Photo Credit: Our very own Conor Doherty
If Flyers fans have been watching closely yesterday. Alain Vigneault stated to us on Tuesday that he would keep the same group intact for a few days for lines to develop some chemistry, “I feel that all of the guys that Chuck was able to put his hands on whether it would be through trades or signing as free agents, I know some of them,” Vigneault said. “I had known about some of the other guys from trades. A lot of the players are good people. They want to be here, and they want to be successful. I have seen a lot of that behavior and that attitude off the ice. I’ve seen it on the ice today for the first time with them. It was one step, but it was a very good step.”
The Flyers had a good day overall yesterday. Believe it or not chemistry was there from each line primarily one day one of camp, but there weren’t many highlight reel plays or goals. Keith Yandle was a standout with his active stick yesterday, and that continued today. In addition, Rasmus Ristolainen made his presence known today, and he was very aggressive. Some terminology to get used to hearing with Ristolainen are: Driving a player to the boards, and clearing the porch. For once, the Flyers have a player that can clear the porch, and it should make life easier for Carter Hart and Martin Jones:
Lines and Pairings:
Giroux-Couturier-Konecny
JvR-Frost-Farabee
Lindblom-Brassard-Atkinson
Thompson-Laughton-NAK
Provorov-Ellis
Sanheim-Ristolainen
Yandle-Braun
In the end as stated above, everybody stayed on their respective lines, and Vigneault has intermixed Morgan Frost as the second line center to start camp. More than likely this will filter into a pre-season game or two. Joel Farabee muffed a puck yesterday off a nice feed from Frost. Today he was really good, and showed us why he potted 20 goals last season. He stayed within the area primarily during the Summer once again, and it is paying off with his particular training regimen.
What else can be said of Farabee. This young 21-year-old is the real deal, and make no mistake about it he will pot 30 goals this season, that is my hot take for the day, but he has awesome vision of the ice as well:
Now for the battle
Morgan Frost and Claude Giroux battled hard yesterday, and that continued today. Frost shines in these camps as he threads the needle on passes, but one thing he is doing is really standing out in my eyes. He’s become a more efficient puck handler along the boards. Frost isn’t shying away from contact along the boards either, maybe, it’s a good test for his shoulder. Moreover, Giroux is Giroux, he’s determined and pissed about last season. Travis Konecny and Giroux teamed up for a goal, as Giroux sent a saucer pass to Konecny, to which he potted the goal under the blocker of Samuel Ersson. It was a beautiful bang-bang goal.
Morgan Frost was really good today. He was assertive, and he made some really nice crisp tape to tape passes. The line of JvR-Frost-Farabee was good from the start of today. Frost was great in the breakouts drills, as well, which these little details can help him win a job. Oh yea I almost forgot, he won some key faceoffs against Nate Thompson too.
Can’t forget the goalies right? Look at Carter Hart trying to put together good back-to-back days.
Hart was okay today. He wasn’t bad by any means, but he wasn’t as strong as yesterday. Justin Braun who is not known for his scoring ability scored twice in succession on Hart today:
Alain Vigneault said in his presser that Oskar Lindblom had a scan today and he still remains cancer free. What a day it was
Kevin Hayes:
“Everyone knows what happened. It has been a tough month. Life is fragile. It’s never fun to lose someone who is your best friend, someone you looked up to, and paired with you for your whole life. You’ve seen in tributes with so much going on around the hockey world. My brother was a special person. He touched a lot of lives. He really enjoyed life and enjoyed helping others. It sucks that he’s gone. It happened way too fast. I’ll never forget him, obviously. I’ve been dreading this conversation with you guys, but there are some people I truly would like to thank. The hockey world is an impressive community. It’s been crazy with the amount of people that have reached out to myself and my family. The amount of people who showed up to the services was incredible. Some people that were very close with my brother, who I didn’t even know that are in the hockey world, reached out and sent flowers to my family. There’s definitely some people I would like to thank: Chuck and AV have been tremendous through all this. They sent a team bus up to the services and it was incredible to see the support from them. Brian Burke, who’s with the Penguins right now, basically reached out every day to check how I’m doing. He, unfortunately, lost his son, so he’s been helping me through a lot of stuff. Just seeing people like P.K. Subban, Patrick Maroon, Ryan McDonaugh, Shattenkirk. G was up there. Brauner, Joel, Keith Yandle, Chris Wagner. Just a lot of people. People I didn’t know reached out like Sidney Crosby and Landeskog. It’s been incredible, the support. It shows when we’re on the ice. It is truly a battle. We want to win every game, but the hockey community is a really special community. It goes much further than playing against each other on the ice. I was totally taken back with the support I received. There are some people, to this day, that check in.”
Hayes spoke to the media for the first time today, and he said it was something that he dreaded doing, but had to do it to say thank you to the entire hockey community. Our prayers and thoughts will continue for Hayes throughout the entire season.
Kevin strong
You became part of our family the day you signed your contract. Therefore as a family we share your pain and know that our thoughts and prayers 🙏 are always with you and your family.