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Meltzer's Musings: Memorable Minor Leaguers, Four Nations, Trivia, Alumni |
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Memorable Minor Leaguers
Thus far in Flyers history, there have been 588 players who have appeared in at least one regular season and/or playoff game for the team. This does not include 2016 offseason free agent signings (such as Dale Weise and Boyd Gordon) who, baring injury or other unforeseen circumstances, are locks to play for the team in 2016-17.
The all-time roster count does not include goaltenders who dressed as a backup but never played any part of a game for the Flyers (for instance, Reggie Lemelin or, thus far, Anthony Stolarz) or position players who were called up to the Flyers but scratched from the game lineup. Finally, the ranks do not include players who only appeared in preseason games -- for example, Rudy Tajcnar, Daryl Reaugh or tryout veterans Bill Guerin and Bryan Berard who did not make the team.
In some cases, there are players who never played a regular season/ playoff game for the Flyers (and thus not on the all-time roster) but who are still nevertheless more well know for their association with the organization than some players who actually get get into a non-exhibition game for the orange and black. Specifically, I'm referring to memorable minor league players.
To name just a few popular minor league players who were part of the system -- some of whom appeared in the NHL at some point with other organizations -- there were the likes of Steve Coates, Ray Schultz, Barry Tabobondung, Gordie Clark, Frank "the Animal" Bialowas, Bruce Coles, Ben Stafford, Andrew Gordon and Zack Stortini.
Some players best known for their minor league careers, for instance American Hockey League Hall of Fame inductees such as Tim Tookey, Mitch Lamoureux and John Slaney, are on the Flyers all-time roster as well because they got some NHL games in with the big club. Ditto goalies such as Neil Little and Robbie Moore.
My question to the readers, which could help shape an upcoming article for the Flyers' official site is which minor league players in the Flyers chain have been favorites of yours, whether they ever got to play for the Flyers or not? It can include AHL players from farm teams such as the Quebec Aces, Richmond Robins, Maine Mariners, Hershey Bears or even lower minor league players such as the old Philadelphia Firebirds, the Trenton Titans, the Reading Royals, etc.
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Flyers Russian Prospects in Four Nations Tourney
The annual Four Nations tournament, a European-based evaluation tourney for potential World Junior Championship roster candidates for the Swedish, Finnish, Russian and Czech sides, will take place in the Czech Republic between August 26 to 28.
Yesterday, team Russia announced a 28-man roster, of which 22 will compete. Notably for Flyers fan, forwards German Rubtsov (the Flyers' 2016 first-round selection) and Mikhail Vorobyov (a fourth-round Flyers pick in 2015) are both on the roster. Neither inclusion is a surprise.
Goaltender prospect Ivan Fedotov (a Flyers' seventh-round pick in 2015) will turn 20 in November and is not on the roster.
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Flyers Trivia Question
Who was the first European born-and-trained player to appear in a non-exhibition game for the Flyers? The answer is at the end of the blog.
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Today in Flyers History: August 25
1992: The Flyers sign winger Greg Paslawski and defenseman Gord Hynes as unrestricted free agents.
1997: The Hall of Fame career of forward Dale Hawerchuk comes to an end as chronic hip issues bring about his retirement at age 34. Hawerchuk spent the final one-plus season of his career -- 67 regular season games and 29 playoff tilts -- as a Flyer after being acquired from the St. Louis Blues in a one-for-one trade for veteran checking center Craig MacTavish.
1998: The Flyers trade the rights of unsigned prospect defenseman Ray Giroux (originally an eighth-round pick by the Flyers in 1994 and a Hobey Baker Award nominee his senior year at Yale University) to the New York Islanders for a 2000 sixth-round pick. The pick was later traded to Montreal as a minor component of the March 1999 trade that brought Mark Recchi back to Philadelphia for a second stint and sent 1996 first-round pick Dainius Zubrus to the Canadiens.
Birthdays: Born August 25, 1982, current Flyers defenseman Nick Schultz celebrates his 34th birthday today. He shares a birthday with former checking forward and longtime head coach Dave Tippett (born in 1961) along with right winger Greg Paslawski (also born in 1961).
Trivia answer: On February 12, 1981, Swedish defenseman Thomas Eriksson became the first player born and trained in Europe to play in a regular season game for the Flyers.
A player mentioned in the top section of today's blog, the late Rudy Tajcnar, was the first European born and trained player to play in an exhibition game for the Flyers. A defector from Czechoslovakia, Tajcnar played with the Flyers during the 1977 preseason before the talented but troubled defenseman was assigned to the AHL's Maine Mariners. Ultimately, Tajcnar never played in an NHL regular season game.
The first European born player in Flyers history was actually an original Flyer who was on the ice for the first shift of the team's first ever regular season game. Defenseman John Miszuk was born in the Soviet Union in what is now part of western Belarus. However, his family immigrated to Canada when he was very young and he was raised in Hamilton, Ontario, which was where he started playing hockey.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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