Quick Hits: January 2, 2021
1) World Junior Championship medal round play begins today with four quarterfinal games: Russia vs. Germany, Finland against arch-rival Sweden (featuring Emil Andrae), Canada against the Czech Republic and Team USA (Cam York, Bobby Brink) being opposed by Slovakia. By virtue of their 4-0 win over Sweden on New Year's Eve, Team USA earned first place in Group B. Consequently, Team USA would not have to play Canada until a gold medal game. The Canadians, who won Group A with a convincing victory over Finland, are the only team in either group to go undefeated in the preliminary round.
2) According to a Sportsnet report yesterday by Elliotte Friedman, the NHL is planning to hold outdoor regular season games in Lake Tahoe (Edgewood Tahoe Resort) on Feb. 20 and 21. Fans would not be admitted to the games but it would be a spectacle for national television. The Flyers would be involved in the second game, playing the Boston Bruins. Neither the NHL nor any of the teams reportedly involved (Flyers, Bruins, Vegas Golden Knights and Colorado Avalanche) have publicly announced the plan thus far.
3) On the latest edition of Flyers Daily on the Flyers Broadcast Network, Jason Myretetus is joined by Flyers assistant coach Ian Laperriere. "Lappy" talks about the experiment of moving Samuel Morin from defense to left wing, preparations for training camp (physicals on Jan. 3 and on-ice work starting the next morning), and what the Flyers as a team need to do to build on their accomplishments of last season. To listen,
click here.
4) Today in Flyers History: 2012 Winter Classic at Citizens Bank Park
In the fifth installment of the NHL Winter Classic, the Flyers dropped a 3-2 regulation decision to the New York Rangers at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. A crowd of 46,967 packed the baseball stadium. Temperatures began to drop during the late afternoon/evening game, and snow flurries briefly fell during a second intermission mini-concert by the Roots and early in the third period.
Brayden Schenn opened the scoring with his first NHL goal, supplemented by a Claude Giroux goal to build a short-lived 2-0 lead in the second period. With the Flyers trailing 3-2 in the third period, Danny Briere was unable to convert a late-game penalty shot against Henrik Lundqvist.
Sergei Bobrovsky took the loss in goal for Philly. Legendary right winger Jaromir Jagr was forced to leave the game after the first period when he re-aggravated a groin injury. He returned to sit on the bench but did not play any additional shifts.
5) Myers: "I welcome the challenge with open arms."
Flyers defenseman Philippe Myers spoke via conference call on Wednesday with members of the local media. He discussed his new contract, the opportunity to move up to the top pairing to play alongside Ivan Provorov, and his expectations for what officially is his second season in the NHL (Myers played 21 games for Philadelphia in 2018-19 but was below the career games threshold to be considered a rookie last season). A transcript follows, courtesy of the Flyers' Brian Smith:
With the new three-year contract, what does that say to the level of confidence that the organization has in you? Does that give you a boost of confidence going into the season?
Obviously, that shows that they have confidence in me. I’m really excited for the next three years. To be honest, I’m just happy to get it done. I was thinking about it all summer. Trying not to, but it was hard not to think of it. Now it’s a weight off my shoulders and I can just focus on doing my job and go from there.
Alain Vigneault said that he was planning on giving you more penalty kill time. How much have you done that in juniors and with the Phantoms?
I’ve played PK pretty much everywhere, except in Philly. I got to a little bit of a taste of it last year. I’m looking forward to taking on a little more responsibility.
With Matt Niskanen retiring, there is a spot open on that top pairing. Do you think you are ready for that level of ice time that would come with playing with Ivan? Do you think you are ready to have that sort of role?
It’s not my decision at the end of the day. I definitely welcome the challenge with open arms. I’ve played 25 minutes in a night before. I did it in Allentown all of two years ago and the year before. Like I said, I’ll welcome the challenge with open arms. I’d be happy to take on a bigger role. I’m just going to work hard every day and try to earn it.
Knowing that this challenge is possible for you, did you do anything different in the offseason to prepare to get yourself ready for the season?
With the pandemic, the gyms were closed at one point, so I was working out at home. Besides that, I pretty much did the same thing. I was skating with the university team three, four times a week. I was working out at a gym that I usually work out at. I pretty much did the same thing as I usually do. I got a little bit stronger. I’m just looking forward to get going here.
With Claude Giroux’s lead by example kind of way, what is it like seeing that up close and how much to players look up to him?
He’s a great leader. He’s a big presence in the room. Just to see him bring his work ethic every practice and every game, it’s something that you want to learn from and you want to bring that yourself when you see a guy like that bring it every day. It brings the energy up. It makes you want to work that much harder. He’s a great guy and a great guy to have in the room. I’m glad he’s on my team.
Last season, you made the trip to Europe with the team but you didn’t get to play. Then you come back and get sent down to the American League. How hard was that to deal with? Ultimately was it something that you need to get that final little bit into your game to make you a full-time NHL player?
It was definitely heartbreaking. I’d worked so hard that summer. Just to get cut at the last minute there. It definitely made me appreciate everything a little bit more. When I got called up after I got cut, I didn’t take anything for granted. I just worked as hard as I could to make sure I didn’t go down. It was just that much better of a feeling when stuff started to happen up there for me.
When do you feel it started to click for you as a full-time NHL guy that you are in the right place that you can be there and stay there?
For me personally, it was a little bit after Christmas. The coaches came up to me and said that I was going to play with Travis in the top four. That just gave me a bit more of a boost of confidence. I can try to play my game and even if I make mistake, I don’t have to worry about it as much. Just made me more comfortable out there. That was huge for me. From there, I just tried to keep it simple and just not try to do too much. Just keep playing my game. I’ve always felt in my mind that I’m a guy that takes it one day at a time and just works as hard as he can when out there.
Can you talk a little bit about the work ethic that Claude Giroux shows and does that rub off on you and the team?
Yeah, just the way that he brings it. He brings it every day. Just to see a guy like that bring it every day motivates the boys to push yourself that much harder. He’s a big presence in the room. He’s been here a long time and has a lot of experience. He’s a great leader. I can’t say enough good things about Claude Giroux. He’s the captain of our team and I’m glad that he’s with us.
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