The Lehigh Valley Phantoms will add another highly touted B-named prospect to their ranks this week, as Oliver Bonk will join the team after missing the first 20 games of the season because of an upper-body injury. The Flyers activated the defenseman from injured reserve on Tuesday before assigning him directly to their American Hockey League club.
The news is a long time coming for the 20-year-old Bonk, who suffered the injury early in rookie camp and later missed all of training camp. The 2023 first-round pick is considered the Flyers’ top defensive prospect and has a chance to make his professional hockey debut this weekend for the Phantoms.
Bonk has been rehabbing with the Flyers and has been skating with the team for the last couple of weeks. On Oct. 27, general manager Danny Brière provided an update on Bonk and said that things were “going well now” in terms of his rehab.
“We’re just hoping that there’s no setbacks,” Brière said. “We’re trying to give him the time and proper space between skates for him to feel good enough to come back and play. It’s a little tougher on a timeline with him. We’re kind of waiting on the progression and making sure there’s no setback on him.”
The Flyers have high hopes for Bonk, whom they selected with the 22nd pick in the same year they drafted Matvei Michkov at No. 7, and believe he can be a top-four NHL defenseman. A two-way blueliner with a game predicated on smarts and his ability to kill plays defensively through angles and good positioning, Bonk came in at No. 5 in The Inquirer’s annual Flyers prospect rankings.
Defenseman Oliver Bonk had designs on making the Flyers before suffering an upper-body injury in September.
Bonk was a key cog, alongside close friend Denver Barkey, with London over the last few years, leading the Knights to back-to-back Ontario Hockey League titles and the Memorial Cup crown last season. He was a first-team OHL All-Star in 2023-24 after scoring 24 goals and tallying 67 points in 60 games. Last season he was a second-team selection after posting 11 goals and 40 points in 52 games.
Carson Bjarnason and Alex Bonk are two more prospects on the Phantoms roster.
The next steps for Bonk, a steady Eddie who isn’t flashy but defends at a high level and largely keeps things simple, will be to continue to get stronger and learn to play with more pace and urgency.
“I think Bonk is going to adjust to the pace of the game in the American League,” Riley Armstrong, the Flyers’ director of player development, said in August. “I think he [and Barkey] played on a very good team in London, where you’re able to go back and break a puck out with ease, and play 30 minutes a night, and, you know, maybe not even break a sweat.
“I think that’s going to be a change for him, heading into this year where the pace is going to pick up. … Guys are going to forecheck a lot quicker and harder, finish checks on him. But I do think his brain is high-end … and I think he’s going to be able to adjust pretty quickly once you get him in that environment.”
That first pro test likely will come this weekend with Lehigh Valley.
The Flyers will be without their top goal scorer for some time.
Tyson Foerster will miss two to three months with an upper-body injury, the team said Tuesday. The Flyers did not disclose the extent of the injury he suffered Monday in a 5-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins. A source told The Inquirer on Tuesday that the team is hopeful that the injury won’t require surgery and can be treated through rehab.
Flyers coach Rick Tocchet did not have an update postgame but said, “I hope it’s not long. Obviously, he’s a big part of our team.”
Foerster scored during a five-on-three, sending the puck past Penguins goalie Tristan Jarry from the left faceoff circle. His 10th goal of the season evened the score and broke a tie with Trevor Zegras atop the Flyers’ goal-scoring leaderboard.
But less than a minute later, with the Flyers still on a five-on-three power play after Pittsburgh’s Kris Letang was called for high-sticking when the goal horn went off, Foerster took a pass from Zegras for a one-timer atop the left circle.
Foerster appeared to suffer an injury as he shot the puck on goal. He skated off, holding his right shoulder, and went down the tunnel.
Injury update: Flyers forward Tyson Foerster will be out 2-3 months with an upper-body injury. https://t.co/l3FPNFUGC2
“That’s tough. He’s such a big part of the team, the locker room, everything,” forward Travis Konecny said. “So, yeah, I mean, it’s definitely difficult.”
Added Noah Cates, who, along with Konecny, plays on a line with Foerster: “Yeah, [it stinks]. Seeing a teammate, or anyone, go down, and obviously just such an important part of our team, our core, just special teams, everything like that, so, yeah, just kind of messed with our lineup. … But everyone’s got to be ready and ready to play with everyone.”
The 23-year-old winger has been off to a fast start, despite missing four games with a lower-body injury after blocking a shot by Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly on Nov. 1. He has six goals in the last seven games and 13 points across 21 games this season.
“His release of his shot is really elite … but when he gets that puck in the slot or these prime areas, his release, really, it’s an elite shot, so I give him a lot of credit,” Tocchet said Saturday before the Flyers defeated the New Jersey Devils, 5-3. Foerster did not score in that game.
The winger had surgery in the offseason after a right elbow injury he picked up during the World Championships became infected. After some initial concern, he did not miss any game action and returned in time for opening night.
Foerster also has had issues with his right shoulder in the past. In November 2021, he dislocated his right shoulder while diving for a puck on a five-on-three power play for Lehigh Valley of the American Hockey League. He had shoulder surgery and missed 4½ months. Foerster also suffered a broken tibia in February 2021.
With the Flyers already having a roster spot open after defenseman Adam Ginning cleared waivers Monday afternoon and was assigned to the Phantoms, speculation swirled that Alex Bump would be called up to make his NHL debut.
But a source tells The Inquirer the Flyers were always more likely to recall a veteran from Lehigh Valley. The Flyers officially recalled Carl Grundström on Tuesday night. Grundström played one game this season with the Flyers on Nov. 8 against Ottawa after being acquired in a trade that sent Ryan Ellis’ contract to the San Jose Sharks. Originally drafted by the Toronto Maple Leafs, the 28-year-old has 76 points in 293 career games split between the Flyers, Sharks, and Los Angeles Kings. He has six goals and 15 points in 19 games with Lehigh Valley this season.
The move signals that Nikita Grebenkin likely will get a chance to show what he can do while playing in a top-nine role. The 22-year-old Grebenkin, who has mostly played on the fourth line this season and has been in and out of the lineup, has one goal and three points in 16 games this season.
