Quick Hits: September 21, 2021
1) Flyers head coach Alain Vigneault will address the media via Zoom at noon ET on Tuesday. He will likely discuss the team's many roster changes during the offseason, what it will take for the team to re-establish an identity as a team that ranks in the upper portion of the league in both GPG and GAA, new backup goaltender Martin Jones and similar subjects ahead of the start of the team's training camp. On-ice practices as a team will begin on Thursday.
2) There is no dispute over whether Samuel Morin sustained a knee injury of some sort in training for the start of NHL camp. The question is the severity. On Saturday, some reporters (including myself) received a tip that Morin, who has twice suffered ACL tears in his right knee during his career, had suffered a serious injury to the same knee.
Requests were made to the Flyers' higher-ups to confirm or refute the information. Neither general manager Chuck Fletcher nor assistant general manager Brent Flahr responded over the next day. On Sunday, Crossing Broad's Anthony SanFilippo tweeted that he had confirmation of a serious knee injury to Morin.
Yesterday, Riley Cote, who was Morin's assistant coach with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms during the first two seasons of Morin's pro career, tweeted out a text exchange he'd had with the player. Morin confirmed that he'd banged up his knee but directly denied it was anything serious.
The Philadelphia Inquirer's Sam Carchidi, who was able to reach Fletcher, reported that Morin will not be on the ice come Thursday's practice. There was not a comment published related to the specific nature of the knee issue or timetable for Morin.
Fletcher said there would be injury updates issued today.
3) Specific to Wade Allison, the Flyers GM told Carchidi yesterday that he was waiting for medical reports on right winger Wade Allison. The power forward sustained a lower-body injury in the second period of Sunday's Rookie Game in Voorhees against the New York Rangers' prospects. Fletcher did not comment on the nature of the injury.
To the eye, it looked like a potential high ankle sprain based on how awkwardly Allison's foot or lower leg got twisted under him as he went down to the ice on a play along the boards. This is strictly speculative and unconfirmed. It should be noted that there was only one camera angle available on the play in question, and it was from a distance.
4) The Flyers' facilities in Voorhees are no longer called the Flyers SkateZone. The name has been officially changed to the Flyers Training Center (FTC).
5) According to the Wells Fargo Center-operated
Back to Broad website, fans attending games at the Wells Fargo Center will not have to present proof of vaccination against COVID-19.
Masks are still required at all times inside the arena when not actively eating or drinking. There will be a similar policy at FTC during training camp. The public is welcome to attend and needn't present a CDC vaccination card but a mask must be worn inside the building at all times.
The Flyers, in accordance with NHL policy, are requiring vaccination proof for all media covering training camp and games. This is part and parcel of the resumption of in-person interview access rather than remote interviews with players, coaches and team officials via Zoom. However, neither the NHL nor the City of Philadelphia requires vaccination proof for fan admission to arenas.
The Flyers said that all players, coaches and hockey operations staff will be fully vaccinated by opening night. Last week, Fletcher said they are "basically there now", meaning that most are already are fully vaccinated and the remaining few are presently partially vaccinated and finishing up the waiting period before their second dose of the Pzizer or Moderna vaccine. The Wells Fargo Center has issued a statement on its website that all building employees will be fully vaccinated by Nov. 16.
6) Flyers 2021 draft pick Alexei Kolosov recorded a 31-save shutout in Dinamo Minsk's 5-0 road shutout victory over Traktor Chelyabinsk on Monday. He made a dozen saves in the third period to close out the game. It was his first shutout of the young season and the second of his KHL career.
In five starts to date this season, the 19-year-old Belarusian netminder has a 3-2-0 record, 1.61 GAA and .947 save percentage. Dinamo (4-3-0) returns to action on Wednesday, playing on the road against Avtomobilist Ekaterinburg (3-3-2).
7) On Saturday, Olle Lycksell opened the scoring with a rebound goal for the Växjö Lakers in a five-goal first period outburst against Timrå IK. Later, he drew the primary assist on the fifth goal of the period. The visiting Växjö side (1-0-2) went on to beat TIK (1-2-0) by a 6-1 score. For game highlights,
click here. Lycksell's team returns to action tomorrow, on the road in Gävle to play Brynäs (1-1-1).
8) Ryanne Giroux, the wife of Flyers captain Claude Giroux, tweeted out several photos of their two-year-old son Gavin at the Flyers Training Center. For any parent who has a child that age -- or remember when their own kids were that age and starting to discover what daddy (or mommy) does for a living, it's pretty special.
When my son, Benjamin, was two, he thought I was the Flyers goalie. In months that followed, he thought I was the Flyers coach. I informed him repeatedly that, no, I'm just a writer who does work for the Flyers and Flyers Alumni. He wasn't as enthusiastic when he came to understand what that job entailed. Nowadays, at age 12, he's even more unimpressed.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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