Quick Hits: August 5, 2018
1) The 2018 World Junior Summer Showcase wrapped up on Saturday with Team Canada holding off Team USA, 6-5, in an entertaining and physical but sloppily played game at the Sandman Centre in Kamloops, BC. Most notably from a Flyers standpoint, four of the five Team USA goals were scored by Philadelphia prospects (two for Jay O'Brien, one apiece for Joel Farabee and Noah Cates). For Team Canada, Morgan Frost was moved down from first line center to third line left wing with no power play time but a spot on the penalty kill. Isaac Ratcliffe did not play.
The other finale game saw Team Sweden defeat Team Finland, 5-3. In the third period, Adam Ginning scored what proved to be the game-winning goal for the Swedes. Olle Lycksell remained in the Swedes' top-six forwards but did not record a point in this game. Samuel Ersson, who started Sweden's previous game against the Finns (4-3 shootout loss) in his only outing in the tournament, served as a backup goalie to Adam à…hman.
2) Cates and Lycksell are two of the four Flyers prospects profiled in my newest feature for the Flyers' official website. Entitled "Under the Radar", the article looks at the progress of the organization's four 2017 draftees that are not yet under NHL entry-level contract. Along with Cates and Lycksell, the article profiles Wyatt Kalynuk and Kirill Ustimenko. For more, click here.
3) Flyers winger Dale Weise celebrates his 30th birthday today. Over the course of his two seasons to date with the Flyers, Weise has posted a combined 12 goals and 23 points in 110 regular season games. He dressed in Games 5 and 6 of the Flyers' first-round playoff series against Pittsburgh this past season. During the offseason, Flyers general manager Ron Hextall said that Weise, who has two seasons remaining on his contract, will have elevate his game on a more consistent basis to be a lineup regular in 2018-19.
4) Today in Flyers history: On Aug. 5, 1977, the Flyers trade defenseman Mark Suzor to Colorado in exchange for Barry Dean. Although the trade proved to be minor from an historical perspective, it was considered a notable deal at the time it was made.
Dean was the second overall pick of the 1975 NHL Draft. Suzor, the Flyers' first round pick (17th overall) of the 1976 NHL Draft, was coming off a promising rookie year that saw him score 24 goals and 49 points at the AHL level with the Springfield Indians and dress in four games with the Flyers. Ultimately, neither player made a sustained impact at the NHL level.