Flyers prospects did very well yesterday Quarterfinals of the WJC tournament. Each and every one of them provided hope for the future, with some of them some flyer fans were salivating asking the Flyers top brass to include them on this season’s roster. Whom am I speaking of, well that would be Tyson Foerster and Emil Andrae in particular.
Tyson Foerster
Foerster built off his strong game from a few days ago, and yielded another good game. For his efforts, he has now scored in three straight games, and Foerster ranks 25th in points for the tournament with five (3g,2a). His skating is noticeable (In a good way), and he had longer strides to develop more separation.. When he doesn’t overthink his skating, he drives or powers to the net where he makes his bread and butter. Foerster has worked hard this Summer with a skating coach Slava in Voorhees, NJ, and this is the one area that he has worked that hardest. He knows what could possibly hold him back from the next level.
The young prospect in Foerster is enthused with confidence, and it’s oozing through his smile. It was great seeing him doing an arrow after scoring yesterday just 1:07 into the game, I miss that type of stuff with the Flyers after scoring a goal. Foerster comes down off the wing, and fires the puck past the Latvian netminder. Shooting the puck is his strength and that’s what he’s been doing more of as the WJC tournament has progressed. Foerster is a first shot mentality player that is something most rave about, so it is good to see him back firing away with confidence.
Personally, I hope Foerster challenges for spot at Flyers Training Camp in the Fall. It’s time to take the gloves off some of these young prospects, and push some of these veterans aside. There is absolutely nothing to lose.
Elliot Desnoyers
Desnoyers just didn’t find his niche in the first four games of the tournament. However, he did take advantage of more ice time yesterday, as young prospect Ridly Greig got hurt during the game. For his efforts, he finally got on the score sheet with an assist. Desnoyers is working his way back from an injury that he did have surgery for this past season, and I don’t know if that has affected his comfortability in this tournament.
Much like Foerster, Desnoyers is used to making quick decisive decisions with the puck, and I just haven’t seen that crispness yet from him. Sometimes all it takes is one point to get you going, so hopefully that will be the case with Desnoyers for the rest of the WJC. I personally was expecting more, especially against some lower level teams.
Emil Andrae (The Captain)
Andrae is now the fifth leading scorer of the tournament with eight points (4g,4a). He really put forth another good game against Latvia at the WJC. He finished the game with the game winning goal, and logged the most ice time of any player with 24:58. That’s what Andrae does, he logs minutes. Andrae would be coveted by most nations as he eats minutes, regardless of his size.
He only stands at 5’9 and only weighs 176 pounds, but he is still a talented left-handed shot defenseman. His hockey IQ has vastly improved from the prior year with HV71. Andrae found his niche and became a versatile player that has impeccable gap control, and he showcased that for Sweden a day ago. His skating is top notch, he really has shot up the map in regards to Flyers prospects.
Brian Zanetti
It was a welcoming sight to see Zanetti back on the ice against Canada yesterday. Zanetti struggled a bit, and it was evident with only logging 8:01 of ice time. He is used to logging minutes so whatever injury was bothering him, the Swiss team decided to be cautious with him. Zanetti did tally one assist for his efforts, and also was a minus one.
Zanetti logs minutes, he is a minute eating defenseman that is what he is known for, especially with the Swiss team. Hopefully he recovers from whatever was bothering him, and puts forth a good season with the Peterborough Petes in the OHL this season.
Check out our Flyers Nitty Gritty Store
