2019 IIHF World Championships: May 10, 2019
The 2019 International Ice Hockey Federation World Championships get underway on Friday in host nation Slovakia. Group A consists of Canada, USA, Finland, Slovakia, Germany, Denmark, France and recently promoted Great Britain. Group B contains defending gold medalist Sweden, Russia, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Norway, Latvia, Austria and recently promoted Italy. Here are the opening day games with Flyers-related connections.
Canada vs. Finland (10:15 a.m. EDT, NHL Network): Led by new Flyers head coach Alain Vigneault, the Canadian squad features Flyers center Sean Couturier. Couturier is expected to open the tournament with Tyler Bertuzzi (Detroit Red Wings) and Sam Reinhart (Buffalo Sabres) on his line. Toronto Maple Leafs superstar John Tavares had been practicing on a line with Couturier until Tavares suffered an oblique injury; he withdrew from the tournament and will return to Toronto for further evaluation. Rookie goaltender Carter Hart will open the tournament as the backup goaltender to Pittsburgh Penguins netminder Matt Murray.
USA vs. Slovakia (2:15 p.m. EDT, NHL Network): Bronze medalists last year in Denmark, Team USA will look to go one step further this year and reach the gold medal game. Flyers left winger James van Riemsdyk may see time on a line with Jack Hughes, the projected first overall pick in the upcoming 2019 NHL Draft. The two combined for a goal in a 5-2 exhibition game win over Germany on Wednesday. Chicago Blackhawks right winger Alex DeBrincat was the third member of the line. Detroit Red Wings head coach Jeff Blashill is behind the bench for Team USA. Last year's tournament leading scorer, Chicago Blackhawks superstar Patrick Kane, is back again for the Americans. Other prominent names include Jack Eichel (Buffalo Sabres), Johnny Gaudreau (Calgary Flames), Dylan Larkin (Detroit Red Wings) and Ryan Suter (Minnesota Wild).
Sweden vs. Czech Republic (2:15 p.m. EDT): Four Flyers players -- two on each side -- are involved in this game. Left winger Oskar Lindblom has been skating on Tre Kronor's second line with Elias Lindholm (Calgary Flames) and Adrian Kempe (Los Angeles Kings). Robert Hägg is on the third defense pairing with Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Marcus Pettersson. For the Czech side, Flyers right winger Jakub Voracek is on the top line for his team, while Flyers defenseman Radko Gudas will be tasked with playing against other teams' top lines. For Sweden, head coach Rikard Grönborg has been running a trio of William Nylander (Toronto Maple Leafs), Elias Pettersson (Vancouver Canucks) and Patric Hörnqvist (Pittsburgh Penguins) as his top line in preparations for the opener against the Czechs.
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Quick Hits: May 10, 2019
1) OHL Finals: With the series tied at 2-2, Flyers prospect Isaac Ratcliffe and the rest of the Guelph Storm are tasked with trying to beat the Ottawa 67's on the road in Game 5 in order to move with a game of an upset in the championship round of the Ontario Hockey League playoffs.
2) One year ago, in the wee hours of May 10, 2018, Alex Krushelnyski's goal in quintuple overtime ended Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals of the Calder Cup playoffs. The win put the Lehigh Valley Phantoms in the driver's seat in the Eastern Conference Semifinal series against the Charlotte Checkers. Back in the first period of the game, recently returned Phantoms defenseman Samuel Morin suffered a torn ACL that kept him out near the end of the 2018-19 season. Rookie Phantoms defenseman Phil Myers logged more than 60 minutes of ice time over the course of the marathon game. Lehigh Valley goaltender Alex Lyon made a staggering 94 saves on 95 shots in the 2-1 win.
3) Impending restricted free agent forward Nicolas Aube-Kubel celebrates his 23rd birthday on May 10. In 54 games with the Phantoms this season, the third-year pro scored 16 goals and added 14 assists for 30 points. Aube-Kubel made his NHL debut with the Flyers on Oct. 30 of this season in a road win over the Anaheim Ducks. In total, Aube-Kubel dressed in nine games for the Flyers, but was used sparingly by former Philadelphia head coach Dave Hakstol. The rookie averaged 5:35 of ice time on the fourth line. He was credited with 14 hits and two takeaways in a total of 50 shifts across the nine games.
4) Today in Flyers History -- May 10, 1987: Flyers forward Pelle Eklund put on a show in Game 5 of the Wales Conference Final against the Montreal Canadiens, racking up a hat trick as Philadelphia took a three games to one lead in the series. Scott Mellanby, Brian Propp and Ron Sutter also tallied for the Flyers. For more on the game,
click here.
5) May 10 Flyers Alumni birthdays: Mikael Andersson (1966), Denis Hamel (1977).
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