FLYERS ROUNDUP: AUGUST 8, 2015
* The Flyers have signed veteran left winger Chris Porter to a one-year, two-way contract. He is slated to play for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms and provide veteran callup depth to the Flyers.
The 31-year-old University of North Dakota product has spent his entire pro career to date in the St. Louis Blues organization. The Toronto native was originally selected by the Chicago Blackhawks in the ninth round (282nd overall) in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft.
At the NHL level, he has played 173 regular season games (11 goals, 16 assists) and 15 playoff games (two goals, three assists). Last season, Porter dressed in 24 games for St. Louis, chipping in one goal and one assist.
A conscientious two-way winger with good size, Porter has spent the majority of his career in the American Hockey League with the Blues' affiliates, Peoria and Chicago. In 322 career AHL regular season games, Porter has produced 140 points (55 goals, 85 assists). Porter played his collegiate hockey for four seasons at UND. He spent his sophomore to senior years with Dave Hakstol as his head coach, going to three Frozen Fours. During Porter's senior year, current Flyers forward Chris VandeVelde was a freshman. * Sweden wrapped up its participation in the National Junior Team Evaluation Camp in Lake Placid, NY, with a 2-0 shutout win over Finland on Friday. Neither Flyers-affiliated prospect on the Swedish roster played in the game. Oskar Lindblom, who suffered a minor lower-body injury in the first game of the tourney, was held out of his third straight game for precautionary reasons. Goaltending prospect Felix Sandström was given the day off after starting each of the first three games. In his place, Arizona Coyotes prospect Erik Kà¤llgren posted the shutout victory.
* No organization wants to see one of its goaltender go through something like Sandström did against Team USA White on Monday: 10 goals against on 39 shots. However, every goaltender is going to face some adversity in his development path, and what is more important than a nightmarish game is how the goaltender responds. Sandström bounced back from that game, which saw him yield six goals in the second period and four in the third, by playing a strong game against the combined Team USA squad in the Swedes' 5-2 win on Thursday. It should also be noted that the Swedish team as a whole had no energy or legs in the blowout loss to USA White.
* Flyers defense prospect Travis Sanheim experienced some of the flip side of high expectations and large-scale attention during the World Junior Summer Showcase in Canada this week. His play in two games against Russia was met with mixed reviews, despite the fact he was not out for any goals against, had two de facto assists in the first game, created several additional scoring chances in the second game and moved the puck out of the defensive zone as well as anyone on the Canadian side. No, his play was by no means mistake-free but he recovered quickly when he had a miscue. It is also early August. It will be far more important to track his continued development from the beginning to the end of the season than to make any judgments based on two summer exhibition games.
* The 2015-16 World Junior Championships in Finland are still more than four months away, but it seems as of now that the Flyers could have as many as eight prospects involved in the tournament. Sanheim is a virtual lock for Canada, while Travis Konecny helped his own early cause by showing both aggressiveness and high-end skill in back-to-back impressive performances against the Czech Republic and Russia.
Nicolas Aube-Kubel is on the roster bubble for the Canadians. If Aube-Kubel makes the WJC roster, it will be in a more defense-oriented role than he plays in the QMJHL for Val-d'Or. He played well in a supporting cast role during two Showcase games against the Czechs; including a pair of assists in the first game. Aube-Kubel played left wing at the Showcase and did not look out of place.
Assuming Ivan Provorov is not playing in the NHL with the Flyers, he is a lock to return to the Russian team at the WJC. There was no reason to risk injury in the Summer Showcase and the Russian coaches wanted to evaluate other players. Provorov will play a key two-way role on the Russian team in the 2015-16 World Juniors after playing a third-pairing, defensive-minded role last year.
It was unfortunate that Radel Fazleev, like Sweden's Lindblom, was unable to participate in games this past week due to injury. The Calgary Hitmen forward, however, still has a decent shot at a third-line or fourth-line role for the Russians at the World Juniors. At the WHL level, Fazleev has come to play both sides of special teams. He is also versatile enough to play different forward positions as needed.
