Quick Hits: September 23, 2020
1) In the week-plus leading up to the 2020 NHL Draft, we will have extensive Flyers-related content coming your way, both on the Flyers official media platforms (
Flyers.NHL.com and
Flyers Broadcast Network plus team social media outlets) as well as independent content here on HockeyBuzz.
2) On Friday, "Flyers Daily" host Jason Myrtetus and I will jointly interview Flyers assistant general manager Brent Flahr, highlighting the 2020 Draft's overall strengths and weaknesses as well as the preparation work that went into getting ready for the Draft amid pandemic-shortened seasons not just in the NHL but across major junior, collegiate, European and IIHF-sanctioned tournaments. Related content will appear on the team website, and the interview will air in its entirety on Flyers Daily.
3) Jason will also have a series of one-on-one exclusives next week with Flyers amateur scouts including Nick Pryor (who extensively scouts U.S. junior, collegiate and high school leagues), Mark Greig (whose home base is the Western Hockey League plus frequent crossover work, and whose son Ridly Greig could be selected by an NHL team in the first round to early 2nd round this year), and Joakim Grundberg (the organization's Sweden-based scout).
4) Next Tuesday (Sept. 29), Flyers general manager Chuck Fletcher will be doing a remote conference call with the media to discuss the upcoming Draft. He'll also likely be asked some offseason-related questions regarding free agents and whether the volume of trade-related discussions has picked up with the Draft and a potentially abbreviated free agency season approaching.
5) At some point before the Draft, we will present a new "Prospect Pipeline" episode on the Flyers Broadcast Network, in which Brian Smith and I discuss some of the major topics ahead of the Draft -- the organizational depth chart, NHL teams awaiting instruction related to the handling of AHL players until there are decisions made on an American Hockey League season in 2020-21, and other issues that will not be covered in the other content.
6) Later today on the Flyers official site, I will have an update article on Flyers-contracted prospects who are on loan to European pro teams during the NHL/AHL offseason.
7) On today's edition of Flyers Daily, Jason and I covered a wide array of topics: our takes on the Calder, Norris, Vezina and Hart Trophy voting results, the Stanley Cup Final, the similarities between last year's St. Louis Blues and this year's Dallas Stars and New York Islanders teams, why regular season team GAA is more important than regular season GPG in terms of predicting which teams will make/miss the playoffs, why the Flyers made big strides this year in that regard, and a look at offseason challenges in terms of cap management. In the final segment, we answer listener-submitted questions. To check out the episode,
click here.
8) Today in Flyers History (Part 1): On Sept. 23, 1969, Hockey Hall of Fame defenseman Allan Stanley, who spent the final season of his NHL career with the Flyers in 1968-69, announced his retirement as an active player. The late Stanley, who turned 43 during the stretch drive of his lone season in Philadelphia, was the oldest player in franchise history to suit up for the Flyers; a team record that has held for the last 51 years.
9) Today in Flyers History (Part 2): On September 23, 1998, one of the more attention-getting but short-lived and ill-fated experiments in semi-recent franchise history came to end 26 days after Flyers general manager Bob Clarke extended a training camp tryout offer to 24-year-old right winger Gary Coupal with the thought of potentially signing him to an American Hockey League contract to play for the Philadelphia Phantoms.
Although an unknown to most fans who only follow the NHL, Coupal was one of the game's most notorious names in hockey minor league circles at the time; something akin to a 1990s version of Bill "Goldie" Goldethorpe.
While for the OHL's Sudbury Wolves, the enforcer got into hot water for using his stick rather than his fists. For what was deemed a deliberate high stick with intent to injure, Coupal was essentially banned for life from the OHL, being suspended for the rest of the regular season and playoffs and prohibited from subsequently attempting to returning as an overager.
Shortly after the OHL handed down its verdict, Coupal signed with Muskegon of the United Hockey League. It took him only 18 games to hit the 100 penalty minute mark but he did not do anything that merited supplementary discipline. In 1995-96, Coupal played in the fight-filled ECHL, racking up 45 fighting majors and 408 penalty minutes; a team record for the Columbus Chill.
It was not until early the 1996-97 season that Coupal got into big trouble again. The Columbus winger, while on the bench, snapped on Aaron Downey with his stick. The player was rendered unconscious and hospitalized but the outcome could have been even worse. Coupal was suspended for the rest of that season and barred from applying for reinstatement. He had now been given lifetime bans in two leagues.
Coupal returned to Muskegon, pledging to tone down some of the craziness. He settled into a third-line role, posting a dozen points in 25 games. Unfortunately, in game 26, Coupal just couldn't keep his explosive temper in check. Angry at a call at the ice, he snapped his stick over his knee and javelin-tossed the pieces into the stands. Fortunately, the broken stick narrowly missed a spectator and his young daughter. The UHL suspended Coupal for life; making it the third league from which he'd been banned.
The Central Texas Stampede of the WPHL contacted Coupal with a tryout offer. He made the team, stayed reasonably well behaved (11 fights and 79 PIM in 20 games but nothing suspension-inducing), and again worked his way up to a third-line role.
Coupal could scarcely believe his ears when Clarke extended an NHL training camp invite and the opportunity to compete for an AHL job with the Phantoms. However, that dream quickly came to an end when the American Hockey League informed the Flyers that Coupal was not welcome to play in the league; they would honor the ECHL and UHL bans if Coupal were signed to a Phantoms contract. Having already assessed that Coupal was not of AHL-caliber talent, anyway, the Flyers released him from his tryout on Sept. 23.
10) Sept. 23 Flyers Alumni birthday: Joffrey Lupul (1983)
Talented but injury-prone right winger Joffrey Lupul was born September 23, 1983 in Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta. The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim originally drafted the Medicine Hat Tigers standout in the first round (seventh overall) of the 2002 NHL Draft after the 6-foot-1, 206-pound forward enjoyed a 56-goal, 106-point, 95 penalty minute season for Medicine Hat in 2001-02.
Later, Lupul spent two seasons with the Flyers after being acquired from the Edmonton Oilers along with defenseman Jason Smith in the July 1, 2007 deal that sent defenseman Joni Pitkanen and veteran forward Geoff Sanderson to Edmonton. In his first season with the Flyers, Lupul notched 20 goals and 46 points in a campaign limited by injury to just 56 games. In the first round of the 2008 playoffs, Lupul scored the series-winning overtime power play goal in Game 7 against the Washington Capitals. Overall, he posted four goals and 10 points in 17 playoff games as the Flyers reached the Eastern Conference Final the next season after posting the worst record in franchise history.
Lupul's best stretch as a Flyer came in December 2007, when he notched two hat tricks in the same week (Dec. 11 against Pittsburgh and Dec. 14 against the Carolina Hurricanes). He closed out the month by scoring a penalty shot goal against Tampa Bay.
The next season, playing on a line with Scott Hartnell and Jeff Carter, Lupul posted 25 goals and 50 points in 79 games. He had one goal and one assist in the Flyers six-game loss in the first round to the eventual Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins.
The Flyers traded Lupul to the Anaheim Ducks on June 26, 2009 as part of the blockbuster deal that brought Hall of Fame defenseman Chris Pronger to Philadelphia. After his second tour of duty in Anaheim, Lupul began a lengthy stint with the Toronto Maple Leafs, primarily playing on his off-wing rather than the right side. He spent most of his late career on long-term injured reserve and officially retired in 2018.
Off the ice, Lupul is a longtime guitar enthusiast and amateur player. Shortly after his NHL career wound down, he became part-owner of a West Village gastropub in New York City, called Due West.
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