Quick Hits: December 13, 2021
1) The Flyers will hold an 11 a.m. ET practice on Monday at the FTC in Voorhees. Due to last week's ultra-compact schedule of five games in seven nights across three time zones, the team was unable to hold any practices. Today's session will be the first one fully under the auspices of interim head coach Mike Yeo. However, Yeo indicated on Saturday that the upcoming practice likely won't be very long in duration.
Although Sunday was ostensibly an off-day in terms of practice, the team traveled back to Philadelphia from Arizona. Moreover, the Flyers are right back in game action tomorrow night, hosting the New Jersey Devils at the Wells Fargo Center. After that, the team may hold a short practice on Wednesday and then depart for Montreal. The Flyers will visit the Canadiens on Thursday evening then return to Philadelphia to play the Ottawa Senators on Saturday.
2) The logistics of the first two games of the Flyers vs. Senators season series this year create inconveniences and potential travel-related fatigue that could seemingly have been avoided.
It would be preferable to play the Senators in Ottawa (roughly 120 miles from Montreal) this Saturday. It would work better for the Flyers and it'd work better for the Senators. Ottawa has an off-day this Friday after a game in Tampa, then will visit the Flyers on Saturday and immediately come home to host the Boston Bruins on Sunday. Given their druthers, it'd make more sense for the Sens to be home for both games over the weekend.
Meanwhile, later this season, the Flyers will host the Nashville Predators at the Wells Fargo Center on March 17 then immediately leave to travel to Ottawa to visit the Senators on the 18th. Staying at home for the second half of a back-to-back would be preferable for the Flyers. It'd also work out logistically for the Senators. They have an off-day on March 17 and a road game in Montreal on March 19.
So why not do it that way? Here's the wrench in the scheduling works: There's a Wells Fargo Center home-game date conflict with the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers on March 18. As a result, there's maximum inconvenience for the Flyers and Senators having to play each other in the less logical venue on both Dec. 18 and March 18.
3) Logistics aside, this week is a vital one for the Flyers as they attempt to put their recent 10-game winless stretch into the rearview mirror. They'll try to start the climb out of the standings crater the 0-8-2 stretch created.
Philadelphia is currently seven points (six standings points plus a tiebreaker disadvantage) off the pace for the lower wildcard spot. The team is a whopping 16 (15+1) points off the pace for the final automatic playoff spot that would come with third place in the Metro. That's what getting two of a possible 20 points will do to a team.
On the Dec. 13 edition of Flyers Daily, Jason Myrtetus and I talk about the wins in Vegas and Arizona this past weekend, what we did and did not like from those performances, what was different enough to lead to back-to-back wins, what still needs to improve significantly and the opportunity presented by the next three games. It needn't be pretty, but a five-game win streak (preferably via regulation wins) would at less lessen some of the damage that was done relative to the wildcard standings. To listen,
click here.
4)
Flyers Alumni 12 Days of Christmas
Yesterday marked the official start of the third annual "12 Days of Christmas Giving" program first launched by the Flyers Alumni Association in 2019. Each day, the Alumni will make a contribution to a charity, a local family in need or otherwise serve the Delaware Valley community. Every year, there's a minimum of 12 donations/ activities tied to the program. There have already been three donations made:
* On Friday, Bob "the Hound" Kelly presented a $2,000 check on behalf of the Flyers Alumni to the Samuel Busansky Upper Elementary School in Pemberton, NJ. The funds will be used toward the school's annual toy collection drive to donate to less fortunate families for the holidays. Bob's wife, Stacey, was a longtime teacher at Busansky and the Kelly family has actively supported the toy drive for 15-plus years.
* Flyers Alumni Association president Brad Marsh presented a $3,000 check to Rebuilding Warriors; a charity organization that provides service dogs to honorably discharged United States military veterans in need. To learn more about the Rebuilding Warriors organization and its mission, visit
RebuildingWarriors.com. The organization is near and dear to the Flyers Alumni because of the Alumni's close ties to the Flyers Warriors hockey team.
* Marsh also made a $3,000 contribution on behalf of the Flyers Alumni Association to the Philadelphia Flyers PowerPlay power wheelchair hockey program. The official wheelchair hockey affiliate of the NHL's Flyers, the Flyers PowerPlay are the two-time defending North American (United States and Canada) power wheelchair hockey champions. No tournaments have been held during the pandemic, but the Flyers PowerPlay program is to power wheelchair hockey what the Flyers Warriors are to USA Hockey's Warrior program; the gold standard program on a nationwide level.
5) One of the capstone events of the 12 Days of Christmas program for 2021 is a gift from the Flyers Alumni Association to the entire community. On Dec. 20, the Alumni will hold a FREE young hockey clinic t Spring Mountain Ice on Dec. 20 Sessions for ages 6U-8U (6 PM to 7 PM) and 10U-12U. (7:15 PM to 8:15 PM). Instruction from Brad Marsh, Bob Kelly, Joe Watson & more.
Space is limited to 25 kids per session. Sign up ASAP if interested. To register your child,
click here.
6) Congratulations go out to Flyers prospect Elliot Desnoyers, who earned a roster spot on Team Canada at the upcoming 2021-22 World Junior Championships.
