MELTZER'S MUSINGS: NOVEMBER 6, 2017
1) After an off-day on Sunday, the Flyers return to the Skate Zone in Voorhees today for the first of three practice days ahead of Thursday's home game against the Blackhawks. The status of injured Flyers players Nolan Patrick and Radko Gudas may become a little clearer over the next couple of days.
Gudas, who appeared to take an elbow to the head in last Wednesday's game in Chicago, was at Saturday's home game against Colorado. He said he was feeling better. However, that is what players almost always say shortly after an injury. The next few days will be more telling.
Patrick participated in Saturday's morning skate in Voorhees but wore a yellow (non-contact) jersey while the other forwards were in orange. He also left the ice about halfway through, although that may have been planned ahead of the skate.
2) Playing the third game of home-road-home 3-in-3 set over the weekend, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms looked like a tired team on Sunday as they got thumped (5-1) on home ice by the Toronto Marlies. Fatigued teams tend to make more mistakes, and the Phantoms were often their own worst enemies against a strong Toronto club.
The main highlights of the game for the Phantoms were Danick Martel's league-leading 13th goal of the season, which gave Lehigh Valley a short-lived 1-0 lead, and Cole Bardreau responding to a sucker-punch by Toronto forward Dmytro Timashov by pounding the tar out of Timashov in a very brief and lopsided fight. Bardreau was inexplicably assessed an instigation penalty in the altercation. He was chirping beforehand but Timashov threw the first (gloved) punch, which prompted the response.
Bardreau ended with 17 minutes of penalties and the Marlies, who were already on the power play, went on a lengthy 5-on-3 advantage. The Phantoms killed it off successfully but it did not stop the Marlies from taking over the 1-1 game in the second and third periods. Bardreau did not return to the game. AHL reporter Tony Androckitis stated on Twitter that Bardreau underwent x-rays; possibly for a broken hand.
3) Martel's goal came after Nicolas Aube-Kubel forced a Marlies turnover on the right half boards and fed across ice to the wide-open winger. From the left slot, Martel buried his 13th goal of the season.
Other Flyers writers and I are getting inundated with messages on social media about when the Flyers will recall Martel, who will turn 23 on Dec. 12. The answer is that, at least for the time, they won't.
The Flyers already have two undersized but skilled wingers among their top nine forwards: Travis Konecny and Jordan Weal. It would be hard to add the 5-foot-8 Martel into the equation without the top 9 becoming way too undersized.
Apart from producing offensive chances, Konecny "plays big" in his aggressiveness and Weal is an underrated two-way player. It's also not a question of whether Martel can score more goals than Dale Weise (which is the inevitable follow-up question). Rather, it's about the mix of players.
Martel is actually a feisty player in the same sort of way that Danny Briere was. In other words, for sheer survival, he'll use his stick as an equalizer and he isn't intimidated by bigger players.
There's never been a question about his heart, his feet or his hands. There are some limitations in his game, but he competes.
On Oct. 23, The Athletic's Charlie O'Connor asked Flyers general manager Ron Hextall during a media scrum whether Martel is a candidate for a recall. Hextall was non-committal.
"You’ve got to be very careful about reaching conclusions [based] on a small number of games, seeing a little bit of a body of work and assuming someone is ready to come up and play, and can help you,” Hextall said.
“With that being said, Danick has played well so far. He gets to open areas and he can finish. He has some speed. I saw the game in Hershey [on Oct. 15, in which Martel had a goal and an assist], and I think he had about six good scoring chances.”
Since that time, Martel has kept right on scoring with regularity. If he keeps doing for the Phantoms what he's been doing so far and if either Weal or Konecny (or even Jakub Voracek or Claude Giroux) sustains an injury, Martel could get his chance in the NHL. If Martel did similar at the NHL level to what he's doing in the AHL early this season, the mix would have to re-evaluated. That's a lot of ifs.
For the time being, at least, Martel can only worry about what's within his control. He's playing great offensive hockey for the Phantoms and has established excellent chemistry with linemates Mike Vecchione and Nicolas Aube-Kubel. He's very much on the right track. Presuming he keeps on scoring goals at anything close to his current pace, there will no doubt be internal discussions about finding out if there's a spot for him.
4) Speaking of Martel, he is one of the players incorporated into the first of a monthly roundup article series on young Phantoms players that I wrote for the Flyers' official website. The article should appear online in the next day or so. Last Friday, I wrote the first roundup covering
Flyers prospects in the CHL and NCAA circuits.
5) Have you checked out the new
FlyersRadio 24/7 internet radio station? While the station is in its infancy, the programming is primarily an eclectic mix of music (classic rock, pop, country) but will increasingly be centered on Flyers coverage, including multiple podcasts, live and rebroadcasted Flyers games and select Phantoms games, classic Flyers games (one from Jan. 1980 with Gene Hart on the call recently ran) and much more.
Along with the Flyers' Brian Smith, I co-host a weekly show each Friday called FlyerBuzz. The second installment, originally aired on Nov. 3, is
available here. Other programs lined up include Bill Clement's Hockey World, Jason Myretus's show, a weekly Phantoms show hosted by Lehigh Valley broadcaster Bob Rotruck and additional ones that are in development.
6) Along with Flyers radio broadcaster Tim Saunders, I am doing day-of-game video previews for all Flyers home matches the rest of the season. We record them during the morning skate and they run on the Flyers' official site a few hours before game time. Steve Coates co-hosts along with Tim for the previews of road games.
7) FlyersAlumni update: The 5th Annual Faceoff Against Cancer (FOAC) event takes place this week, and Flyers Alumni Team, as usual, is taking part. On Saturday (Nov. 11), the Flyers Alumni Team will take on Team FOAC at 12:30 p.m. at Hatfield Ice. As part of the event, the legendary Bernie Parent will be on hand from 11:30 to 2:30 for a meet-and-greet. All proceeds raised at the yearly FOAC go directly to the benefit of local cancer patients and their families. To learn more about the event, beneficiaries and ticketing information, please visit the official
2017 Faceoff Against Cancer website for more details.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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