Pre-camp update: Ranks Increasing in Voorhees
With each passing day, more and more Flyers players are voluntarily returning to Voorhees to put in their quarantine time and then to work out on and off the ice at the Skate Zone. The most notable Flyer to return to the area is right winger Travis Konecny. Coming off an All-Star Game appearance in the regular season but a disappointing run in the playoffs, the team's leading scorer last season is a lock to skate on one of the Flyers' top two lines again when the season arrives.
Additionally, while veteran left winger Michael Raffl had permission from the Flyers to play in the Channel One Cup, he has opted to return to Philadelphia to get a jump on being ready go for training camp.
Lastly, Swedish import forward Linus Sandin, whose younger brother Rasmus has already returned to North America to join his Maple Leafs teammates in Toronto, has left HV71 Jönköping of the SHL and is coming to the Philadelphia area ahead of his first NHL camp.
Flyers players already in Voorhees include Carter Hart, Ivan Provorov, Phil Myers, Sam Morin, Robert Hägg, Oskar Lindblom, Nicolas Aube-Kubel, Carsen Twarynski and Tanner Laczysnki. Currently, NHL training camps are expected to start around January 2 once the final return-to-play plan is announced.
World Junior Championships Coverage
NHL Network will carry live broadcasts ofr all 28 games of the 2020-21 World Junior Championships in Edmonton, including every pre-tournament game. Team,USA, featuring Flyers prospects Cam York and Bobby Brink, will play an exhibition game on Sunday (Dec. 20) against Switzerland at 6 p.m. ET. There will also be an exhibition game against Finland next Tuesday (Dec. 22) at 6 p.m. ET.
Team USA's preliminary round-robin slate starts next Friday on Christmas Day against Russia at 9:30 p.m. ET. That will be following the next day with a game against underdog Austria (same start time) and then matches with the Czech Republic (2 p.m. ET) on Tues. Dec. 29 and Sweden on New Year's Eve (9:30 p.m. ET). Team Sweden features Flyers 2020 second-round pick Emil Andrae.
The medal round quarterfinal game will be on Sat. Jan. 2. The semis are Mon. Jan. 4 and both the bronze medal (5:30 p.m.) and gold medal (9:30 p.m.) games are on Tue. Jan. 5. Additionally:
* NHL Network, on Christmas Eve Day, starting at 10 a.m. ET, there will be a marathon of Team USA gold-medal winning games at the WJC, featuring the 2010 (6-5 overtime win against Canada), 2013 (3-1 win over Sweden), and 2017 (5-4 shootout win over Canada in Montreal) gold medal games.
The 2010 gold medal game featured future Flyer Brayden Schenn (then an LA Kings prospect) on the Canada side. The 2013 game had Shayne Gostisbehere on Team USA and Robert Hägg on Team Sweden. The 2017 game had Carter Hart in goal for Canada and Tanner Laczysnki on the fourth line for Team USA. Hart went 3-for-4 in stopping shootout attempts but Troy Terry's goal in the third round stood as the winner. Terry had previously scored three times in the Americans' shootout win over Russia in the quarterfinal.
* At 6 p.m. on Christmas Eve, NHL Network will have a 2020-21 World Junior Championship preview show.
* On the Flyers official website, we will have articles upcoming on the Flyers three WJC reps this year (with a focus on their assorted international hockey experience to date), the best WJC performances over the years by Flyers-affiliated prospects, and an "Around the World" feature on all the different countries that have been represented by Flyers-affiliated prospects over the years.y
* On Flyers Daily with Jason Myrtetus, there will be interviews with Cam York and Bobby Brink.
Flyers Alumni 12 Days of Christmas: Days 5, 6, and 7
On Monday of this week, I had the privilege of interviewing original Flyers center Garry Peters (167-68 to 1970-71 seasons) in conjunction with the Flyers Alumni Association's 12 Days of Christmas Season Giving program. Mr. Peters, a Saskatchewan native, suggested the Flyers Alumni make a donation to the Saskatoon chapter of KidSport; a program that brings access to a variety of different sports to economically underprivileged children.
The 79-year-old Peters, for decades, was an active fundraiser for KidSport but health problems have slowed him down more recently. He was deeply moved by the Alumni's decision to make a $1,500 donation to a charity that is near and dear to his heart.
Also this week, at the suggestion of Todd Fedoruk, the Flyers Alumni made a $2,000 contribution to the Boys and Girls Club of Camden, delivered in person by "Fridge' and Flyers Alumni Association president Brad Marsh. Boys and Girls Club is a charity the Flyers Alumni have also supported in the past, including the donation of an automated external defibrillator (AED) to the Boys and Girls of Philadelphia as part of the inaugural 12 Days of Christmas Drive in 2019. The AED donation was made in conjunction with Simon's Heart. Marsh and Bob "the Hound" Kelly presented the AED last year and met with the kids.
Separately, at his own behest, Fedoruk delivered a large toy drive donation to the Counseling Center.
As with last year, one of the days of the Flyers Alumni's 12 Days program is devoted to providing direct assistance to a local family in need. At the suggestion of Orest Kindrachuck, the Alumni chose this year to make a $3,000 donation to the Williams Family Fund; a fund set up to assist a New Jersey family in need. The mom, a non-smoker, passed away recently at age 55 after a long battle with lung cancer. The dad, a pastor, was laid off from his church in 2017 and has been struggling to make ends meet. The family has eight children, four grown and four who still live at home. For more of the back story,
click here.
