In today's Future Flyers Report, we summarize a thrilling playoff win for a key Flyers prospect, as well as the Lehigh Valley Phantoms' coach offering complimentary insights on several players and an update on the Reading Royals' Kelly Cup playoff run.
Juniors:
Travis Sanheim, Radel Fazleev, Samuel Morin, Tyrell Goulborune and now Nicolas Aubé-Kubel will all begin CHL third-round play this weekend, as Aubé-Kubel's Val-d'Or Foreurs polished off Baie-Comeau in overtime in Tuesday's seventh game. The Foreurs took the second-round series despite trailing 3-0 (sound familiar?) and unhappy with the way Alexis Pepin celebrated his overtime-winner, the Drakkar refused to participate in the post-series handshakes:
Val-d'Or will now meet Rimouski in the President Cup semi-final — a matchup that will pit Aubé-Kubel against Morin. That series will begin tonight at 7:30.
Sanheim and Fazleev's Calgary Hitmen will start their conference final tonight in Manitoba, as they face the Brandon Wheat Kings. Goulbourne's Kelowna Rockets also begin their conference final matchup against Portland. Stay tuned with Future Flyers Report next week for further updates on CHL third-round play.
American League:
During the Phantoms' breakup interviews earlier this week, coach Terry Murray lauded players such as Shayne Gostisbehere and Brandon Manning, of which the latter is expected to crack the Orange and Black's top-six defensemen in October.
"When you look back 10 years from now, you might say Gostisbehere's injury was a real positive in the sense he became a player who really paid attention to the off-ice part of it," Murray told reporters. "I think he's put on 20 pounds of solid, good weight and that's going to help him at the start of training camp."
Gostisbehere was only able to play seven games — two with the Flyers, five with the Phantoms — before an ACL tear prematurely ended his season. Starting the season in Allentown would undoubtedly benefit Gostisbehere, but one of the team's top defensive prospect could easily make the jump to The Show mid-season.
ECHL:
The Reading Royals fell behind 2-1 in their series with South Carolina, following a 5-2 loss on Thursday. David Marshall scored both goals for the Royals, while Connor Knapp saved 22 of 26 pucks.
The Royals have an opportunity to equalize the series at 7 p.m. on Saturday at Santander Arena. They'll also host the series' fifth game on Sunday.
Rob Riches is a contributor to Flyerdelphia. Follow him on Twitter @Riches61
