Here are some quick hits for your Tuesday morning as the Flyers abbreviated training camp hits the halfway point:
* It appears that
Brayden Schenn will, in fact, open the regular season on the top line with
Claude Giroux and
Scott Hartnell. The player and head coach
Peter Laviolette stopped just short of saying so after practice yesterday.
The key word that kept being emphasized was "opportunity" for the second year player. If the spot was still up for grabs between Schenn and
Jakub Voracek, Schenn's presence on the top line during the first sessions on Sunday and Monday would have been downplayed as a case of looking at different combinations in lieu of having preseason games with which to experiment.
Voracek also did not make much effort to hide a little disappointment about returning from the top line (where he spent the final six games of the playoffs last year) to the third line. While he said all the right things about the burgeoning skills of
Sean Couturier and his comfort level at running a point on the first power play unit, it was not hard to read between the lines ("It’s not my job to get the lines together") to see that he privately feels he'd earned the right to open the abbreviated new season where he finished the last one.
If had to venture a guess -- and that's all it is, of course -- as to why Voracek was moved back to the third line, I would say that it's a combination of three factors:
1) Voracek and Couturier were a mighty good forward shutdown duo, who also produced offense, against the Penguins in the playoffs.
2) Voracek is more of a passer than a shooter, while Schenn is a better finisher.
3) Schenn reported to camp in better physical condition than Voracek, despite the fact that both players were active (Schenn in the AHL, Voracek in the KHL) during the lockout.
The other day, Voracek good-naturedly joked about having enjoyed his mother's home-cooking a little too much while staying in the Czech Republic during the lockout. Finally, he said, he realized he needed to tell her to stop fattening him before he returned to North America.
Yesterday,
Scott Hartnell made smiling reference to the same thing. He said, "Jake is a special player. You look at him off the ice, he doesn’t seem to be the best of shape. We kind of always get on him or me for having to join the Fat Club. But he can sure skate. He can sure pass. And I’m sure he’ll come out on the power play and he will definitely be an offensive threat."
It's not that Voracek is hideously out of shape or anything like that. But Schenn doesn't have an ounce of fat on him and Voracek does look a few manageable pounds over his playing weight during the playoffs last year.
Regularly eating Czech comfort foods -- dumplings, gulas, etc -- can make someone pack on the wrong kind of pounds in a hurry if they're not careful. Same goes for enjoying those world-famous Czech beers. Those sorts of edible and potable "comforts of home" aren't available to Voracek when he's in North America. So perhaps he did let himself indulge a bit more diet-wise than he would in a normal season, especially while he was laid up for a month with a knee injury.
On the ice, Voracek still looks primed for a strong season. Whatever weight he put on over the summer and fall will come off quickly. But in a short training camp, the guy in tip-top shape (Schenn) is going to have a slight advantage in the eyes of an NHL coach.
At the end of talking about Schenn starting the season on the top line, Laviolette added the phrase "if we choose to go in that direction." However, that issue seems to have already been decided barring something unforeseen the remainder of this week.
*
Danny Briere saw a specialist yesterday regarding his wrist injury. For the first time, the Flyers publicly revealed that the player has a hairline fracture (it was previously called a wrist sprain and bone bruise). However, Flyers general manager
Paul Holmgren deemed the news from yesterday's visit to be "somewhat positive" in that the healing is further along than team doctors thought it might be. While Briere is unlikely to ready for the first few games of the regular season, his initial timeline for returning may not be that far off.
* I don't think most people will notice any dramatic differences with the Flyers on the ice as a result of the decision to add
John Paddock as a third assistant coach. The now-former assistant general manager will be the eye-in-the-sky rather than being at ice level, and will focus mainly on the team's play on the defensive side of the puck. It is very likely that Holmgren had this in mind as long ago as last June when he said there are some systemic adjustments the team can make within Laviolette's up-tempo style.
Yesterday, it was acknowledged that the change was planned all along before the lockout but, due to the lack of an NHL season, it made more sense for Paddock to temporarily remain in the assistant GM role.
Paddock, who has more than a quarter century of coaching experience, isn't one to step on coaching colleagues' toes. He and Laviolette get along fine, and he is also very comfortable working with fellow assistants
Joe Mullen and
Kevin McCarthy. So his addition to the coaching staff won't be a case of too many cooks in the kitchen.
Laviolette's system won't change. But Paddock can help the coach identify in-game strategic tweaks he can make that may not otherwise be noticeable from ice level, where things happen much faster. Any changes will be subtle ones.
* It is believed that
Claude Giroux will be officially named as the new captain today. It was previously speculated that the Flyers may wait until Thursday, when they have their emceed 6 p.m. practice at the Wells Fargo Center. I will put in my two cents on Giroux's captaincy in tomorrow's blog assuming the decision is, in fact, made official today.
*
Chris Pronger is doing some video analysis work for the Flyers during camp and is perched on the balcony during practice near the decision-makers. Yesterday, as the press was getting ready to interview new arrival
Luke Schenn, Pronger said to us, "Be nice or face the wrath!". Pronger had a big smile on his face, and that alone was good to see.
* Whenever a player joins a new team, he usually tries to keep things as basic as possible on the ice until he feels comfortable and learns the system. When you add a long layoff due to the lockout and being a pretty straightforward defensive defenseman in the first place, the less you notice that player the better.
When people ask me how
Luke Schenn has looked in the first two days of camp, my answer is that he looks fine because he's not really very noticeable out there in the practice setting. He's getting acclimated, and that's about it.
I asked the defenseman after practice about his personal mindset at camp. Predictably, he acknowledged that he just wants to keep things as simple as possible.
Specifically, he wants to get pucks quickly to the forwards, get accustomed to playing with
Kimmo Timonen (and other partners, including
Braydon Coburn in special teams drills yesterday) and just generally absorbing as much as possible both on the ice and in team meetings.
Without the benefit of preseason games, Laviolette and McCarthy are trying to help the new defensemen get acclimated as quickly as possible. As a result, defense pairings have been juggled around frequently but there has been a noticeable pattern in the first session of the first two days. Whenever possible, a returning veteran has been paired with a new arrival. Yesterday, for instance,
Nicklas Grossmann was paired with
Bruno Gervais,
Andreas Lilja worked with
Kurtis Foster and Timonen with Schenn.
With the exception of Timonen and Schenn, who are likely to open the season as partners, the other two pairings on opening night are likely to look different from the ones we've seen the first two days. Grossmann may be reunited with playoff partner Coburn on the second pairing. If
Andrej Meszaros is ready for opening night, he'll either be with Foster or Gervais. A different look may feature Coburn with Foster or Meszaros OR Grossmann with Gervais or Meszaros. The one combo I can't see at all is Grossmann with Foster due to both players' lack of speed.
*
Marc-Andre Bourdon will have to start the season on long-term injured reserve for the Flyers. He was on a separate AHL contract with the Phantoms during the lockout due to the 2012 Clear Day eligibility rule that was created specifically for the lockout. There is no timetable for the concussed defenseman to return to the ice, but it will be several more weeks at bare minimum. If and when he returns, he will be eligible for a two-week conditioning stint with the Phantoms without requiring waivers.
* Phantoms defenseman
Erik Gustafsson is still about two weeks from playing. However, he hopes to resume skating later this week. The Flyers did not recall him from the AHL roster due to his foot/ankle injury. Unlike Bourdon (who is no longer on an entry level contract), Gustafsson can remain in the AHL for as long as he needs without requiring waivers this season.
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