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Intersquad Gameday at WFC; Quick Hits on NCAA Prospects, Nasty Knuckles

January 10, 2021, 9:03 AM ET [115 Comments]
Bill Meltzer
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Intersquad Game Day (Wells Fargo Center)

The Philadelphia Flyers' abbreviated 2021 training camp concludes today with a two-group morning skate at the Skate Zone in Voorhees and then an intersquad game at the Wells Fargo at 7 p.m. ET. The intersquad game will be televised on NBC Sports Philadelphia.

The morning skate today will consist of two 45-minute sessions, featuring the two sides that will play in the intersquad game. Team A will skate from 10:30 a.m. to 11:15 a.m. and Team B will be out from 11:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. ET. The intersquad game is essentially a dress rehearsal for opening night being held in lieu of having any exhibition games against other NHL teams.

The following players are unavailable to participate in the intersquad game: defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere (undisclosed), forwards Isaac Ratcliffe (rib fracture), Tanner Laczynski (core muscle surgery rehab), Wade Allison (undisclosed, suspected lower-body injury), and goaltender Kirill Ustimenko (hip surgery recuperation).

TEAM ORANGE ROSTER

FORWARDS (10)
10 - Andy Andreoff C/LW
11 - Travis Konecny RW
13 - Kevin Hayes C
14 - Sean Couturier C
23 - Oskar Lindblom LW
28 - Claude Giroux LW
55 - Samuel Morin LW
60 - Zayde Wisdom RW
81 - Carsen Twarynski LW
86 - Joel Farabee RW

DEFENSEMEN (7)
3 - Chris Bigras LD
9 - Ivan Provorov LD
51 - Derrick Pouliot LD
54 - Yegor Zamula LD
59 - Mark Friedman RD
61 - Justin Braun RD
65 - Wyatte Wylie RD

GOALTENDERS (2)
34 - Alex Lyon
37 - Brian Elliott

TEAM WHITE ROSTER

FORWARDS (11)
12 - Michael Raffl LW
19 - Nolan Patrick C
21 - Scott Laughton C
25 - James van Riemsdyk LW
36 - Linus Sandin RW
48 - Morgan Frost C
52 - Tyson Foerster RW
62 - Nicolas Aube-Kubel RW
71 - Max Willman LW
82 - Connor Bunnaman C
93 - Jakub Voracek RW

DEFENSEMEN (6)
5 - Philippe Myers RD
6 - Travis Sanheim LD
8 - Robert Hagg LD
26 - Tyler Wotherspoon LD
39 - Nate Prosser RD
56 - Erik Gustafsson RD

GOALTENDERS (2)
32 - Felix Sandstrom
79 - Carter Hart

The lines that run in the Team A and Team B skates, naturally, will be the ones that appear in the intersquad game. I will update today's preview blog later with the two team rosters and combinations but the lines and D pairs that have been together in recent days will probably hold for the intersquad game. In terms of the likeliest NHL roster players, the lineup could like like this (regardless of intersquad game rosters).


Oskar Lindblom - Sean Couturier - Travis Konecny
Claude Giroux - Kevin Hayes - Joel Farabee
James van Riemsdyk - Nolan Patrick - Jakub Voracek
Michael Raffl - Scott Laughton - Nicolas Aube-Kubel

13th forward: Linus Sandin

Ivan Provorov - Justin Braun
Travis Sanheim - Phi Myers
Robert Hägg - Erik Gustafsson

Currently unavailable: Gostisbehere
8th defenseman: Mark Friedman

Carter Hart
Brian Elliott

Potential opening Taxi Squad: Morgan Frost, Connor Bunnaman, Carsen Twarynski, Sam Morin (waivers required) or Andy Andreoff (waivers required), Derrick Pouliot (waivers required) or Egor Zamula, Alex Lyon (waivers required).

CHL-eligible players: Tyson Foerster, Zayde Wisdom, Roddy Ross (uncontracted).

American Hockey League: Morin (waivers) or Andreoff (waivers), Pouliot (waivers) or Zamula, Max Willman (AHL contract), Tyler Wotherspoon (waivers), Nate Prosser (waivers), Chris Bigras (waivers), Felix Sandström.

Season-opening INR: Ratcliffe, Allison, Laczynski.


Quick Hits: January 10, 2021

1) Jay O'Brien's quest to get back on the NHL prospect radar is off to a strong start this season after a lengthy pandemic-related delay to the start of the Boston University 2020-21 hockey season. The latter of the Flyers' two selections in the 2018 first round played back-to-back strong games on Friday and Saturday against his former team, the Providence Friars.

Even apart from scoring two power play goals and adding a power play assist over the weekend, O'Brien brought tenacious puck pursuit and some feistiness. In Saturday's game, O'Brien was deployed in the final minute of the third period with the Terriers protecting a one-goal lead. He won a race to a puck along the boards and chipped out of the defensive zone. Shortly thereafter, he came up with a clutch shot block.

Especially considering how long it had been since O'Brien had played a meaningful game since the pandemic forced the cancelation of the rest of the BCHL season last March, the 21-year-old forward took an important first step this weekend toward showing his development path is back on track after an injury-riddled, unproductive and unhappy freshman year at Providence and a year with the Pencticton Vees in the BCHL while in the NCAA transfer protocol. Although Penticton was a step down in grade of competition, it was important for helping O'Brien regain his confidence and to retain three seasons of NCAA eligibility heading into the current season.

2) A gold-medal winner while captaining Team USA at the World Junior Championships, Flyers 2019 first-round pick Cam York returned to the University of Michigan Wolverines this weekend for their back-to-back games against Michigan State. The Wolverines won in a blowout on Friday (O'Brien's Terriers got blown out after leading early) and then fell victim to a late-game comeback by State on Saturday (BU won their game).

York recorded two assists on Friday and one on Saturday; the latter was scored off the rebound of a wraparound attempt by York. However, he was on the ice for a pair of Michigan State goals on Saturday, including the game-winner in the final minute of regulation.

3) Minnesota Duluth dropped both ends of their weekend back-to-back clash with St. Cloud State, losing 4-3 on Friday and 1-0 in overtime on Saturday. In Friday's game, Noah Cates assisted on a Nick Swaney goal that gave Minnesota Duluth a short-lived 3-2 lead. For the season, the junior center/winger has 10 points (4g, 6a) in 13 games and has continued to play solid two-way hockey.

4) On the next edition of the Nasty Knuckles Podcast, hosts Derek Settlemyre and Riley Cote will have Flyers right winger Jakub Voracek on as their special guest. The most recent episode features Flyers Alum enforcer Todd "Fridge" Fedoruk.

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