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Quick Hits: Dev Camp, Attard, Emery in Memoriam |
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Quick Hits: July 16, 2022
1) The Flyers' annual Development Camp wrapped up on Friday with the traditional 3-on-3 half-ice tourney. Team White won this year's tourney with a roster consisting of Samu Tuomaala, Ronnie Attard, Alex Bump, Colin Felix, Will McKinnon, Cooper Zech, Clint Levens, Jacob Gaucher and goaltender Jonathan Lemieux. The other rosters were as follows:
Team Black: J.R. Avon, Devin Kaplan, Mason Millman, Chayse Primeau, Wyatte Wylie, Elliot Desnoyers, Mikael Huchette, Tyler Savard.
Team Orange: Theo Rochette, Cam York, Zayde Wisdom, Olle Lycksell, Owen McLaughlin, Ethan Samson, Alexis Gendron, Adam Karashik.
Team Gray: Cutter Gauthier, Hunter McDonald, Keaton Pehrson, Tyson Foerster, Bryce Brodzinski, Tye McSorley, Dovar Tinling, Ty Murchison.
Goalies Samuel Ersson and Yaniv Perets rotated with Lemieux.
2) Defenseman Ronnie Attard dressed in the final 15 games of the Flyers' 2021-22 season after a stellar junior year at Western Michigan University. He had a rough indoctrination to the NHL in his first game or two but started to settle in as he went along. Attard, who posted 13 goals and 36 points in 39 collegiate games last season and then added two goals and a pair of assists for the Flyers, is still better on the attack than on the defensive side of the puck but made strides in improving his two-way game.
Earlier this week, Flyers senior advisor on player development Mike O'Connell said that he believes that Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Erik Cernak is a player after whom Attard can pattern his game. Cernak is more of a defensive defenseman that Attard, but O'Connell said they he believes Attard can adopt a similar approach without losing his ability to score, too.
"Me and OC have met before," Attard said of O'Connell. "I went back home for the summer and he gave me a couple guys to just queue in on for the playoffs. That’s something I did, watching some guys like Jacob Trouba, Cernak, players like that provide stability for their team. I know that’s a role that I need to take under my wing, provide that stability on the back end and keep continuing to earn ice time. If I can be good on the defensive side of the puck, that will continue to get me minutes. The Coach can trust and put me out there."
With the Flyers bringing back veteran Justin Braun on a one-year deal and the 23-year-old Attard needing playing time, a training camp battle is shaping up for the third pair right defense job. Attard could start the season in the AHL with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
Attard said on Friday that he realizes he will have to win a job out of camp. He said that while his goal is to start in the NHL, it's within his control to make the possible case he can for himself.
"No one’s given anything here. Come in and work. You just got to earn your job wherever you go. That’s how it’s going to be the rest of the way up. You’re entitled to nothing. You've just got to come ready to work," Attard said.
3) In Memoriam: Ray Emery (Sept. 28, 1982 - July 16, 2017)
Three-stint goaltender Ray Emery was born September 28, 1982 in Hamilton, Ontario. The Ottawa Senators drafted the athletically gifted 6-foot-2 netminder from the Ontario Hockey League's Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds in the fourth round (99th overall) of the 2001 NHL Draft. He was the CHL Goaltender of the Year in 2001-02
Nicknamed "Razor" for his competitive nature as well as his name and "Sugar Ray" (as in Sugar Ray Robinson and Sugar Ray Leonard) for his love of pro boxing and own fistic prowess, Emery learned over time to channel his inner fire in positive ways. He turned around a negative early career reputation to become known as an outstanding teammate and a player dedicated to his craft. Twice, he was a finalist for the NHL's Masterton Trophy (2010-11 and 2011-12).
Early in his pro career, Emery starred over portions of three seasons with the American Hockey League's Binghamton Senators. The youngster was named to the AHL All-Rookie team in his first year. He also impressed in a pair of three-game NHL stints with Ottawa in 2002-03 and 2003-04. Emery spent the entire 2004-05 season with Binghamton during the lockout-canceled NHL year.