In the days to come, visit HockeyBuzz and the Flyers Alumni's website and social media channels for more coverage of the 12 Days of Christmas Season Giving program.Upcoming days feature charities suggested by Kerry Huffman, Shjon Podein and other Flyers Alumni from different generations of team history and who live in various locales around North America.
Today in Flyers History: Dec. 17
1967: The Flyers were outshot 37-22 by fellow first-year expansion team Pittsburgh, but skated away with a 2-1 win at the Spectrum courtesy of stellar goaltending by Bernie Parent. An early first period goal by Brit Selby and a mid-second period tally by Leon Rochefort provided just enough offense to win.
1968: Bernie Parent made 34 saves against the Penguins but, unlike the previous season's squeaker, this game was an 8-2 home rout for the Flyers. Brit Selby scored a pair of goals, as did Andre Lacroix and Dick Sarrazin. Leon Rochefort and Forbes Kennedy tally once apiece, while Jim Johnson racked up four assists in the game.
1975: Four different Flyers players and three different lines scored in a 4-2 road win over the Chicago Blackhawks. Goalie Wayne Stephenson (27 saves) outdueled Hall of Famer Tony Esposito. Rick MacLeish, Ross Lonsberry, Bob Kelly and Reggie Leach supplied the offensive support.
1981: Flyers defenseman Behn Wilson converted a late-second period penalty shot for what proved to the game-winning goal in a 2-1 home win over the Buffalo Sabres. Trailing 1-0 late with less than four minutes remaining in the second period, Ray Allison knotted the score at 1-1. Wilson's penalty shot goal came at 17:50. Winning goalie Pete Peeters made 31 saves.
1988: Rick Tocchet notched his fifth career hat trick as the Flyers pummel Toronto at Maple Leaf Gardens by a 7-1 count. Tim Kerr, Doug Sulliman, Scott Mellanby and Dave Poulin also tallied for the Flyers.
1995: The arch-rival Flyers and Penguins clashed at the Spectrum. In a wide-open, seesaw affair, the Flyers beat the Penguins at their own run-and-gun game, prevailing by a 6-5 final score and outshooting Pittsburgh by a 49-38 count. Trailing 5-4 with 7:10 left in the third period, the Flyers received a tying goal by Eric Desjardins. Rod Brind'Amour then netted the game-winner with 2:12 left on the clock. Back in the first period, a pair of power play goals by second-year defenseman Chris Therien gave the Flyers a 3-2 lead, sandwiched around Eric Lindros' 21st goal of the season. Joel Otto scored in the second period for the Flyers. On the losing side, Jaromir Jagr notched a three-point game (one goal, two assists) as did Ron Francis (two goals, one assist). Mario Lemieux had one assist and three shots on goal. Garth Snow earned the win in a goalie's nightmare of a game, stopping 33 of 38 shots. Ex-Flyer Ken Wregget (43 saves on 49 shots) took the loss.
2001: The Flyers announced a trade: Looking to add a little more size and toughness to the lineup, Philadelphia acquired Donald Brashear for the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for finesse forward Jan Hlavac. The deal also involved a swap of a Vancouver's 2002 sixth-round pick in exchange for a previously acquired 2002 third-round pick originally owned by Tampa Bay.
2005: A pair of Mike Knuble goals set up by Peter Forsberg and Sami Kapanen as well as a two-goal night for rookie R.J. Umberger powered the Flyers to a 5-2 road win in St. Louis. Branko Radivojevic added a late empty netter.
2013: A four-goal second period springboarded the Flyers to a 5-2 win over the Washington Capitals at the Wells Fargo Center. Jakub Voracek scored even strength and power play goals, while Matt Read, Mark Streit (power play), and Wayne Simmonds tallied once apiece.
2015: Steve Mason blanked the Vancouver Canucks on 36 shots. Mason made a late first-period Michael Raffl goal stand up until Sean Couturier adds some late third-period insurance for a 2-0 victory at the Wells Fargo Center.
2018: The Flyers dismissed Dave Hakstol as head coach shortly before practice in Voorhees. The assistant coaches ran practice that morning. The same morning, Lehigh Valley Phantoms head coach Scott Gordon was named interim head coach of the Flyers. Gordon, who was in Allentown for practice with the Phantoms, hurried to New Jersey but set his GPS for the wrong Skate Zone; going to the one in Atlantic City rather than the flagship training facility in Voorhees. The problem was eventually corrected and Gordon came to Voorhees to address the media. Phantoms assistant coach Kerry Huffman became the farm team's interim head coach.
2019: In an emotional night at the Wells Fargo Center with meaning over and above the Flyers' 3-1 victory over the Anaheim Ducks, the Flyers pregame locker room featured purple Hockey Fights Cancer jerseys; this time directly in honor of teammate Oskar Lindblom (diagnosed days earlier with Ewing's Sarcoma). Lindblom's regular home game jersey was hung at his locker stall. Lindblom himself was attendance for the game, receiving a standing ovation and waving to the crowd. He also briefly visited his teammates before he began his ultimately successful treatments for the rare form of bone cancer. On the same night, Flyers rookie winger David Kase scored his first NHL goal. His parents, who traveled from the Czech Republic, were at the game and his older brother, Ondrej, was on the ice playing for Anaheim. Carter Hart made 40 saves to earn first-star honors.
December 17: Flyers Birthdays
One of four men to serve the Philadelphia Flyers as a player, assistant coach and head coach for the Flyers, Craig Berube was born in Calahoo, Alberta, on December, 17, 1965. The other three were Paul Holmgren, Terry Murray and John Stevens.
Widely considered one of the best captains in Flyers history, Dave Poulin was born in Timmins, Ont., on December 17, 1958.
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