POST-PRACTICE UPDATE (12:45 P.M. ET)
With three more off-nights until the Flyers' next game, the team is still in mini-training camp mode. They did a lot of skating and conditioning work and some systems reps, all designed toward getting the team used to doing things at a faster pace.
Last Friday,on the morning following the team's 4-1 loss to the Penguins, the Flyers went through a very grueling practice. Several players called the hardest practice of the season to date. Head coach Craig Berube has let up only slightly in the practices since.
All line combos and D pairing today were the same as in the team's last game. Scott Hartnell, Vincent Lecavalier and Marc-Andre Bourdon joined practice as rehabbing players.
Berube was asked after today's practice about the chances that either Lecavalier (lower-body injury, suspected to be a groin pull) or Hartnell (suspected mid-section injury) would be in the lineup on Thursday. Berube replied that it's "still up in the air" but his body language suggested he didn't think either one would be ready unless there's dramatic progress in the next 48 hours or so.
Asked about the status of Kimmo Timonen, who left Thursday's game with a lower-body injury, Berube said the player was fine and will be in the lineup against the Rangers.
VIDEO
Craig Berube on the intensive practices during the off-week
Matt Read on his struggle for points through the first eight games
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LAUGHTON'S OHL DOMINANCE SHOWS FOLLY OF CURRENT AHL AGE RULE
When the Flyers first sent Scott Laughton back to the OHL after making the NHL club's opening night roster, I was interested to see how he would respond in the games immediately following his return to junior hockey.
Well, he responded perfectly. He took his disappointment out on the Oshawa Generals opponents. Right off the bat, he exploded for four points (two goals, two assists) in his first game and the proceeded to win OHL Player of the Week honors with four goals and nine points in his first four games.
In his last two games, Laughton has dominated games to such a ridiculous level that it's clear the OHL is no longer a challenge for him. He had a hat trick against London and followed it up with shorthanded and even strength goals in the Generals' 5-4 win over Sault Ste. Marie yesterday.
For the season, Laughton has a ridiculous 10 goals and 17 points in just eight games. With the major exception of being eligible -- and pretty much a shoo-in -- to play for Team Canada at the World Junior Championships, there is pretty much nothing left for Laughton to prove (or to gain in his development) in junior hockey.
It is debateable right now whether Laughton is fully NHL-ready. However, there is no doubt whatsoever that the 19-year-old could benefit from time in the American Hockey League --- if only the rules allowed it.
I have said this before and will say it again: The AHL age rules for CHL-affiliated players do not benefit players like Laughton nor do they benefit the NHL teams that hold the rights to these players. In this case, Laughton is already under NHL entry-level contract (which will slide to next season now that he's been re-assigned to the Ontario League).
My proposed change to the rule: Contracted players under the age of 20 who have played three seasons of major junior hockey should be eligible for the AHL rather than returning to their junior team for a fourth season. This decision should be at the discretion of the NHL team that drafted and signed the player. If the NHL team exercises its right to send an eligible underager to the AHL, the player's junior team would get some financial compensation (this would be to remove the argument that the junior team needs such players for gate revenue reasons).
In Laughton's case, the player already has three seasons of OHL experience. As such, he'd be one of the players to benefit from the slight tweak to the current rules. To me, it's just a compromise solution to the AHL age rule that makes sense.
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