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Bryz in Space
There is never a dull moment when it comes to Flyers goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov. The Russian netminder is nothing if not colorful and unique. He has such a propensity to say and do bizarre things that it is sometimes hard to know when he's joking and when he's being serious.
Last week, when the Russian Hockey Federation announced the rosters for the annual Channel One Cup tournament, Bryzgalov was one of the three goalies named to the roster. However, there were rumors that Bryzgalov would turn down the tournament invitation unless he was named the starting goalie.
Several days ago, the RHF announced that Bryzgalov had "failed a medical examination" and was being removed from the roster. That seemed odd because the goalie had not been injured in a previous game and there were no reports of him leaving practice early in the days that followed.
Within hours of Bryzgalov being removed from the Channel One Cup roster, team general manager Sergei Fedorov said that Bryzgalov was not injured; rather he had taken ill with a high fever due to a flu bug that was going around the CSKA club. Team goaltending coach Vladimir Myshkin said the same in a separate interview. The team officials denied the rumors that Bryzgalov not being on the team had anything to do whether he'd start in goal.
Sounded logical. It is extremely common for teams to spread around the flu and for players to become too ill for a few days to practice or play. With the Channel One Cup starting yesterday, there wouldn't have been a lot of recuperation time for Bryzgalov.
The day after Bryzgalov was taken off the roster, a reporter from Sport Express called Bryzgalov, presumably to confirm that he was sick. The goalie told the reporter he couldn't talk at the moment because he was at the Russian Federal Aerospace Agency doing some cosmonaut training, and was wearing a space suit.
Everyone assumed that Bryzgalov -- whose fascination with outer space and the universe garnered heaps of publicity and jibes after a memorable segment last year on HBO's 24/7 program -- was just kidding. It had to be one of his colorful and creative quotes and perhaps was needling the writer just a bit as well.
Well, it turns out Bryzgalov wasn't kidding. He really was at RFAA headquarters and really was wearing a space suit. Bryzgalov was being filmed by the Russia 24 channel for a segment to air on the network's Hockey 24 show. Bryzgalov toured a space craft and donned a space suit while talking on camera with famed cosmonaut Valeri Tokarev.
It is not entirely clear if Bryzgalov spoke to the reporter while actually filming the segment. But the whole situation is simply too humorous not to elicit smiles.
This is really a non-story, except to some at the Russian Hockey Federation. Officials may feel a bit embarrassed to have given the illness cover reason for Bryzgalov not playing in the tournament, only to have him filmed the next day gleefully trudging through the cold to do his televised cosmonaut adventure.
It's not really a huge deal, but it seems clear that Bryzgalov was not actually sick. He just preferred the invitation to the space agency to the prospect of practicing all week and being the likely backup goaltender in the relatively minor Channel One Cup tourney; which is one of numerous pre-World Championship tournaments designed to prepare for the Worlds and evaluate potential roster candidates.
It's nothing unusual for some established veteran players to turn down tournament invites, especially in the pre-New Year's Karjala and Channel One tourneys. What makes this year's tournaments a little more notable than most is the participation of a handful of locked out NHL players. Among the current NHLers competing in the Channel One Cup is Flyers' forward Jakub Voracek, who is playing for the Czech team.
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Friday Games: Flyers Farm Teams
AHL: PHANTOMS (10-12-010) vs Syracuse Crunch (15-6-1-0) -- 7:05 PM
The Flyers' American Hockey League affiliate and the Tampa Bay Lightning's top farm will renew hostilities tonight at the Glens Falls Civic Center. Syracuse enters tonight's game in first place in the Eastern Conference. The Phantoms went 1-1-1 last weekend and have lost five of their last six overall. Adirondack's lone victory during the current stretch was a 4-3 shootout win over the Crunch last Saturday night.
Tonight's game is the fifth meeting of the season between the teams. The clubs have split the first four games, with the road team winning three of the first four. Adirondack's victories came in overtime (a late-game comeback win on Oct. 28) and via shootout.
