Photo Credit: Andy Gorel
It was an emotional filled day 2 of Flyers Training Camp. Kevin Hayes spoke earlier in the morning, as he lead a tearful remembrance of his late brother Jimmy 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.” – Kevin Hayes
The refacings of the fires organization has fans pumped throughout the area. Raise Ristolainen stole training camp yesterday, so he did it on day 3 of camp? Without further delay here are six takeaways from day 3 of camp.
TOP LINE UNIT GROUPS 1 AND 2
With this being Alain Vigneault’s technically second camp with the Flyers. There was a lot of speculation on how Vigneault would utilize these groups through the first few days of camp. Well, it appears he’s trying to build chemistry with all four lines, but in particular the top 6.
Chemistry
Giroux, Couturier, Konecny
JvR, Frost, Farabee
Lindblom, Brassard, Atkinson
Thompson, Laughton, NAK
All lines are very cohesive as units, and it looked like they all played with each other for years. The top two lines in particular were smoking fast, and my word flat-out good. Couturier didn’t miss a beat as he tries to win his second Selke Trophy this season, and was blazing fast. Lindblom continues to kill it, as he made true to his promise of working very hard in the offseason.
However, Frosty Frost showed off today once again, with navigating through the zone for puck retrieval. The line of JvR-Frost-Farabee wreaked havoc on the defense all day in these drills, mainly with Travis Sanheim and Rasmus Ristolainen on the ice.
Will the real Joel Farabee please stand up!!!
Boy was he good today, and spoke to the media. He is a natural as he sees the ice well, and can skate. His hands are a thing of beauties, and lots goals in tight spaces. He can thread the needle with the best of them, and Rasmus Ristolainen was a benefit of such today.
Ivan Provorov, Ryan Ellis, Keith Yandle (Defense Wins Championships)
These two in Ryan Ellis and Ivan Provorov didn’t miss a beat today. They were as expected today. My geez does Provorov have a rocket of a shot. Provorov looked poised and ready to go, as he is using his stick more effectively. Ellis had a wicked jump to his skates. He broke up plays today on Derick Brassard, and really has looked good throughout camp.
Yandle’s stick was very active today once again. Uses his stick effectively, and Vigneault spoke on that at the end of the first day of camp. This appears to be rubbing off on the young Provorov to disrupt rushes (Video below from our awesome follower of our site Tim Young):
Continuing the Defensive thread here, It’s Carter Hart time
Hart was really dialed in today and sharp. He had to be after a decent day yesterday, as Justin Braun netted two goals yesterday. Mind you, it’s tough to gauge how he is actually doing as yesterday Alain Vigneault intermixed 2-0 rushes on the netminders.
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Training Camp is about getting the defense and goalies on the same page, and Hart is apparently doing that well, especially with Ivan Provorov and Ryan Ellis.
Sean Couturier and Claude Giroux
The moment we have all been waiting for the one and only “Coooots.” Couturier looked good, as he hit the net none put of ten times against Carter Hart. He looks like he’s ready to go as scrimmages start tomorrow.
Giroux looks in great shape, as his dad body hasn’t fully started to take shape yet (Joking). He looks like he hasn’t missed a beat, and it’s great to him laughing and joking on the third day of camp.
His shot continues to get more impressive with age, and the line of Giroux-Couturier-Konecny is a good one. Giroux scored over the glove of Hart today, as well.
Dave Scott Presser:
Dave Scott on Claude Giroux:
“He’s terrific, he’s a good leader.”
“We are built for the future. We are well positioned.”
Justin Braun Presser:
Braun does not think it will take much time for the defense to form chemistry. He speaks very highly of Martin Jones, “I’m happy he’s here.”
On Keith Yandle:
“He’s still a fantastic player. To not miss a game especially in a Covid season is pretty impressive, especially with the amount of games played in a short period of time.”
Derick Brassard:
On Oskar Lindblom:
“I’m glad I’m on the same line with him and hopefully we can make it work.”
On Claude Giroux:
“He’s got some good hockey left him. He’s right up there with the best players on the league. I’m really happy to play with him.”
Brassard says Martin Jones will help out the team. Says they have a good mix of guys, “We have great leadership here, to include the coaching staff.”
Joel Farabee:
“Mentally and physically I’m ready this year.”
“He looks a lot more complete. Coming off injury he hasn’t lost a lot.”
Joel Farabee believes Oskar Lindblom will break out this year for the @NHLFlyers
Alain Vigneault:
Hart and Martin Jones will get one game each, playing the first two periods, then Samuel Ersson and Felix Sandström will close out each game. The Flyers also have off on Monday now, not Wednesday. Pre-season begins Tuesday.
Flyers Injury Notes:
Tanner Laczynski did not have a maintenance day, more than likely. He tweaked the other side of hip, per AV. He’s getting evaluated.
Linus Högberg left with an oblique injury.
Good God clean up your grammar.