There should be a call-up for Bump at some point this season. The winger has four goals and 16 points in 20 games with Lehigh Valley this season. Although he had a slow start and hasn’t scored a goal since Nov. 14, Bump has three goals and 13 points in his last 12 games.
“The moment that it really clicked for him was after the second Wilkes-Barre game. I challenged him in a different way,” Phantoms coach John Snowden told The Inquirer in mid-November, referencing Bump’s fifth game of the season.
“We all know that he has the offensive ability — he can hold onto the puck, he can beat you one-on-one, he can score with his shot, he can beat you with a pass, he’s got all those qualities. But the one thing that he was lacking was the abrasiveness in playing inside of contact and getting guys on your back and in finishing hits when it’s time to finish a hit, and valuing the defensive side of things.
“All those little things that are going to create more offensive opportunities for him, we need to get those better.”
The good times came to a halt, in more ways than one, on Monday night.
Hosting their Keystone State rivals, the Flyers lost 5-1 to the Pittsburgh Penguins. After winning three straight and outscoring the opposition 12-8, they gave up a five-spot for the first time since a Nov. 15 loss to the Dallas Stars.
It was the third game in four nights for Philly, who returned home after a productive 3-1-0 road trip. Monday’s defeat, which also came with a possible loss in the lineup, moved the Flyers to 14-8-3 on the season.
Trailing 1-0 after the first period, the Flyers tied the game up in the second. With Pittsburgh’s Erik Karlsson in the box for tripping Travis Konecny and teammate Connor Clifton joining him after taking down Matvei Michkov at the left post 43 seconds later, the Flyers had a two-man advantage. On the ice were Travis Sanheim, Tyson Foerster, Trevor Zegras, Konecny, and Michkov.
With the referee’s hand up for another penalty on Penguins’ Kris Letang, Foerster put the puck on net from the left faceoff circle, and it got past Penguins goalie Tristan Jarry for his team-leading 10th goal of the season.
But with the Flyers still on a five-on-three power play, less than a minute later, he took a pass from Zegras for a one-timer atop the left circle. Foerster appeared to suffer an injury as he shot the puck on goal. He skated off holding his right shoulder, went down the tunnel, and did not return.
Flyers coach Rick Tocchet did not have an update after the game, but hopes it is not long as Foerster is “obviously, he’s a big part of our team.”
Playing their 25th game of the season, the Flyers found themselves in an early hole for the 17th time. And it was Sidney Crosby who gave the opposition the lead.
After Cam York missed a shot wide, the Penguins broke out, and Bryan Rust put a shot on goal from the inside of the right faceoff circle. Dan Vladař had a good line of sight on the shot and made the save, but he wasn’t able to control the rebound, and Crosby scored.
Less than three minutes after Foerster tied the game in the second period, and with Rodrigo Ābols in the box for holding, Crosby put the Penguins back on top. Karlsson skated up the ice with the puck from his own end and carried it wide before sending a cross-ice pass to Rust. The forward dished a backhand to Crosby in the slot, and he fired it home. The Penguins captain has 59 goals and 137 points in 92 games against the Flyers, the most by any player.
Flyers goaltender Dan Vladar allowed a second period power play goal to Penguins’ Bryan Rust.
Rust then added his own goal on a power play, after Sean Couturier was penalized for — no surprise here — a questionable holding call. He received a cross-ice pass from Evgeni Malkin, spun around, and carried the puck deep into the left circle before sending the puck past the glove of Vladař to make it 3-1, Pittsburgh. Rust used Sanheim as a screen on the play.
The Penguins entered the night with the second-best power play in the NHL (30.4%), while the Flyers had the fourth-best penalty kill (85.1%).
And Pittsburgh scored again in the third period with the man advantage, this time by Tommy Novak, after Michkov was called for slashing, giving the Penguins a 4-1 lead.
Former Flyers forward Kevin Hayes added another goal on a breakaway, getting behind York after receiving a stretch pass from Parker Wotherspoon.
Breakaways
Philly is now 9-6-2 after trailing 1-0. … Malkin was credited with a goal after a shot by Anthony Mantha went off his shin guard and in. But the Flyers challenged, and a video review determined that Malkin impaired Vladař’s ability to play his position before the goal. … The Flyers put 29 shots on goal and allowed 27. … The Flyers’ power play went 1-for-7, although the last man advantage came in the final 10 seconds of the game. … Forward Nic Deslauriers and defenseman Egor Zamula were the healthy scratches.
Up next
The Flyers host the Buffalo Sabres on Wednesday (7:30 p.m., TNT).
It’s been almost a month since Travis Konecny stood outside the Flyers locker room in Nashville and was asked where he thought his game was.
Although he had 10 points (four goals, six assists) and was plus-2 in the first 13 games, he still felt his game was coming. “I know that I haven’t had my best stuff yet this year,” he said.
In the last 11 games, he has nine points (one goal, eight assists), but his 17-goal, 65-point pace is well below the 29 goals he has averaged over the last three seasons and his career high of 76 points set last season.
But the end of the season is a long way off, and his track record of leading the Flyers in scoring for five of the last six seasons, including the last four, hints that the best is yet to come.
“I still feel like there’s more for me to give,” he said, sitting in the Flyers locker room at Xfinity Mobile Arena on Monday. “I feel like there’s parts that have gotten better. I’m trying to find myself in more shooting areas, but I also know playing with [Noah Cates] and [Tyson Foerster], me and Cater are two guys that love being on the hunt, you know, digging and finding pucks.
“And Foery’s going to be more of our trigger guy — and I think everyone would rather that,” he said with a chuckle. “He’s got such a good shot, so trying to balance that out, but also put myself in some shooting opportunity spots, maybe get to the net a little bit more.
“But I mean, overall good. Our team’s playing well, our line’s playing good, and just keep building off little things like that, and everything will fall into place.”
It does feel like his game is coming a little more lately. He scored the game-winner in a shootout against the New York Islanders on Friday and notched two assists Saturday in the win against the New Jersey Devils.
Flyers right wing Travis Konecny says he wants to find himself in more shooting opportunities.
Many noted it was probably his best game of the year as he was active across all zones and made several heads-up plays. One assist was on a two-on-one with Matvei Michkov, who had just come out of the penalty box. The other was a shot by Konecny that beat Jacob Markström but was later changed to a Michkov goal as it went off the winger in front.
