Tagged: Philadelphia Flyers

23Dec

Antero Niittymaki(1) Worcester Sharks

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San Jose Sharks sent 10-year veteran goaltender, Antero Niittymaki(1) down to their AHL affiliate in Worcester for a conditioning stint after starting the season with the team on injury reserve.

He last saw action in the league in 2005 as the Calder Cup winning goalie for Philadelphia Phantoms, where he won the Jack A. Butterfield Trophy as playoff MVP.

He played 161 games over 5 years for the Flyers, the team that originally picked him in the 6th round of the 1998 draft (#168 overall) before getting signing with Tampa Bay Lightning for a season. In 2010 he inked a two-year deal with San Jose, but has been hindered by the injury bug.

At 31-years old, it’s very doubtful they will re-sign him for a third year and he will probably end up playing in his home country of Finland to round out his pro career.

03Dec

Marc-Andre Bourdon(3) Philadelphia Flyers

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Philadelphia Flyers‘ 2008 3rd round pick (#67 overall) defenseman Marc-Andre Bourdon(3) is quietly enjoying his first four games in the NHL.

Just one season ago he played 5 games in the ECHL with Greenville Road Warriors. As a pro he’s spent more of his time guarding the blue line with their AHL affiliate Adirondack Phantoms.

He is on the third year or his entry level contract. It’s almost assured that they’ll qualify him for at least another year of service, unless he looks good enough out there to attract some attention.

As said, he’s quietly enjoying his first games in the NHL. The less people notice him out there = a good thing.

23Nov

Kevin Marshall(4) Adirondack Phantoms

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kevin-marshall

3rd year Philadelphia Flyers‘ 2007 round 2 draft pick (#41 overall) defenseman Kevin Marshall(4) got his first call up and NHL action earlier this week.

In the team’s 4-2 loss to the Hurricanes, he logged 14+ minutes of ice time and was a -1 plus/minus.

That’s it for now though.

He was reassigned back to Adirondack Phantoms, where he has played some 168 games with in three AHL seasons.

Not really a big point getter he’s also mostly been on the minus side in yearly stats.

This is the last year of his entry level deal with the Flyers.

21Nov

Blake Kessel(2) Adirondack Phantoms

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defenseman Blake Kessel(2), younger brother of NHL point leader and leading goal scorer Phil, was originally a 6th round pick of New York Islanders in the 2007 draft (#166 overall) but never signed with the team. Instead he was signed to an entry level deal with Philadelphia Flyers, but was reassigned their AHL affiliate Adirondack Phantoms to start the season.

He put in his first pro hockey goal last week to go along with a pair of assists giving him a 3 points in 14 games played.

14Nov

Jared Ross(18) Ingolstadt ERC

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Undrafted center, 7th year pro Jared Ross(18) was all the rage in the Philadelphia Flyers‘ system for a few moments but in 22 NHL games (13 regular season, 9 playoff), he’s only registered one goal in the postseason.

He’s a proven prolific scorer in the AHL despite his small size (5’9″ 165 lbs).

For the 2011/2012 season, he finds himself playing pro hockey overseas, joining former Boston Bruins‘ tough guy Jeremy Reich on Ingolstadt ERC in Germany. That’s a long way from his Huntsville, Alabama place of birth and where he attended college at the University Of Alabama, which both are quite the anomaly for a NHL caliber player.

06Oct

Matt Read(10)

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matt-read3

Undrafted rookie forward Matt Read(10) will be in the lineup when Philadelphia Flyers open their 2011/2012 season Thursday night vs. the Stanley Cup Champion Boston Bruins at TD Garden and he will be one to watch. He’s odds on favorite to be the first Flyers player to put the puck in the net to start the season and without a doubt this 25-year old kid is a Calder Trophy favorite straight out of the gate.

Seems like the Flyers staff didn’t get the news because he’s on their roster list but there’s no photo on his page yet.

Last season after finishing up with his college team, he joined Adirondack Phantoms for 11 games and tossed in 7 goals to go along with 6 assists for 13 points.

He’s the real deal.

Game on.

21Sep

Brayden Schenn(11) Philadelphia Flyers

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brayden-schenn-1

In what could have been his rookie season last year, Los Angeles Kings‘ 1st round pick in the 2009 draft (#5 overall) Brayden Schenn(11) was on a bit of a roller coaster ride starting the season with the NHL team for 8 games before getting demoted to the AHL where he scored 4 goals, 3 assists in 7 contests and then ultimately sent back to his junior team in the Western Hockey League to play out the rest of 2010/2011.

He returned to the Manchester Monarchs to help them in the Calder Cup Playoffs after finishing up his final season in juniors.

In the offseason, he was dished by Los Angeles to Philadelphia Flyers as part of a deal that got the Kings Mike Richards.

It looks likely that he’ll crack the Flyers‘ lineup on opening night but he’ll have to produce with consistency to stay there or it could be a few car rides between Philly and Adirondack in 2011/2012.

 

05Sep

Jon Rheault(26) Calgary Flames / Abbotsford Heat

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5th round 2006 Flyers draft pick (#145 overall) Jon Rheault(26) may have found his niche in Calgary Flames organization. Last season was a breakthrough year for the 4th year pro with their AHL affiliate Abbotford Heat (34 points, 12 goals & 22 assists) in 79 games and really being on the cusp of getting a call-up but heard that it was more of a numbers game than anything keeping him from his NHL debut. I expect him to get his first action in the show with Calgary, if not this season than next for the 25-year old.

He played his college hockey at Providence College from 2004-2008.

13Aug

Garrett Klotz(12) Adirondack Phantoms

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garrett-klotz

Big, tough guy (6’5″ 235lb) Garrett Klotz(12) recently re-signed an AHL contract with Adirondack Phantoms after being dismissed to the Central Hockey League Bloomington Prairie Thunder last season.

Something must’ve registered in his head in a good way though, because for the first time in three pro seasons he found a bit of a goal scoring touch and ended up with 24 points (9 goals, 15 assists) in 49 games.

He’s never had much more than 5 points in any year.

We’ll see if he continues to contribute points along with the penalty minutes he racks up each season.