PADDOCK TO COACH REGINA
Former Flyers assistant coach John Paddock will be the next head coach of the Western Hockey League's Regina Pats, according to a
Leader-Post report. The 60-year-old Paddock will also have front office responsibilities including control of hockey operations.
Paddock served as a Flyers assistant coach each of the last two seasons. In the lockout-shortened 2012-13 campaign, he gave up assistant general manager duties and served an eye-in-the-sky role. When Peter Laviolette and assistant coach Kevin McCarthy were fired three games into the 2013-14 season, Paddock took over McCarthy's former role of coaching the Flyers' defensemen.
The Flyers elected not to retain Paddock after last season. Gord Murphy was hired as the team's new assistant coach in charge of working with the defensemen.
A much-traveled hockey lifer, Paddock has had multiple stints in the Flyers' organization in various capacities. As a player, he dressed in 47 NHL regular season games and three playoff games (all in 1980) over two separate stints with the club. After his retirement, Paddock served as an assistant and head coach with the Maine Mariners and Hershey Bears. In 1989-90, he was the Flyers' assistant general manager.
From 1991 to 2008, Paddock worked with the Binghamton Rangers (AHL head coach), Winnipeg Jets/Phoenix Coyotes (NHL head coach and general manager), New York Rangers (pro scout), Hartford Wolf Pack (AHL head coach), Binghamton Senators (AHL head and assistant coach) and Ottawa Senators (NHL assistant and head coach).
Paddock returned to the Flyers organization from 2008 to 2014. He spent stints as head and assistant coach with the Phantoms, assistant general manager and the aforementioned assistant coaching roles.
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FLYERS PROSPECT UPDATES
* One day after downing Team USA White 4-3 in summer development camp action in Lake Placid, Sweden blew out Team USA Blue by a 6-2 count. As with the first game against the Americans, the most impressive line for Sweden was the trio of LA Kings 2014 first-round pick Adrian Kempe (1G, 1A), Detroit Red Wings prospect Axel Holmström and Flyers draftee Oskar Lindblom (1A). Kempe opened the scoring in the game midway through the first period with a tracer of a wrist shot from the left circle. Lindblom drew the lone assist on the goal.
Flyers defense prospect Robert Hägg continued to skate on the top pairing with Chicago Blackhawks prospect Robin Norell. Hägg, who was impressive in the opener against USA White, had a strong game for the first 35 minutes or so. Later, he was guilty of an unforced turnover and a pair of unnecessary penalties that did not result in any goals against.
Team USA Blue's goals were scored by Detroit Red Wings 2014 first-round pick Dylan Larkin and Minnesota Wild 2014 first-rounder Alex Tuch.
On Wednesday, a combined Team USA squad featuring standouts from both USA Blue and USA White will rematch with the Swedes. Yesterday, Team USA White dropped a tough 4-3 decision to Finland after battling back from deficits of 2-0, 3-1 and 4-2. Columbus Blue Jackets 2014 first-round pick Sonny Milano figured in all of the scoring for the Americans, scoring a shorthanded goal and recording a pair of assists. Pittsburgh Penguins 2014 first-round pick Kasperi Kapanen (son of former Flyers forward Sami Kapanen) was among the goal scorers for the Finns.
* In national junior team summer development camp action in Montreal, Russia had little trouble dispatching the Czech Republic by a 5-0 count. Flyers prospect Radel Fazleev centered the fourth line for the Russians, primarily seeing the ice in penalty killing duty and sparing even-strength ice time. The top Russian line of Ivan Barbashev, Pavel Buchnevich and Vladimir Tkachev was often too much for the Czechs to handle. A full-length replay of the game is
available for free at the official Hockey Canada website.
* Tonight at 7 p.m., Team Canada will take on the Czechs. Flyers first round picks Samuel Morin (2013) and Travis Sanheim (2014) are both on the Canadian roster. The game will be
streamed for free at the official Hockey Canada website.
* Yesterday, French-language Canadian sports network RDS ran a short
feature segment on Morin from Team Canada's camp. The clips include snippets of Morin at practice, with some QMJHL game action sequences from last season and footage from the 2013 NHL Draft.
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FLYERS SHOULD ADD A NOLAN 'MICROPHONE' BANNER
Lou Nolan has served as the Flyers' public address announcer for the last 40 years and is still going strong. His tenure dates back through the Stanley Cup years and the famous Flyers-Red Army game in 1976 as well as a host of other memorable games and on-ice ceremonies in the years that have followed.
For many fans, media members and hockey personnel, Lou's pre-game and in-game announcements are part of what makes the games in Philadelphia distinctive. In more recent years, that has meant his opening "How YOU doin'?" announcement and the way he draws out the sponsor PECO's name before Flyers' power plays. However, I have always enjoyed the way Lou naturally enunciates a"hooook-ing" call, which was something he adopted all on his own.
