The Flyers hit the ice for their first practice in well over a week. Nine days following their last game, the Flyers were finally back in Voorhees, and Flyers’ General Manager Chuck Fletcher spoke to the media today. The good news is it appears the Flyers will play in Lake Tahoe according to Fletcher:
“Our hope is we will have a full roster for Thurs and Sunday.” – Chuck Fletcher
He then stated, “Flyers will play in Nevada on Sunday”. This is great news for Flyers fans, and the news just keeps getting a bit better. The Flyers will play the New York Rangers on Thursday as scheduled, since it appears the Flyers have contained the spread, that is for now. Anything can change, let’s keep that in mind.
“We’ve been in a league-mandated quarantine for the past seven or eight days,” Chuck Fletcher said, “However, not every player has the same quarantine start date, depending upon various factors, contacts, etc. We have a group of players that were eligible to return to the ice today and we have another, I believe, eight that will be allowed to practice tomorrow.”
Kevin Hayes says, “There is nothing funny about Covid. It shouldn’t be difficult to be competitive. It’s a next-man-up mentality.” Hayes has been worth every single penny as he further stated that he facetimed Claude Giroux and Justin Braun while they were still in Washington.
“I try to make the guys laugh a little bit. Obviously, there’s nothing funny about COVID. It’s tough to keep the mood light when guys can’t come to the rink. It’s definitely different. But every team is going through it, and we’re following every protocol.” – Kevin Hayes
Unfortunately, Giroux tested positive the morning of last Tuesday’s game that was supposed to be played against the New York Rangers, and that started the chain effects of postponements. Flyers Head Coach Alain Vigneault said he was concerned for his players, as they have wives and children.
This is a trying time for this organization as another group of players will hit the ice tomorrow. Here were today’s practice group:
The game is on for Thursday as of now, and no one knows the lines or pairings. Vigneault said he hasn’t decided if he will go with 11 forwards and 7 defensemen, or 12 forwards and 6 defensemen. No one knows who will be in and out for that matter, there is still a lot yet to be determined. The Taxi Squad roster was out in full force today on the ice in Derick Pouliot, Maksim Sushko, David Kaše, and Andy Andreoff. Who will be in and out, well we will find out in the coming days as a lot is still undetermined.
