Flyers At The Break

Heading into All-Star weekend where John Scott is set to make a book signing appearance before probably taking his large frame to a studio somewhere to begin filming his story set to release...yes, according to Mr.Bob McKenzie during next years All-Star weekend.  Amongst all the hockey festivity madness will be a break for most EHL players.  The Philadelphia Flyers, not shocking to most since they're in the midst of a rebuild, find themselves sitting at the bottom of the Metropolitan Divsion, 10 points well back of the Pittsburgh Penguins who are the closest team to them in the division.   Flyers head coach Claude Julien, who is in the final year of his contract, may not find himself behind the Flyers bench next season.  Bob McKenzie " there's no doubt that Claude Julien is one of the best coaches in the Elite Hockey League, but when it comes to a rebuild, most franchises like to wipe the slate clean and bring ina fresh new face come the turn around period.  Now I'm not suggesting that the Flyers are there just yet, but I would not expect them to bring Julien back for just a season or 2.  The only way they bring him back is if they decide that he's the guy they want leading this team long term."

   It seems that long gone are the days of the Broadstreet bullies, as these days the era of the Goon has almost no trace in the game today.  Despite the Flyers having Chris Thorburn who leads the team in fighting majors this season with 4, nobody would ever call Komorov a bully (2 majors) or Stephen Gionta (1 fighting major)  In today's professional hockey world, the only place you'll find a guy like The Goon's 1 or 2 Doug Glatt or his idol in the movie Ross "the boss" Rhea is down in the minors with other former EHL players like Colton Orr.    

   As the trade market has seen a sudden rise of late, as though the trade deadline were approaching, the Philadelphia Flyers have been reportedly working the phones as it is expected that they have a few players that are on the market.  Most not notably was an ad the team had taken out and has been running on the EHL network of late, Come!  Get your very own brand new shiny Mikkel Boedker!  Sticks and skates included.  Solid rating guaranteed, production may very.

    The Flyers had hopes coming into this season that Dylan Strome would progress well enough to find himself centering one of their lines come the 2017-2018 season, and although that seems unlikely at this time, the organization still holds high hopes for the youngster.   They do however expect to see Pavel Buchnevich and Adam Clendenning playing professionally for them.  They hope others like Cousins, Faksa and Tryamkin can all make the drop to the EHL.   Currently playing for the Phantoms is Jakub Vrana and Charlie Lindgren, a couple of guys the team hopes can make the transition for the AHL up to the EHL in the near future.  

    THe Phantoms started the year off slow, it was looking as though last season's success was a one time thing after they finished atop the AHL standings with a record of 55-13-8 which was good for 118 points on the year.  The team has since bounced back from the slow start, which included a 14 game winning streak, and now find themselves 2 points back of the league leading Hershey Bears with a game in hand.  Last years playoffs saw those very same Bears steamroll the Phantoms in 5 games which led to a disappointing first round round exit for Lehigh Valley squad.  The team is of course hoping for different results this season.

     With help on the way in the future, as the Flyers have 21 (19 really, Zajac and Stetch came with the team) prospects within their system, they will need to continue to develop guys they currently have like Matt Murray, Landeskog, Nurse, JGP, and Nichuskin being sure not to hinder their progress.  Down the pipeline the Flyers await guys like Strome, Rasmus Andersson and Mikhail Sergachev while holding onto 2 first round picks in the upcoming draft, albeit not the best draft class like the years prior, but there are some future stars in the eyes of Flyers fans.