Flyers prospects ready for scrimmages to ‘show what we’ve learned’
A 3-on-3 tournament and a 5-on-5 event are on tap for the next couple of days at the Skate Zone in Voorhees.
After drills, drills, and more drills — and some community duties and beach volleyball Thursday in Stone Harbor — the Flyers prospects are ready for some game action.
On Friday, when development camp returns to the Skate Zone in Voorhees, there will be another practice session in the morning. But there will also be a three-on-three tournament from 4 to 6 p.m.
A five-on-five tournament will be held Saturday, the last day of camp, from 6 to 8 p.m.
“It’s exciting. It’ll be nice to get a little competition back under us,” said Isaac Ratcliffe, a 6-foot-6, 201-pound left winger who is expected to play for the AHL’s Phantoms this coming season. “We got on the ice together for the first couple times [earlier in the week] and got comfortable with each other, so now it’s time to battle it out these last couple days.”
Ratcliffe has been coming to development camps since he was a second-round draft pick in 2017.
“It’s nice to see all the fans come out and get their first chance to see some of the new guys," Ratcliffe said. “The little short-term events are so much fun. It’s definitely one of the best memories of the summer from previous camps, and this is what we look forward to.”
Cam York, the mobile defenseman drafted by the Flyers in the first round last Friday, is in his first development camp with the team. He is looking forward to the three-on-three and five-on-five competitions.
“The D-men have been working on a lot of little things ... so to get out there and go into the corners, that’s what you want,” he said. “You love to compete. You love to go up against one another and battle. That’s what it’s all about.”
Added York: “I’ve learned a lot this week, and to go out and hopefully put that into a game, that’s what I’m here to do.”
“Everybody’s been trying to be a sponge and soak up what they’re saying, and now it’s time for us to actually show them what we’ve learned,” right winger Wade Allison said.
Felix Sandstrom, one of four goalies in camp, said the three-on-three competition will have a frenzied pace.
“You have to be ready all the time,” he said. “They shoot a lot from around the net.”
The practices and scrimmages are free and open to the public.