The Flyers have scored the most points in November in the NHL!

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The Hockey Writers Ink Eps. 183 "The Flyers have scored the most points in November in the NHL!!!"


Relax the keyboard is off, the press box is closed, and the mic is just getting warmed up as the Guardian of the Blue paint turned writer is about to enlighten us!


The show where the writer is fresh off the presses and the ink is not dry.

Welcome to the Hockey Writers Ink, join Lance Green and Ron "SteelFlyers" as we bring you all the latest on the Philadelphia Flyers!


This week's talking points:
1. INTRO and Thanks
2. Flyers lead NHL with most points in NHL for November
3. Some players back and making a difference 
4. Michkov Magic 
5. Russians in Net getting it done 
6. Phantoms Section 
7. Wrap up 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:04):
Welcome to The Hockey Writers, Inc. The show where the
writer is fresh off the presses and the ink is
not dry, relaxed, the keyboard is off and the press
boxes closed with the mic is just getting warmed up.
Join your host, Lance Green, the guardian of the blue
paint turned writer, and your co host Ron Steel Flyers
as we bring you all the latest on the Philadelphia Flyers.

(00:39):
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the next episode of The
Hockey Writers, Inc. With your host. It's Green.

Speaker 2 (00:48):
All right, it is good time to be a Flyers fan,
you guys, a great time. I would say. The team
has been playing excellent over the past couple of games
and to really starting to come together, especially against some
pretty decent teams. And we'll have to get into it.

Speaker 1 (01:08):
Here exactly exactly how is it going? How are you doing,
mister Green? How are you doing? I mean seriously, now,
the Flyers have been playing exceptionally well over the last
what month?

Speaker 2 (01:27):
One of the better teams, Yeah, for sure during that
time spam.

Speaker 1 (01:32):
So that in right, there is how we're going to
get to this episode of The Hockey Writers, Inc. Man
First of all, if you like what we do, please
hit the like and subscribe. Man, we really appreciate that
smash that thumbs up button as well, to really appreciate that.
That helps us out immensely for sure. So how about this, folks,

(01:56):
The Hockey Writers Inc. A Philadelphia Flyers centric podcas coming
to you as a ranked Philadelphia Flyers centric podcast. That's right, folks,
we're in the top ten of all Philadelphia Flyers podcasts,
the Hockey Writers, Inc. And that's all thanks to you
folks out there, so big thanks to you, and of
course big thanks to the editor in chief, you know,

(02:18):
mister Lance Green, who writes all the great articles and
does all the great stuff over there at Steel Flyers.
You know what I'm saying, right Lance.

Speaker 2 (02:26):
Yeah, thank you, Thank you guys for reading, and thank
you guys for watching the show.

Speaker 1 (02:31):
For sure. For sure, you got to go over to
steel Flyers dot com and check out all the latest
from The Hockey Writers, Inc. To prospect Watch as well
to the Nitny Report as well as the Steel Flyers
podcast as well. Be sure to go over to steel
Flyers dot com and check out all of the latest.
So here we go, folks, with episode number one eighty three,

(02:54):
and don't look now, but the Philadelphia Flyers have scored
the most points in the month of November. Okay, we'll
take that, right. So this is for episode number one
eighty three, And Lance, I gotta tell you, with the

(03:15):
Flyers being that the leading pointsgetter for the month of November,
when I saw that and I heard that, and I
was like, wow, really, And then I looked it up
and I was like, all right, I mean seven to two

(03:35):
and one in the last ten games and they're on
a three game win streak. Wait, and you even touched
on it. Lance, They've beaten some pretty decent teams over
the last few weeks SKay month or so here, you
know what I mean?

Speaker 2 (03:55):
Yeah, I mean, you know they had their struggles. Know
that the Panthers they they lost to in a shootout.
You know, they they played the Sabers well, they battled
against the Avalanche but lost the Hurricanes. They they got
beaten up pretty bad. But I mean they won the

(04:16):
games they were supposed to. And the Blackhawks they got
to point out of the Golden Knights, which was great
because Golden Knights are solid team. And then you know,
winning against the Predators was a game they should have won.
And you know, a surprisingly win against the Rangers. I mean,

(04:37):
and that was a that was a true test. Like
I was talking about, you know, these these games, they're
going to have to win some of these games and
win the games they're supposed to, and that's what they're doing.
They were able to win the games they were supposed to,
surprise to us, even with games like that against the Rangers,
and uh, you know, put up put up a good

(04:59):
fight again the Blues as well. I mean, I enjoyed
the heck out of that game. Steal. I don't know
about you, but just a back and forth. I thought
both goalies played amazingly. Uh they were a little hung
out to dry. They were playing some wide open hockey
there a little bit, which was great to see that
the Flyers finally had the talent in which to do

(05:20):
so because previous years they have not. And you know,
Mishkoff had an amazing game, surprise surprise rookie leader in
points right now with I believe nineteen, creating a gap
of sorts between him and uh, you know, others other

(05:43):
rookies in the there. But yeah, amazing game for Mischkaff
a beautiful assist early to connecting yeap, Yeah, and then
you know that that overtime game winner. I think he
just thrives in that, you know, more wide open ice
with that four on four play man. You know, watching

(06:08):
a future hopefully superstar. I don't want to put that
on him, but you know, a future star in the
making there, and he's living up to expectations. You know,
it was a risk taking him in the draft because
of what all is going on in the world and
involving his country especially, and you know, whether they could

(06:28):
get him over here and his extended contract in the
k KHL and you know, the Flyers have had to
fight adversity and all those things. And we're able to
get him over here early and you know, get him
accustom at least to you know, camp and everything like
that at such a young age. He's only nineteen, and
you know, just thriving right now, and you know, making

