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Quick Hits: Offseason Poll, Showcase Update, TIFH

June 13, 2021, 9:40 AM ET [175 Comments]
Bill Meltzer
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Quick Hits: June 13, 2021

1) In the salary-cap era, especially given the current flat ceiling/floor and the difficulty of making "hockey trades", it is practically impossible for any team to fulfil its entire offseason wish list. Heading into this summer, the Flyers have a variety of areas of needed improvement.

Here's the question: If there's ONLY one major area that the Flyers are able to address this offseason -- a top-pairing right side defenseman, a goal-scoring winger, an impact center to stack the middle with Sean Couturier and Kevin Hayes, or a goaltender capable of pushing Carter Hart in a 1A/1B arrangement -- which would you choose?

Presumably, upgrading one or more of these areas (except a sniper, which would assist the power play) would help the Flyers improve on the penalty kill. Overall, at least in my opinion, cutting the team GAA significantly needs to be the No. 1 priority. But there is a vocal segment of the fan base that is more focused on adding additional offensive pop to the lineup, whether via a high-end center or a goal-scoring winger.




2) One more addition to announce to the Flyers' Alumni Team roster for the June 27 fundraising game against the Flyers Warriors at IceWorks in Aston, PA: Jody Shelley will also don the newly redesigned Flyers Alumni Team uniform. Shelley joins a roster that already includes Dave Brown, Todd Fedoruk, Riley Cote, Scott Daniels, Jesse Boulerice and Jeff Chychrun.

The roster also includes some players who compiled a lot of points during their active playing careers: Hockey Hall of Fame defenseman Mark Howe, U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame left winger John LeClair, Danny Briere, Mike Knuble and AHL Hall of Famer Mitch Lamoureaux. Robert Esche will be in goal for the Flyers Alumni side.

More importantly, the entire Flyers Alumni weekend -- both the June 27 game and the annual Flyers Alumni Golf Invitational the next day -- have been organized to honor the recently retired Joe Watson for his 54 years of tirelessly loyal service to the Flyers' organization. Joe will be suiting up for the game in Aston (with brother Jimmy as one of the Flyers Alumni Team coaches) and also on the links the following day. All proceeds benefit the charities supported by the Flyers Alumni Association as well as the association's own programs including Every Child Deserves a Bike and 12 Days of Christmas Season Giving.

VIP tickets -- which include a postgame reception with all the attending Flyers Alumni, a live band and a private viewing area for the game -- are completely sold out even after VIP capacity was increased. It cannot be increased again without compromising the quality of the experience for ticket holders. A limited number of general admission tickets ($20) remain available. For those who will be unable to attend, the game will be streamed live on https://portal.stretchinternet.com/sfbn/.

3) June 13 Flyers Alumni birthdays: Vyacheslav Butsayev (1970), Doug Crossman (1960), Dale Kushner (1966), Danny Syvret (1985).
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