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Quick Hits: April 19, 2020
1) Flyers/Phantoms rookie center Morgan Frost, who dominated the Ontario Hockey League in 2017-18 and 2018-19 as a member of the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, spoke to the Sault Star last week about his first pro season and the memories he took away from his years in the Soo.
One interesting tidbit in the article is that Frost, who will turn 21 on May 14, has been working out during the NHL/AHL pause with gym equipment that his mom, Dana, provided from the gym she owns in Aurora, Ontario. He's also taking regular bike rides.
Back in February, when I spoke to Flyers assistant general manager Brent Flahr for a three-part article series on the organization's farm system, he said that Frost had played at a very high level in flashes but needed to elevate his game on a more sustained basis to earn -- and keep -- a regular NHL spot.
Flahr said,"He's done it for stretches at a time but needs to do it with more consistency. Morgan is a very teachable and bright young man in addition to being a highly skilled one. He's very honest with himself and self-aware. But there's a lot of things he could get away with in junior hockey because his skill level was so high that he has move away from in the pro game. It's a work in progress."
We are planning an upcoming article on the Flyers official website, take a deep-dive look at Frost's first pro season. He has come a long way from the second day of NHL camp, when Alain Vigneault deliberately placed Frost and Isaac Ratcliffe (along with Jakub Voracek) into a series of 3-on-3 drills against Sean Couturier and Claude Giroux (with fellow rookie Joel Farabee matched head-to-head with Voracek). It was done in order to give the kids a taste of how much tougher it will be to compete against pros than it was in junior hockey or NHL Rookie Camp.
Frost and Ratcliffe got eaten alive by Couturier and Giroux. To his credit, Frost realized how high the bar had been set and used it as motivation. As the months went by, there was not a straight upward line for Frost -- there were definitely some missteps and drops in confidence, as was to be expected -- but there was also overall progress.
Long term, I still think Frost may end up on a wing rather than staying at center. That is partially dependent on the health of Nolan Patrick as well as on Frost himself. But I think that when Frost has been on his game, he's looked like a viable NHL center. I would deem his first pro season a moderate success; not a smash success by any means but one that saw him make a variety of subtle improvements. Over time, those should become the norm.
Keep this in mind: While it's his playmaking skills and high-skill goals like the one below that make Frost a high-profile prospect, it's the smaller details -- quick reads without the puck, keeping his feet moving consistently and using his speed to his advantage, making risk-reward decisions, winning more 50-50 battles, etc. -- that will determine the timeline for when he graduates from AHL player to NHL regular.
Ask Morgan Frost (@_morganfrost_10) about the two goals he scored during tonight's rebroadcast of the #LVPhantoms game against the Syracuse Crunch on Facebook at 6:25. A live Q & A session with Morgan starts on Twitter at 7:05.
— LehighValleyPhantoms (@LVPhantoms) April 2, 2020
2) The other day, my wife and I were talking about TV commercials that we remember from childhood. Most of the ones that I remember were commercials that aired during Flyers or Phillies telecasts. You have to be of a certain age to recall these:
* "Ony Richie Kelly orders double anchovy!"
* "Mr. Mean becomes Mr. Clean when Bobby Clarke wears Jack Lang"
* "Go ahead.... keep it!"
* "Up next, the Pepsi Postgame Show with Steve Coates (or Tom Lamaine)"
* "Scores! For a case of Tastykake!"/ "All the good things wrapped up in one!"
On a similar note, check out this recently uploaded Youtube video of Flyers broadcasts from WTAF (Channel 29) and Prism from 1978 to 1982.
3) Today in Flyers History: April 19, 1975
In route to winning their second straight Stanley Cup, the Philadelphia Flyers closed out a quarterfinal round road sweep of the Toronto Maple Leafs with a 4-3 road victory in overtime of Game Four on April 19, 1975.
After getting shut out by Bernie Parent in Games 2 and 3 of the series, the Leafs stuck early in the first period before a pair of first-period goals by Reggie Leach set up by Bobby Clarke -- once at even strength and once on the power play - sent the game to the first intermission tied at 2-2.
LCB linemate Bill Barber gave the Flyers a 3-2 lead in the second period but Toronto's Ron Ellis forced overtime with his second goal of the game, knotting the score at 13:23 of the third period. The Flyers made short work of OT.
Off a setup from behind the net by Dave "the Hammer" Schultz, a wide-open Andre "Moose" Dupont scores the series-clincher at 1:45 on the first shot of the extra frame. Dupont launched into his celebratory "Moose Shuffle" and was mobbed by teammates. Parent finished with 28 saves.
4) NHL alum goalie Sean Burke, who spent two short stints with the Flyers (1997-98, 2003-04) during his playing days, has long been a guitar enthusiast. On his Youtube page, Burke recently posted the first two of what he said will be a series of online lessons for novice guitarists.
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