(06:52):
the players like Owen Tippett and Travis Connectney, you know,
thrive and look, you know even better than they are
stepping their game up because he's playing so well. You
know now they, like I said earlier on in the year,
you know, he's going to surprise a lot of people,
including his teammates and these guys like Connectney have found

(07:17):
that they better get that stick on the ice when
he's on the ice with him, because I mean that
that assist he made, I mean that pucks come in
and you know, put it, put it through the guy's
skates or right around him to feed a perfect pass
to him. Early on in the season, guys were missing
those goals, and now they're putting him in right because

(07:37):
they're understanding this kid is special and he's going to
get the puck to him somehow, some way, and you know,
connect he's ready for it. And you know, if we
can get some more guys like that in this next draft,
watch out, guys, watch out, because you know, if he can,
he can thread the needle and put the puck on

(07:59):
the tape of that other person stick. But you know,
if if some people can do that, like you know others,
Jet comes to mind, and he's amazing talent and in
being able to do that, you know, in the future
we've got we got some good hockey to watch. For sure.

(08:21):
It's already interesting with with mis gooff out there. But yeah,
you know, this team is coming together still and and
and I'm glad they are because they had a rough
start to.

Speaker 1 (08:31):
It, it did seem a little bit rough. I also
really liked how they played against Colorado. I mean, they
took h a Colorado team. You know, they were a
little bit banged up, but they you know, two years
removed from winning the Cup, still a playoff contending team,

(08:53):
and they took him to the to the brink, you
know what I mean. I like that the fight at
the Flyer. We're starting to see that, like what we
saw last year, We're starting to see that that the
Flyers are in games even though they they may not
be winning the games, They're in the games. They're fighting

(09:14):
towards you know, they're in the they're fighting at the end,
you know what I mean. Or and how many games
are they now going to overtime?

Speaker 2 (09:20):
Now?

Speaker 1 (09:21):
You know what I mean? Where the Okay we go
to overtime, Okay, we go to a shootout, but we're
winning those games.

Speaker 2 (09:30):
And those points add up at the end too. You
know you're not gonna win every game, but hey, let's
let's scrawl, you know, scratch claw our way for every
point we can get, you know what I mean. And
those points add up at the end, but still to
a point, what you just said, they're not only fighting
for those points like you mentioned, they're actually coming to

(09:53):
each other. They're a team now. If you look at it, man,
you see how that reaction that last game when Sandheim
took a bad hit and he jumped up, and then
every single person on the ice besides you know, uh
Alexi came down and jumped in that pile. You know
that is that is what you want to see. That

(10:15):
is true a team, a measure of a team there
and before they didn't have that. A guy would take
a cheap shot on a guy and nobody would come
to his aid. And now under Tortorello and has got
these guys playing like a team and and coming to
each other's aid and not just mish coughs, but everybody.

(10:36):
It's it's you know, you pick on one guy, you
pick on, you're gonna face everybody come in, you know,
with with force. And that's what I like, man, That
that shows a true measure of a team.

Speaker 1 (10:48):
We have been we have been waiting to see this.
We've seen we've seen them on the cusp of it
at the beginning of the year where they were were
just like you said, they weren't quite getting those passes, right,
they weren't quite you know. Look, their power play is

(11:08):
still it's it's improved from last year. It's still you know,
twenty fourth, okay, but their penalty kill was in the
top ten, okay. And so if you're gonna have a
penalty kill in the top ten or or as our
good friend Jimmy likes to call it power kill right

(11:31):
because we we you know, have so many shorthanded goals
and and and and we we have a better opportunity
to score on on their power play than we do
when when when we're on ours, go figure. Uh. But
I like our power kill numbers being in the top
ten in the league. But the power play is kind

(11:53):
of settled into twenty fourth, Okay, it is improved. We
need it to be a little bit more improved and
that I think we'll start winning a little bit more
of those games, you know what I mean?

Speaker 2 (12:05):
Yeah, I do still and you know, I I think
that the big difference is certain players have stepped up.
You know, I really like the play of Wristal Linen lately.
Oh yeah, he's coming up and finally he could he

(12:26):
could potentially be a trade candidate at the at the
deadline because I mean you you see, I mean I
like him. But you see what's coming, right, you see,
we've sawd Ama Landre come up and be able to play,
and and Helgi Grond stepping up. And I told you

(12:47):
guys a while ago when that.

Speaker 1 (12:49):
Traders ago, we told you guys about them, right.

Speaker 2 (12:52):
I told you guys, this kid is special in Helgi
Grons and I really like him. I think that was
an excellent pickup. And I've been watching him since the
year he was drafted, and was high on him, and
you know, disappointed that the Flyers didn't get him then,
but you know somebody must have been listening. And because

(13:14):
you know, Danny Breer went out there and acquired a
guy like that, and you know, all these guys are
going to be battling for a position, and you know,
if riskt aligning can gain us a potential first or
early second round pick, another one to add to the

(13:34):
multitude of all of the picks that we have in
this next draft. Man, I mean me and still interview
a lot of these young prospects and have already this
year on prospect Watch or other podcast. And I'm going
to tell you I love this draft, guys. If we
can acquire more draft picks. You know, this team is

(13:56):
building for the future in the Mischkoffs and the jet
Lachenko and and some of the young goaltenders that we
now have that we know of, and some of them
that are still playing in the K eighth gel and such.
You know, and now you know, this defensive corps is
ready for some switching out here. I don't think we

(14:17):
need an Eric Johnson to come back. I don't think
we need a risk A Linan to come back. If
some of these guys can be had for rookie contracts
and play big time minutes like they've shown that they
potentially can this season already. I hated to see Helgi
Gronz go go back down, you know, But but risk

(14:40):
the Linen is playing well, Steele, I like it.