Konecny, 28, has bounced around a little bit this season. After starting the season alongside Trevor Zegras and Owen Tippett, he was moved to a line with Sean Couturier and Michkov, his linemates at the end of last season. The line played well, but Konecny had only two goals and 13 assists in the 25 games after the 4 Nations Face-Off.
But now he’s back with Cates, with whom he played consistently in 2022-23 during Cates’ first full season, and Foerster.
According to Natural Stat Trick, they may trail in chances for (60-84) but have outscored the opposition by 5-0 in the 73 minutes, 34 seconds they’ve played together across the season. Pretty sure everyone prefers the latter.
“His game’s starting to come, less turnovers, he’s making more solid decisions,” coach Rick Tocchet said of Konecny. “There’s times when he’s taking the puck to the hole and shooting it, where before you take it, he’s looking to pass.”
“So I’m seeing a lot more conviction in the game, where I’m going to play inside and things like that, instead of playing outside. And he’s a pest out there too, that’s when he’s at his best.”
While Konecny will say that the Flyers get amped for every game, there may be a little more oomph for him Monday against the Pittsburgh Penguins (7 p.m., NBCSP). In 34 career games against the Keystone State rivals, Konecny has 13 goals and 29 points. He scored in the Flyers’ 3-2 shootout win against the Penguins in October and was named the first star of the game.
Breakaways
Dan Vladař will start in net Monday for the Flyers. Sam Ersson was in goal for the win in October. … Tocchet said that while the forwards would be the same, he wasn’t sure whether Egor Zamula or Noah Juulsen would be the sixth defenseman. … Flyers prospect Shane Vansaghi was named to USA Hockey’s preliminary roster for World Juniors. The tournament will be played in Minnesota beginning on Dec. 26. … Defenseman Adam Ginning cleared waivers Monday and has been assigned to Lehigh Valley of the American Hockey League. … Beginning Monday night, fans can bring new unwrapped toys to every home game in December. The toys will be donated to the Salvation Army.
The Washington Post’s opinion section enlisted nine writers to share which American city they think deserves the title of the nation’s best sports city.
Los Angeles, Seattle, New York, Boston — even the likes of Kansas City and Cleveland got a mention. Which city was snubbed? Philadelphia.
Taking a look through the comments of their recent Instagram post promoting the list, not to mention the nearly 800 comments on the column itself, we’re not the only ones who raised an eyebrow at the exclusion of Philly from the list.
So we got nine of our own writers to argue why Philadelphia is the nation’s best sports city. Enjoy.
It means more to us
Mike Sielski, sports columnist
Philadelphia is America’s best sports city because sports — not national sports, not the Olympics, but the teams and athletes here — is the lingua franca of the town and the great connector of the city and its surrounding suburbs and communities. Do you flinch when someone says the name Chico Ruiz or Joe Carter? Do you smile at a random mention of Matt Stairs or Corey Clement? Then you know and love Philadelphia sports.
It’s America’s best sports city because Philadelphia is a provincial, parochial region where the love of and devotion to the teams’ histories and traditions are passed down from one generation to the next — a succession of unbroken bonds over a century or more. Did you sit out on your front stoop on a summer night and listen to Harry and Whitey call a Phillies game over the radio? Do you still sync Merrill and Mike’s broadcast to the TV telecast? Do you know who J.J. Daigneault is? Then you know and love Philadelphia sports.
It is America’s best sports city because you can walk down the street here after an Eagles loss or a Phillies loss or a Sixers loss and know that those teams lost just from the vacant looks on the faces of the passersby. Do you turn up the talk-radio station on those terrible Monday mornings? Do you remember where you were when Kawhi’s fourth bounce fell through the net? Then you know and you live and you die with Philadelphia sports.
Most of all, Philadelphia is America’s best sports city because people here care more and sports here matters more than it does anywhere else. If you don’t believe me, go ahead. Tell a Philadelphia sports fan that your city, your teams, your traditions are better. Go ahead. Dare ya.
Philly fans celebrate the Eagles’ Super Bowl LIX win in near City Hall.
Nobody parties like us
Stephanie Farr, features columnist
Philadelphia is undoubtedly the best sports city in the United States and it has everything to do with our fans, who are as passionate and dedicated as they come. Here “Go Birds” is a greeting, talking trash is an art form, and being a part of it all is totally intoxicating, even if you’re completely sober (which, to be fair, most of us aren’t).
Nobody celebrates a major win like Philly — by partying in the street with Gritty and Ben Franklin impersonators, dancing with Philly Elmo and his drum line, and climbing greased poles. When the Phillies won the NLCS in 2022, I watched Sean “Shrimp” Hagan climb a pole and shotgun seven cans of Twisted Tea thrown to him by the crowd. To his credit, at some point Hagan realized he was too drunk to get down safely and waited for firefighters to bring a ladder.
“It couldn’t have happened without the crowd being so [expletive] Philly,” he told me. “What other city’s first thought when they see a guy on a pole would be to throw him a beer?”
Do our Bacchanalian celebrations border on absolute lawless anarchy? Yes, but if you want to live safe and know how something will end, go watch a Hallmark movie. This is Philly, where we are fueled by the raging fire of a thousand losses — even when we win — and we thrive off the unpredictability of life.
In my early 20s, I lived in Tampa for a brief stint. The downtown area is small enough that all of its neighborhoods are in proximity to each other. My apartment was in a section popular among locals for its dining and nightlife scene. But it was close enough to the hotel district to be in the eye of the storm when the Eagles came to town.
One Saturday evening in late October, we were sitting at a popular outside bar when the place was suddenly overcome by a wave of midnight green. Everywhere you looked, there were packs of Eagles fans who looked like they hadn’t seen the sun in two months. They swaggered through the place in their Brian Dawkins jerseys with zero regard for humanity. They ordered their Bud Lights in multiples of two and yelled Eagles chants at each other as horrified young women clung desperately to each other and wiped errant sloshes of domestic Pilsner off each other’s going-out clothes. A friend of mine stepped off the patio to have a cigarette. He returned with a stunned expression on his face. “An Eagles fan just peed on my foot,” he said with a mixture of anger and respect.