Finally, in 2005-06, Emery began to establish himself as a full-time National Hockey League goaltender. He became a workhorse starter in 2006-07, appearing in 58 regular season games (33-16-6 record, 2.47 goals against average, .918 save percentage). In the 2007 Stanley Cup playoffs, Emery backstopped the Senators to the Stanley Cup Final and to within three victories of the sport's ultimate prize. Statistically, Emery posted a 13-7 record, three shutouts, a 2.26 GAA and .907 save percentage during the postseason.
Emery signed a lucrative three-year contract with the Senators in the summer of 2007. Perhaps all of the success was a little too much, too soon for Emery.
The 2007-08 season, by Emery's own admission, was a disaster. He struggled mightily on the ice and off, plagued by negative media attention, repeated lateness for practice, a wrist injury and poor statistics (12-13-4 record, 3.13 goals against average, .890 save percentage). After the season, the Senators let him go.
Emery spent the 2008-09 season in Russia's Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) with Atlant Moscow. Apart from one highly publicized incident in which he lost his temper on the bench when a team trainer attempted to stick a club sponsor's hat on his head immediately after the goalie was pulled in the midst of a tough night for the team, Emery regained his confidence and timing. He began a process of self-reflection on how to handle adversity as started to remake his once-thriving career. The player's work habits and attitude made a 180-degree turnaround, but he still had to prove he was a changed man.
The Flyers did their homework in the offseason and decided to take a chance on Emery. The club signed the unrestricted free agent to a one-year contract on June 10, 2009.
Emery thrived for the Flyers early in the 2009-10. He notched a 28-save road shutout of the Carolina Hurricanes in his Flyers debut and followed it up the next night by outdueling the legendary Martin Brodeur in a 5-2 road win over the Devils. He finished his first month as a Flyer with a 6-3-1 record, 2.46 goals against average and .915 save percentage.
However, as the season progressed, Emery noticeably began to struggle. On December 9, 2009, he underwent sports hernia surgery to repair a significant muscle tear on the left side of his lower abdominal area. Although Emery eventually returned to the lineup from mid-January to February 1, something was still physically wrong with him even as he gritted through games.
On February 1, 2010, Emery battled his way through an 18-save shutout in a 3-0 home win over the Calgary Flames. Shortly thereafter, he was shut down after receiving a devastating medical diagnosis. The player had a condition in his right hip called avascular necrosis, a condition in which blood supply did not reach his hip joint, causing once-healthy tissue to die and the bone to deteriorate.
For many years, avascular necrosis was a career-ending condition. Most famously, National Football League and Major League Baseball player Bo Jackson saw his brilliant athletic career come to an end due to the debilitating condition.
With no guarantees - in fact, with initially feared long odds - of resuming his hockey career, Emery was shut down for the remainder of the 2009-10 season as the Flyers eventually reached the Stanley Cup Final and fell two wins shy of the Cup against the Chicago Blackhawks. Emery underwent a bone-grafting surgery.
An unsigned free agent, Emery began a long and arduous comeback attempt. Emery began training with an OHL team. He hired a personal trainer, Matt Nichol. Additionally, he also worked out on the ice with retired former Flyers superstar Eric Lindros. On February 7, 2011, Emery signed a contract with the Anaheim Ducks for the rest of the season.
Emery made his return to the NHL as he appeared in his first game for the Ducks on March 11, 2011. He remained healthy the rest of the season. He was a finalist for the 2010-11 Masterton Trophy along with two other men who played for the Flyers, Ian Laperriere (who won the award) and ex-Flyer forward Daymond Langkow.
Thus began the third, and most satisfying, chapter of Emery's NHL career. He was now universally regarded as a model of professionalism, team-oriented selflessness, hard work and dedication to his craft. From a goaltending technique standpoint, Emery had lost some of his once remarkable lateral movement and recovery ability. However, he compensated by evolving into a more patient and positionally sound goaltender than he had been in his Ottawa days. Emery also still had quick hands and good anticipation.
Emery joined the Chicago Blackhawks for the 2011-12 and 2012-13 season. In the latter, lockout-shortened season, Emery shared the Jennings Trophy with Corey Crawford for the fewest goals allowed in the NHL that season. Individually in 21 appearances, he posted a 17-1-0 record (setting a new NHL record by going 12-0-0 to start the season), 1.94 goals against average, .922 save percentage and three shutouts. The Blackhawks, with Crawford in goal throughout the postseason, went on to win the Stanley Cup. Emery finally had a Cup ring.