Speaker 1 (14:43):
Let me just because let's just pop in here, but
let me throw something at you. But Drivesdale, who.

Speaker 2 (14:51):
Oh, that's a man. He's a special player. But when
is he playing? That's that's the thing that was. That
was why Anaheim was willing to give him up in
that deal to us was his inability to stay healthy.

(15:12):
And you know, as he's shown he's a he can
be a special player. But he's not Ice, you know
what I mean. He's I and I I thought he
would do better this year in that regards, because he

(15:32):
he put on a good ten to fifteen pounds of
muscle and everything like that. But uh still we find him,
you know, out again, you know, and and and you
know coming back I believe, you know, right about now.

Speaker 1 (15:48):
But they're saying that he's they're saying that he's really close.
He might be a.

Speaker 2 (15:53):
Better Yeah, he should be ready soon. But man, that
that's a question I mean coming up when when we
have to resign him with all of these young guys
like Andre and some of these other guys coming.

Speaker 1 (16:10):
Up, maybe he becomes I was just gonna say, maybe
he becomes something that we can deal at the trade deadline.
I mean, it's kind of a shame that he's hurt
right now, you know what I mean. But it was
something I was thinking about before we were doing the

(16:32):
show here, and I was just thinking about this, and
I'm like, man, you know, Ameo, Andre has really stepped
up and played really well, and Helgie Gronz came in
and just has played amazing as well, too, And it's like, man,
it makes you forget about Jamie Drysdale, you know what

(16:53):
I mean. And I was just sitting here thinking, yeah,
you know, I haven't really thought about him with those
two guys playing, and I'm just like, and I'm okay
with that, you know what I mean?

Speaker 2 (17:02):
Like, all right, So, I mean, Jamie Drysdale's twenty two
years old. Guys, let's let's yeah, let's not give up
on him just yet. No, no, no, but he's got
one more year at two point three million. But after that,
I don't know, I don't know. I think I think,

(17:22):
you know, if he comes back healthy, then great. But
I mean if I'm thinking if he gets another injury somewhere,
that's going to extend for you know, a couple of weeks, even,
I think it has a strong possibility. I mean, you
hate to see, you know, giving up a guy like
kinda gotier for this guy that you got, you know,

(17:43):
you hate to see that return for such a highly
you know, anticipated prospect that was with our system. But
we had to kind of take what we had to take,
being that every team out there in the NHL knew
that he didn't want to play with us, so you know,
it wasn't like we could get a quality of return

(18:05):
like we would have wanted, you know. But you know, again,
he's twenty two years old. But every every year he's
played in so far, he has been injured so for
extended period of time. And you know that that kind
of gets old. Paying that guy that's supposed to be
your top line defenseman, one of your top line defencemen,

(18:27):
and he's up in a suit.

Speaker 1 (18:30):
Well, you know, speaking of top line defensemans, I'm gonna
kind of change gears here a little bit since we
are talking about those, and I want to talk a
little bit about some of the injured defensemen that have
come back. The aforementioned Emil Andre coming back and making
his presence felt in the immediately in the Blues game,

(18:53):
you know what I mean, I I And then what
we've we've had Cam York now back for the last
Cup with games and he has just quietly been racking
up the minutes and just being like the perfect defenseman.
You don't hear anything about him.

Speaker 2 (19:11):
You know what I mean, the kind of like that's
the kind of man. This soul goaltender loves a defenseman
like that. Steel. You know that the best defenseman, I
always say, is one that you you don't see or
you don't hear JJ or anybody you know calling the game.
You don't even mention his name besides making an outlet

(19:32):
pass or something like that.

Speaker 1 (19:33):
I was just gonna say, that's the only thing that
you hear, you know, but.

Speaker 2 (19:38):
You don't see him. You don't see you don't see
the other team scoring and then him skating back in
in the video replay and and you know, out of
position either, So that that is what you want. I
worried about Cam Yorck because he was so offensively driven,
But now I think he's settling in. I think he's

(19:58):
figuring out. It takes, you know, a yin and a
yang to be a good defenseman. You know, you go
when you can and help offensively when you can, but
you don't go all the time. And you know, you
your main objective as a defenseman go figure is to
prevent any goals from going in your net. So figure

(20:22):
you know, man, But but you're right, still, man, Cam
York Sandheim's been solid, He's playing more physical. Uh Ama
Landre is tenacious man. He's hungry, he wants that, he
wants to get in the dirty areas and stuff, and
that's what we worried about when we heard him his
name being called and and seeing his you know, physical

(20:45):
stature and you know and and waight and everything like that.
And man, is this guy you know, really going to
be NHL caliber? And and he's he's showing that grit
he is. He is that little spark plug. He shows
that grit and that willingness to to do those little
things in the board battles and corners and you know,
playing a little physical and and man, I just you

(21:09):
know who, I get it. I get it now right right?
You know who?

Speaker 1 (21:12):
He kind of reminds me of. He kind of reminds
me a little bit of Eric Dajardan live up to No no, no,
I okay, I get it. And I'm not saying he is,
but he just kind of reminds me because when Eric
Dajardan was would get the puck on his stick, it

(21:33):
was like chemo teamon in as well, when when when
the puck came on his stick, the game just kind
of whoo yeah, just slowed down, just got to a
different kind of okay, here we go. You know, it
just seems like that when amel Andre is dealing with
the puck, it also kind of seems like that when

(21:56):
cam ne York is dealing with the puck where but
Cam York is more of that offensive gifted kind of thing.
So playing with more of a defensive defenseman is kind
of a you know, that's kind of what they've done
now with the defensive units, with the flyers they've made,
They've paired up a offensive defenseman with a defensive defenseman

(22:23):
pretty much all of their defensive units.

