QUICK HITS: SEPTEMBER 23, 2017
1) After taking a complete off-day on Friday, the Flyers will resume training camp practice on Saturday morning at the Skate Zone in Voorhees. The on-ice session officially starts at 10:30 a.m. EDT. As always, practice is open to the public and free to attend. The Flyers will play a home-and-home set with the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Monday and the Wells Fargo Center on Tuesday.
2) The Flyers have placed defensemen T.J. Brennan, Will O'Neill and Mark Alt as well as forwards Corban Knight, Greg Carey and Phil Varone on waivers for purposes of assigning the six players to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms tomorrow. When they clear, the Flyers will have 30 players remaining in camp including SOIR bound goaltender Anthony Stolarz.
3) The Lehigh Valley Phantoms opened the on-ice portion of their AHL camp in Allentown on Friday. Thirteen players were on the ice in the first session. More will join as the Flyers assign additional players.
4) Over on the Flyers' official website, I wrote an article on the two-way games of Flyers rookie hopefuls Nolan Patrick and Oskar Lindblom. While both are still trying to get into a groove in the attack zone (they've both made a few nice offensive players here and there), both have consistently been sound defensively in both practice and game situations. The players are part of an ever-growing pattern of offensively talented young players also bringing sound defensive skills with them into the pro ranks rather than learning those aspects of the game on the job as pros. For more,
click here.
5) The Flyers Community Caravan, with inflatables, games, and Flyers Alumni on hand, will be at IceWorks in Aston, PA on Saturday from 10 a.m. to noon.
6) Next Saturday (Sept. 30) marks the opening of the Flyers Alumni Team game schedule for the 2017-18 season. They will play against the Blazers' coaches at the Northeast Philadelphia Flyers Skate Zone (12:20 p.m. puck drop) and have an autograph signing session afterwards. The Flyers Community Caravan will be there from 10 a.m. to noon. More info below:
***************
PROSPECT UPDATES: CHL
1) OHL: In their teams' respective Ontario Hockey League regular season openers, the visiting Sarnia Sting upended the Guelph Storm via shootout, 4-3, on Friday. Anthony Salinitri's even strength rebound goal at 14:13 of the first period knotted the score at 1-1 after an early Guelph goal. In the second round of the shootout, Isaac Ratcliffe elevated a backhand shot under the crossbar only to be immediately answered by Salinitri scoring for Sarnia. In regulation/OT, Salinitri finished with one goal, three shots, a plus-one and a 3-for-13 showing in the faceoff circle. Ratcliffe did not record a point during the game, was minus-one (on ice for the Salinitri goal), and had three shots on goal.
2)OHL: Just named captain of the Kitchener Rangers, Connor Bunnaman came away snakebitten in his first regular season game of the season. He had a couple of good scoring chances and three shots on goal, but finished without a point in a 5-3 home loss to the Flint Firebirds on Friday. Bunnaman took 10 faceoffs, winning nine. He was even in plus-minus for the game.
3) QMJHL: Flyers 2016 first-round pick German Rubtsov is unavailable for his Quebec Major Junior Hockey League team, the Chicoutimi Sagueneens, over the weekend. La Presse reported on Friday that it is a matter of paperwork and clearances for the Russian center. He is not injured or ill.
4) QMJHL: The Victoriaville Tigres defeated the visiting Gatineau Olympiques in overtime, 3-2, on Friday night in the regular season opener for both teams. Pascal Laberge did not record a point in the game, went 5-for-10 on faceoffs and put one of three attempted shots on goal. Teammate Ivan Kosorenkov scored the game-tying goal in the third period and was selected the game's first star.
5) It came as a bit of a surprise that the Flyers did not offer Kosorenkov an NHL entry-level contract before he was returned to Victoriaville off his training camp tryout. However, he is far from a blue-chip NHL prospect. Rather, he is a player with some holes in his game but with good puck skills, above-average shooting skills and a solid work ethic. Essentially, Kosorenkov a has a puncher's chance at a pro career in North America. If it had been my decision to make, I'd have liked to see the Flyers use (rather than trade to defer) one of their seventh round picks in this year's draft or risked an ELC off his tryout. The worst case scenario is that it might turn out along the same lines as the Petr Straka experiment or other ELC signings that didn't work out. In any event, he was not a franchise-shaping prospect as a signing candidate in camp, although he brought some intrigue.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
Join the Discussion:
»