When the teams met last weekend, Brayden Schenn snapped out of a four-game pointless mini-slump with two goals and an assist in the second period, as well as successfully converting his attempt during the shootout. Sean Couturier had two assists for Adirondack, while Tye McGinn the first Adirondack goal. Goaltender Scott Munroe was solid in the first and third periods for the Phantoms, and stopped 29 of 32 shots in regulation and overtime to earn his team a point. He earned a second point by stopping three of four in the shootout.
The Phantoms are dealing with numerous injuries. Team captain Ben Holmstrom needs ACL surgery and will be lost for an extended period of time. Top pairing defenseman Marc-Andre Bourdon has been out two weeks with what has been deemed an illness, and has been ruled out for this weekend as well. Fifth defenseman Oliver Lauridsen is not quite ready to return to the lineup from an upper-body injury. He could be in the lineup tomorrow night.
PROJECTED PHANTOMS LINEUP
Harry Zolnierczyk - Sean Couturier - Jason Akeson
Tye McGinn - Brayden Schenn - Shane Harper
Eric Wellwood - Garrett Roe - Matt Ford
Zac Rinaldo - Rob Bordson - Tyler Brown
Erik Gustafsson - Danny Syvret
Brandon Manning - Jeff Dimmen
Matt Konan/Zack FitzGerald - Cullen Eddy
Cal Heeter/Scott Munroe
Injuries and potential scratches: Mike Testwuide (healthy), Zack FitzGerald (healthy), Matt Konan (healthy), Marc-Andre Bourdon (illness), Ben Holmstrom (knee, ACL surgery), Oliver Lauridsen (upper-body).
PHANTOMS NOTABLES: Brayden Schenn (23 GP, 11 G, 15 A, 26 PTS), Sean Couturier (21 GP, 7 G, 13 A, 20 PTS), Erik Gustafsson (23 GP, 3 G, 11 A, 14 PTS, -5), Harry Zolnierczyk (23 GP, 7 G, 1 G, 8 PTS, 28 PIM), Tye McGinn (20 GP, 8 G, 2 A, 10 PTS, 43 PIM), Jason Akeson (9 GP, 0 G, 10 A, 10 PTS), Zac Rinaldo (22 GP, 2 G, 2 A, 4 PTS, 66 PIM), Eric Wellwood (18 GP, 1 G, 4 A, 5 PTS), Marc-Andre Bourdon (17 GP, 1 G, 3 A, 4 PTS, -5, 59 PIM), Brandon Manning (22 GP, 2 G, 3 A, 5 PTS, -15, 29 PIM), Cal Heeter (10 GP, 3-7-0, 3.26 GAA, .886 SV%),Scott Munroe (15 GP, 7-6-1, 2.55 GAA, 1 SO, .920 SV%).
CRUNCH NOTABLES: Tyler Johnson (24 GP, 15 G, 10 A, 25 PTS), Brett Connolly (23 GP, 11 G, 11 A, 22 PTS), Vladislav Namestnikov (5 GP, 0G, 2A, 2 PTS), Cory Conacher (24 GP, 10 G, 12 A, 22 PTS), Richard Panik (24 GP, 11 G, 9 A, 20 PTS), Ondrej Palat (24 GP, 3 G, 16 A, 19 PTS, 18 PIM), Mark Barbeiro (24 GP, 4 G, 14 A, 18 PTS), Alex Killorn (24 GP, 6 G, 10 A, 16 PTS), Dustin Tokarski (16 GP, 9-4-1, 2.49 GAA, .900 SV%), Riku Helenius (10 GP, 6-3-0, 3.15 GAA, .873 SV%).
BROADCAST LINKS: The game broadcast is available for free via the streaming Phantoms radio broadcast or you can purchase a streaming video webcast via AHL Live. A single-game webcast costs $6.99, with a variety of multi-game purchase options.
ECHL: TITANS (8-11-1-2) vs. Wheeling Nailers (6-9-2-3) -- 7:05 PM
The Trenton Titans have been in a tailspin since the start of the November. Very little has gone right offensively or defensively in the last six weeks. The club is coming off an 0-1-2 weekend in a southern road trip last week and will look to get a desperately win tonight when they return to the Sun National Bank Center to take on the Eastern Conference cellar dwellers, the Wheeling Nailers.
