Sports Talk Philly: Philadelphia Sports News and Rumors

Around the NHL: Bruins Take Series Lead, West Even Through 2

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By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 

Four teams are left in the quest for the Cup. Through two games in the Conference Finals, one team is halfway to earning a spot in the Stanley Cup Final, while the other series is even through two games.

The Boston Bruins have vaulted to a 2-0 series lead with a pair of wins at home on the wildcard Carolina Hurricanes. The San Jose Sharks took the first game of the Western Conference Final, but the St. Louis Blues bounced back in Game 2 to even the series.

Here is a closer look at the first two games of each series.

Flyers Prospect Update: Ratcliffe Leads Guelph to Memorial Cup Berth

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By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 

At this time last year, the Flyers had multiple prospects playing in juniors and the Phantoms were still in the middle of a playoff run. As of Monday morning, only one Flyers prospect is still in action.

Isaac Ratcliffe, the Flyers second-round pick in 2017, is heading to the Memorial Cup with the Guelph Storm as champions of the OHL. The Storm secured the Memorial Cup berth with an 8-3 win over the Ottawa 67s on Sunday afternoon.

2019 World Championships: 8 Flyers Participating

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By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 

The 2019 IIHF World Championships begin on Friday and for eight Flyers, the season continues.

The following Flyers are playing in the tournament representing the following countries.

• Sean Couturier and Carter Hart - Canada
• James van Riemsdyk - USA
• Jake Voracek and Radko Gudas - Czech Republic
• Oskar Lindblom and Robert Hagg - Sweden
• Michael Raffl - Austria

 

Around the NHL: And Then There Were 4

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By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 

The Conference Finals are set. Three of the four semi-final series required at least six games. Two went the distance in a seventh game.

When the dust cleared, four teams remained with a chance to advance to the Stanley Cup Final: the Carolina Hurricanes, Boston Bruins, St. Louis Blues and San Jose Sharks.

Here’s how we got to this point.

Vigneault Announces Roles for Flyers Assistant Coaches

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By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 

The Flyers added to their bench on Monday with the hiring of former head coaches Michel Therrien and Mike Yeo as assistants on Alain Vigneault’s staff. In one fell swoop, the Flyers went from having a staff with no NHL head coaching experience behind the bench with their last major coaching hire in Dave Hakstol to over 2,500 games of NHL head coaching experience behind the bench.

Vigneault held a conference call on Wednesday providing more insight into the hirings, including the roles each coach will have. Experience was obviously a key in Chuck Fletcher’s decision to hire Vigneault and the decision to hire Therrien and Yeo.

Flyers Hoping Experience Leads to Success Behind Bench

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By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 

When the Flyers season ended, exactly one month ago Monday, it was perceived that changes were going to be coming. The Flyers had missed the playoffs for the third time in the last five seasons. They had already started the purge during the season with the firing of GM Ron Hextall and head coach Dave Hakstol. With Chuck Fletcher in the GM chair, things were certainly going to be different.

The Flyers wasted little time in the offseason in getting their first order of business resolved. Alain Vigneault was hired as head coach on April 15, just nine days after the Flyers final game in the 2018-19 season.

The next thing to be done was to assemble the rest of the coaching staff. When the Flyers announced the new staff on Monday, it was clear experience was a key factor.

Flyers Announce Therrien, Yeo as Assistant Coaches

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By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 

The Flyers bench will have a lot of experience behind it in the 2019-20 season.

The Flyers already started this offseason with the hiring of Alain Vigneault as the new head coach. Alongside him as assistants will be two former head coaches with plenty of experience as well.

The Flyers announced the hiring of Michel Therrien and Mike Yeo as assistant coaches on Vigneault's staff.

Report: Flyers to Hire Michel Therrien as Assistant Coach

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By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 

One of the first tasks for the Flyers this offseason was to solidify a staff behind new head coach Alain Vigneault. It was something Vigneault wanted to see come together quickly, before he heads off to coach Team Canada at World Championships later this week.

It sounds like Vigneault has one of his assistants. According to a report from TVA Sports’ Renaud Lavoie, the Flyers will hire former Montreal Canadiens head coach Michel Therrien as an assistant on Vigneault’s staff.

Around the NHL: Getting Closer to an All Wildcard East Final

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By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 

Could the final two teams to make the playoffs in the Eastern Conference also be the two teams facing each other in the Eastern Conference Final? It’s starting to become more of a possibility.

The Columbus Blue Jackets and Carolina Hurricanes both made the playoffs in the two wildcard spots in the East and pulled off upsets of the two division winners in the first round. Now, both teams hold the lead in their respective second round series after three games.

More on the progress of the second round of the playoffs in this Around the NHL update.

Flyers Offseason Focus Starts with Expiring Contracts

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By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 

The time between the end of the regular season and the official start of the offseason in June can feel like an eternity for the 15 teams that don’t make it to the playoffs. The Flyers are back in that spot this year, and a little over three weeks since the end of the season, the offseason is stuck in that in-between period where the only news can be internal news.

For all the speculation about players the Flyers could target via trade or free agency, that’s all it is for now.

That said, the calendar has turned to May and the number of teams in the playoffs will dwindle again soon. In another week, the Stanley Cup Playoffs will be down to four teams. For teams like the Flyers, the first focus of the offseason is on yourself, the players and moves you can control.

For the Flyers, those moves center around several pending free agents that will need new contracts.