7) Zayde Wisdom returned to the Kingston Frontenacs lineup on Sunday. In a 5-3 win over Mississauga, he had two shots on goal and 4 PIM (roughing/unsportsmanlike conduct double minor). It was Wisdom's first game of the 2021-22 season after undergoing shoulder surgery back in August.
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Phantoms Beat Wolf Pack Via Shootout, 4-3
The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (5-11-5) have won back-to-back games for just the second time this season. On Sunday, the team skated to a 4-3 (2-0) shootout win over the Hartford Wolf Pack at the PPL Center.
The time off the Phantoms had due to COVID-related game postponements -- the Phantoms themselves were unscathed, with the notable exception of young defenseman Cam York -- seemed to have the team some good. The decimated roster, riddled with injuries and NHL callups, started to get back a few players (including York). The power play, which had been a sore spot all season, had a good weekend in wins over Cleveland and Hartford. In fact, the overall process looked much better. The Phantoms deserved to win both games this weekend and did just that.
On Sunday, the Phantoms were the better team through the first two-plus periods. They outshot Hartford by a combined 25-11 through two periods (14-5 and 11-6), taking a 1-0 lead to the first intermission and a 3-2 edge to the second intermission. In the third period, the Phantoms held the Wolf Pack to just three shots through the opening 14-plus minutes. A costly elbowing penalty on Hayden Hodgson, which led seconds later to a power play goal by Zac Jones sent the game to overtime. Lehigh Valley then claimed the bonus point from the skills competition.
Gerry Mayhew (PPG, 9th goal of the season), Garret Wilson (5th) and Isaac Ratcliffe (3rd) scored in regulation for the Phantoms. Wade Allison and Adam Clendening converted shootout attempts into goals.
Due to a sinus issue that forced him to leave Saturday's game after the first period, goaltender Felix Sandström was unavailable for Ian Laperriere's squad on Sunday. Rookie netminder Samuel Ersson has been out since late October with a groin issue (he's believed to be getting close to returning). Reading Royals goalie Kirill Ustimenko was recalled for Sunday's game but lonly permitted to serve as an emergency backup due to potential exposure to COVID in a recent ECHL game in which the Royals played an opponent that had positive COVID tests turn up shortly thereafter. Ustimenko, who has tested negative, had to stay in isolation in the building for Sunday's game day but would have been permitted to enter the game in the event starting Phantoms goalie Pat Nagle had been injured.
The 34-year-old Nagle, who has a decade of AHL and ECHL experience under his belt, won Saturday's game in relief of Sandström and then made 18 regulation saves, four overtime stops and went 2-for-2 in the shootout to earn the win on Sunday.
The most encouraging sign for the Flyers organization over the weekend: Wade Allison. He had back-to-back strong games in his first two appearances. On Sunday, he did everything but collect a point. Allison hounded the puck all game, registered five shots on goal (four in the first period) and had several good scoring chances, played his usual high-energy and physical brand of hockey, and played with good pace. For good measure, he scored in the first round of the shootout, making a little head fake and then firing off a quick shot that beat goalie Adam Huska to the blocker side.
Another positive sign: York had several good up-ice shifts on both games and moved the puck well. He seems fully recovered from a weeklong bout with coronavirus. He had an uneven game defensively on Sunday and was out for both Hartford even-strength goals on Sunday (partially culpable but not solely responsible on the first and late to arrive on the second). All in all, it was good to see York back on the ice and showing no ill-effects. Considering the layoff, he can build off some overall positives from the last two games.
Lastly, Isaac Ratcliffe looked like a different player over the weekend than the struggling forward he had been. On Saturday, he was in the middle of several scoring chances; most notably a dazzling individual effort where he turned defenders inside out and narrowly missed finishing off the play. He also used his size well to win most of his puck battles. The same was true on Sunday. He couldn't quite get to a puck in the crease in the first period to jam it home. Finally, at 13:17 of the second period, he got rewarded. On a blueline-in breakaway, Ratcliffe beat Hushka upstairs to establish a 3-1 lead for the Phantoms.
This weekend, Ratcliffe looked like the type of player the Flyers organization hoped he'd be in Year 3 of his pro career. Now it's up to him to build off those two performances and churn out similar overall games with consistency; not just a flash of upside on a shift here and a promising one-off game there. The way Ratcliffe played on Saturday and Sunday is what he needs much more of on a sustained basis to get his career back onto a potential NHL track.
Prior to a recent lower-body injury that knocked German Rubtsov out of the lineup for several games, the oft-injured Russian forward showed hints of finally hitting his first offensive groove since the first 13 games of his rookie season (before a season-ending shoulder injury and a series of subsequent injuries) way back in the fall of 2018. Since he's been back in the lineup, Rubtsov has reverted to the way he played most of the last few years; solid defensively but with little offensive push. Being back on the fourth line doesn't really engender much offensive push, to be fair.
Jackson Cates, who was called up to the Flyers for their recent road trip but did not dress in a game, was returned to the Phantoms on Saturday. He dressed in Sunday's game, recording two shots on goal and setting up Garrett Wilson's second period goal from the bottom of the right circle that put the Phantoms ahead, 2-1.
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