Photo Credit: The Flyers
John Tortorella is making good on a promise to play the youth, as the youth have been given more than opportunity to win spots. Tortorella said come to work and look to earn a spot, as the lineup is not filled out yet. Tortorella also indicated that the Flyers would have a young backend. Could that mean that one or two of Adam Ginning, Emil Andrae, Egor Zamula, Helge Grans, or Ronnie Attard make the club on the opening night? Things will get interesting as camp and the pre-season wears on, but here are some things to watch for tonight in the Flyers second pre-season game.
Lines and Pairings
The lines continue to be a top story. It appears John Tortorella is giving the youth every opportunity to secure a spot. Both Cam Atkinson and Cam York DID participate in practice in Voorhees, NJ, which is great news. They both are practicing again, fortunately. That appears to be the big story of training camp today.
Here are the lines below for tonight’s bout against the Boston Bruins:
Tippett – Frost – Brink
Farabee – Desnoyers – Foerster
Deslauriers – Poehling – Hathaway
Bellerive – Gaucher – Marody
Zamula – Sanheim
Mete – Grans
Seeler – Belpedio
The health of Travis Konecny and Cam Atkinson were two big story lines a few days ago. Tortorella said that Konecny would need an extra day off (Monday), but Tortorella did expect him back until Wednesday. Konecny did say that he will be able to play in the games later in the week, and he is ok. Foerster is on one heck of a line with Joel Farabee and Elliot Desnoyers.
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Defensively, the Flyers will be in influx throughout the season. The defensive pairings will be shuffled at times tonight, with Victor Mete and Louie Belpedio making their second straight start. Defensively the Flyers will go with Zamula with Sanheim, Mete with Grans, and Seeler with Belpedio.
Let’s see how Egor Zamula fares. Zamula is healthy and ready to earn a spot he said yesterday at camp, so they are giving him every shot to do so. I do expect another round of cuts to transpire on Saturday, as Phantoms Training Camp opens Sunday October 1, 2023. Look for Louie Belpedio, Adam Brooks, possibly Samu Tuomaala, Jordy Bellerive, Will Zmolek, Mason Millman, Alexis Gendron, Tanner Laczynski (Waived), Olle Lycksell and possibly Ethan Samson to be re-assigned to the Phantoms roster for camp.
Back up goalies
Samuel Ersson and Cal Petersen will play tonight. Flyers Associate Coach Rocky Thompson has confirmed this, but he does not exactly the distribution of periods. Both Ersson and Sandström have had strong camps thus far, as both made some really nice saves on Wednesday night. Petersen is looking to get back on track after allowing five goals this past Monday, with the tire club in front of them, mainly due to the gauntlet of skating the Flyers underwent for three to four consecutive days at camp.
The Youth
The Flyers top brass and Tortorella are making good on a promise. They promised they would give the youth a chance to earn spots. Well, they are doing that with rolling these lineups throughout the pre-season. They are giving the youth opportunities to earn a spot.
Now if the youth don’t win the spots, well they need more time in the AHL or junior hockey. It’s on them, not the organization at this point.
Extra Credit:
Tonight’s Flyers pre-season game against the Bruins will be featured on NHL Network
I expect a lot of cuts tomorrow. The Phantoms open their camp Sunday , so expect a ton of cuts tomorrow
Both Cam York and Cam Atkinson did practice today
