Bill Meltzer Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • RSS
• Archive
• CONTACT
Quick Hits: August 5, 2024
On this week's Mondays with Meltzer edition of Flyers Daily, Jason Myrtetus and I discuss a potpourri of topics: Considering that SKA St. Petersburg experimented with Matvei Michkov at center during the preseason last year, it that something the Flyers should also test out this coming year? How much of an offensive jump from Tyson Foerster is realistic in 2024-25? If Nic Deslauriers dresses for games, assuming a healthy lineup, is it Bobby Brink or someone else who comes out? What are realistic expectations for Morgan Frost and Joel Farabee? Is Noah Cates better off at left wing or center? What is the ideal starting time split in net for Samuel Ersson and Ivan Fedotov?
We discuss all of this and more in 28 minutes for the August 5 episode. Watch below or, for the audio version, click here.
2) On Wednesday (August 7, 2024) the Flyers and Flyers Charities will join New Hanover Township officials to host a community celebration for the official dedication and opening of the ball hockey rink at Community Park from 4:00 p.m. EDT to 8:00 p.m. EDT.
The opening ceremony is scheduled from 5:00 to 6:00 p.m. EDT. Representatives from the township and from Flyers Charities will speak, along with pre-teens Natalie Van Druff and Lilly Walker, who brought to attention the need to save their community ball hockey rink. The rink was in vital need of repairs and upgrades.
In June, Flyers Charities donated $200,000 in support of Natalie and Lilly Walter’s efforts to turn the unsafe asphalt rink surrounded by a chain link fence into a safer, more functional and more contemporary place for youngsters to play ball hockey. The donation assisted the township in refurbishing the rink with new flooring and boards, benches and penalty boxes, as well as provided new hockey nets.
The opening event will feature Community Caravan activities including opportunities to interact with Flyers Alumni and Gritty, a face painting station, games, inflatables, food trucks and more.
The New Hanover Community Park is located at 2766 Gail Drive in Gilbertsville, PA.
3) 3) Today in Flyers History: August 5, 1977
Sometimes, the most innocuous-seeming trades can end up having a major impact. For example, when the Flyers acquired oft-injured AHL veteran defenseman Barry Ashbee from the Boston Bruins organization in the spring of 1970, no one would have predicted that Ashbee would become an iconic leadership figure as a player and assistant coach in Philadelphia before his untimely passing in 1977. His No. 4 jersey hangs among the retired Flyers numbers in the Wells Fargo Center rafters, along with Hockey Hall of Famers Bernie Parent (No. 1), Mark Howe (No. 2), Bill Barber (No. 7), Bobby Clarke (No. 16) and Eric Lindros (No. 88).
On the flip side, sometimes trades that seemed like a big deal at the time end up having minimal impact. Such was the case with the trade the Flyers made with the Colorado Rockies on Aug. 5, 1977. In exchange for defenseman Mark Suzor, the Flyers acquired left winger Barry Dean from the Colorado Rockies. Dean had been the second overall pick of the 1975 NHL Draft; the same year the Flyers selected Mel Bridgman with the first overall pick. Suzor was the Flyers' first-round pick (17th overall) in the 1976 Draft.
The free-spirited Dean, who was coming off a 14-goal, 39-point rookie season with the Rockies, made a big initial splash upon arrival in Philadelphia. He posted five points in his first four games for Philly and 10 points in his first 13 games. However, Dean soon fell into disfavor with head coach Fred Shero as he had in Colorado under Johnny Wilson. Dean ended up spending more time in the American Hockey League with the Maine Mariners than he did with the Flyers.
The Flyers left Dean unprotected in the 1979 NHL Expansion/WHA Merger Draft on June 13, 1979. However, after the Flyers lost enforcer Dave Hoyda in the Draft, they added Dean to the protected list (as was permitted in Expansion Drafts of that era). Dean remained in the AHL in 1979-80. On June 11, 1980, the Flyers traded him to the Edmonton Oilers for Ron Areshenkoff and a 1980 10th-round pick (Bob O'Brien) on June 11, 1980. Dean did not resurface in the NHL and retired after the 1981-82 season.
Suzor, a big-framed (6-foot-2, 220 pound) offensive-minded defenseman with some physical bite dressed in four NHL games for the Flyers in 1976-77. He struggled with the pace and decision-making at the top level but made an AHL impact while on loan to Springfield (24 goals, 49 points, 108 PIM in 74 games).
After the trade to the Rockies, he spent an inconsistent 1977-78 season in the NHL. He was traded to the Boston Bruins early in the 1978-79 campaign but never again played in the National Hockey.
What had started out as a marquee swap of recent top-end Draft picks turned out to a footnote trade in Flyers franchise history. However, Dean was a popular player in Maine and, to this day, periodically attends Flyers Alumni events. Most recently, Dean attended the 2024 Flyers Alumni Golf Invitational tourney in June at Dupont Country Club in Wilmington.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
Join the Discussion:
»