Quick Hits: Sept. 4, 2019
1) Coming either later today or tomorrow on the Flyers official website, I will discuss the Flyers goaltending rotation for the upcoming season. When I spoke in July to new Flyers head coach Alain Vigneault, he understandably did not want to project a target number of starts apiece for young goaltender Carter Hart and veteran Brian Elliott. There are a lot of variables that can change the outlook significantly -- not the least of which is the need for both Hart and Elliott (who has missed significant time the past two seasons) to stay healthy and for the team to avoid the type of streakiness that forces teams into "sprint mode" by midseason.
Vigneault said that he foresees more and more NHL clubs going the route that the Boston Bruins did last year, with Tuukka Rask and Jaroslav Halak splitting the regular season starts pretty evenly before Rask became the starter for the duration of the playoffs. He did not say that the Flyers would directly allocate starts on close to a 50-50 basis but did see he anticipates significant work for both Hart and Elliott during the regular season.
My pre-camp guesstimate, based on Hart's upside and exceptional maturity for such a young netminder, is that he will get roughly 50 to 55 starts, with the rest going to Elliott. Again, that is assuming both goalies are healthy and the team itself avoids the lengthy losing/winning streaks within the same season that have made recent seasons especially frustrating. I'd be surprised if Hart gets to the brink of 60 starts, however,. On the flip side, if it's closer to about a 45-to-37 split, that'd be a little disappointing unless Elliott miraculously turns back the clock to his Jennings Trophy form (which is unrealistic to expect).
2) In answer to several questions I have received on Twitter pertaining to Flyers Rookie Camp, I am working up an FAQ pertaining to why certain players are/are not participating in camp. Here is the short version related to several players of note.
Philippe Myers: Myers' participation in Rookie Camp has nothing to do with his chances of earning an NHL spot out of camp (which appear to be strong). Rather, it is because he is still on his entry-level contract and classified as an NHL rookie. Thus, despite having played in 21 NHL games last season, he is back at Rookie Camp for one final year. It is similar to the situation that Oskar Lindblom was in last year, when Lindblom was in Rookie Camp.
Samuel Morin: Morin is still classified as an NHL rookie but is no longer an entry-level contract player. Thus, he is no longer part of Rookie Camp.
Jay O'Brien: O'Brien is not playing collegiate hockey this season, but is unavailable to attend for to draconian NCAA rules. He's in the BCHL this season. However, under the NCAA Transfer Protocol, he needs to retain his amateur eligibility if he is to play at Boston University in 2020-21. O'Brien used up his 48-hour rule exemption at the Flyers 2018 Development Camp. Thus, the only way he could attend Flyers camp this September would be to entirely pay his own way -- transportation, hotel, food, etc. Additionally, Penticon has regular season games on Sept. 6 and 7. To understand more about what the 48-hour rule is, see the
collegiate prospect rules 411 article I did several months ago for the Flyers' official site.
Wade Allison and Tanner Laczynski: NCAA rules prohibit players from missing any classroom time to attend a professional sports camp. The fall semester is underway. That is way no NHL teams have their active collegiate prospects in camp in September.
3) The Flyers announced on Wednesday that they officially entered into a multi-year sports book partnership and sponsorship deal with SugarHouse Casino and PlaySugarHouse.com. Starting this season, there will be two on-site Sugarhouse lounges at the Wells Fargo Center.
Later this year, SugarHouse Casino, along with its online and mobile complements, will officially rebrand their name as Rivers Casino Philadelphia. At the time, the sports lounges at Wells Fargo Center will also reflect the new Rivers brand name.
4) As noted several weeks ago, the Flyers have added Friends Central and St. Joseph's University graduate Matt Karliner to their analytics department. That announcement was officially made today, along with two promotions and an additional new hire.
* Ian Anderson has been promoted to Director of Hockey Analytics. Anderson joined the Flyers in 2014 as Manager of Hockey Analytics. He is currently the second-longest-tenured analytics staff member in the NHL.
*Jacob Hurlbut has been promoted to Lead Developer of hockey analytics. Hurlbut joined the Flyers’ analytics department in 2016. He graduated from St. Lawrence University in 2015, where he worked in an analytics role with the men’s hockey program and was part of a research fellowship that looked to develop new forms of analytical quantifications for NHL players.
* Bucks County native Tom Minton has been hired with the title of Director of Hockey Information/Video. Previously, Minton was with the Minnesota Wild, assisting their hockey operations department.
* Karliner has been hired as a statistical analyst as part of the Anderson-run staff.
5) I was saddened this morning to hear about the passing of longtime Flyers game photographer Jack Cassidy, whose work spanned back to the franchise's early years. He will be greatly missed at Wells Fargo Center.
I knew Jack very casually from seeing and hearing him in the pregame commissary area for many years (you always knew when he was in the room!) but didn't really know him beyond that until I started to do a segment on Jason Myrtetus' pregame show, which is done from the NBA1 room adjacent to the Flyers player tunnel.
There, I learned that what was said of him -- "no one is a stranger to Jack" -- was 100 percent true. He would come over and talk to anyone, joke around and tell funny stories, catch everyone up on his health, etc. He'd always respond with a hearty chuckle when people would say, "Oh, that's a little too much information there, Jack!" He was irrepressible and he was kindly.
A quick personal story: Last year, a player tossed a broken stick in the trash as he exited warmup. Jack grabbed it from the trash bin, handed it to me and said, "Give it to your kid." The warmup-used stick is still in my son's possession.
6) Sept. 4 Flyers Alumni birthday: John Vanbiesbrouck (1963).
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