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Quick Hits: Return to Play, Hartnell, TIFH and More

November 30, 2020, 7:46 AM ET [108 Comments]
Bill Meltzer
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Quick Hits: November 30, 2020

1) On today's edition of Flyers Daily, Jason Myrtetus and I tackled a wide array of topics: The Flyers loaning veteran forward Michael Raffl to Villach in the EBEL, the likelihood (or lack thereof) of the NHL meeting its stated goal of starting the 2020-21 regular season on January 1, the NHL/NHLPA negotiation over salary deferments, the timetable to re-sign Phil Myers, whether Morgan Frost will make the NHL roster to start this season, the next Flyers Hall of Fame inductees, and much more. To listen, click here.

2) Today on the Flyers' official website, a profile on Danny Briere's case for the Flyers Hall of Fame will be added to the one looking at the cases for Rick Tocchet, Mark Recchi, Simon Gagne and Kimmo Timonen. In my opinion, all five of those candidates are no-brainers to include in the team Hall. It's just a question of when, and in what order.

The Flyers Hall of Fame series will conclude on the team website with a look at a borderline candidate: Scott Hartnell. (Note: I may continue the series here on HockeyBuzz with a look at some other non-inducted borderline candidates for whom a case could be made, such as Mike Richards, Bob "the Hound" Kelly, Brad McCrimmon or Simon Nolet).

Over his seven seasons with the Flyers, Hartnell scored at least 20 goals five times including seasons of 30 and 37 goals. He reached the 60-point mark three times. "Hartsy" was an effective left winger on three different lines that developed strong chemistry; first with Jeff Carter and Joffrey Lupul (2008-09), then with Danny Briere and Ville Leino (2010 playoffs and 2010-11 season) and finally with Claude Giroux and Jaromir Jagr (Hartnell's career-best 2011-12 season when he was an NHL All-Star Game participant). The gregarious Hartnell was also a fan favorite for much of his stint with the Flyers, and remains a very popular Alum in retirement.

There was always some give-and-take with Hartnell. Although he was a good shooter from the "bumper" spot and adept and scoring in scrambles around the net, he wasn't a true sniper. He was prone to bad penalties, periodic suspensions and letting his emotions get the better of him. He wasn't a speedster or a great puckhandler. He frustrated some of his coaches in attention-to-detail areas and, at times, his conditioning. But when the good was weighed against the drawbacks, the positives inevitably won out. The bottom line with Hartnell was that he loved being a Flyer and he cared about his team and teammates.

Vote below: Should Scott Hartnell eventually be inducted into the Flyers Hall of Fame? Keep in mind that there are five more clear-cut candidates ahead of him, and Claude Giroux will eventually jump to the front of the line once his active playing career is over.



3) One year ago today, Ivan Provorov's spectacular end-to-end goal in Montreal sealed a 4-3 overtime road win for the Flyers against the Canadiens. The Flyers, who completed a 30-day blitz of 16 games with four games in the final five-and-a-half days of the month, ran out energy in the final game but Brian Elliott delivered to steal one point and Provorov delivered the second in OT. Philly finished November with an NHL-best 24 points (10-2-4). That month was a springboard to the Flyers ranking among the top teams in the league for the pandemic-shortened 2019-20 regular season.



4) November 30 in Flyers History:

1972: "Cowboy" Bill Flett had two goals and an assist in a 5-5 home tie with the Atlanta Flames. Linemates Bobby Clarke (two goals, one assist) and Bob "the Hound" Kelly (two assists) also enjoyed multiple point games while Rick MacLeish had the Flyers other tally. Philadelphia held a 5-3 lead early in the third period but a miscue by goaltender Doug Favell and a double-deflection goal resulted in a tie.

1978: Wayne Stephenson recorded a 17-save home shutout of his former team, the St. Louis Blues. Blake Dunlop, rookie Behn Wilson and team captain Bobby Clarke supplied the goal support.

1983: Wayne Gretzky and Bobby Clarke took turns dominating a 3-3 tie in Edmonton. Every time Gretzky set up or scored a goal to forge a lead for the Oilers, Clarke responded in kind to pull the Flyers even. Dave Poulin supplemented Clarke's two-goal performance while Edmonton's Paul Coffey scored in the final minute of the third period. Edmonton goalie Grant Fuhr made 40 saves to 32 by Philly's Bob Froese.

1990: A two-goal performance by Rick Tocchet and a shorthanded goal by Keith Acton keyed a 5-1 home win over the New York Rangers. Pelle Eklund racked up three assists while Kjell Samuelsson and Murray Craven tallied one goal apiece.

1995: Held off the board for nearly the first 59 minutes of play, the Legion of Doom could be contained no longer by the Toronto Maple Leafs in their final shift of the game. With the score tied 2-2 and time ticking down under two minute, the Legion kept Toronto hemmed in its own end of the ice for nearly 50 seconds until Mikael Renberg scored his 15th goal of the season to put Philly ahead to stay with 1:03 remaining in the game. Rod Brind'Amour and Brent Fedyk (power play) also scored for Philadelphia.

1996: Trailing 1-0 at the first intermission, the Flyers roared back to score three goals in the second period to take control of a game that ended in a 4-3 road win in Ottawa. Rookie Dainius Zubrus scored his third NHL goal, followed by tallies from Rod Brind'Amour (power play), Shjon Podein and Trent Klatt. Garth Snow saw just 17 shots for the game, stopping 14 to earn the win. The Flyers peppered Ottawa's Damian Rhodes with 37 shots.

2005: Second period goals by Mike Knuble and Patrick Sharp snapped a scoreless tie at home against the New Jersey Devils. Robert Esche made 30 saves to earn the win against Martin Brodeur.

2006: There were few highlights to the Flyers' abysmal 2006-07 season but this game was a bright spot. Antero Niittymaki made 39 saves to earn a road win against the New York Islanders in a game where Philly got outshot by a 41-23 margin. Goals by Randy Robitaille, Simon Gagne (shorthanded) and Mike Knuble (power play) were just enough to win.

2013: The Flyers earned a 3-2 shootout win over the Predators one night after downing the Winnipeg Jets in the annual Black Friday matinee in Philadelphia. Sean Couturier's game-tying goal at 13:06 of the third period sent the game to overtime. Claude Giroux, who scored the game's opening goal late in the first period, also scored in the shootout along with Vincent Lecavalier. Steve Mason was excellent in goal, stopping 34 of 36 shots in regulation and overtime plus all three shots he faced in the shootout finale.

5) The new Flyers Alumni website, FlyersAlumni.net, will launch within the next week or so. The site is online now, if you want to take a peak at its outstanding re-design by Bill Booth, but the content is still being added, edited and text synced to the correct photos. etc. Visually, the site should be more appealing, cleaner-looking and easier to navigate than the old version.

6) Nov. 30 Flyers Alum birthday: One of the first tough guys in Flyer history, Earl Heiskala, was born on Nov. 30, 1942 in Kirkland Lake, Ontario.
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