Photo Credit: Andy Gorel
“I believe in myself and I believe that I can a top goaltender in this league. I’m just going to look forward to a great offseason of training. Get settled back in with my family and friends, and get a good plan going forward for this offseason.”– Carter Hart said at exit interviews
Hart appears to be on his game, and really has been a bright spot for the struggling Flyers. If it were not for Hart all season, the Flyers undoubtedly would be far worse than they already are. He is much bigger in the net, which is good to cut down angles, as opposed to last season where he made himself smaller in the net. I’m sure he’s worked very hard with goaltending coach Kim Dillabaugh in this particular area, and it has been paying off big time. This should give him confidence moving forward, “Carter made some big saves when he had to,” Flyers Head Coach Alain Vigneault says over and over it appears, as Vigneault continues to praise his young netminder.
One area of his game that has stood out to me is his positioning. He doesn’t appear to be fighting the puck, rather he was seeing it quite well, thus helping his positioning. Hart is much more confident in cutting down angles this year, and he’s moving laterally from post to post rather well.
A highly decorated website in Sportsnet has selected Carter Hart as the starter for Team Canada in the upcoming Olympics in Beijing. Really it just shows how good Hart has been. He has been a rock between the pipes for the struggling Flyers compiling a 5-6-3 record, a 2.70 GAA, and a .919 Save Percentage.
Elliot Desnoyers
A young man by the name of Elliot “The Destroyer” Desnoyers hails from St-Hyacinthe, QC, CAN, which is located outside of Montreal. Flyers’ General Manager Chuck Fletcher traded picks 202 and 209 to the Nashville Predators to move up to select a sharpshooter in Desnoyers with the 135th pick of the 2020 NHL Draft. Desnoyers is a versatile player as he is mainly used as a Center with the Halifax Mooseheads, but he can play left wing, as well. He suited up for his first pre-season game with the Flyers, and he did not look out of place. Desnoyers looked like a veteran:
“It was awesome. I’m still on the way back to how I’ve been playing. I’ve been working with an injury all summer. I feel like I was doing really good and I’ve felt more and more confident as things were going.” – Elliot Desnoyers
Desnoyers was named Captain of the Mooseheads ahead of their game against the Shawinigan Cataractes earlier in the season. He has tallied 35 points on the season, which is tied for the 9th most points in the “Q”. His 15 goals on the season are the 11th most in the “Q”, as well.
Once seen as a project pick for the Flyers after being traded from the Moncton Wildcats. Desnoyers brings a combination of high-end skating and hockey sense that makes him a dangerous player without the puck. He plays a good two-way game, and is rarely out of position. Desnoyers blocks shots, gets into the passing lanes, provides high energy, and simply plays the game the right way.
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For his efforts, Desnoyers was selected by Team Canada for selection camp for the upcoming WJC tournament that begins at the end of December. What an honor this is for this young man, regardless if he makes the team or not. It is very difficult to make Team Canada’s roster, and Desnoyers told our very own Chris Maher he is elated by this selection.
