Barring any setbacks this week, it looks like James van Riemsdyk will be ready to go when the Flyers take on the Panthers on Friday. He practiced with the team today.
The team will spend the rest of the week in Florida, holding an off-ice "team bonding camp" prior to getting ready for the tilt against the Panthers. To be totally honest, I've never been a big fan of that doing kind of stuff. I understand the idea behind it, but teams either gel or they don't.
From a hockey point of view, I suppose that with just one game in 11 days, it would be tough to keep everyone focused throughout a normal cycle of practices. But it's dubious whether these off-ice excursions ultimately contribute to so much as a single extra point in the standings or an additional playoff win come the following spring.
Perhaps my perspective is tinged by stuff I've had in my own workplaces. I've just never gotten much useful out of most of the workshops and similar offsite activities I've attended apart from appreciating a little break from the usual routine.
*****
Here's a notebook on how the Flyers' prospects are doing so far this season.
Phantoms
The Phantoms are off to a 1-2 start in the early going, but are coming off an ugly loss ... Jon Kalinski is the only player to record a point in all three games ... Andreas Nodl is the only player with more than one goal ... Johan Backlund has had one good start and one poor one so far, while Nicola Riopel had a decent pro debut in his lone start (stopping 26 of 29 shots in a losing effort) ... Oskars Bartulis has been receiving a lot of minutes of ice time and is off to an OK start despite a minus-three rating ... Kevin Marshall and Marc-Andre Bourdon have been getting used to the pro pace, with Marshall reportedly the stronger of the two ... Patrick Maroon has been a bit snakebitten in the three games so far but has one goal to show for his efforts ... Jonathon Matsumoto got off to great start last season but has been invisible in the early going so far this year. Ditto Jared Ross ... Mike Ratchuk had a couple of bad giveaways in the Phantoms' second game. The offensive-minded defenseman is still looking to get untracked in his second pro year ... Finnish rookie defenseman Joonas Lehtivuori has been a healthy scratch in two of the three games.
Canadian juniors
Goaltender Adam Morrison is off to a strong start for Saskatoon, playing well in six of his eight starts, despite winning only four of them. Statistically, he's stopping pucks at a .920 clip, with a 2.19 GAA ... Goaltender Jacob DeSerres has struggled in each of his three starts for Seattle and has been significantly outplayed by teammate Calvin Pickard ... Zac Rinaldo has been usual yappy, pugnacious self for the OHL's London Knights and has scrounged up three goals in his eight games so far to go along with his team-leading 38 penalty minutes ... Shawingen was hoping that David Labrecque would be able to move up into more of a second-line role this season, at least from what I'd heard before the season. So far, the 19-year-old center is still getting third-line minutes and has 3 points (all assists) and 19 penalty minutes in six games ... Windsor left winger Eric Wellwood has tallied three goals (one was an empty netter) and an assist in eight games so far for the defending Memorial Cup champions.
Europe
Goaltender Jocke "Sunshine" Eriksson has had a nice start to his senior level career, albeit at the Allsvenskan (top minor league) level. He's performed well in four of his five starts, including a shutout. He's stopping pucks at a solid .921 clip so far ... Defenseman Simon Bertilsson has been a scratch in the last two Elitserien games for Brynas. The youngster plays on the third defensive pairing. He has not registered a point in six games and is a minus-one ... Right winger Mario Kempe skates on the third line for Rogle BK. He has a goal and an assist in six games and was out of the lineup for a pair of games ... Russian defenseman Denis Bodrov has reportedly been so-so for Atlant Moscow. He's missed the last couple games, but I'm not sure if it's due to injury or his play ... Goaltender Jakub Kovar has gotten the chance to split playing time with veteran Roman Turek for HC Mountfield Ceske Budejovice of the Czech Extraliga. In six starts, Kovar has won three, lost three and stopped pucks at an ordinary .897 clip (3.19 GAA). By comparison, in nine games, Turek has a 2.58 goals against and .921 save percentage ... Right winger Andrei Popov has gotten the opportunity to skate on the second line for the KHL's Traktor Chelyabinsk and has responded with two goals in his last five games. Overall he has four goals and an assist in 11 games, good for sixth on the team.
NCAA
After missing all of last season with a knee injury, Notre Dame junior goaltender Brad Phillips got his first start of the season against University of Alabama-Huntville. UAH stunned the fifth-ranked Irish with a 3-2 win in South Bend. Phillips stopped 28 of 31 shots in a losing cause. UAH scored the winning goal on the power play with just five seconds left. Cody Campbell took the puck behind the UND net and beat Phillips with a wraparound ... Big Danish project defenseman Oliver Lauridsen scored a goal for St. Cloud State over the weekend, his first point in two tilts.
*******
Last night was a light night on the NHL docket, with just two games around the league. Today’s
Daily Drop at Versus.com looks briefly at last night's games and discusses whether Anaheim will be a playoff team this year. Anaheim's playoff chances were the topic of an active debate in the pressbox on Saturday during the Flyers-Ducks tilt.
*****
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