Quick Hits: June 1, 2023

1) Memorial Cup: After entering the second period tied at 1-1, the WHL champion Seattle Thunderbirds (2-1-0) steamrolled the tournament host Kamloops Blazers (1-2-0) by a 6-1 score in Memorial Cup action on Wednesday. The playoff bracket is now set.

Tonight, the OHL champion Peterborough Petes (1-2-0) will play a quarterfinal game against Kamloops. The winner of that game will play Seattle in the semifinal game on Friday. On Sunday, the semifinal winner will face off against the QMJHL champion Quebec Remparts (2-1-0, plus-five goal differential) for the Memorial Cup championship.

Flyers prospects JR Avon and Brian Zanetti play for the Peterborough.

2) Prospect Pipeline: Yesterday, Brian Smith and I recorded a new episode of the Prospect Pipeline podcast for the Flyers Broadcast Network. Topics covered include Cutter Gauthier and Ronnie Attard's respective performances at the 2023 IIHF World Championship, the ongoing Memorial Cup tournament, the wide array of possible directions in which the Flyers could go if they hold on the seventh overall pick in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft, and more. The podcast will go live later today. I'll post the link to social media today and add it to tomorrow's blog here.

3) Nine different Flyers Alumni have June 1 birthdays: Murray Baron (1967), Paul Coffey (1961), Jeff Hackett (1968), current Flyer Tanner Laczynski (1997), David Laliberte (1986), Roman Lyubimov (1992), Eric Meloche (1976), two-stint forward Dan Quinn (1965), and the late Larry "the Rock" Zeidel (1928-2014).

4) Today in Flyers History: In February 2011, the Flyers obtained forward Kris Versteeg in a trade with the Toronto Maple Leafs. He spent the remaining 27 games (seven goals, 11 points) with Philadelphia and dressed in all 11 playoff games (one goal, six points) as the Flyers reached the Eastern Conference semifinals.

On June 1, 2011, Versteeg was on the move again. The Flyers traded him to the Florida Panthers in exchange for second-round and third-round picks in the 2012 NHL Draft. The second-rounder was later flipped to the Tampa Bay Lightning in the deal that sent veteran defenseman Pavel Kubina to the Flyers. The Bolts ultimately selected right winger Brian Hart with the pick.

The Flyers kept the third-rounder. The team used it to select Union College defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere with the 78th overall pick.

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