Tampa got the last laugh the next day when Matt Bryant kicked a walk-off field goal from 62 yards out. But I always think of that weekend when people ask me if Philly sports fans are as crazy as their reputation.
An Eagles fan sits on top of the traffic light post at the intersection of Broad and Pine Streets after the team won Super Bowl LIX in February.
There are a lot of different prerequisites that a city needs in order to consider itself a great sports town. For instance, it must be an actual city, one with history and character that stands on its own even without sports. Furthermore, a great sports town requires a certain level of market penetration. Sports must sit atop the pedestal in a way that it doesn’t in places like New York and L.A. There must be a critical mass of folks who are born and raised, which eliminates pretty much any city south of the Mason-Dixon and west of the Mississippi. The list is a short one. Boston, Chicago, Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Detroit, maybe Milwaukee.
From there, the thing that sets Philly apart is the people. They are a strange lot, prone to overexcitement and, every now and then, over-indulgence. But, man, do they care. You see it any time one of their teams hits the road. You hear it, too. There is an energy that is difficult to define but impossible not to feel. It’s the secret sauce of this place. And, yeah, it’s the best.
A veteran Eagles reporter wrote recently that last Sunday’s Eagles-Cowboys game was the Birds’ worst ever loss to their rival. They blew a 21-point lead, exposed some glaring flaws, and lost on a walk-off field goal. Fair point. But it was pushed back immediately on social media. You think this loss was bad? That’s what makes Philadelphia a great — maybe the greatest — sports city. We celebrate our wins like no other but we also wear our losses forever. This was a brutal loss but we still remember that botched chip shot on Monday Night Football in 1997. And that blowout loss in the playoffs while we were stuck inside during the Blizzard of ‘96. Oh yeah, remember what happened in 2010?
I don’t know if any city in the U.S. holds onto losses more than Philly. We do that because we care. We lose sleep when the Phillies blow a save, have a bad week if the Eagles lose, still can’t believe they didn’t call the Islanders offside, and are still waiting for Ben Simmons to dunk it. So yeah, that’s why it means more here when the teams do win. Because we care so much when they lose. You can have L.A., Seattle, and Kansas City. I’ll stay in Philly.
A Phillies fan holds up a sign paying tribute to another viral Phillies fan before the team’s 2025 home opener.
We feed off being underdogs
Julia Terruso, politics reporter
Look, I’m not pretending to be neutral here. I went to spring training in Clearwater in pigtails as a child. I fell in love at an Eagles tailgate and flew to London to watch the Phillies play the Mets on my honeymoon. But even non-Philadelphians would be out of their minds not to put us in the top three — let alone the top nine.
Rooting for the Phillies, Sixers, Eagles, and Flyers is a cross-class, cross-generation rite. We’re one of only eight U.S. cities with all four major teams, and our stadiums are actually accessible — yes, Los Angeles, I’m looking at you. Tickets are (mostly) affordable, the crowds are electric, and the fervor is real. We boo because we care. And unlike other cities, we don’t sneer at bandwagoners. The citywide greeting is “Go Birds,” and the uniform is fair game for the lifer who knows about pickle juice and The Process, along with the new Fishtown transplant who couldn’t diagram a wheel play but looks fantastic in kelly green — because everyone looks fantastic in Kelly green.
But the thing that really makes Philly a great sports town is our shared history of heartbreak and near-misses that drives us forward. We’re used to being underestimated. So go ahead, leave us off your list, WaPo. Underdogs run on disrespect, and we’ve got miles to go.
Stand on the South Street bridge at 7 a.m. and you’ll know the time of year, and that says it all. The rivers of medical professionals walking and biking back from their night shifts, and those heading to their morning duties, give it away in unison. Red caps? It must be October. Kelly and midnight green beanies? The NFL playoffs are coming. Blue or black starred jackets? The NBA playoffs are underway and our hearts will soon be broken, again.
I am a Philly transplant who comes from the tradition of European soccer, where rivalry between teams from the same city is the driver of passion. I always thought that there is nothing more electric than winning a derby game, and having your team crowned as the city’s best. But Philadelphia taught me that I was wrong. There is something more electric: a city united, together, declaring love to its teams in every nook and corner.
Jubilant Eagles fans dance around a fire on Broad Street after the Birds beat the Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX.
Philadelphia isn’t just the best sports city in America (“next year on Broad?”), it’s an organism that breathes sports fandom unlike any other place.
The days of throwing snowballs at Santa or batteries on a hated player are far gone. This is the city that gave a struggling shortstop who just arrived in town a standing ovation, that travels in droves so E-A-G-L-E-S chants come through the broadcast of every away game, and has a community of sickos who rode with its Sixers through one of the weirdest experiments in NBA history.
The electric energy isn’t confined to the city lines. It’s a moment that every Philadelphian cherishes. Don an Eagles hat in any other city in America, or even abroad, and you are more likely than not to lock eyes with a stranger passing by.
“Go Birds,” they inevitably say.
“Go Birds!” you respond.
Nothing beats that. And if you don’t like it. All good. We don’t care.
The Washington Post’s opinion section has been having a rough go of it. Which makes me wonder if this list, too, had to be cleared by the Amazon overlord, and maybe Jeff Bezos just hates Philadelphia?
I mean … Cleveland?
The size and scale of the two recent Eagles parades speak for themselves. The fact that there used to be a jail in the bowels of Veterans Stadium speaks for itself. Attending one Phillies playoff game at Citizens Bank Park would speak for itself. “Go Birds,” is a passing “hello” to a fellow Philadelphian in another town, a phrase of familial camaraderie. Due respect to Los Angeles, a city I love to be and eat in. But the sheer number of sports that happen in a place doesn’t make it a good sports city. That’s not human. People and passion make a place.
The Penn Relays at Franklin Field are one of just a few annual sports traditions in Philadelphia.
We have much more than pro sports
Tommy Rowan, cheesesteak/Philly history expert
A criteria would have helped, but really, any discernible or coherent formula would have really pulled that Washington Post list together. Here, instead, are three reasons why Philadelphia is one of the cornerstone cities in American sports …
History: The fabric of American sport was woven here. The Heisman Trophy is named after John Heisman, who played at Penn. The Phillies are one of the key reasons fans are allowed to keep foul balls that land in the stands. All because an 11-year-old Phillies fan didn’t blink when the team had him thrown in jail for larceny.
