Quick Hits: September 21, 2022
1) Today marks the official start of the Flyers training camp. Every player reported to the Flyers Training Center in Voorhees at least 10 days ago with most having been here since Labor Day or even earlier. However, today is the day that orientation meetings. physical testing, etc. will take place. There is no on-ice practice. On-ice work will commence on Thursday and Friday before the preseason exhibition schedule opens on Saturday with a game at the Wells Fargo Center against the Boston Bruins (7 p.m. EDT, NBCSP+).
2) There is no update on Sean Couturier. Roughly an hour before Flyers general manager Chuck Fletcher issued a statement on Monday, a team source confirmed a Crossing Broad report that the Flyers sustained another injury last week. He would neither confirm or deny that the player could be facing a long-term absence, saying only that there'd be more clarity on specifics of the injury, treatment plan and timetables after the player was reevaluated. The specific phrasing was, "We'll know more after Sean is reevaluated".
Fletcher's subsequent statement said essentially the same thing. Elliotte Friedman also confirmed through a team source that the organization and Couturier wanted a second medical opinion before making any decisions.
Anthony San Filippo's report contained a lot of specifics about how the injury occurred, the nature of it (herniated disc in the vicinity of where he had surgery in February) and what the timetable may look like (12 weeks or more). Normally, if an organization believes such reported information to be erroneous, they will either deny its accuracy or downplay it as an absolute worst-case scenario. Here, the only assertion is that the team and player are in wait-and-see mode pending a medical reevaluation.
On Wednesday's edition of Flyers Daily, Jason Myrtetus and I discuss the Couturier situation. There's no sugar-coating it. If the player is out long-term again, it would be a devastating blow to the club before the season even starts:
click here.
3) Following is the on-ice schedules for Thursday, Friday and Saturday. With 70 players in camp at the start, there are four groups. There can be mixing-and-matching among the groups on a daily basis. During practice sessions, though, it's not uncommon for Groups A and B to consist of NHL roster and roster bubble players, Group C to be AHL contract players likely to be assigned to Lehigh Valley's camp when it opens and Group D to be heavily sprinkled with Rookie Camp tryout players still on hand for the beginning of NHL camp. These are not absolutes, but a rough guide.
THURSDAY SCHEDULE
* 8:30-9:15 a.m.: GROUP D (Flyers Rink)
* 9:30-10:15 a.m.: GROUP C (Phantoms Rink)
* 10:30-11:15 a.m.: GROUP B (Flyers Rink)
* 11:30 a.m.-12:15 p.m.: GROUP A (Phantoms Rink)
FRIDAY SCHEDULE
Session 1 (Flyers rink)
* 9-10 a.m.: Group A vs. Group D (scrimmage)
* 10:10-11 a.m.: Group A Off-Ice; Group D On-Ice
* 11:10 a.m.-12 p.m.: Group A On-Ice; Group D Off-Ice
Session 2 (Phantoms Rink)
* 1-2 p.m.: Group B vs. Group C (scrimmage)
2:10-3 p.m.: Group B Off-Ice; Group C On-Ice
3:10-4 p.m.: Group B On-Ice; Group C Off- Ice
SATURDAY SCHEDULE
• 10 a.m.: Game Group morning skate (Flyers Rink)
• 10 a.m.: Non-Game Group 1 practice (Phantoms Rink)
• 11 a.m.: Non-Game Group 2 practice (Phantoms Rink)
4) Prior to the final game of the 2021-22 season, veteran defenseman Keith Yandle announced to his Flyers teammates that he was retiring after the season. Out of respect for Yandle, other Flyers players refrained from discussing it on-the-record until Yandle himself was ready to publicly announce it. Yesterday, Yandle did so on Spittin' Chicklets.
Things did not work out at all hockey-wise for Yandle or the Flyers last season. However, many of his closest friends including Kevin Hayes are on the team. Yandle said on the broadcast that he enjoyed building friendships last season with Travis Konecny, Scott Laughton, Travis Sanheim and Nick Seeler in addition to his pre-existing longtime friendships with the likes of Hays and Cam Atkinson. Yandle said that while losing is no fun, he greatly enjoyed the group of teammates he had in his final season.
5) I took my son Benjamin to the Phillies vs. Blue Jays game yesterday at Citizens Bank Park; an ugly 18-11 game that saw Toronto score in eight of the nine innings and the Flyers generate four-run and five-run innings yet never draw closer than two runs down after trailing 6-0. At any rate, a group of Flyers players were on hand and took batting practice: Justin Braun, Kevin Hayes, Travis Konecny and Travis Sanheim.
Side note: Citizens Bank policy is for the gates to open 90 minutes before game time. With yesterday's game being a 6:45 p.m. start, the gates should have opened to allow fans in at 5:15. However, the gates yesterday did not open until roughly 5:40. The Blue Jays were finishing up their BP by that time.
6) Flyers Warriors Fundraisers: The Flyers Warriors are sending four rosters to their respective national tier championship tournaments at the 2022 USA Hockey Warrior Classic in Michigan. In order to defray the associated costs, the Flyers Warriors are participating into fundraising campaigns that may be of interest to some Flyers fans and to anyone with interest in supporting a life-changing hockey program that benefits local disabled veterans.
South Jersey Game Worn Hockey Expo (Sept 24, Riverwinds Community Center, West Deptford, NJ)
Flyers Warriors T-Shirt Sale via Custom Ink (6 days to go, $25 per t-shirt)
Flyers Warriors Jersey Sale via Mens' League Sweaters ($120 per jersey, sale runs through Sept. 23 at 2:00 p.m. EDT)
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