Rookies Konecny, Provorov make Flyers' roster, Hextall says

Left winger Travis Konecny and defeneman Ivan Provorov have made the Flyers' opening-night roster, GM Ron Hextall confirmed on Monday.

The 19-year-old rookies had outstanding training camps.

"They earned it," Hextall said.

Hextall said there were no plans to give the rookies a nine-game tryout, after which they could be sent back to juniors and not start their entry-level contracts.

He revealed he told both players they will be here for the entire season.

"They're here. They made our team. This isn't a tryout," Hextall said. "If I felt like either player wasn't ready to be here the whole year, they wouldn't be here right now."

Konency led the Flyers with six points in the preseason; he will start the year on the second line, alongside Sean Couturier and Jake Voracek.

Provorov will be paired with 38-year-old Mark Streit.

"Those kids, they made this team on their own," Hextall said. "They're not on the team because of what anyone felt like politically or anything else. These kids made the team on merit and our plan right now is to keep them the whole year. This isn't a nine-game tryout or a six-game tryout. Those two kids are on this team right now and at this point we expect them to be here all year."

Hextall said the rookies "worked hard all summer. I think when we sent Ivan back last year, the message to Ivan was, 'Go back to Brandon and be the best defenseman in junior hockey.' So Ivan goes back to Brandon and he is the best defenseman in junior hockey. Then he comes to camp and plays real well. So he's made this team. Travis was similar. Probably going into camp you thought Ivan had a good shot and Travis had a shot. But he's done a real good job and full marks to him."

It is the first time the Flyers have had two 19-year-old rookies since 2000-01 (Justin Williams, Maxime Ouellet), and beleived to be the first time they have had two 19-year-old regulars at the start of a season since 1984-85, when Peter Zezel and Derrick Smith were in the lineup.

Gudas hearing. Still waiting for word on Radko Gudas' imminent suspension. His hearing was at 1 p.m. and it lasted only a few minutes.