Tradition: We’re more than pro sports. We’ve hosted the annual Army-Navy game, and the Dad Vail Regatta, and the Penn Relays. Tennis found an American foothold at the Philadelphia Cricket Club.
Passion: Support is an undergarment. This city has passion. Fandom here is passed down from generation to generation, just like their houses. And sure they’re loud, and they generally take it the worst of any fanbafan base. But they’re vocal, they’re informed, and they care. These teams mean something to these people.
Sports fans start young in Philly, as fandom gets passed down from generation to generation.
We know our stuff
Ariel Simpson, sports trending writer
Oct. 9 was a tragic day for Philly sports fans. The Phillies season ended with a heartbreaking loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Eagles suffered a devastating 34-17 loss to the New York Giants, and the Flyers dropped their season opener to the Florida Panthers.
That very next day, I wandered the streets of Philadelphia in what felt like a walk of shame. The heartbreak could be seen on each fan’s face as they still sported their favorite team’s colors. And when asked about the losses, each fan gave me a full breakdown of what needs to be done in order for the teams to be more successful.
That’s what makes Philly such a great sports city. Not only are the fans passionate, but they are knowledgeable when it comes to their sports teams. Sure, sometimes they may rush to call for a head coach to be fired or boo their own teams, but that’s only because they care so much.
They wear their heart on their sleeves and they expect more from each team. And when they do succeed, they show up and celebrate like no other. If you need an example, look no further than the city greasing its light poles in an attempt to stop fans from climbing them in celebration.
Returning from a productive four-game road trip and with a six-game homestand beginning on Monday, the Flyers placed Adam Ginning on waivers on Sunday.
To be placed on waivers, the defenseman was first recalled from his conditioning loan to Lehigh Valley of the American Hockey League, which began on Nov. 18. Conditioning loans are for 14 days, with the player remaining on the active 23-man roster.
By placing Ginning on waivers, it opens up a roster spot for the Flyers, and, not that he needed any more confirmation, but it’s pretty clear Emil Andrae is sticking around for the long haul.
After some movement between Philly and Allentown, as one of three players on the roster who are waiver exempt — Nikita Grebenkin and Matvei Michkov are the other two — Andrae has been back with the Flyers since Nov. 3. He has played in every game since, and with each passing day, has garnered more responsibilities from the coaching staff.
Originally on the third pairing, he is now alongside Jamie Drysdale on the second unit. According to Natural Stat Trick, since becoming partners during the Flyers’ 3-2 overtime win against the St. Louis Blues on Nov. 20, they have played 85:28 together and have been on the ice for five Flyers goals for and four against.
In the past eight games, Andrae’s ice time has jumped, and he is averaging 18 minutes, 45 seconds. It is the fourth-most on the team, behind defensemen Travis Sanheim, Cam York, and Drysdale, as he has also been getting time on the power play and in overtime. Across 14 games this season, he has one goal and five assists with a plus-minus of plus-4.
Flyers defenseman Emil Andrae is averaging 18 minutes, 45 seconds per game, the fourth-most on the team.
Since being loaned, Ginning has played in five games with the Phantoms, registering one assist, five shots on goal, and a minus-2. The Swede, who turns 26 in January, made the Flyers out of training camp and played five games this season on the third pair. He averaged 15:20, and although he did not register a point, he did have two shots on goal. At the time of his loan to Lehigh Valley, he was one of 11 skaters with at least an even plus-minus (minimum five games played).
There is a chance the Swede could be snagged on the waiver wire. A big blueliner at 6-foot-4 and 210 pounds, Ginning is a defensive defenseman who will be an unrestricted free agent on July 1. Drafted by the Flyers in the second round of the 2018 draft, he has 16 NHL games under his belt, with one goal scored during the 2023-24 season.
NEWARK, N.J. — The calendar is set to turn to December, and while some will say it is too early to look at the standings, it doesn’t hurt to peek. Right?
Right.
Because the Flyers are not only in a playoff spot, but third in the Metropolitan Division. Entering Sunday, they sit two points ahead of the second wild-card team, the Pittsburgh Penguins, whom they play on Monday night at Xfinity Mobile Arena (7 p.m., NBCSP).
And in a tight division, they are just two points behind the leaders, the New Jersey Devils, a team they have beaten twice in a week. The latest was a 5-3 victory in Newark on Saturday night. It closed out a four-game road trip with a pretty solid-looking 3-1-0 record, including the first win on the second night of a back-to-back this season.
Here are two big things we learned from the Snowbird connection trip that saw the Flyers go from sunny Florida to the New York metro area.
I’ve been the teacher
There are different ways of coaching. Some coaches can be fiery and use that to spark their team. Other coaches, like Rick Tocchet, appear to maintain a cool, calming presence — unless, for example, one needs to yell at the referees, which seems warranted lately for the Flyers.
Watching the bench, Tocchet seems levelheaded. The owner now of 300 wins in the NHL after Saturday night, he knows it is just 24 games into the season, and there’s a long road ahead. And although every moment is important, he doesn’t get too wrapped up in the ups and downs and momentum shifts of every game.
Sure, he may have been spotted by the TV cameras saying a choice word or two when an unsuspecting Emil Andrae turned the puck over to Kyle Palmieri in Friday night’s shootout win against the New York Islanders — on a goal that actually should have been overturned for too-many men on the ice — but he wasn’t being demonstrative with his body language.
But he didn’t bench Andrae, who finished the night with the third-most minutes, with an overtime shift. It’s important for a young team to have a coach who keeps his cool and lets them learn and grow from their mistakes.
Plus, it helps that Tocchet is a guy who loves to teach. Instead of going crazy and yelling or benching players, he either talks things over or pulls out the whiteboard to show them. As Jon Cooper, the Tampa Bay Lightning and Hockey Canada coach who worked with Tocchet at 4 Nations and will do so again at the Olympics, told The Inquirer on Monday, Tocchet is known for his in-game adjustments.
His adjustments and demeanor are translating to the ice as the players are playing connected but loose.