The brightest spot for Trenton of late has been the play of rookie winger Marcel Noebels and veterans Andy Bohmbach and Stephen Schultz. Ian Slater played very well last weekend and got rewarded for his hard work.
Other than those layers, the team has had all sorts of trouble putting pucks in the net and nearly as much difficulty preventing goals. The team defense has been lacking and the rookie goaltending has been exposed at times.
New Jersey Devils prospect Scott Wedgewood has been getting the majority of the playing time in goal so far this season. He has had some ups and downs but has easily been the better of the team's two rookie netminders. Flyers prospect Niko Hovinen has been struggling prety much all season.
Rookie forward prospect Matt Mangene joined the team a week ago on assigment from the Phantoms. Fellow rookie Flyers prospect Andrew Johnston (upper-body injury) has been out of the Titans lineup for two weeks.
Former Phantoms/Titans forward Luke Pither (bolded because he is still Flyers property even though he is clearly not of the organization's plans) has been offensively productive for the Nailers since his banishment to Wheeling. After playing 11 games for the Titans at the start of the season (two goals, three points) he has scored five points (three goals, two assists) in eight games for Wheeling. One of the goals came against the Titans.
Tonight's game is Anti-Bullying Night, sponsored by the Titans in conjunction with the Anti-Defamation League. The game will also feature a special appearance by Flyers' Hall of Fame goaltender Bernie Parent. Parent will do for-a-fee autograph signings with a portion of the proceeds going to benefit the homeless in Philadelphia.
TITANS NOTABLES (FLYERS/PHANTOMS PROSPECTS INDICATED IN BOLD): Andy Bohmbach (22 GP, 10 G, 10 A, 20 PTS), Marcel Noebels (22 GP, 6 G, 11 A, 17 PTS), Stephen Schultz (18 GP, 7 G, 8 A, 15 PTS), Blake Kessel (22 GP, 2 G, 4 A, 6 PTS, -11), Andrew Johnston (2 GP, 1 G, 0 A, 1 PT), Matt Mangene (3 GP, 0 G, 1 A, 1 PT), Tyler Hostetter (17 GP, 0 G, 7 A, 7 PTS, -1), Ian Slater (22 GP, 5 G, 1 A, 6 PTS, 48 PIM), Scott Wedgewood (15 GP, 6-7-1, 2.94 GAA, .898 SV%), Niko Hovinen (10 GP, 2-4-2, 3.43 GAA, .881 SV%).
NAILERS NOTABLES: Luke Pither (19 GP, 5 G, 3 A, 8 PTS, -10), Cody Wild (20 GP, 3 G, 11 A, 14 PTS, -6), Phil Crowder (20 GP, 3 G, 10 A, 13 PTS), Cody Chupp (18 GP, 5 G, 4 A, 9 PTS), Philippe Lefebvre (19 GP, 4 G, 5 A, 9 PTS), Carl Sneep (12 GP, 2 G, 5 A, 7 PTS, +4),
Cam Fergus (17 GP, 3 G, 4 A, 7 PTS), Peter Lenes (7 GP, 4 G, 2 A, 6 PTS), Scott Darling (8 GP, 3-4-1, 2.85 GAA, 1 SO, .878 SV%).
BROADCAST LINKS: Tonight's game is available via a free radio stream. Alternatively, a webcast can be purchased here for $8.
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Flyers in Europe: Thursday Roundup
* Channel One Cup: Jakub Voracek did not record a point in 16 minutes of ice time as the Czech Republic lost 3-2 to Finland. Voracek played left wing on a line with fellow NHL players David Kreci and Ales Hemsky.
* European Trophy: Danny Briere gritted through a rib injury as Eisbären Berlin lost 3-2 in overtime to the Vienna Capitals in the single-elimination quarterfinals of the European Trophy tournament. Briere was limited to power play duty for most of the game but skated a handful of even strength shifts; mostly in the latter part of regulation as the Polar Bears mounted a late comeback from a 2-0 deficit to send the game to overtime. Briere, who did not figure in any of the scoring, labored a bit in his ice time.
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FORTHCOMING-- FLYERS JUNIOR AND COLLEGIATE PROSPECTS
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