The Flyers made their way back on the ice for another high-octane, intense, grueling practice, with an aim at focusing on conditioning for an intense run for Lord Stanley’s Cup. Of course, Carter Hart was on the ice for the last practice of training camp. Also, the proud new dad in Sean Couturier returned to practice one day after his wife gave birth to their new baby girl. Some names are Selke, Elite, Razzle, and Dazzle:
The Assistant Coaches ran practice today, and they brought the team together today with a focus on Special Teams. The end of camp is nearing, and the players and staff are well aware of such, “I would say all the situations that I’ve come in have been slightly different, but what hasn’t been different is my demand for work ethic, attention to detail, preparation and the will to win. Make sure that players understand the team has to come first,” Vigneault said, “When you stress that and you hold players accountable, a lot of times with the proper direction you can have a fair amount of success. This season is a long way from being over. We’re working extremely hard right now. I like our attitude and the atmosphere we have. We’ve got a lot of work ahead of us. I believe we are one of the best teams in the league and we have a legitimate chance at winning the Stanley Cup.”
This young Flyers team will be forced to trim their roster today, and Vigneault said that would be the case earlier in the week. The Flyers have 18 forwards, to include 12 defencemen, and 4 Goaltenders. They have to trim their roster from 34 to 31, as the team can only carry 31 players total to travel to the hub city. Yes, teams have unlimited Goaltenders, and they might have to cross that barrier when the case arises.
Are those five Forwards, four Defencemen, and Kirill Ustimenko on the Phantom’s ice vying for a spot to Toronto? You better believe they are.
Giroux-Couturier-Voracek
Laughton-Hayes-Konecny
JVR-Grant-Pitlick
Farabee-Thompson-Raffl-NAK
Provorov-Niskanen
Sanheim-Myers
Hagg-Braun
Gostisbehere-Friedman
Practice today was uptempo and intense, just as Vigneault said it would as camp wore on. Lots of Special Teams work, as indicated earlier in this article. Both the PK and PP Units looked to be just fine, but I will caution it’s hard to gauge in non-game action. Carter Hart was a star for sure today.
A few things to note. Giroux was on the LEFT SIDE again, thankfully. The right side experiment might be a thing of the past folks. Today, Hart shined, and Morgan Frost was quick with his skates, as well. Frost threaded the needle on multiple occasions, and had a nice toe drag goal. Frost should also be with the team Toronto, as the team’s Top Black Ace. Mark Friedman will also be on the plane to Toronto. This is a well-deserved honor for him, as he doesn’t make any mistakes. Friedman had a good camp, and really proved he could hang with the big boys.
It was great to see the Veteran netminder in Elliott really step up his game in the absence of Carter Hart. These type of days will happen as the tournament wears on, and the Veteran is MORE THAN CAPABLE of stepping in for Hart when need be. Elliott will continue to improve as it gets closer to the playoffs. No one will be perfect every day, but Elliott fortunately was just dialed in once again today.
Joel Farabee is really being showcased here, and proving he can play on any line while splitting time with NAK. Quite an honor, but a well deserved one for Farabee, who has been flying, and really come back to camp in great shape. Joel has hit the net accurately, and the puck has been exploding off his stick. He’s just so composed, and makes the right decisions on the fly. Make no mistake about it he WILL be in the opening lineup when the playoffs begin. In addition, it’s an honor for NAK to be thought of on the PP Unit, as he saw time on PP2 down the successful stretch run for the Flyers before the season was halted due to the Coronavirus. All in all it was a great camp, and this team is just so unique. They have fun, believe in each other, and they are a family. This team has the billing to win the Stanley Cup.
Carter Hart Presser:
Carter Hart says, “AV’s been great all year for all of us.”
Philly can breathe folks, Carter Hart:
“I feel good. Just kind of taking things a little more precautionary the last couple days. Been ramping it up the last two days. I feel really good right now. The plan is to be good to go for Tuesday. Like I said, just more precautionary. To kind of take things just with caution and better to be safe than sorry.”
Michel Therrien Presser:
Michel Therrien on Joel Farabee:
“He’s a smart player. We all like him. There’s going to be some experience during those four games that we’re going to play. Joel’s a smart player even if he’s young. His hockey IQ is right there.”
I absolutely love hearing Michel Therrien saying that Coots is on the same level as Bergeron.
“You’ve got guys like Patrice Bergeron that could be a role model. Sean Couturier’s right there with him. It’s a luxury for us to have a player like that on our team.”
Therrien on the PP:
“We tried G on his strong side. He’s been used to playing on his forehand side but we wanted to go through that process about getting used to playing on the right side too. We want to have different looks and it takes time to work on different looks. It takes time for the players to feel comfortable with different looks. There’s no doubt at the end the players feel a lot comfortable about the way we want to approach our power play.”
Justin Braun Presser:
Braun on Carter Hart:
“When he’s dialed in, he’s one of the best in the league. It’s been fun playing in front of him. When you need that big save, you saw that lateral movement on a couple plays this year coming across and making that save. You need that in the playoffs.”
Braun says he has congratulated Coots, “It’s a tough situation for him. I couldn’t imagine leaving for what he’s going to have to do. Hopefully everything goes well there. It’s a tough situation for him to have a child and then have to leave immediately for maybe 2 ½ months.”