“The one thing I love with this group is they always want to learn, whether we win or lose, or it’s a bad period, it’s a good period, they’re asking questions,” Tocchet said. “They’re trying to learn. And that’s what we’re doing every day, and trying to build some blocks here.”
Brick by brick is the motto right now. After a dismal performance against the Lightning to start the trip — they were shut out for the first time this season — Trevor Zegras said the group held a meeting “on things that we wanted to do to get better, to play tighter, to play more connected, and I think the last three we did that.”
Coach Rick Tocchet speaks to Travis Sanheim after Dallas Stars forward Jason Robertson scored a power-play goal on Nov. 15.
Learning is critical for a team that boasts one of the youngest rosters in the NHL at an average age of 27. Although they’ve scored the first goal now for two straight games, they’ve won nine of 16 games where they’ve trailed early. They lead the league with 10 comeback wins, including a 4-2 win against the two-time defending champion Florida Panthers on Thanksgiving Eve, and they are 7-3-3 in one-goal games.
Tocchet sees positives and steps forward in his group. They are much better at executing under pressure. Do they need to clean up some things? All teams do, but “whether we’re battling back, or we’re giving up leads, there’s not a lot of panic on the bench. There’s a lot of resolve,” he said.
And that starts from the top.
I’ll Be There For You
The last two seasons, there’s been talk about how tight the Flyers locker room is. It’s still tight, but now the words family and love are being used more and more often.
And it’s showing on the ice with how they are playing. Alternate captain Travis Konecny has spoken often about the little details in the game that players are doing that are actually critical to success.
Before the goal that was eventually credited to Matvei Michkov to make it 3-1 — Konecny took the shot, and it went in off the Russian winger in front — captain Sean Couturier threw a hit on Devils forward Paul Cotter in the defensive zone. It allowed the Flyers to get possession and skate out of their end. Just 27 seconds later, after some sustained pressure, the puck was behind Jacob Markstrom.
“That’s the stuff I’m talking about. When it’s your turn, it’s your turn,” Konecny said. “And I think that’s something that Tocc’s been preaching a lot. [Tyson Foerster is tied for] the most goals on our team right now, and this guy blocks a shot every other game, and he’s a competitor.
“Like those are the examples right there of guys that, you just show up for your teammates and whatever your job is, in that moment, that play, that game, you execute it to the best of your abilities. And if everyone does that over the course of 82 games, you would think it’d put us in a pretty good spot.”
The Flyers are getting some pretty balanced scoring right now. Across the four-game road trip, 11 players recorded at least a point, and while Noah Cates did not, he still boasted an impressive plus-minus of plus-3.
Michkov led the way with three goals and tied Owen Tippett — who notched the 100th goal, 100th assist, and, therefore, 200th point, of his NHL career — atop the leaderboard with four points. The pairing of Andrae and Jamie Drysdale may have had a few hiccups, but they are rounding into form. Couturier snapped a long goal drought with a pair of goals, Foerster continues to impress with his 200-foot game that more often than not sees the puck find the back of the net, and Nikita Grebenkin played in three games.
“We’re all contributing in different ways. And if it’s your turn to be on the score sheet, that’s what you do. If it’s your turn to have a big block or big save from the goalies, like everyone’s just stepping up,” added Konecny, who noted the leadership in the room, too, like when veteran defenseman Nick Seeler spoke up during intermission on Saturday about the importance of points now for down the road.
“We love this group. It’s a lot of guys that just want to play for each other and do the right things.”
Flyers goaltender Dan Vladar has been one of the best players on the roster.
Among NHL goalies with a minimum of 12 games, he ranks tied for sixth in wins (10) with guys like former Flyers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky, who he just bested on Wednesday, sixth in goals-against average (2.43), and tied for seventh in save percentage (. 912). And according to Money Puck, his goals saved above expected ranks seventh in the NHL at 11.3.
But, of course, while he said he worked on his lateral plays — like when he robbed Nico Hischier with 16 seconds left in the first period backdoor off a cross-crease pass during a penalty assessed to Michkov — the netminder will give credit to his team.
“I feel comfortable overall, but it’s also the biggest thing is those … 18 to 20 guys that are playing in front of me every single night,” the Czech goalie said. “You see [that] guys are willing to block shots, making not comfortable plays but those plays that really matter for our team to come [away] with those two points.
“So very proud of the group, but we know that we got a lot of hockey left, so got to keep going for sure.”
NEWARK, N.J. — The Flyers closed out a four-game road trip with win No. 3, defeating the New Jersey Devils, 5-3.
After losing 3-0 to the Tampa Bay Lightning to start the road trip on Monday, the Flyers closed it out with three straight wins. Philly has now won five of its last six and is 14-7-3 on the season.
Owen Tippett scored the 100th goal of his NHL career and earned his 200th NHL point when he gave the Flyers a 1-0 lead just 5 minutes, 18 seconds into the first period. The goal showed off some silky hands as he caught the pass from Christian Dvorak on his forehand and scored on a backhand.
The goal was Tippett’s second in the past 17 games, and his eighth of the season.
Šimon Nemec tied the game up later in the first period on a one-timer from between the circles. It was a bit of a wonky play as the Flyers seemed to be in control after an offensive-zone faceoff, but the puck ended up bouncing at the blue line and off the body of Travis Sanheim.
The Devils broke out three across as Sean Couturier lost his stick after it hit Bobby Brink, who got back to even up the numbers. Nemec trailed the play and was open to receive the pass from Jesper Bratt for his sixth of the year.
But in the second period, the Flyers scored a trio of goals.
Matvei Michkov took a cross-checking penalty with 75 seconds left in the opening frame. When his penalty expired in the second period, he left the box and right into a two-on-one with Travis Konecny.
Sanheim fed his buddy from deep in the Flyers zone up the wing with just Nemec back. Konecny got the puck over, and Michkov, despite Devils captain Nico Hischier on him, put the puck on net, and it slid past goalie Jacob Markstrom. The goal was Michkov’s seventh of the season and sixth in the past 11.
Michkov was credited with another goal less than 3 minutes later, when a shot by Konecny went off him in front. Cam York skated away from New Jersey winger Stefan Noesen at the blue line and dished the puck on the backhand to Konecny, who fired the one-timer. Couturier and Michkov were in front, creating traffic with two defenders.
