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Quick Hits: WSI Tourney in Voorhees, OHL Finals, TIFH and More

May 3, 2019, 10:56 AM ET [87 Comments]
Bill Meltzer
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Quick Hits: May 3, 2019

1) The annual World Selects Invitational (WSI) tournament in the Delaware Valley starts this weekend in Voorhees with the opening ceremony on Saturday evening and games running until next Wed (May 8). If you are unfamiliar with the event, it is a gathering of many of the premier young hockey players across North America and Europe representing regional or quasi-national teams.

This year, Selects Hockey has assembled 40 teams (27 North American and 13 European) of 2004 birth year players and eight 2003-birthyear teams in their own 2003 division (all North American teams). In total, there are 48 teams playing in the two age divisions.

For example, 49 players in this year's tournament have been selected in the Western Hockey League's Bantam Draft, including seven first-round picks. Last year's WSI Philadelphia tournament-leading scorer, Matthew Savoie, was selected first overall by the Winnipeg Ice in yesterday's WHL Bantam Draft but will not be playing in Voorhees this time around.

Historically, the various WSI tournaments, including the one in Voorhees, have featured scores of players who have gone on to become first-round picks in the NHL Draft and/or to play in the National Hockey League.

For example, the 2015 tournament in Voorhees (which was held at the same time that the Flyers were conducting their annual Development Camp) featured, among others, future Flyers first-round pick Joel Farabee, Buffalo Sabres' 2nd-round pick Mattias Samuelsson and Toronto Maple Leafs first-round pick Rasmus Sandin. The first overall pick of the 2018 NHL Draft, Buffalo Sabres defenseman Rasmus Dahlin is also a Selects tourney alum. In total, 48 players selected in last year's NHL Draft played in WSI tourneys three or four years ahead of their NHL Draft year.

All 31 NHL teams have at least one roster player who has gone through Selects competition at some stage in their pre-Draft development. The most prominent names include Connor McDavid ('96 East Coast Selects), Filip Forsberg ('94 Sweden Selects), Jakob Chychrun ('98 West Coast Selects), Sebastian Aho ('97 Finland Selects), Ryan O'Reilly ('91 East Coast Selects), and Matt Duchene ('91 East Coast Selects).

Event organizer Travis Howe, the son of Hockey Hall of Famer Mark Howe and the grandson of the legendary Gordie Howe, estimates that 150 scouts will be in attendance in Voorhees during this year's tournament. While only a smattering are NHL amateur scouts (for the simple reason that their draft year is still a bit too distant), there is heavy representation from CHL scouts, the NCAA, scouts from other circuits and independent scouting agencies. In some cases, NHL scouts come for their first viewings of European players who are already on the radar for a few years down the road.

Among current Flyers NHL roster players, Ivan Provorov (1997 birthyear East Coast Selects), Robert Hägg ('95 Sweden Selects), Scott Laughton ('94 ECS) and Ryan Hartman ('94 West Coast Selects) are all alumni of Selects teams. In addition to Farabee, current Flyers prospects who have appeared in Selects tourneys include German Rubtsov ('98 Vityaz, 2013 tourney in Maine), David Kase ('97 Czech Selects) Connor Bunnaman ('98 East Coast Militia) and David Bernhardt ('97 Sweden Selects).

We will have periodic coverage of the 2019 Voorhees tournament in the days to come. Saturday's opening ceremony will feature speakers Joe Birch (OHL/CHL), Rocco Tullio OHL (Oshawa Generals), Mark Howe NHL (Detroit Red Wings) and Brent Darnell (College Hockey Inc./NCAA). John Boruk will emcee the opening ceremony.

2) OHL Finals: In a losing cause, Flyers 2017 second-round pick Isaac Ratcliffe scored his 10th goal of the playoffs as the Guelph Storm dropped Game 1 of the OHL Finals to the Ottawa 67's by a 7-2 count on Thursday night. Ottawa is now 13-1 during the postseason after posting the league's top record during the regular season. Game 2 is in Ottawa on Saturday (1 p.m. EDT).




3) Today in Flyers History: On May 23 1997, Mikael Renberg's goal with 0.5 seconds left on the second period clock started a four-goal Flyers rally in a 5-3 win over the Buffalo Sabres in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals. The game was a wild and physical affair from the opening faceoff until the final buzzer. The Flyers trailed 3-2 for half of the second period before Rod Brind'Amour knotted the game at the 10-minute mark. Shjon Podein put Philly ahead with 48 seconds left in regulation, and then Brind'Amour scored an empty netter to seal the win.



4) May 3 Flyers Alumni birthdays: Jeff Chychrun (1966), Bob Dailey (1953-2016), Ron Hextall (1964), Robbie Moore (1954), R.J. Umberger (1982)
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