Speaker 2 (22:27):
Right, And that's what I, you know, kind of previously
wrote that they needed to do, right. Yeah, they had
a lot of offensive defenseman and it was kind of
too much with Drysdale in there. Too many running gun
guys trying to jump up in the play and not
enough stay at home guys like Wrist the linen and

(22:49):
your Nick Steelers and such. And you know, I I
like the balance that they have on the back end now,
and I think the goaltending likes the balance that they
have on the back end now too. You know, in
both these both these.

Speaker 1 (23:05):
Are we going to get into that in a minute.

Speaker 2 (23:07):
Yeah, yeah, both these guys look look solid, So yeah,
let's yeah get into it. Is I you know, I
love goaltenders.

Speaker 1 (23:16):
Yeah exactly, but I'm really I'm really liking the fact
that Cam York has come back from injury, Ameil Andre
has come back from injury, and they've been slotted back in.
And although we didn't like to see, uh, some of
the guys going back down, the hell Gi Gronds going
back down and things of that nature, it's been really
great seeing Emil Andre come back make immediate impact. It's

(23:40):
been really great seeing Cam York come back and being
that quiet defenseman that you know, you don't see him
on the score sheet, but he's a plus player. He's
out there and he's doing his job, and he's doing
the things that he needs to do in order to
help the team win, you know what I mean. And
that's kind of what I really was a raid of

(24:01):
if camyo Or could slot into that type of role,
do you know what I mean? Because of like what
you said before, a lance he's more of that offensively
gifted player. We saw that when he was playing in juniors.
We saw that when he was playing at college, you
know what I mean, he was more you know, scoring
goals and things of that nature, where now you're starting

(24:22):
to see him play more of the defensive role, getting back,
skating back, being the one on one with players and
putting sticks and getting into guys faces and things of
that nature. You know what I'm saying. That's the one
thing that I thought we were kind of scared that
we were gonna, you know, not see from camyork. And
I think we're seeing that now, you know what I mean,
since he's been with Tortorella. I mean, okay, all right.

Speaker 2 (24:46):
I'll give you I'll give you a name to that
with the mea landre that just popped into my head
once you said, you know, uh, teaming in and kind
of dejar Dan, but I think he reminds me a
lot of Gary Galley. Oh okay, Yeah, just a kind
of guy that was just kind of you know, underrated,
hard working guy, just doing his job right, quietly doing

(25:11):
his job, but you know he did all those little
things nice too, and you know, how to pop offensively
here and there. Yeah, that was kind of a guy
I really liked.

Speaker 1 (25:22):
All right, Well, you went way, you went way downtown
for that one, buddy. All right, So let's before we
get into talking about some of the Russians in net.
Let's let's talk about another Russian that we touched on
a little bit earlier. Here kind of in the beginning,
and that is Mitchkoff magic, and this young talented player

(25:48):
has shown the Philadelphia fan base what it's like to
have talent on their team and showing the Philadelphia fan
base what it's like to have a player who makes

(26:08):
other players around him better by helping to see the
ice a little differently than everybody else does and being
able to distribute to pluck to those said players. Alah
Owen Tippett, Ala, Morgan Frost, Alah, Travis Connecti, Alah blah
blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah. Right,
But that's something that Philadelphia has not seen and played

(26:33):
a long time. A player that can finish, A player
that how many breakaways did they have against the Saint
Louis Blues, how many breakaways did they have against the
Colorado Avalanche. How many breakaways did they have against the
Carolina Hurricanes. We need finishers. We need guys that are

(26:54):
gonna get on those breakaways and put the biscuit in
the basket. Think about that. If if you get thirty
percent success rate in that category, that's going to potentially
be two or three goals more game, those two or

(27:15):
three more goals a game could potentially I mean, Lance,
you and I are both analytics, we both do numbers.
It's not that it's not rocket science. You're scoring more
goals a game, you're gonna win more games.

Speaker 2 (27:30):
Yeah, I mean, and he's definitely helping in that regards
for sure. He's leading all rookies in goals with nine,
even over Maclan Celebrini, who's you know, obviously the number
one pick this year, but you know he's leading in
He's leading in points as well with nineteen over Logan's

(27:50):
Stankkovn from Dallas who has fifteen, an amazing talent in himself,
and Macklin Celebrini with fourteen. So he's he's creating that
gap in points. And you know, he's really coming together.
He's really a as a rookie already a reason on

(28:12):
a nightly basis why the Flyers have been able to
string together these wins. And you know it's not just
from some random assist. It's from a game breaking you know,
points to either put them ahead or you know, finish
the game off like he did in overtime. You know,

(28:35):
So Mishkoff is a special player, Like you said, magic
out there because at such a young age he's able
to thread the needle and and just put those tucks
right to the teammates stick blade and put it on
their tape. And and these guys are starting to bury
them now because they're expecting it. They're getting used to

(28:56):
him making these kind of plays when I don't know
too many kids, you know, I say that because he's
nineteen years old that have come into the league in
their first year and able to do these kind of plays.
I mean, obviously you're Crosby's, r Ovechkins and stuff like that,

(29:16):
but you know, I don't want to put that on him,
but just that he understands the game so much better
and knows where to be, knows where other players are.
I mean, I don't know how he has the vision
that he has out on the ice. You know, it
doesn't even seem like he should be able to see