It is the Russian winger’s first multi-goal game since the 2024-25 season finale.
Later in the period, Zegras gave the Flyers a 4-1 lead with a one-timer off a nice feed from Tippett, who broke out of the Flyers’ zone with the puck and took off down the left wing. His speed led to a two-on-one and finished with a cross-crease pass to Zegras for his ninth goal of the year.
The goal came after Bratt hit the post at the other end on a breakaway. But while Dan Vladař didn’t make the save on that one, he did come up big despite allowing three goals.
With 16 seconds left in the first period, he robbed Hischier backdoor off a cross-crease pass during Michkov’s penalty. In the middle frame, again with the Flyers shorthanded, he stoned Dawson Mercer on another two-on-one.
Vladař did eventually allow a power-play goal to Timo Meier with 27 seconds left in the second period. And in the third period, Mercer scored to cut it to a one-goal game.
But it was Markstrom who made the most spectacular save of the night as he robbed Noah Cates with the glove during an odd-man rush with 3 minutes, 26 seconds left.
Tippett was credited with a goal with 1:15 remaining when he was tripped by Arseny Gritsyuk on a breakaway with Markstrom pulled for the extra attacker. It was his second multigoal game of the season, the last coming on Oct. 20 against the Seattle Kraken, and he now has eight goals on the year.
Forward Nic Deslauriers and defenseman Noah Juulsen were the healthy scratches. … Vladař finished with 28 saves, and the Flyers put 32 shots on Markstrom.
Up next
The Flyers return home to host the Pittsburgh Penguins on Monday (7 p.m., NBCSP).
NEWARK, N.J. — Flyers forward Tyson Foerster sat down for locker clean-out day in April and noted that despite finishing with 25 goals and 43 points in 81 games yet again, it took some time to find the back of the net consistently.
Last season, it was Game 33 when he scored his ninth goal of the season. It was a step up from his rookie year, when it took him 49, despite scoring three times in eight games in March of the previous season.
“I think I was getting chances earlier before, too, [but] I just wasn’t able to score. But finally, the puck started going in for me in waves,” Foerster said back in April about his end-of-season surge.
Right now, the waves are coming in hot and heavy, like there’s a hurricane brewing off the coast. Foerster has scored nine goals so far this season, including five in the past five games.
Skating in just 19 of the Flyers’ first 23 games this season due to a lower-body injury, Foerster is becoming the sniper everyone envisioned when he was drafted 23rd overall in the 2020 NHL draft.
“His release of his shot is really elite … but when he gets that puck in the slot or these prime areas, his release, really, it’s an elite shot, so I give him a lot of credit,” coach Rick Tocchet said.
Foerster will credit his scoring prowess to the bounces he’s been getting, but he’s also creating opportunities. His goal in the first period on Friday in the Flyers’ 4-3 shootout win against the New York Islanders was because of the forward, who is known for his high hockey IQ, poked the puck away from Emil Heineman of the Islanders after he couldn’t handle an errant pass by Travis Konecny.
Flyers right wing Tyson Foerster back-hands the puck against the St. Louis Blues on Nov. 20.
He had the perfect shooting lane, and he beat goalie David Rittich glove side easily.
“He’s a scrappy [player],” Tocchet said. “Even on that goal, there’s a blind pass in the middle, the Islanders had it, but he knocked it off the guy and scored. I mean, that’s a big, huge play for us. I call him, he’s just a hockey player.”
Foerster didn’t spend time working on his shot over the summer; he spent the majority of the time recovering from an elbow infection. And his linemates have shifted from Noah Cates and Bobby Brink to Cates and Konecny.
According to Natural Stat Trick, the trio has played 63 minutes, 34 seconds together at five-on-five. Although the opposition has 61 chances to the Flyers’ 55 when they are on the ice, they have outscored other teams, 5-0.
Tocchet credited Foerster for being someone who can find the open space to maintain the foundational triangle. It is one of the most basic offensive-zone strategies in hockey, having forwards create the shape of a triangle, as it is not only about puck support and having a high man, but also creating a bit of turmoil for the team defending.
“I feel like I can read off Catesy and TK,” Foerster said. “TK likes to go high sometimes, and I like to go high. And Catesy is usually in the corner battling it up and getting the pucks up to us, so he’s done a great job of that. But, if I see TK going high, I usually try and go to the net and, you know, hopefully bang one in that way.”
Former coach John Tortorella heavily relied on Foerster when he was behind the Flyers bench. Now Tocchet is doing the same.
Foerster plays power play, is now on the second pairing for the penalty kill, and in the last minute of a game, unless Tocchet puts three centers out on the ice, “He’s probably the next guy, so he’s a guy that we really rely on, and he wants that responsibility.”
Breakaways
Dan Vladař will start in goal. He was in the net when the Flyers beat the New Jersey Devils, 6-3, last Saturday.
ELMONT, N.Y. — Despite giving up a 3-0 lead, the Flyers turned the lights back on when it mattered most Friday to defeat the New York Islanders 4-3 in a shootout.
Trevor Zegras and Travis Konecny scored in the shootout, and goaltender Sam Ersson stopped Islanders’ Bo Horvat to clinch the game.
The Flyers are a perfect 5-0 in shootouts this season. They have won two straight and four of their past five games overall.
“There’s going to be ups and downs throughout the course of a game and a season,” defenseman Travis Sanheim said of the Flyers’ resiliency. “Just resetting and getting your head back on straight and sticking with what’s been working for you, and just get back to your game.”
Ersson allowed three goals on 13 shots in the second period, but he came up big in the third, stopping all nine, and saved three more in overtime. Then, he stopped the final shot in the shootout to seal the win. The Swedish netminder is now 12-3 in the skills competition.
“Yeah, there could be some prescout on him,” coach Rick Tocchet said about Ersson’s expertise in the shootout. “He looks big when you go down, and I’m watching like, I don’t know much about Erss this year, but he looks big in the net on those breakaways. He just looks big, it looks like there’s not room, and there could be some psychology when it comes to that.”
