When Paul Holmgren took over as the general manager of the Philadelphia Flyers on October 22, 2006, I received numerous messages from my friends who grew up as fans of the Hartford Whalers. Those messages ranged from, “Good luck with that,” to “What a terrible choice” to the simple but poignant, “Bwahahahahaha.” These were people jaded by the abysmal record that the Whalers posted during his tenure as Hartford’s coach and his brief stint as GM in the years that eventually led up to Hartford’s relocation to Carolina. (His DUI and stint at Betty Ford likely did not help matters …
Future Flyers Report
The Future Flyers Weekly Report follows the weekly progress of Flyers prospects playing in the various hockey leagues. Forwards: Nick Cousins remains the Flyers best scoring prospect in juniors. He collected his 26th-30th points with a goal and 3 assists over two games. Marcel Noebels and Brendan Ranford each picked up an assist this week. Jason Akeson led the Phantoms prospects in scoring with 4 goals and an assist in three games. He now sits at second in goals, assists, and points for the Phantoms. Mike Testwuide exploded with a 4 assist weekend after a slow start to the season. …
Future Flyers Weekly Report
The Future Flyers Weekly Report follows the weekly progress of Flyers prospects playing in the various hockey leagues. Marcel Noebels and the Seattle Thunderbirds broke their losing streak on Wednesday. Noebels recorded a goal and an assist in each of their two wins. He also picked up another assist on the week. Nick Cousins assisted on a goal during his only game. He ended up being suspended for two games for his part in a brawl versus the London Knights. Brendan Ranford continues to struggle to find his offensive game during the month of November. He only picked up an …
Future Flyers Weekly Report
The Future Flyers Weekly Report follows the weekly progress of Flyers prospects playing throughout the various leagues. This week was about as uneventful week as one could imagine since few games were played this week. The Phantoms played one game and their offense consisted of an unassisted goal by Jonathon Kalinski and also an unassisted goal scored by Garret Klotz. Junior prospects Nick Cousins and Brendan Ranford were the only two prospects to finish with more than a point on the week. Cousins finished with a goal and an assist on Sunday and also picked up another assist this week. …
Future Flyers Weekly Report
The Future Flyers Weekly Report follows the weekly progress of Flyers prospects. Forwards: In juniors this week, Brendan Ranford recorded a goal and an assist in both games. Nick Cousins registered a point in each of his three games to finish with a goal and two assists. Marcel Noebels and Derek Mathers were kept off the scoreboard. For the Phantoms, Tye McGinn scored his first professional goal which was also his first professional point. Eric Wellwood and Harry Zolniercyzk both ended up scoring two goals a piece. Jason Akeson, Luke Pither, and Tom Sestito also collected two points on the …
Future Flyers Weekly Report
The Future Flyers Weekly Report follows the weekly progress of Flyers prospects playing in the various leagues throughout North America. Forwards: Nick Cousins had another impressive performance. He started off the week with a game winning goal in his first game. He then finished with a goal and an assist in his next game. Finally, he capped off the wek with 2 goals and an assist in his final game. He earned two first star honors this week. Cousins is currently sitting at 12 in scoring in the OHL and 2nd in team scoring for the Greyhounds. Marcel Noebels also …
Future Flyers Weekly Report
The Future Flyers Weekly Report follows the weekly progress of Flyers prospects playing in the various leagues throughout North America. Forwards: Brendan Ranford kicked off the weekend with a 5 point performance on Friday. He scored 4 of Kamloops’ 5 goals which included the OT game winner. He picked up an assist on the only goal he didn’t score. Ranford also collected a goal and an assist during the rest of the week’s games. Nick Cousins started off the week with a pair of 2 point games. He scored 2 goals in his first game and followed that up with …
Future Flyers Weekly Report
The Future Flyers Weekly Report follows the weekly progress of Flyers prospects playing in the various leagues throughout North America. Forwards: The Phantoms kicked off their season this week with a 6-3 win against the Connecticut Whale. Many forward prospects contributing with the scoring. Flyers top prospect, Brayden Schenn, contributed with a couple of assists and was named the second star of the match. Mike Testwuide also chipped in with two points, finishing with a goal and an assist. Luke Pither and Eric Wellwood each scored their first goal of the season. Shane Harper also contributed with an assist. Nick …
Future Flyers Weekly Report
The Future Flyers Weekly Report follows the weekly progress of Flyers prospects playing in the various leagues throughout North America. Name Team Games Goals Assists +/- Ricard Blidstrand Regina Pats 3 0 1 0 Nick Cousins Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds 2 2 2 -1 Derek Mathers Peterborough Petes 3 1 0 -1 Marcel Noebels Seattle Thunderbirds 1 1 0 -1 Colin Suellentrop Oshawa Generals 2 1 0 +3 Nick Cousins had a strong pair of games this weekend. He scored 2 goals in blowout on Friday. He followed it up by recording two helpers in 3-2 win on Saturday. Ricard …
Bill Meltzer shares his thoughts on Joacim Eriksson, Europeans, and more
Bill Meltzer writes about the Flyers for hockeybuzz.com and is a contributing writer for NHL.com. Follow him on twitter @billmeltzer. The Flyers haven’t drafted anyone out of Europe in the past two drafts. In total they have only drafted two players out of Europe in the past 5 drafts. However, they do take Europeans that play in North America. Do you feel they are strategically avoiding drafting prospects out of Europe? What are your thoughts on such a strategy if it exists? I don’t they are so much specifically avoiding drafting from Europe as they are prioritizing players they think …