On July 5, 2013, Emery returned to the Flyers as an unrestricted free agent. Serving primarily as the back up to Steve Mason, with whom he quickly established a strong rapport, Emery spent the next seasons in Philadelphia on a pair of one-year contracts.
In 2013-14, the Flyers got off to a terrible start. The team went 3-9-0 over the first 12 games and had immense trouble scoring goals (even through 15 games, the club had scored just 22 times). Things came to a head in an embarrassing 7-0 pasting on home ice at the hands of the Washington Capitals; a game that started with the Flyers holding Washington without a shot for the first 15 minutes.
Playing in relief of starter Mason, the Flyers and Emery hit their boiling point when his mask was knocked ajar in a collision at the net with Jason Chimera and an ensuing Jason Ward power play goal was allowed to stand to make it a 7-0 game in the third period.
On the next shift, a series of fights broke out in the Washington end of the ice. Emery promptly skated down the ice and challenged Washington goalie Braden Holtby to fight. Holtby refused. Emery said, "Then you'd better protect yourself," and proceeded to lay a one-sided beatdown on the opposing netminder as he released a month's worth of frustrations.
Although Emery and the Flyers received widespread negative press, the brawls in general and Emery's role in particular had an internally cathartic effect on the hockey team (which was the only response that Emery cared about in the first place). The club's nerves calmed and the players collectively became a more united front.
The very next night, Emery and the Flyers breezed to a 14-save shutout in a 1-0 win in New Jersey. A few games later, the Flyers began a winning streak and the goals started to go in with regularity. Ultimately, the team made the playoffs despite one of the worst starts in franchise history.
The Flyers drew the New York Rangers in the first round of the playoffs. With Mason sidelined by a late-season concussion until Game Four, Emery started the first three games. He won Game Two at Madison Square Garden but lost in Games One and Three. Mason played brilliantly upon his return, nearly stealing the series for Philadelphia but the Flyers ultimately dropped a 2-1 in Game Seven.
Statistically, Emery posted a 9-12-2 record, two shutouts, 2.96 GAA and .903 save percentage in 28 regular season outings in 2013-14, but his play in the majority of his outings was better than the subpar appearance of his numbers. He went 1-2 in the playoff series against the Rangers, with a 3.49 GAA and .888 save percentage.
In 2014-15, Emery did not play as well as the previous season but had a good early season run. The team hit a rut from mid-November to mid-December and spent the rest of the season trying unsuccessfully to get into playoff position. Overall, Emery had a 10-11-7 record, 3.06 goals against average and .894 save percentage in 31 appearances.
Emery became an unrestricted free agent in July 2015. Moving in a different direction, the Flyers signed the younger Michal Neuvirth to share duties with Mason. Emery, who was not signed by an NHL team before the season, bounced around and looked for a landing spot. He had a preseason tryout with the Tampa Bay Lightning, a pair of three-game American Hockey League tryouts (with the Ontario Reign and Toronto Marlies) and then went to Germany's DEL to play for Adler Mannheim during the league's stretch drive and playoffs (which come earlier in Europe than in the NHL).
On April 1, 2016, the Flyers announced the club had signed Emery for the rest of the 2015-16 season. With Neuvirth recovering from injury and rookie Anthony Stolarz (who had not appeared in an NHL regular season game) backing up Mason, the move was made for depth.
As required by NHL rules for free agents signed after playing in Europe during the same season, the Flyers placed Emery on waivers upon his signing before they were able to add him the roster. Emery was not eligible for the 2016 Stanley Cup playoffs. However, he dressed as a backup for the returning Neuvirth in the regular season finale. Emery entered the 2016 offseason as a free agent again. He went unsigned.
On July 16, 2017, Emery died. The 35-year-old athelete drowned in Hamilton Habour at approximately 6 a.m. durinwg a swimming outing with friends at the Hamilton Yacht Club. He did not resurface after going into the water. At 2:50 p.m., his body was recovered. Hamilton police publicly confirmed the drowning victim's identity approximately two hours later.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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