But it was the saves that Ersson made across the first 60 minutes that kept the Flyers in the game. He made a nifty save on a Jonathan Drouin tip-in attempt off a Scott Mayfield shot from the point in the first period, before robbing Horvat’s one-timer at the right post in the second; Ersson slid across to make the split save off the tip of his left pad with the Flyers up 3-1.
In the third period, he made the biggest save of the night during a two-on-one. Islanders forward Anthony Duclair skated up the ice and made a move that saw Noah Juulsen fall. Flyers defenseman Nick Seeler went to Duclair, but he was able to drop the puck around Seeler to Calum Ritchie, who was stopped by Ersson.
Flyers goaltender Samuel Ersson, shown against Tampa on Nov. 24, stopped 28 of 31 shots against New York on Friday.
After the save, Matvei Michkov carried Ritchie into the boards and hit him up high with his stick, resulting in a four-minute power play for the Islanders. The Flyers entered the game with the fourth-best penalty kill (86.2%) and held the Islanders, who entered the day with the 31st-ranked power play (12.6%) — but did have one power-play goal already — to six shot attempts. Ersson stopped two shots, one being a tricky tip-in attempt from Ritchie.
“You’ve got to give guys credit, because we’re hanging in there. That’s a [heck] of a PK,” Tocchet said. “It’s four minutes, that could be the game, and to me, that shows a lot of character. Those six guys with the four D, and Erss making those stops. You’ve got to be proud of the team for that, that PK.”
Ersson made a nice save on Drouin in the extra session before stopping his countryman, Simon Holmström, with the blocker. And then he did what he does best in the shootout — but not before Zegras did what he does best in the shootout.
Among players who have at least 15 shootout attempts, Zegras ranks No. 1 all-time at 68%. He has 17 goals on 25 shots, and has scored 70.6% of his shootout attempts on the road. Zegras is 4-for-4 this season.
“Especially when you have Trevor Zegras on your team, you start almost with one up. So we like our odds in shootouts, but at the same time, we don’t want to always be going to that point,” captain Sean Couturier said. “Regulation wins are huge down the road, so we’ve got to find a way to close those games out, and not give out points to, especially, divisional opponents, but at the same time, it’s a huge win.
“The way the game kind of went, we were all over them early, and then they get a goal there early in the second. And we kind of lost our cool for a little bit there. But, we regrouped in the third and stuck together and found a way to get that extra point.”
Long Island’s Billy Joel famously sang, “Don’t go changing,” and while the Flyers made one significant change — it’s only the seventh time in 23 games this season they scored first, snapping a nine-game streak — there’s one aspect they shouldn’t. For the second straight game, Tyson Foerster and Couturier scored seconds apart.
On Wednesday, it gave the Flyers a 4-2 win against the two-time defending champion Florida Panthers when they scored 21 seconds apart. On Friday, their goals 22 seconds apart gave the Orange and Black a 2-0 lead.
Foerster opened the scoring 8 minutes, 30 seconds into the game. Sanheim got the puck in his own end, skated around the net, and carried it up the left wing with Islanders forward Emil Heineman hounding him.
He entered the zone and dished the puck to Konecny, who sent a turnaround pass right to Heineman. But it wasn’t a clean pass, and Foerster poked it away as the Swede fell. It gave Foerster the perfect shooting lane, and he beat Islanders goalie David Rittich glove side for his ninth goal of the season.
“Obviously, we’d like to do it more often,” Sanheim said about scoring first. “And, in saying that, when you get out to a good lead, you want to be able to keep your foot on the gas and not allow a team to get back into it. So just continue to keep growing and get better as a team.”
Couturier snapped a 17-game goal drought on Wednesday and scored in consecutive games for the first time since March of last season. His goal came after Juulsen defended New York’s Mathew Barzal against the wall in the Flyers’ zone, allowing Michkov to scoop up the loose puck.
Bobby Brink put pressure on Tony DeAngelo, causing the former Flyers defenseman to turn the puck over to Couturier, and the Flyers captain scored past the glove of Rittich from the left face-off circle.
Tyson Foerster, shown on Nov. 14, opened the scoring for the Flyers on Friday night against the Islanders.
An Innocent Man
Before getting to one of the worst calls this season — and there have been plenty to choose from — the Flyers looked in control when Zegras extended the lead to 3-0 on a power play 1:55 into the second period.
The New Yorker took the puck off the wall after Emil Andrae carried it deep and was stopped by Rittich. Zegras curled in the left circle and scored off the skate of Islanders defenseman Ryan Pulock.
But then things started to go awry.
Heineman exacted some revenge and scored to make it 3-1. Andrae got the puck and skated backward into his own zone. He didn’t realize that Kyle Palmieri was still in the Flyers’ end after getting tangled up with Jamie Drysdale. Palmieri picked his pocket and fed Drouin, who dropped the puck for Heineman to finish.
The referees missed a call as the Islanders had six guys on the ice when Palmieri played the puck as he was skating to the bench.
Rookie sensation Matthew Schaeffer cut the Flyers’ lead to one with his eighth of the year. He got the puck at the left point and skated down into the left circle before firing off a wrister past Ersson. There was a delayed penalty on Garnet Hathaway, but the Islanders didn’t have the extra skater on yet.
And then, with the momentum swinging in the Islanders’ favor, Konecny was called for a phantom hold on Holmström during a Flyers power play.
The call was questionable as Holmström sold it and the referee above the blue line — not the referee standing right in front of the players — made the call.
After skating four-on-four on the ensuing power play for the Islanders, Schaefer put a point shot that Max Shabanov tipped up and off the body of teammate Anders Lee past Ersson.
“Obviously, the second was a little bit, you know, some penalties, a couple of misfortune plays, but hung in there,” Tocchet said. “Little bit ugly, but give the guys credit for scratching and clawing. That’s a big two points for us.”
New York Islanders center Kyle Palmieri left the game against the Flyers on Friday with an injury.
Breakaways
Palmieri did not return after playing a role in the Islanders’ first goal due to a lower-body injury. … Forward Nic Deslauriers and defenseman Egor Zamula were healthy scratches for the second straight game. They did participate in warmups. … Couturier played in his 896th NHL game, all with the Flyers.
Up next
The Flyers get right back to it on Saturday against the Devils in New Jersey (7 p.m., NBCSP).
