Quick Hits: Nov. 11, 2020
1) NHL.com's Nick Cotsonika provided
an update on Tuesday of the status of the league's planning for the belated 2020-21 season. According to NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, the league is still targeting a Jan. 1 start to the regular season -- although there seems to be a lot of skepticism around the league that New Year's Day is realistic -- but there are a variety of possible scenarios and formats on the table, including temporary "mini-bubbles", temporary divisional realignments (which may be a necessity to work around the closed Canada-U.S. border), shortened-season possibilities and scenarios that would include phased-in partial public attendance or empty-arena formats in certain cities. The article is worth a read for some of the formats that Bettman says are possibilities. One thing that will NOT happen is the full-scale, full-season Bubble locales that were in place during the 2020 playoffs.
2) Due to rising cases of COVID-19 in Sweden, play is suspended for the J18 and J20 levels (which adds to the ranks of leagues that NHL teams cannot currently scout for the 2021 Draft). The Allsvenskan (top pro minor league) and Swedish Hockey League schedules are continuing but there are now a growing number of cases affecting teams at those levels, including SHL team HV71 (featuring Linus Sandin and Flyers 2020 second-round pick Emil Andrae) postponin, thus far, all games scheduled for this week.
3) Today in Flyers History: November 11
1973: The Flyers skated to a 4-3 win over the St. Louis Blues at the Spectrum, spurred by goals from Bobby Clarke (power play), Bill Barber, Rick MacLeish and Don Saleski. Bernie Parent faced just 17 shots for the game.
1979: Rick MacLeish notched his 14th career hat trick. The Flyers downed the Vancouver Canucks, 5-4, and extended their unbeaten streak to 12 games (11-0-1).
1981: In a swap of team captains, the Philadelphia Flyers acquired sturdy defenseman Brad Marsh from the Calgary Flames in exchange for Mel Bridgman. Marsh went on to play seven seasons for the Flyers and is both a team leader and effective defensive defenseman on clubs that reached the Stanley Cup Finals in 1985 and 1987.
1985: The ventilator keeping Pelle Lindbergh breathing after a devastating car accident in Somerdale, NJ, was turned off and the Vezina Trophy winning goaltender was pronounced dead. Per the wishes of Pelle's family, Lindbergh's organs were successfully transplanted into awaiting patients at multiple area hospitals. Flyers head coach Mike Keenan said later, "Pelle died making one final save."
1990: Second-stint veteran goalie Pete Peeters recorded his sixth shutout as a Flyer, turning back all 31 shots he sees in a 2-0 win at the Spectrum over the Vancouver Canucks. Rookie center Mike Ricci and veteran defenseman Kjell Samuelsson provided the goal support.
1997: The Flyers limited the visiting Ottawa Senators to just 16 shots as Ron Hextall recorded a shutout and Philly skated off with a skinny 1-0 victory. An early second period unassisted goal by Paul Coffey was the lone tally for either side. Damian Rhodes stopped 26 of 27 shots for Ottawa in a losing cause.
2010: A natural hat trick by Jeff Carter, two tallies by Danny Briere and a four-goal Flyers explosion in the third period were the main ingredients in an 8-1 road blowout win over the Carolina Hurricanes. Scott Hartnell and Nikolay Zherdev struck for third period goals.
2017: A third-period goal by Jason Zucker is the lone tally for either side in a 1-0 home loss at the hands of the Minnesota Wild. Devan Dubnyk robbed multiple Flyers in a 32-save shutout, while Brian Elliott stopped 26 of 27 shots for the Flyers in a losing cause.
4) Nov. 11 Flyers Alumni birthday: Martin Hostak was born on Nov. 11, 1967 in Hradec Kralove, Czechoslovakia (now Czech Republic).
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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