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Quick Hits for Aug. 2: WJSS, Lindblom Usage, TIFH and More

August 2, 2019, 7:27 AM ET [108 Comments]
Bill Meltzer
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Quick Hits: August 2, 2019

1) WJSS: With two games apiece remaining in the 2019 World Junior Summer Showcase in Plymouth, Michigan, all four teams in the tournament are in action on Friday. At 1 p.m. EDT, Team Canada will oppose Sweden (featuring Flyers defense prospect Adam Ginning). At 4 p.m., Team USA (Joel Farabee, Cam York, Bobby Brink) will play Finland. Both games will be televised on NHL Network.

2) Over the final 44 games of the 2018-20 season, rookie left wing Oskar Lindblom produced 13 goals and 21 points and saw both PK duty and periodic second power play unit assignments under interim head coach Scott Gordon. During the stretch when Sean Couturier centered a line with Lindblom and Jakub Voracek, the trio was the team's most consistently effective line.

At the IIHF World Championships with Team Sweden, Lindblom opened the tournament with a four-game point streak, including three goals (two on the power play). Nevertheless, as soon as some more experienced NHL players became available, he was dropped to the bottom of the Swedes' lineup by head coach Rikard Grönborg.

Lindblom spent each of the final three games riding the pine as a 12th or 13th forward, playing a whopping single 10-second shift in the quarterfinals. When the chips were down, Grönborg and his staff decided to sink or swim with veterans such as Loui Eriksson (-3, 16:51 TOI in the QF game) and Marcus Kruger (-2, 18 shifts) over rising younger talents such as Lindblom or New Jersey Devils forward Jesper Bratt.

The progression of the World Championships was somewhat reminiscent of how Lindblom's usage was severely cut by Dave Hakstol near the end of his tenure as Flyers head coach. Lindblom started the season on the PK but was removed for the remainder of Hakstol's tenure after he inadvertently deflected a puck that caused a San Jose power play goal in the Flyers' home opener. He was not restored to the PK until Gordon took over as interim head coach.

Offensively, Lindblom had a surge in late October and early November, posting eight even-strength points over seven games (2g, 6a, +8), but was dropped to the fourth line almost immediately after James van Riemsdyk returned from injury.

A big part of the reason why Lindblom subsequently had a lengthy point drought in the first half the season was that he frequently had nights of playing less than 10 mins of bottom-the-lineup duty (including 5:18 vs. Ottawa on Nov. 27 and 4:38 vs. Columbus on Dec. 6). He was a healthy scratch in Vancouver in favor of Jori Lehterä on Dec. 15 in what proved to be Hakstol's final game as head coach.

It will be interesting to see next season how Lindblom, in his second full NHL campaign, is used by new head coach Alain Vigneault and forwards/ power play coach Michel Therrien. Will he play on Kevin Hayes' line? Will he play on the third line with Nolan Patrick (with whom Lindblom showed hints of good chemistry, both during the 2017-18 stretch drive and late-October and early November of this past season)? Will Lindblom be part of Mike Yeo's penalty killing rotation? Will he get time on the second power play unit?

3) Congratulations to Matt Karliner for being hired to the Flyers analytics department. Matt was my cousin Jason Polykoff's analytics and team manager when Jason was coaching at Friends Central.

4) Flyers Alumni birthdays: The late Rick Lapointe (1955-1999) was born on this day in 1955. Forward Mike Peluso was born on this date in 1974.

5) Today in Flyers history: On Aug. 2, 1974, the late Barry Ashbee officially announced his retirement as a result of a serious eye injury suffered in the Stanley Cup semifinals against the New York Rangers. Simultaneously, Ashbee joined Mike Nykoluk as a Flyers assistant coach under Fred Shero.
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