(29:39):
some of these guys with the traffic in front and
everything else, and then you know, here here it comes,
and he's putting it right to their stick. So, you know,
amazing talent. I mean, I love what I see from him. Obviously,
I think everybody does. I have my Jersey that my
wife so so graciously got me because you know, she's

(30:00):
seen me just amazed by his play, you know, watching
watching the old boob tube there, but you know, just
just amazing, amazing young player. And man, I'm excited for
for what's to come for him with this team and
and you know how he's going to help this team
moving forward. I mean, at such a young age and

(30:23):
and coming over and you know, he's making that much
strides on the ice, but he's also making amazing making
strides trying to tackle a new language and and everything,
you know, a new culture, and you know, just amazing
to think that this kid can you know, have all

(30:45):
this adversity and losing his father at such a young
age in such a tragic you know way that he's
he's able to go out here and and just compete
with these guys. I mean, I know, he played a
couple of season in the KHL before coming over here already,
so he already knew how to kind of be a pro.
But it's a whole different level playing in the NHL,

(31:07):
for sure. I Mean, you're you're playing against you know,
some of the best players in the KHL or some
of the the NHL's kind of you know, has beens.
There never was people over there that that are leading
in the khl uh and making a name for themselves
over there. But now he's doing his thing here. He's

(31:31):
doing his thing.

Speaker 1 (31:32):
You know, NHL level of competition sure is tops in
the world. I mean, you can't deny that, right, And
and seeing the magic of Mitch Koff and what he's
bringing to Philadelphia on a nightly basis having him sit

(31:55):
for those two games, and I warned everybody, you know,
way back, and you know when, I said, when, when? When? When?
When we first learned that he was gonna come and play,
And all of a sudden I warned everybody. I said, look,
he is a rookie. He is gonna sit some games, okay,
because John Torderello is gonna have to try to teach

(32:16):
this guy. This is how it's gonna have to be.
And all he has to do is put the effort
into being defensively responsible. Right, he's doing that. He's he's
more than making the effort, you know what I mean,
he's getting scrappy, he's getting in there, he's he's he's

(32:39):
getting his nose dirty a little bit. You know what
I mean, He's he's causing, uh, you know, getting penalties
called and and things of that nature. So I mean,
I like the game. I like what he's doing, and
and and it does nothing but give me hope for
the future for the Flyers, because this is one of

(32:59):
those guys we talked about lance where when he steps
out onto the ice and you're the opposition, your head
needs to be on a swivel because this guy is
gonna make something happen and you need to make sure
you take care of him. Right, we need two or
three more of them guys on the team, you know
what I mean. But that's kind of how I look
at Mitch Kough. You know.

Speaker 2 (33:19):
Yeah, nine goals, ten assists for nineteen points as a
rookie and twenty three games played, he's you know, virtually
just just a little shy of a point per game.
You know, that's a good start. That's a good start
to an NHL career. Yeah start, Yeah. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (33:38):
So speaking of good starts here, let's let's go into
how about not only do we have the Mitchikalugh magic
coming from the KHW, but now the Russians are in
net now right, and and we got the two Russians
now playing in net with the injury to sam Rison

(34:00):
being on ir, we we now have the uh Pido
to off and the call us off a tandem now
and Net and Lance now you're our resident goaltender here now.
And we were very worried about Pop at the beginning

(34:23):
of the season because we felt that the amount of
time that he had spent here that he should have
been a little bit more prepared for playing on on
the North American ice now instead of playing in the KHL,
which is the bigger ice, and he just wasn't prepared,
you know what I mean. And and with everything that
went down and all that, and we we thought there

(34:45):
was gonna be some issues. And then call us Off
came and he finally was able to come into camp
and everything. And he has been as advertised, Okay, he
has been. He's maybe let in a couple of soft
ones and maybe been out of position here and there,
but for the most part, man, he is made up
for it by making some amazing saves and keeping the

(35:08):
flyers in games, do you know what I mean? So
give me your assessment first of all of Fudotov playing
a lot better, and then what your thoughts are on Colosaul.

Speaker 2 (35:21):
Well, I mean, I think I think it has a
lot to do with Alexi and him coming up when
Erison went down and starting some and I think it's
kind of a woken ivan, you know, the giant. Like
we said, I don't think that he was ready, you know,

(35:47):
as as much as he could be, you know, and
to start. And he looked really rough at the beginning
of the season, and a lot of people were up
in arms about it. And you know, I told you guys,
it would take some time for him to get going
and him to get used to the NHL style of play.

(36:07):
But I also think that it took some games, some
some true game time. And I think Erison, you know,
after his play last year, was made himself potentially the
number one guy here in everyone's mind. And you know,
even though fododoph was is getting paid the most of

(36:31):
any of those goaltenders, you know, he he was not ready.
But now, you know, over the past couple of games,
I think he's gained his confidence back. I think he
that Alexi coming up and getting some starts lit a
fuel under his butt, a match under his butt, whatever
you want to call it. But you know, to a

(36:52):
little wake up, like, hey, buddy, you can you can
be still sitting on the bench here and we'll let
this kid play. And you know, he now has four
wins Fidodov and that goals against average and that save percentage,
you know, although it was sky high and the goals
against average, you know, down, it's starting to chip its

(37:15):
way back down to something you know, we we can
live with. And you know it, while I like him
and I think he's played a lot more solid than Net,
I gotta tell you, I really liked the play of
Koloslov And you know, he's a lot younger, he's twenty