The Philadelphia 76ers have a "micophone banner" in the Wells Fargo Center rafters in honor of the late Dave Zinkoff. I think Nolan should get the same honor with a micophone banner for being the PA voice of NHL hockey in Philadelphia for most of the Flyers' franchise history. Since the Flyers are adding three inductees to the team Hall of Fame this year, why not make it an honorary four with an orange-and-black microphone banner similar to the Zinkoff one? It's better to do it while the honoree is on hand to bask in the recognition.
A few years ago, Bill Fleischman wrote a
tremendous article on Nolan for the Flyers' official site. Personally speaking, one of the things I look forward to on game nights at the Wells Fargo Center is seeing Lou in the commissary before the game. Nowadays, he almost always greets me by name when we cross paths.
The first time that happened, it was a thrill simply to hear Lou say my name. That's because I played many a street hockey game as a kid in Northeast Philly. My friends and I often raised our sticks triumphantly and then, in our best Lou Nolan imitation, announced "Flyers goal scored by (fill in the sweater number of choice and the scorer's name)... his 30th/40th/50th of the season, second/third/fourth tonight" when one of us put the orange ball in the net.
The late, great Gene Hart will always be THE quintessential broadcast voice of the Flyers. However, Lou is the distinctive voice of live hockey at both the Spectrum and the arena now known as Wells Fargo Center. That deserves to be recognized in the same way Zinkoff is.
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TODAY IN FLYERS HISTORY: FLYERS ACQUIRE BARRY DEAN
On Aug. 5, 1977, the Flyers traded defenseman Mark Suzor to the Colorado Rockies in exchange for left winger "Mean" Barry Dean. At the time, the deal was hailed as potentially being another of general manager Keith Allen's heists but it ended up being a minor footnote in franchise history.
Dean, a high-scoring star for the Medicine Hat Tigers, was the second overall pick of the 1975 NHL Draft (the Flyers selected Mel Bridgman first overall). He was expected to be an impact player in the NHL for the Kansas City Scouts, who soon relocated and became the Rockies (the franchise is now the New Jersey Devils).
Unfortunately, Dean was never quite the same player again after suffering a severe arm laceration from a skate cut that required emergency surgery. Nevertheless, he had a reasonably solid offensive NHL rookie season for the lowly Rockies in 1976-77, recording 14 goals, 39 points (fifth on the team) and 92 penalty minutes in 79 games. It came as a bit of a surprise when he was dealt to the Flyers after the season.
In exchange, the Rockies received Suzor. An offensive minded defenseman whom the Flyers selected with the 17th overall pick of the 1976 NHL Draft, Suzor appeared in four late-season games for Philly in 1976-77.
Dean's Flyers career got off to a promising start. He had a pair of assists in the team's opening night 5-1 home win over the Chicago Blackhawks. One week later, he had a goal and an assist in an 11-0 humiliation of the lowly Pittsburgh Penguins. In all, Dean had points in four of his first six games as a Flyer (one goal, five assists).
Thereafter, Dean rapidly fell out of favor with head coach Fred Shero for one-dimensional play and worked his way down the lineup. A frequent healthy scratch, Dean dressed in just 56 games for the Flyers in 1977-78, tallying seven goals and 25 points. He did not dress in the playoffs.
The following year, with Bob McCammon and Pat Quinn splitting the season as Flyers' head coach, Dean was a scratch in the first games of the season. He briefly came to life after finally getting into the lineup. Most notably, Dean racking up three assists against the Islanders in his second appearance of the season and, shortly thereafter, reeled off five-game point streak that included a two-goal, one assist outburst against the Rockies.
Unfortunately, Dean's productive burst was short-lived. By late November 1978, he was once again a frequent scratch. The Flyers demoted him to the American Hockey League on Jan. 15, 1979 and he spent the rest of the season in the minor leagues. In all, Dean dressed in 30 games for Philly in 1978-79, scoring four goals and tallying 17 points overall. He dressed in 36 games for the Maine Mariners, notching 35 points and 94 penalty minutes.
The Flyers left Dean exposed to the NHL Expansion Draft in 1979 after the league merged with the WHA. After Philadelphia lost enforcer Dave Hoyda to the Winnipeg Jets, they were allowed to protect one more player and protected Dean.
Dean failed to earn a roster spot for Quinn's 1979-80 Flyers and was demoted again to Maine shortly before the start of the season. Clearly no longer in Philadelphia's plans, the player spent the entire year in the AHL. After the season, the Flyers traded Dean to the Edmonton Oilers for center Ron Areshenkoff and a 1980 10th-round pick (Bob O'Brien). Dean never made the Oilers lineup, either, and was out of hockey after the 1981-82 season.
Although Dean quickly fizzled out in Philadelphia after his initial splash, the Flyers still got the better end of the trade with the Rockies. Defenseman Suzor, who racked up 24 goals and 49 points as an AHL rookie for Springfield prior to his late-season callup to the Flyers, never translated his blueline offensive firepower to the NHL level. He dressed in 60 games for the Rockies in 1977-78 and struggled mightily on a team that only won 19 games. Suzor spent the rest of his career in the minor leagues, retiring after the 1980-81 season.
Suzor, however, is the answer to a Flyers trivia question: Who was the last Flyers player to wear number four before it was retired in honor of the late Barry Ashbee?
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