WORLD CUP: FLYERS UPDATES
While Flyers players participating in the World Cup of Hockey played their first pre-tournament games yesterday and today, an ever-growing contingent who are not involved in the tournament are working out at the Skate Zone in Voorhees, NJ. Rookie camp officially gets underway on September 19, and full camp starts on the 23rd.
Claude Giroux will be in action for the first time on Friday, as Team Canada takes on Team USA in a World Cup pre-tournament game.
In pre-tournament tuneup games on Thursday, Finland downed Sweden in overtime, 3-2, Russia
held off a late rally to skate off with a 4-3 win over the Czech Republic, and Team North America's squadron of young NHL players skated circles around Team Europe in a dominating 4-0 shutout victory. None of the participating Flyers figured in any scoring in their respective games.
Jakub Voracek's timing seemed to be off -- that's why pre-tournament games exist in the first place -- until he started to find a rhythm in the third period of the Czech team's loss in St. Petersburg. Michal Neuvirth served as the backup goaltender to Petr Mrazek, who played better than his mediocre stat line (24 saves on 28 shots) would suggest.
Shayne Gostisbehere manned a point on what has the potential to be a deadly first power play unit for Team North America. With his side blitzing Team Europe for three goals in the second period for three goals and then simply playing a disciplined third period, Ghost had a generally quiet but but sound tuneup game in just 15:11 of ice time. He was on the receiving end of the one game's few heavy hits but he shook it off immediately and finished his shift.
Apart from one patchy shift where he twice passed pucks into skates in his own zone, Sean Couturier played his usual calm and steady two-way game and also dished out a hit behind the net on a late first-period forecheck. Couturier is one of Team North America's alternate captains.
Team Europe was a mess on Thursday and has the most work to do to be ready to compete better than they did last night. Mark Streit at least gave it his best effort, despite a frustrating night. He was beaten off the rush and had to foul Nathan MacKinnon in the third period; leading to a spectacular penalty shot goal. There was some frustration in his game as the night progressed -- he uncharacteristically cross-checked a Team North America player with the game out of reach in the waning minutes -- but at least there was also pride and competitiveness even in a pretourney game.
Ditto Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, who received just 9:43 of fourth-line ice time. The effort was there in playing his accustomed NHL role of a fourth-line forward. He didn't win a lot of battles but there wasn't much support or chemistry.
Team Europe must improve across the board from what they showed in Thursday's game to pick off a couple wins when the tourney starts for real. That's partially to be expected from a roster largely comprised of players who have not previously played together as teammates. The notion that every other hockey country in Europe other than Sweden, Finland, Russia and the Czech Republic can just be lumped together like scrapple to instantly cobble together a competitive team is rather arrogant and almost insulting; and no, sticking a "flag patch" on the jersey to recognize each player's home country is not the same as playing for a national team or for one another.
Whereas Team North America is an amalgamation of U.S. and Canadian players, they also have a tremendous pool of talent on that roster who seem be enjoying one another and also seem to have plenty of motivation to gel as a team. For the Team Europe guys, it can't only be about personal pride. They'll need to establish more of a team identity and do it in a hurry.
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QUICK HITS: SEPTEMBER 9, 2016
1) Brett Hull on ESPN's studio show seemed to be trying to outdo NBC's Jeremy Roenick in the hot takes department. In various segments, Hull opined with absolute confidence that Team Russia is filled with one-dimensional, selfish players, John Tortorella thus far is more of distraction than benefit as the coach of Team USA (even before they've played a game) and that most every goal he dissected on replay -- even one that was obviously deflected less than 10 feet front of the net -- was almost solely the product of lousy goaltending.
2) One Flyers' prospect who will not be able to show what he can do in training camp is Cole Bardreau. He will miss camp after undergoing abdominal surgery, according to CSN Phillly's Tim Panaccio. Bardreau quietly came on in the second half of last season for the AHL's Lehigh Valley Phantoms, and is a sleeper candidate for a callup in a bottom-six role at some point. This is a setback but need not be a long-term setback for the 23-year-old, who is used to dealing with injury-related adversity. Although just 5-foot-10, Bardreau is deceptively powerful and he wins a lot of battles. There's never a question of second-effort or third-effort with him and there's more skill than his stats might suggest.
3) In Swedish preseason action yesterday, Brynäs narrowly held off a late push by Örebro to earn a 4-3 win. Felix Sandström performed well in net overall. Goals by former NHLer Tom Wandell and Gustaf Franzén spaced less than a minute apart turned a comfortable 4-1 advantage into a 4-3 game and made for a hairy final four-and-a-half minutes for Brynäs. Earlier in the game, Oskar Lindblom mixed it up with Örebro's Alexander Hellström. Both were dispatched to the penalty box on double minors. Lindblom did not figure in the scoring.
4) German Rubtsov skated 9:16 without a point in Vityaz's 2-1 road shootout loss to Neftekhimik on Thursday. He's averaging 7:48 of ice time through his team's first four games, and based on what I have seen in bits and pieces of games, seems to be getting outmuscled at times. That is part of the reason why the 18 year old is struggling on faceoffs (9-for-27) thus far. In the meantime, Mikhail Vorobyov skated 13:11 in Salavat Yulaev's 3-2 home loss to Jokerit Helsinki on Thursday. He did not figure in any scoring.
5) On Wednesday, Flyers' 2016 fourth-round pick Connor Bunnaman scored a goal, had two shots on goal and won two of three faceoffs in Kitchener's 3-1 win over Mississauga in OHL preseason action.
6) Best of luck to former Flyers prospect Michael Parks, who signed an ECHL contract with the Quad Cities Mallards (the ECHL affiliate of the Minnesota Wild and American Hockey League's Iowa Wild ). Parks, who was on an AHL contract with the Phantoms last season, injured his shoulder in his third game and missed the rest of the season. Now, the 24-year-old will take a step down to the ECHL and try to work his way up to Iowa.
7) Tickets for the 50th Anniversary Alumni Game between the Flyers Alumni and Penguins Alumni at the Wells Fargo Center on January 14 went on sale yesterday to Flyers season ticket holders and go on sale to the general public today.
8) Speaking of the Alumni Game, congratulations go out to Kevin Cady, Kurt Mundt and Sudsy Settlemyre, who will be reunited -- as they were back in the mid-1980s -- as the Flyers' trainers and equipment guys for the Alumni game. The late Pelle Lindbergh would have been thrilled, because those guys were all among his closest friends.
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Flyers Alumni: 2016 Faceoff Against Cancer
The annual Faceoff Against Cancer fundraiser featuring the Flyers Alumni to directly benefit selected Delaware Valley cancer patients and their families will be held on September 9-10, 2016 at
Hatfield Ice (350 County Line Road, Colmar, PA 18915). In addition to the new location the event has a new two-day format.
On September 9, there will be an all-day men's hockey tournament. The next day, the main event will be held from noon to 4 p.m., featuring food, on-ice and carnival games, live music, beer and prizes. At 4 p.m. on Sept. 10, the Flyers Alumni Team game will start.
Last year's event raised approximately $88,000 that was divided among its selected beneficiaries. All recipients are local cancer patients who have unpaid medical bills related to cancer treatments and a connection to the local hockey community. Recipients are selected on the basis of financial need, and the proceeds will be donated directly to pay for their medical expenses.
For more information on tickets, donation, schedules, and the list of prizes available this year, visit
FaceoffAgainstCancer.net.
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