(37:38):
two years old, but you know, I just think he
was making especially you know, you watch that that game again.
I mentioned that Blues game, and it was just wide
open hockey, going back and forth, back and forth, and
you know, and you know, although I like that when
I'm not in Net, I do like that seeing that
kind of play as a fan, and and the fact

(38:02):
that the Flyers can play that style of play right
now and be successful in it. You know, I thought
that Alexi just made some killer stops and like you said,
some stops that he would not have made, and you know,
he was letting in some some you know, easier goals,
you would say. But again, I think that it took

(38:26):
it took a little a couple of games for him
to get used to the speed of the game. You know,
even in the AHL and the KHL, it's it's not
the same. These guys are all, you know, tip top athletes.
Even you know, the fourth line guys are could could
kick your butt and be twenty goal scorers. And in

(38:48):
the AHL, you know, so everybody doesn't really realize that,
but you know, it takes a it takes a while
to get used to that kind of of the game,
the speed of the shots coming in, you know, in everything,
it's a little bit faster. The game's moving a little
bit quicker. The guys are that much smarter in the

(39:12):
best positions where they're supposed to be making the better passes,
everything everything right. So so he had to get used
to that, and I'd say he's gotten used to it
pretty quickly. I mean, he's played in seven games this year.
He now has three wins, he's got a blow you know,
three goals against average an almost nine hundred sab percentage. Man,

(39:36):
I really liked his game I'm really liking his game.
He doesn't give up on a play. He made some
spectacular saves the other night, you know, against Saint Louis,
and I really really like what what I see for him.
And still, I gotta tell you, having there's no such

(39:56):
thing as having too many goaltenders. But but you gotta
think also, if the right trade comes along and gets offered,
and some team comes calling because their their guy went down,
the Flyers might actually listen to some trade offers for

(40:17):
any one of these three goaltenders now, because let's face,
none of them are Marten Brodor or a Patrick Waller
Dominic Kashik, but you know, they're all pretty showing that
they can be pretty solid goaltenders in the NHL now,
so looking towards the future, like Danny Bear is a

(40:41):
lot of these you know, Koloslof is twenty two years old,
but maybe trading you know Fidodoph who's making significantly more
than everybody else. Right, Yeah, that's it. It's just something
that you know, nobody he's gonna say they want to
do in this and but uh, for the right prospect,

(41:05):
you know, a team just swept up, you know, a
great defenseman that got traded in h helped me out
with a name from Columbus David Yep, yep, he just
got traded. And you know, although I'm glad the Flyers
didn't give up as much as the wild did. You know,

(41:26):
if if some kind of trade comes along that is
gonna gain you a player like that, a potential top
pick or something like that, it may be something that
you know, uh, somebody's gonna have to swallow, you know,
and and just to make that call to to gain
that kind of player. And and when you got the

(41:49):
amount of draft picks and stability now you know, because uh,
you really gotta you really got to think. And and
it'll make more sense when you look at the Flyer's
depth chart and see how well one of their guys
in uh Igor Zevyrinn. I can't say his name. I'm sorry,

(42:14):
I'm horrible with that, but uh too, yeah, you know,
is is playing very well on a bad team in
right now the weekings of rebuilding, you know, and trying
to get there. But you know, the Flyers also drafted
another guy in you know, that third round of twenty

(42:38):
twenty three draft, and uh, you know they get another guy,
uh tip top in the KHL right now in goaltending.
So there's more players coming guys, and it's just it's
just a thought. You know, I'm not saying they should
do it. I mean, but if the right trade comes along,
I think Danny's going to make some moves. You gotta listen.

(43:01):
You gotta listen to that. And that's what they're doing.
If you've been been reading or watching any of the
trade rumors, some teams are starting to make trades earlier
and and that's showing there's some great players getting moved
right now and not waiting. And you know, Danny Brier
is building for the future and these guys that you know,

(43:25):
potentially we're here before he got here. And you know,
he's got to make some room for some of his
guys like Helgi coming up and Emil Landre coming up,
and you know, all these other prospects coming up, and
guys like Jett Lechenko and everything else. He's got to
make room for these guys and and potentially the ones
that he hasn't even drafted yet, you know, So just

(43:49):
keep it in the back of your mind and don't
be surprised if if we see a name getting traded
like like Steele said, like maybe a Jamie you know,
Drysdale or somebody like that, because I don't think the
Flyers are necessarily happy, you know, with with their roster.
They're still going to make a lot of changes coming.

Speaker 1 (44:11):
Yeah, but I mean that we're going to go with
as far as I'm concerned, there's gonna.

Speaker 2 (44:16):
I mean yeah, I mean in the next five years,
I think we're going to still see a lot of change.
And then although they're playing great right now, you got
to think of guys that are going to be there
in the future. And you know, Mischkoff is going to
be there, and and Jet looks like he'll be there.
But after that, who knows, who knows where we want
to take this, you know team, as far as the

(44:38):
management of this team, So it'd be interesting.

Speaker 1 (44:41):
Well I will say this though, and this is this
is a perfect segue into talking about the farm team
for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms and our phantom section. And
if you look at what's been going on there with
that team, that's exactly the future for the Flyers right there.
You're looking at you know, the Richards, the you know,

(45:06):
I mean, the Hellgi Grands, you're looking at this team
and you're going, Okay, this is the future of the
Flyers that you're seeing there now. And then you know,
plus all the other you know, picks that Danny Brier
has and everything else like that for this coming draft.

(45:27):
But with what they got right now in the system,
you know, with what the Fantoms are doing right now,
I mean, they kind of started off the year kind
of the same way that the Flyers did. You know,
they won their first game, and then after that it
was a little bit tougher, you know, but they lost
a lot of players to the Flyers, you know what

(45:50):
I mean, and so it's tough when you got most
of your starting lineup is now playing up at the
big club.

