Quick Hits: May 1, 2022
1) The Philadelphia Flyers players had their Exit Day interviews on Saturday and then met with the media. Every player spoke, with the exceptions of Bobby Brin,Keith Yandle and three young players who were assigned to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms (Felix Sandström, Egor Zamula and Linus Högberg) for the final game of the AHL regular season. Chuck Fletcher and Mike Yeo will speak on Tuesday.
Brink had his exit interview early in the morning, ahead even of Noah Cates. Cates was the first player (15 minutes early) to be brought to the press conference room at the Flyers Training Center. Yandle, who is retiring after a 1,109-game NHL career that included a league-record 989-game ironman streak, requested not to speak to the media on Saturday and will make the official announcement separately.
The most noteworthy news to come out of the day was that Ryan Ellis spoke to the media after talking with Chuck Fletcher. Ellis said that he will not require surgery to deal with "multi-layered" core muscle issues in the lower abdomen/pelvic region that limited him to four games (the first three and then a one-game return a month later) the entire 2021-22 season.
Ellis said he felt confident that the treatment and strengthen regimen that has been designed will effectively take care of the issue. Ellis said the process is underway and the general plan is to gradually step up the intensity of workouts in the gym and then. a few weeks later, to start skating again. July and August will be the key months to be ready come training camp.
Why did the process take so long? Ellis said that, because there were multiple symptoms, the root cause of the problem was hard to pinpoint. Consequently, it took a long time to come up with a plan to deal with it. Ellis said that "nothing is broken enough to do surgery on" but many different options were considered.
"Multiple MRI’s, multiple doctors, multiple different practitioners. Endless. It was just a long year to be honest in every capacity. Being around the guys became tough because I can’t play. I can’t help. I can’t do, and I’ve never had that problem before. Whether I was out for a week or for a month, it was always ‘I'll be back in that month.’ Getting the plan and now embarking on it is exciting to me, knowing that I will be back next year," Ellis said.
Ellis, in no uncertain terms, shot down recent rumors that he was unhappy being in the Flyers organization or otherwise wanted out.
"I just want to play here. I want to be part of the solution here. I think I can really help out this team. My family loves it here. My kids love it here. Like if I were playing, this would be heaven for me. The only reason it is not, because I’m not playing," he said.
2) The Lehigh Valley Phantoms finished their 2021-22 season with a 3-0 shutout victory over the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins at the PPL Center on Saturday. Felix Sandström notched a 26-save shutout. Isaac Ratcliffe and Cal O'Reilly each posted a goal and an assist , while Linus Sandin opened the scoring in the first period.
The Phantoms finished the season with a 29-32-15 record (.480 points percentage), which put them in last place the eight-team Atlantic Division. A brutal start to the season, which saw Lehigh Valley win just three of their first 19 games, was too much to overcome. With six teams making the playoffs out of the division, the Phantoms had a chance to make a late push down the stretch but they lost four straight games beyond regulation.
3) With a very long offseason facing both the Flyers and Phantoms, there is plenty of time in the days and weeks ahead to discuss individual players and changes that may be coming.
4) On Monday night, the annual Philadelphia Sportwriters Association (PSWA) banquet will be held at the DoubleTree in Cherry Hill, NJ. Among the honored guests will be Hockey Hall of Fame members Mark Howe and Bill Barber as well as the Flyers Hall of Fame brother duo of Joe and Jim Watson.
Tickets are $95 and can be purchased online at
https://phillysportswriters.com/buy-banquet-tickets/. Social hour begins at 5 p.m. with doors to the main ballroom opening at 6.
5) On Tuesday, various members of the Flyers Alumni Association will be celebrity guest bartenders at a fundraiser for the Ed Snider Youth Hockey Foundation at the Great American Pub in Wayne, PA (4 West Avenue). Participating Alumni: Bernie Parent, Joe Watson, Bob Kelly, Brad Marsh, Ed Hospodar, Neil Little, Terry Carkner, and Lou Nolan.
Other guest bartenders include various members of the local media: Al Morganti, Glen Macnow, Sam Carchidi and yours truly.
Hope to see you there to say hi and talk hockey, while raising money for Snider Hockey and its programs.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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