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The Flyers came out onto the ice in Voorhees, NJ today ready to go. You could hear the edge cuts from skating, the sudden stops with the ice flying in the air a bit, yelling, laughing. Scrimmages began and it was a thing of beauty today. Mike Yeo said yesterday he expected the same lines and pairings for the scrimmage, and that’s what transpired today, minus Jakub Voracek, “We’re purposely going to add more 5-on-5 drills, more 5-on-5 scrimmages as we are moving along here to help prepare the group. They’ll also develop that chemistry and cohesiveness within the pairings and linemates as well. That’s a big part of why we’re playing as much 5-on-5 as we are and what we’ll continue to ramp up as things are going along.” The object is to learn the system (For systematic purposes), forechecking, and being in the right spots on the ice. In addition, it’s a chance to get some of the rookies a chance to showcase against themselves pros to see what they got, mainly gaining valuable experience just in case. Vigneault is purposely doing this to see who’s ready, “I intend on using more than 20 guys for those (round-robin) games. I’m going to look at different players in different situations,” Vigneault said following practice on day 2 of camp.
So far in camp the defense (According to Yeo) has played good hockey, and Joel Farabee has played very well as well. Michael Raffl had a good day yesterday, so that should have given him confidence for today’s scrimmage. During the scrimmages I expected the Farabee, Kevin Hayes, and Travis Konecny line to have a big day, and that’s exactly what transpired. Farabee has excelled throughout his entire career in 5-on-5 scrimmages, and this line accumulated two goals for the black team. The scoring was as follows:
Black Team- Bunnaman, TK, Ghost
Orange Team- Justin Braun, JVR
What more can you say about Farabee, he pushed the play today, was in the right spots, and it appears he has taken his class time off the ice seriously. Farabee is just too darn talented, and too good not to be in the top 6 when the playoffs begin. There hasn’t been one player who has come into camp in better Camp shape than Joel.
Unfortunately, there was no Voracek today. He was ruled “Unfit to play” before the scrimmage began, and the line of Giroux, Coots, Laughton were out of sync because of such. Familiarity between linemates may have been an issue here, as to be expected given the situation.
Morgan Frost usually stands out in 5-on-5 scrimmages, but he struggled today. His mine was out of sync today, but look for a rebound day tomorrow. Frost is just too skilled to let this happen two days in a row.
The depth within the Flyers system was the first one to strike gold today. Connor Bunnaman, and Carsen Twarynski will be Black Aces for the playoffs, and they tag teamed for a goal today:
Tyler Pitlick Presser:
Tyler Pitlick on the Flyers: “It’s been great. All the guys are great. We’ve got a really tight group here. That’s been awesome. I loved it. Every minute of it has been great.”
He told me back in February, “The fans love me, and I love them back.”
Scott Laughton Presser:
Laughton on Voracek, “No concern. We’ve got lots of time till Toronto. We’ve got a week coming up. We’ll be all good to go.”
Laughton on Oskar: “That road trip in Colorado was really tough for us I think. Just trying to keep your mind focused on hockey, and it’s not there. We had a tough road trip and that was kind of the start of it. It makes you emotional. The way he acts around everyone and just his positive vibe and energy. It really does bring a smile to your face. The way he’s battled, I know everyone’s seen the video of him ringing the bell and all that. Just a special human being and really enjoy being around him.”
Travis Sanheim Presser:
“Its a big opportunity to showcase what I’m all about.”
NAK Presser:
NAK is on a mission: “I’m so excited. I thought about it the whole quarantine. I’m super pumped. I know I’m a good playoff guy. I can bring some depth and intensity. I’m excited to get playing against the other team.”
Alain Vigneault Presser:
AV on Hagg: “As far as Haggs, there’s no doubt that he came in when Ghost went down with injury and played very well for us. Played physical, blocked a lot of shots, kept his decision making with the puck simple. He was an effective player for us. I like what he brought.”
AV on Farabee: “There’s no doubt he’s got some jump. He made some good plays on the ice with the puck. He is always in good position when he doesn’t have it. He’s come ready for this camp here and he’s working extremely hard. First scrimmage today, I was happy with what I saw…”
I love AV, he is never completely satisfied, “I can’t say that one guy in particular stood out. I definitely like our intensity. The execution and decision making is going to get better. This is the first real scrimmage that these guys have had in a long time.”
AV being funny, “Some guys called Lappy Justin St. Pierre on ice. I don’t know if you guys know, Justin is a French referee that looks a little like Lappy. Angelo, I thought, looked small compared to the big linesmen we have on a regular basis.”
Travis Sanheim Presser:
Travis Sanheim with the quote of the day: “I think it’s a big opportunity for me to showcase what I’m all about. I want to help this team win and to do that you’ve got to win in the playoffs.”