Speaker 2 (45:58):
Right.

Speaker 1 (45:59):
So all day long, Bantom's three zero to one in
their last four and they've been kind of doing the
same thing that the Flyers have been doing. They've been
kind of winning them in overtime.

Speaker 2 (46:11):
Yeah, they got a battle, right, they got a battle.
They they they you know, they got to find a
way and they're trying to. They look like they are
trying to find, you know, new people to step up,
right next man up concept you know, some of their
best guys have been called up because they were playing
well and because injuries happened, and uh, you know, now

(46:33):
now you can see some players really starting to you know,
develop down there, and at the same time, others not
really showing anything. You know, I'm really as good as
they're doing, and some of the players are doing. I'm
really frustrated in Elliott dejon A's development. Yeah, and you know,

(46:58):
I wanted an expected to see a lot more from
Rizzo's development there.

Speaker 1 (47:04):
Uh you know, he's played he just made his debut here.

Speaker 2 (47:09):
Uh five games, I think he's played.

Speaker 1 (47:11):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, and he's actually looked pretty good.

Speaker 2 (47:14):
He's looked good, but he's got no points yet. And
and from a guy that was had you know, so
many points, you know, at the NCAA level, which I
think is besides any pro level, I think that is
the best one of the best amateur you know, straight

(47:36):
to the NHL talent. Like most guys that play in
the NCAA, most are playing against men, I mean, even
the WHL and some of these other you know CHL leagues,
they're still only playing against nineteen or twenty year old guys,
their kids, you know, still. And but I mean in

(47:58):
the NCAA, you can be playing against twenty five year
old men and on a nightly basis. So it's more
of you know, a kind of you know physical uh
and stature and you know, build and everything that you're
going to be you know, lining up against. Yeah. So,
but you know, you got to think again that if

(48:21):
you're not going to step up here like some players have,
Danny Breer is going to go out and try to
replace you. And and we saw that with Ronnie A. Tard.
You know, he had been in the system for a
long time. He played well in college and stayed there forever,

(48:41):
but he really wasn't working out, uh. And and when
he came up to the NHL.

Speaker 1 (48:47):
He made the AHL All Stars of the Year before.

Speaker 2 (48:54):
Yeah right, yeah h HL.

Speaker 1 (48:58):
We all thought, hey, maybe, but then when he didn't
make it out of camp the next year, yeah, you
know what I mean, that was kind of okay, wait
a minute, because you didn't make it out of camp
and you made an All Star last year, but you know, okay,
so and we were a little that's a little bit
of a disappointment because we thought, you know, after his

(49:20):
showing at the All Stars that you know, hey, he's
finally starting to make turn the corner, you know, because
it takes a little while for defenseman blah blah blah
blah blah blah blah. But he just hasn't, you know.
And that's kind of a shame because he was one
of those ones we thought, all right, well, you know,
he was going to be a good one.

Speaker 2 (49:37):
But yeah, he's a solid guy. He stepped up on
the blue line. Yeah, you know, he didn't he didn't retreat.
I liked, I liked what I saw from him. But again,
he was drafted back in twenty nineteen. It wasn't his guy,
it wasn't Danny's guy. And he had been in the
system for a long time and when he came to

(49:59):
the Flyers, he just really couldn't get going and make
a name for himself like a Melandre has and like
you know, Helgi Granz was able to and and and
you know, in that effect, if the guy's twenty five
years old and playing in the minors like he's a prospect,

(50:20):
he may be, hey, he's better than me, he's playing
pro hockey. Uh still, but is he going to be
what you're looking for moving forward? And is he still progressing?
You got to think that, you know, if he's plateaued
there and hey, he's a great HL player for somebody,
That's not what this team is trending into. It's it's

(50:44):
the HL. The Phantoms are going to be developing future
Flyers players. And you know, at twenty five years old,
he had to make room for guys to like Helgi
Grans to come in there and a Mealandre to get
playing time when he was, you know, still down with
the Fantoms. If you're not gonna you know, if you're

(51:06):
gonna plateau, then it may not be such a good
look to keep you rounds, you.

Speaker 1 (51:12):
Know, especially if your plateau is you know, the Fantoms. Yeah, right, right.

Speaker 2 (51:18):
Right, So that's not what we're about here, right, We're
about for developing future NHL players. And you know, maybe
at some point he becomes an NHL player, but currently
for the Edmonton who's who needs some defense man, he's
still not up with the Whilers.

Speaker 1 (51:35):
So right, and there you have it. So I mean,
what does that tell you?

Speaker 2 (51:41):
So?

Speaker 1 (51:42):
And that's kind of a shame too, because you know,
like we're trying to see these guys succeed. But hey,
how about that the Phantoms on a bit of a
win streak here as well. So Hey three zero one
on their last for there are nine six and three
with twenty two points or fourth in the division. They
they played Hershey the other night, real Well beat them

(52:06):
and has been playing well late as well, you know
what I mean. So they're getting some guys back to
now that the Flyers are getting some of those guys back,
you know, some of the Fantoms are getting those guys
back now too. So all right, well, uh, I'll tell
you what, Lance, I think we got a really good
one here, man, What do you think I think?

