By Rob Riches, Sports Talk Philly contributor 
While the Flyers of tomorrow are making their respective ways through Development Camp, their American Hockey League affiliate is laying the groundwork for another season.
The AHL on Monday announced home openers for the 2017-18 campaign, and the fourth season in the Lehigh Valley opens up with a grudge match. In a rematch of the first round of the 2017 Calder Cup Playoffs, the Hershey Bears will come by PPL Center on Oct. 7.
In their first playoff appearance since 2009, the Phantoms fell to the Bears in five games, and helped renew a storied rivalry. Though the Phantoms held home-ice advantage and rallied back from a 2-0 series hole to force a Game 5, they just could not manage to win at PPL Center, dropping the deciding contest by a slim 3-2 margin.
The AHL will release the rest of the 2017-18 schedule on Tuesday.
One familiar face will not be joining the Phantoms when the next season opens.
Riley Cote, the former Flyers enforcer turned assistant coach, was dismissed from the team, according to reports from BSH Radio as well as Inside AHL Hockey's Tony Androckitis.
After 7 years as an assistant coach with #Flyers AHL affiliate, Riley Cote won't be back for an 8th year. He's been relieved of his duties.
— Tony Androckitis (@TonyAndrock) July 11, 2017
Cote, 35, had worked as an assistant coach with the Phantoms since 2010, working under Greg Gilbert, John Paddock, Joe Paterson, Terry Murray and Scott Gordon.
Known for his role as an enforcer, Cote played in 156 games over parts of four seasons with the Flyers, scoring just one goal — against Carey Price, no less. When Peter Laviolette took over behind the Flyers' bench in 2009-10, Cote found himself as a healthy scratch night after night, and appeared in just 15 games. He retired that summer, and immediately took a position as an assistant coach with the then-Adirondack Phantoms.
