QUICK HITS: SEPTEMBER 17, 2016
1) The World Cup of Hockey gets underway today. Here is the schedule of games involving Flyers' players: Team Europe (featuring Mark Streit and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare) plays Team USA at 3:30 p.m. (ESPN2). Team Czech Republic (Jakub Voracek, Michal Neuvirth starting in goal) will play Team Canada (Claude Giroux will be a healthy scratch) at 8:00 p.m. ET. The latter game will be televised on ESPNews.
2) Flyers 2016 first-round pick German Rubtsov and Vityaz Chekhov are in action on Saturday, hosting HC Sochi. In Vityaz's last game, Rubtsov received only 91 seconds of ice time from head coach Valery Belov, and is averaging 7:01 of ice time through seven games to date.
3) Flyers 2015 fourth-round pick Mikhail Vorobyov and Salavat Yulaev Ufa play Traktor Chelyabinsk on the road on Saturday. In Salavat's last game, Vorobyov skated 12:25 of ice time. He is averaging 12:14 through six games, with one goal to date.
4) The Swedish Hockey League (SHL) regular season gets underway today with three games on the schedule. With the Flyers' selection of two Swedish defensemen in the 2016 NHL Draft, the organization now has four prospects in the system with SHL affiliations.
Brynà¤s IF Gà¤vle does not pay its first regular season game until Friday (Sept. 23) when it hosts Frölunda HC Göteborg. Left winger Oskar Lindblom (drafted by the Flyers in the fifth round of the 2014 NHL Draft) figures to receive extensive ice time this season, which appears likely to be his last before coming to North America. Goaltender Felix Sandström (selected in the third round of the 2015 Draft) should also see a lot of starts this season.
Flyers 2016 fifth-round pick Linus Högberg is on the Và¤xjö Lakers senior team roster to open the 2016-17 regular season. The team opens the regular season on Thursday on the road against Rögle BK à„ngelholm.
Likewise, Flyers 2016 seventh-round pick David Bernhardt will open the season on the Djurgà¥rdens IF Stockholm senior team. The team opens on the road on Thursday against Leksands IF.