Speaker 2 (52:27):
So we covered a lot of topics and both teams,
the Flyers and the Fantoms are you know, trending in
the right direction. They're clalling their way back up to
final somewhat contention and respectable as a respectable team in
the NHL and HL now and you know, hopefully they
keep trending in that direction. Right. We want to see

(52:48):
them succeed and we want to see the progress you know,
this next step, this process, uh this you know, retooling,
the development, the you know, building back a team is
it has been going on for some time now, depending on
when you when you consider it. Uh, you know, with

(53:11):
the vor A tek var Check trade, I think was
the start of it for me. Uh. Some people will
say the Dru trade, which was a year later, but
you know that those trades happened a little bit ago now.
And now we got some new management who I feel
better with at the helm, at the helm of things,

(53:33):
and I think they're they're they're definitely taking this team,
uh in the better route and and expediting this rebuild.
But it's it's time to start seeing this team progressing
and trending in this direction now, and you know it,
hopefully it continues with this next group of guys, the

(53:53):
next man up that we've some of the guys that
we talked about on this show.

Speaker 3 (53:57):
So so I mean we're at we're a little passed
the twenty game mark, okay, and all things considered, Yeah,
there's areas of improvement that need to happen, you know,
but when you consider the injuries that they've had, excuse

(54:18):
me as of late, especially with on the blue line,
especially with goaltending, I'm happy with where this team is.

Speaker 1 (54:27):
I would have liked to have seen him start off
a little better, but okay, it is what it is,
and as we talked about before, you got to get
those points now in October, November, and December. Look, losing
games now is not going to lose you the Stanley Cup,

(54:50):
but it could win you the Stanley Cup, you know
what I mean. So you need to have this exactly exactly,
you know what I'm saying. So if that's where this
team wants to be and can be, you know what
I mean, I think this team can stand with any
team in the NHL on any given night. I mean,

(55:14):
I think there's a few exceptions out there, you know
what I'm saying. Clearly, there's teams that are gonna just be,
you know, more talented than than the Flyers. But I
don't think you're gonna see a team that's gonna outwork
the Flyers. So I'll take that fighting and crap scrapping

(55:35):
and clawing. I'll take that all day long, you know
what I mean with the Flyers. So Lance, anything in
the works here you got coming up?

Speaker 2 (55:47):
Definitely some prospects, watch stuff, some articles and hopefully some
some shows highlighting potential top top players from different countries
as well as different positions. So well, we'll get into

(56:07):
that over the next couple of weeks, and of course,
you know, as the Flyer season progresses and everything like that,
I'll be trying to put out an article of covering
that as well.

Speaker 1 (56:22):
Awesome, awesome, awesome, awesome. Be sure to hop on over
to the steel Flyers dot com website and check out
all of Lance's latest articles about the Flyers and also
about all of the prospect watches that he does as well.
To and check out the latest show that we did
there on Carter Bair at steel Flyers dot com slash

(56:44):
link slash Prospect Watch. So with this show in the
books here this is episode number one eighty three, I
would like to say a special thank you to Lowercase Blues.
Got to hop over to their website, lowercase blues dot net.
Check out their website, check out all their cool swag,

(57:07):
check out all of their dates that they have where
they're playing around. You got to go check them guys out.
Big props and thanks to Jake for all you guys do.
They gave us the music that you get to hear
at the beginning of this song, So you got to
go over to lowercase Blues dot net check them out. Man,
they are the real deal and they got the right

(57:30):
music for your soul. So go check them out, man
for sure. Also, big props and thanks to the Facebook groups.
Thank you guys very much for allowing us to post
our shows and post Lance's articles and everything else out there.
We appreciate the feedback that we get from you guys,
all of the great fans out there, all the great
members out there. We really appreciate you allowing us to

(57:53):
post our stuff out there on the Facebook groups. Man,
so really appreciate that. Lance. I gotta tell you something, buddy,
the website has just been jumping off the amount of hits,
the amount of views that we're getting thanks to you
folks out there. We really appreciate you guys hitting the subscribe,

(58:16):
hitting the like button, especially if you like what we're doing.
I really appreciate all the views, and we really appreciate
you going out to the website steel flyers dot com.
So what do you think, Lance, Where can we find
you and all your great stuff?

Speaker 2 (58:29):
Oh you can find me just any anywhere on the
old innerweb there. But you know, definitely checking out all
that stuff on steel flyers dot com, our YouTube page
as well as on x at Lance Green three thirty
nine and you know, man, just happy to still be

(58:55):
able to do this. I appreciate you guys, and you know,
hope and wish all you guys had a great Thanksgiving
and a great holiday season coming up.

Speaker 1 (59:07):
Yeah. Man, we're excited.

Speaker 2 (59:09):
Yeah, we we are excited and we are thankful here
at steel Flyers dot com.

Speaker 1 (59:14):
Yeah, so all of us at steel Flyers here and
Hockey Writers Inc. I would like to wish you and
yours happy Thanksgiving and hope you guys have a great one, man,
I gotta tell you. Also, be sure to check out
sports Spider dot com where you can check out all
of Lance's latest articles and all of our shows out
there as well, from uh the Hockey Writers, Inc. To

(59:37):
prospect Watch to uh the Nitny Report, as well as
the Steel Flyers Show. Go over to Sportspider dot com
and check that out as well too. Also, be sure
to go over to draft Utopia dot com and check
out all the great stuff over there. What those guys
are doing. Man, they got some great articles, They got
some great draft articles, and some great things they put

(01:00:00):
together for the not just hockey drafts, but basketball draft,
football draft, baseball draft, you name it, they got it.
I mean it's not called draft Utopia for nothing, you
know what I'm saying. Hop on over to draft utopia
dot com and check them out as well too. Thank
you Lance for all that you do for us here
at the steel Flyers dot com. The editor in chief

(01:00:22):
very much appreciate all the things you do. I'm thankful
for what you do, so thank you very much for that, sir.
Thank you all for tuning in. We will catch you
all in the next episode. Docubators, Inc.