Quick Hits: October 17, 2016
1) Through the first two games of the new season, Matt Read has quietly been one of the Philadelphia Flyers' most effective forwards. Playing mostly a fourth line and penalty killing role, Read has generated eight shots on goal including three or four good scoring chances. He scored a nifty goal on Saturday in Glendale, attacking with speed after taking a perfect lead pass from Travis Konecny. Read has also averaged 1:45 of penalty killing time thus far. The PK performance of the Flyers in the first two games was collectively solid after a good preseason showing.
It is, of course, too early in the season to draw any conclusions or even to discuss how either the team or players are trending. However, it is fair to say that Read has played well enough to deserve to hold onto his lineup spot if head coach Dave Hakstol makes any lineup changes in Chicago to get Roman Lyubimov into his first NHL game.
We will see, but I suspect that Lyubimov will have to continue to wait for his turn. Apart from their slow starts in the first periods of the games in LA and Arizona, the Flyers have played pretty good hockey in taking three of four possible points in the first two games. A win in Chicago on Tuesday would make it a highly successful trip.
2) Through the first two games of the season, 14 of the Flyers' 18 skaters have registered at least one point: all but forwards Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, Dale Weise and Chris VandeVelde and defenseman Andrew MacDonald.
3) When Brayden Schenn is eligible to rejoin the Flyers' lineup for the home opener on Thursday, there will obviously be some line changes made. The easiest and most likely change would be to move Michael Raffl (goal in the Coyotes game and team-leading puck possession metrics notwithstanding) to the third line and Nick Cousins off the top power play unit.
It remains to be seen, though, who will be the healthy scratch. While some fans will automatically respond, "That's easy, Chris VandeVelde", the fact that VandeVelde receives significant penalty killing time and was only a healthy scratch once all last season (his first eligible game back after serving a suspension) makes it far from a slam dunk that Hakstol winds up thinking along the same lines. Much will be determined based upon how the team performs in Chicago.
4) Steve Mason was not awful in the Coyotes game -- the game could have gotten out of hand for Philly a few times and he kept the deficit manageable, especially when it was 3-1 -- but he did not have his A game, either.
The second Arizona goal, which was a collective breakdown by the Flyers, could and should have been played better. Mason got lucky on a couple rebounds left out in the slot (as did Michal Neuvirth in the opener in LA) and usually does better at stopping opposing dump ins behind the net from getting past him and going around the wall.
Based on the respective first two games and the fact that Dave Hakstol gave Neuvirth the opening game assignment, there seems to be a good chance that Neuvirth gets the start in Chicago on Tuesday.
5) Flyers 2016 second-round pick Pascal Laberge was concussed by a vicious and deliberate head shot in Saturday's QMJHL game between the Victoriaville Tigres and Moncton Wildcats. On the play, which happened at 6:05 of the first period, Laberge retrieved the puck as wrapped around boards in the defensive zone. In charged Moncton defenseman Zachary Malatesta, who zeroed in directly on Laberge's head and left his feet to deliver the hit.
A fight immediately ensued between Malatesta, an undrafted QMJHL overager who is unlikely to have a pro hockey future, and Victoriaville's James Phelan. Malatesta was ejected from the game for a checking to the head major and game misconduct. He was suspended indefinitely by the league, pending a review to determine appropriate supplemental discipline.
There is currently no timetable for Laberge's return, as is typical nowadays with concussions.
6) The Philadelphia Inquirer's Bob Brookover wrote an article
previewing Jay Greenberg's "Flyers at 50" book. Partially a followup companion to "Full Spectrum" and partially a compendium of the 50 most influential figures in franchise history, the 50 greatest victories and, separately, 50 of the most important and memorable moments (good and bad, franchise-changing and legacy shaping), the volumes combine to cover the entirety of team history to date.
The new book took three years for Jay to complete. For the last two years I worked on the project as Jay's content assistant; fact-checking the chapters, giving Jay feedback on the chapters and special sections, doing first drafts of the 2010-11, 2011-12 and 2012-13 seasons and the 50 Memorable Moments special sections, and writing up assorted interview transcriptions.
All at the same time, I was sad and happy to see Jay's book project end. Happy because I an excited to see the finished product and hold it in my hands. Sad because I enjoyed my role in the process.
Jay is enshrined in the Hockey Hall of Fame as an Elmer Ferguson Award honoree for very good reason. He knows his stuff, inside and out, and is very meticulous. I learned a lot just by observing Jay at work. He did an incredible job on the new book, and it was such a pleasure working with him throughout the process. I loved each and every discussion about the book, especially the back-and-forth about where Jay ranked certain things in the top 50 sections and about the context of various stories in the chapters.
Jay's two Flyers books are, in combination, THE definitive history of the organization. There are stories in Flyers at 50 that have never been published before as well as firsthanded, never-before-published insights from the interviewees to whom Jay spoke (some for as long as three hours at a time).
The 573,000-word book will be released on Thanksgiving weekend and, I can attest first-hand, it will be worth the wait. Jay's original Full Spectrum will also be re-released in PDF format.
Thank you, Jay, and thank you to book publisher Dan Diamond and Associates for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be involved. I hope I upheld my role in assisting the project.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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