QUICK HITS: August 5, 2017
1) The World Junior Summer Showcase wraps up today with a marquee game between Team Canada and Team USA. Flyers prospect Carter Hart may get the start in goal for the Canadian side. Game time is 7 p.m. EDT. The game will be televised on NHL Network.
On Saturday, Team Canada earned a 7-4 win against Team Sweden, scoring four times in the third period. Michael DiPietro got the start in goal for Team Canada, with Hart taking over at about 12 minutes of the second period. Flyers defense prospect Linus Högberg assisted on the first goal for the Junior Crowns. Team USA downed Finland, 4-3.
2) Over on the Flyers' official website, the newest offseason article in my prospect profile series looks at Carter Hart.
3) Flyers winger Dale Weise celebrates his 29th birthday day. He was born on August 5, 1988 in Winnipeg.
4) The Lehigh Valley Phantoms have signed 25-year-old defenseman Nolan Zajac to an American Hockey League contract for the 2017-18 season. The signing of the University of Denver grad is geared primarily to bolstering the ECHL's Reading Royals and adding more depth to the Phantoms' blue line.
Last season, the offensive-minded defenseman notched 54 points (11 goals, 43 assists) and a plus-31 rating in 61 games for the ECHL's Toledo Walleye, and then chipped in nine assists in 16 playoff games. He also appeared in a combined 11 American Hockey League games on loans to three different teams (Hershey Bears, Manitoba Moose, Iowa Wild) and notched five points (one goal, four assists). Zajac is the younger brother of longtime New Jersey Devils center Travis Zajac.
5) Today in Flyers History: Aug 5, 1977: Flyers trade defenseman Mark Suzor to Colorado in exchange for Barry Dean. Although the trade became a mere footnote from an historical perspective, it was 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.