959).
7) Today in Flyers History: Although Bob Clarke was rehired as Flyers general manager on June 15, 1994, outgoing general manager Russ Farwell stayed on long enough to help oversee the team's 1994 Draft as there was insufficient prep time left for Clarke to get up to speed before the Draft, which was held on June 28-29.
The Flyers drafted Russian forward Alexander Selivanov in the 6th round of the 1994 NHL Draft. On Sept. 6, 1994, the Flyers traded Selivanov's rights to Phil Esposito's Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for a 1995 fourth-round pick (Radovan Somik).
Selivanov went on to have a career-best 31-goal season in Tampa Bay (1995-96) and scored a pair of goals against the Flyers -- including an OT winner -- in the 1996 Eastern Conference quarterfinal clash between the teams won by Philly in six games. Selivanov had an inconsistent career thereafter, but later had a 27-goal campaign with the Edmonton Oilers.
Selivanov married Esposito's daughter, Carrie. The couple had two sons together while also raising Carrie's son from a previous marriage. Tragically, Carrie Selivanov, passed away from an abominal aortic aneurysm on Jan. 13, 2012.