Chuck Fletcher will be a busy man from now until November at the very least with the hopes of improving the team. The Flyers went from a pretender to a contender in just one season, so let’s hope that Fletcher continues to improve this team to make them a contender once again next season. Without further delay, here’s are our answers to your questions.
Jay O’Brien is now playing for a renown hockey program in Boston University. Joel Farabee excelled while playing for this University, and that was mainly because of his speed.
O’Brien is a speedster, and has had quite the career after getting drafted by the Flyers. He left the Providence Friars after one season, and played for the Penticton Vees in the BCHL in 2019-20. He excelled for the Vees by amassing 25 goals, and 41 assists in 46 games played.
One year removed from a nasty concussion that sidelined him for sometime, O’Brien then sustained a neck and shoulder injury that concluded his first season for the Providence Friars. O’Brien really couldn’t get anything going with his game because of injuries, and it really took a toll on him mentally. It was good to see him soaring with the Vees as he told me in February, “I train with a group in Boston called EPS,” O’Brien said. “It is a lot of speed and agility work combined with putting on strength. We skate usually once or twice a week later in the summer to work on different parts of our game. We are almost done with the regular season here so I’m focused on taking care of my body and going into playoffs healthy. It’s helped for sure.”
I believe O’Brien will excel for Boston University when the season eventually kicks off. It was great to see him get his career back on track with the Vees, and for that matter O’Brien doesn’t want fans to give up on him. Farabee tallied 17g,19a in 37 games played for Boston University in 2018-19. I could see O’Brien putting up around the same numbers as Farabee did, but I think he will fall short with 10g,10a due to the shortened season. He has all the tools offensively to succeed in this Men’s League of the NCAA, now let’s hope they get this season kicked off sooner rather than later.
If the Flyers were going to make a coaching change, most notably Michel Therrien the Power Play Coach. General Manager Chuck Fletcher would have done that by now. Especially with the draft only a week and a half away. Fletcher said the bubble was a “Small sample size” so I really don’t envision a coaching change in that regard. To add to this the Flyers Power Play was ranked 11th in the league before the pause. Next season is a good gauge on who stays, and who goes.
The Flyers over exceeded expectations in the analysts eyes, so Fletcher I think is content with how they played this year. Of course, he will try to improve this team, and continue to mold this team into a contender for years to come.
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NHL 2020 Draft Prospect Talk
Marco Rossi
I was fortunate enough to talk to Rossi via a Zoom call with the NHL yesterday. Would the Flyers be interested in selecting Rossi on draft day? Heck yea, you never know what could happen in terms of moving up, although it may not appear to be likely. However, he is a sniper who can skate. Rossi has formed a great relationship with Jack Quinn as he says “They are in the same situation.”
Rossi continued about the person that has defined him as a hockey player, “My dad. He sacrificed so much for me, even lost 2 jobs, he cooked, we traveled. My whole family, especially my dad. He was a former hockey player, he taught me so much.”
Cole Perfetti
Perfetti plays on a Saginaw Spirit’s team with Flyers young prospect Mason Millman. Perfetti has blazing speed, and can roof a shot with the best of them. He’s exactly the type of prospect Flyers fans would love as he’s a pure shooter, but the Flyers would have to give up a ton to move into position to snag him. He said yesterday via a Zoom call with the NHL, “I would definitely say I am a hockey nerd.”
If you would like to see your questions submitted in our weekly mailbag. Just submit your question on our Twitter page @flyersknitty using #Flyersmail, or @JameyBaskow. Thanks to all the fans for another great mailbag, and Let’s go Flyers.
It was stated above that the Flyers exceeded expectations this year. I disagree. They were expected to win at least one playoff series and possibly two. They beat an inferior Montreal team and lost to an Islanders team that was probably beatable if ALL of the Flyer veterans had played up to their potential, in that series. The biggest failure was Claude Giroux. Giroux alone could have made the difference with the Isles. If he hadn’t disappeared during the playoffs, as his numbers reveal, the Flyers might still be playing. He was awful (as was Travis Konecny)and I believe Giroux has gotten lazy as a player. Giroux now makes the big bucks and has a family life that has distracted him away from hockey. Giroux has become soft as a player. As a matter of fact, Giroux will be slowing down even more, now that his family is his main focus in life. That’s ok, there’s nothing wrong with making your family your no. 1 priority in life, but hockey demands a 100% a commitment and Giroux can no longer give the team a 100% effort. The Flyers should buy out Giroux’s last two years of salary and bring up Morgan Frost to replace him. It’s time for the Flyers to move on as a team. Let’s keep bringing in all the great young kids Ron Hextall drafted while he was here and continue to build the team for the future. -Gregg Lorenz. Bucks County Pa