Bill Meltzer Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • RSS
• Archive
• CONTACT
Quick Hits: January 5, 2021
1) On Day 1 of the Flyers' abbreviated training camp, the main area of work during practice was on defensive zone responsibilities. In subsequent days, the focus will be on the neutral zone or the offensive zone forecheck. Head coach Alain Vigneault has always been a big believer in mapping out and explaining the practice plan to players ahead of taking the ice so that there is very little standing around and white-boarding on the ice and the drills move at a quick pace.
Vigneault said that doing things this way is even more important in an abbreviated camp.
"There’s no doubt. That’s part of the preparation and getting our team ready. This morning prior to practice, we had a good video session on the theme for the day. Today, we were really focused on defensive zone coverage and our responsibilities," Vigneault said.
"Last year we took a step forward as far as improving our defensive play. I think we were the team in the league that gave up the least amount of shots. We want to have that strong foundation. Checking quickly so that we can get the puck and go play in the other end. We started with our zone today. We’re going to go through each zone before the start of the regular season. Video before we pre-iced. I thought the pace of practice was excellent. The execution is going to get better. The pace and the attention to detail was good and what’s what we were looking for."
Day 2 of camp will follow the same format as day one, except with a different systems area as the main focus and with some different line combinations and defense pairings. At 11 A.M. ET, there will be simultaneous Group A and Group B practices on the two rinks on either end of the Skate Zone. The practice will last about 40 minutes. Thereafter, there will be a scrimmage.
2) My two favorite take-away quotes from the first day of camp were uttered, respectively, by Oskar Lindblom and Carter Hart.
Lindblom on whether he gets tired of being asked about his recovery from Ewing Sarcoma: "I think it’s good. Sometimes it’s kind of the same questions over and over again about what happened before, but at the same time, I want to be a spokesperson for something good. I know people that are in the same spot I was. I just try to help people, try to cheer them up and do my best to help them. It’s more fun to do that. If the guys want to talk about it, I’ll talk about it. It’s not a big deal at all."
Hart on his ambitions entering his third NHL season: " I don’t want to just be another NHL player; I want to be the best and I want to be the best NHL goaltender. That is something that I strive for every day."
3) Team USA advanced to play Team Canada in the gold medal game of the 2020-21 World Junior Championships by virtue of prevailing 4-3 against Finland in the semifnal game on Monday night. The Finns' power play gave the Americans' trouble and there were a few costly breakdowns but, for the most part, the Americans were the slightly better team in a good hockey game. After the game, Cam York was named the tourney's best defenseman on Team USA by his coaches.
Canada breezed past Russia, 5-0, on Monday in another shutout performance by Devon Levi. He will take on fellow Florida Panthers prospect Spencer Knight of Team USA in the gold medal game tonight (9:30 P.M. ET, NHL Network). Meanwhile, the Russians will play the Finns for bronze (5:30 P.M. ET, NHL Network).
On Thursday -- an off-day during the Flyers' training camp -- I will write a WJC wrapup blog, focused on my tournament observations about Flyers prospects York, Bobby Brink and Emil Andrae.
4) Today in Flyers History: January 5, 2012
James van Riemsdyk's power play goal with 33 seconds remaining in the third period -- JvR's second tally of the game -- completed a 5-4 home win for the Flyers against the powerhouse Chicago Blackhawks. Jakub Voracek, Scott Hartnell and fourth-line forward Harry Zolnierczyk also scored for Philly.
5) Flyers Alumni birthday: Flyers Hall of Fame right winger and center Tim Kerr was born on January 5, 1960, in Windsor, Ontario. Unselected in the 1979 NHL Draft, the Flyers signed Kerr as a free agent. Kerr went on to produce 370 goals in 655 regular season games and 40 goals in 81 playoff tilts. He had 17 career hat tricks. If Kerr had been able to stay healthier during his career, he certainly would have joined the ranks of the NHL's all-time leading goal scorers. As it was, he will be remembered as one of the premier snipers of the 1980s. In 1994, Kerr was elected to the Flyers Hall of Fame.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
Join the Discussion:
»