A quick preface to this article—the picture I used was just a random picture in the B/R archives, simply because I left my camera in my dorm room. Shoot...
Well, it is fall break at school. You know what that means?
I can catch up on all the hockey I have missed by being in Allentown, Nowhere for the last month and a half!
The final day of training camp for the Philadelphia Flyers occurred today, as their regular-season schedule opens tomorrow night at home against the rival New York Rangers. Throughout this day, I and a few others in the press room at the Flyers' Skate Zone were cutting down the line combinations used throughout the short practice held by coach John Stevens.
Normally, there are five colors used in a Flyers' practice: first line, second line, third line, fourth line, and defensemen. Today, however, there were only three used. Blue, for the first- and second-liners, red, for the third- and fourth-liners, and black for the defensemen.
There were no set line combinations for the duration of the practice—however, there were a few combos that were used that seem to make sense. The top line of Gagne-Briere-Knuble seems to be intact, although Richards was also tried out at center, moving Briere to the right wing and pushing Knuble down to the second line.
Jeff Carter and Scottie Upshall were kept together, while Richards and Knuble were switched back and forth between the second line.
The third line seemed to consist of Joffrey Lupul, Scottie Hartnell, and Steve Downie, while the fourth line had Glen Metropolit, Riley Cote, and Aaron Asham playing together.
The defensive pairings went as follows:
Kimmo Timonen-Ossi Vaananen/Lasse Kukkonen
Vaananen/Kukkonen-Luca Sbisa
Braydon Coburn-Steve Eminger
Vaananen and Kukkonen were switched back and forth, and although it seemed like John Stevens was still unsure of his top defensive pairing, Kukkonen seemed to get along better with Timonen than Vaananen did. However, all three had great chemistry with each other.
A few drills comprised the majority of the practice. One consisted of three forwards cycling deep in the zone, then making a play at the net. The defensemen at the point would then each take a shot, while the three forwards attempted to deflect it past the goaltender.
Another drill done was a five-on-two in the offensive zone—first a shot from the point with deflections, then a regroup, then a five-on-two rush.
The third drill that was done the most today was a three-on-none rush, then a cycle, then a three-man setup in the offensive zone.
Altogether, the team looked pretty good. The practice was not too grueling, as the team needs to be ready for tomorrow. Mike Richards seemed to be the best player on the ice, as he hit almost every shot, was extremely accurate, and seemed to show the leadership abilities that come with the responsibilities of being the team captain.
Braydon Coburn looked to be very good as well. He was used in many different defensive pairings, and looked to have chemistry in all of them. The defense truly rallied around both him and Timonen. You can expect Coburn to be a future assistant captain to Mike Richards.
comments (4) write a comment »
write a new comment
about 1 month ago
Very good article Alan, you covered a lot, thats why your number 1. Looking forward to seeing more this season.
from about 1 month ago
Thanks Chris, it was great seeing you today.
about 1 month ago
Oh spring break at Muhlenberg. I bet you were glad as hell to get out of Allentown. You been to Yacos yet?
Good article though. Lets go Flyers!
from about 1 month ago
Hey hey!!! It's fall break. Lol not spring break. And yes, I'm glad to get out of Allentown haha. Thanks Jameson
write a new comment