Lindblom, of course, had an outstanding WJC last year for Sweden and is now a regular for Brynà¤s in the Swedish Hockey League (SHL). Barring injury, he is a lock to return to the Junior Crowns for the 2015-16 tourney. Lindblom currently slots on the top line with Adrian Kempe and Axel Holmström as his linemates.
Sandström figures to make the Swedish roster for the WJC, although he is competing with Kà¤llgren and Robin Jensen. Incumbent U20 team starter Linus Söderström, a New York Islanders prospect who will turn 19 in late August, did not attend the camp in Lake Placid.
Czech forward David Kase is a virtual lock for Team Czech Republic. His team was overmatched at the Showcase and he did not record a point but was involved in the play and helped create some of meager offense the Czechs generated.
* The Lehigh Valley Phantoms announced a season ticket holder promotion they are calling "10 Days of Winning." On each of 10 consecutive business days, starting Aug. 17, the Phantoms will award a prize of the day to a randomly selected season-ticket holder (full season or 20-game plan). The prizes include an autographed Chris Pronger Flyers jersey, an autographed Robert Hà¤gg Phantoms jersey, an autographed Luke Schenn stick, various gift cards ranging in value from $25 to $100 and one-night hotel packages. Both existing season ticket holders and ones purchasing packages during the promotional period are eligible to win prizes.
TODAY IN FLYERS HISTORY FROM FlyersAlumni.org
1979: The Flyers sign former Kansas City Scouts defenseman Dennis Patterson as a depth player, ticketing him to play mostly for the AHL's Maine Mariners. In future years, Patterson will go on to become a long-tenured Flyers scout after his retirement as an active player. He will also accompany Bob Clarke to the Minnesota North Stars and Florida Panthers before returning to another lengthy stint in the Flyers organization.
1991: In a future considerations deal, the Flyers trade high-scoring AHL center Don Biggs, who played three highly productive seasons for the Hershey Bears and dressed in 11 NHL games for the Flyers in 1989-90, to the New York Rangers. In 1992-93, Biggs will go on to rack up 138 points in 78 games for the AHL's Binghamton Rangers.
2002: The Flyers sign minor-league standouts Neil Little and John Slaney to multi-year extensions.
2012: The Flyers sign 2012 first-round pick Scott Laughton to an entry-level deal. On the same day, they sign restricted free agent defenseman Marc-Andre Bourdon to a two-year contract extension.
Flyers Alum Birthday
American-born defenseman Scott Sandelin was born Aug. 8, 1964 in Hibbing, Minnesota. The Flyers acquired the former Hobey Baker Award finalist and University of North Dakota graduate from the Montreal Canadiens in the Nov. 1988 deal that sent J.J. Daigneault to the Habs.
Sandelin spent the majority of three seasons (1988-89 to 1990-91) in the AHL with Hershey. In 1990-91, he acquitted himself adequately during a nine-game NHL recall to the Flyers. With the exception of being minus-three in a 7-0 Flyers loss in Minnesota, Sandelin held his own until he broke a bone in his right forearm in a game against Washington. He missed the next six weeks. Upon his return, he was sent back to Hershey.
Sandelin earned two additional callups to the Flyers that season. Overall, he dressed in 15 games for the Flyers in 1990-91, posting three assists and a minus-15 rating. He moved on over the summer, signing with Clarke's Minnesota North Stars. He primarily played in the minors but did dress in one game for Minnesota in 1991-92
At the American Hockey League and International Hockey League levels, Sandelin was a fine puck-moving defenseman. After his retirement, he began a successful coaching career. He preceded current Flyers head coach Dave Hakstol as an assistant coach at UND before taking the head coaching job at the University of Minnesota- Duluth.
Sandelin has been the Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs head coach for the last 15 years. In 2011, he guided the team to the NCAA Frozen Four championship, defeating the University of Michigan in a 3-2 overtime finale at the XCel Energy Center in St. Paul.
